Monthly Homework Folders

So... I wanted to share with you what I give for homework.

EEK!

Yep. I said homework. I have very mixed feelings about homework, both as a parent, and as a teacher. As a teacher, I like for parents to see the areas in which their child might be struggling, or to help reinforce reading. But, as a parent, I hate doing homework...and we are SO busy, as most people are anymore. When Autumn was in Kindergarten, her teacher did a monthly homework folder. 

(Hers looked different than this, but it's the same concept.)

I thought, well, THIS, I like... that way families can get the homework finished as their time allows it.

Now, my homework looked different when I taught 2nd and 3rd grade, but here's what it looks like when I teach 1st grade. 

Inside the folder, I have 4 reading passages with comprehension questions and on the back, there's a phonics or grammar component.  

I put one of these in there for each week of the month (I try to match my themes for the week).   These are Jodi's Fluency passages. I love them. I use them in class, too. There are so many to choose from, you can use them all over!

And for math, I send home the Evan Moore Daily Math pages. 

Again, I do 4 "week" pages, 1 page for each week.  I don't send home nightly homework reinforcing what I taught in math that day, because honestly.... I don't really know how that day's math lesson is going to go. If they really don't end up getting it, or sailing through it (we can all wish for that, right!?), then I might need to change up my math plans a bit.  Now, these pages sometimes have questions that the student and/or parent might not get... sometimes I tell them to "cross it off" and other times we work through it as a class.

They can turn it in whenever they like throughout the month. I just mark it in the book that they turned it in. In fact, I'd rather they turn it in throughout the month so I don't get a whole bunch at the end of the month. lol 

For Spelling, I toggle between these fun Tic-Tac-Toe boards I found from Sailing Into First and the spelling homework found in my Spelling Packets.

They put that paper in a page protector in their binder, and keep it there for 2 weeks and then I switch to the other version.

If you'd like a the Homework Cover letters, you can download them HERE for free!

As far as reading?? Yes. I do want my kids to read books. We send home leveled books in their book baggies. But I don't require them keep reading logs, especially in 1st grade. I just want them to learn to read... and love to read. I don't want work to always be associated with reading. I want them to learn to love reading. Plus, as a parent, I'm really bad at signing things on a nightly basis. I'm not even going to lie about that. lol.

 When I taught 2nd and 3rd, I had them do reading logs a little different. I tied it to a skill of some sort...

You can see more about that in THIS POST. 

So, what do you do for your homework?? What do you do that you just love??