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Why We Should Give Students a Homework Break Over the Holidays

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I have so many fond memories from holiday seasons growing up: the smell of delicious food being made by my Mexican and Filipino families, warm light on the faces of my relatives, and lots of laughter. As I got older, though, things changed—mostly because I had so much homework to do.

Instead of joking with our relatives at the holidays, my brother and I would often sequester ourselves at the edge of the room, thick textbooks open and pens in our hands. Sometimes, we’d miss events altogether. When we did attend, the ramifications could be intense. During one spring break, I chose to go to an Easter party with my family. But by midnight, I was stress-weeping because I had so much work to do by the next day.

As a teacher, I now understand the temptation to give work over school breaks. There never seems to be enough time to do the projects or read the texts I’d like to with my kids, and asking students to work or read during breaks eases that crunch. I also worry that my students will lose some of their learning in the weeks they are gone.

Recently, though, my school created a new homework policy that, among other things, encourages us to avoid giving students work over extended school breaks. Our administration cited studies that raise questions about the benefits of hefty doses of homework.

I worried about how this new plan would affect my curriculum pacing, and about what my students might “lose.” But I realized that my concerns were really about my desires, not what was best for my students.

The new policy led me to re-evaluate my assignments and timing, and I ended up being able to make adjustments so my kids could complete necessary projects without working when they should be recharging. I’d worried about my students’ learning, but recent research challenges our long-held belief that students’ learning “slides” significantly over long breaks.

Taking the stress of homework out of my students’ holiday breaks is important. They deserve an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate as much as I do—particularly if they are overscheduled to begin with. Young or old, we all need rejuvenation time. In addition, more studies are demonstrating the benefits of down time for students. Having unstructured time recharges them, but also allows their brains to build connections that strengthen and improve their executive functioning.

We need to be mindful of other factors that complicate homework assignments over holiday breaks. We don’t always know what our students’ lives are like outside our classrooms. Do they struggle with access to the resources necessary to complete assignments? Do they have stressful home situations?

Here are a few ways we can send our students off on a positive note when they leave us for holiday breaks. I’m trying them myself this winter!

Provide activities that support students reconnecting with themselves, their loved ones, or their community.

While we want to avoid giving mandatory work to students, we can offer opportunities and ideas for learning-friendly activities they can do during their break. Maybe that’s an optional/extra credit project that asks students to interview a family or community member (though we should also provide time after break for those who couldn’t work over break). Or maybe we can offer students some ideas about how they could use their time to take care of themselves or their communities. We could provide reflection questions once they’re back from break, to help them find meaning in the experience. Encouraging students to use their time to volunteer or take care of themselves allows us to help our kids grow not just as students, but as people.

Offer opportunities to find a new passion, set goals, or reflect.

While some students may travel or connect with family, some of our kids may have a lot of free time over their break. We can encourage them to use the time to set goals for the year, dream big and draw or write their five-year plan (remind them this is for fun and plans will change!), or reflect on their year or life so far. We can also encourage students to discover something they’re passionate about, or use the time to pursue something they love.

Deepen your relationships with students and allow them to open up to you.

Sometimes, our kids are simply not given the space to dive deeply into something that lets them tell us who they are. Give students a project that allows them to explore their identity or have them write a story about their lives. This will not only provide some critical thinking, reading, or writing enrichment, but more importantly will provide valuable insight into our students’ lives and help us build deeper connections with our students. We can return the favor by completing the project ourselves or writing a story and sharing it with them.

After the break, see what stuck with students.

Instead of returning from break with the mindset of what was “lost,” give students a chance to share everything they remember from the last unit. Instead of assuming they all had a great time they want to share, welcome kids back with an opportunity to celebrate the experiences that stuck with them from their breaks. Help students generate a class-created study guide so they can review what they learned before the break. This gives them space to support one another and remind each other what they learned, as well as gives us an opportunity to praise students for what they’ve retained. It also provides important feedback for us on what stuck over the break and what we need to reteach.

Ultimately, our students look to us not just for academic growth, but to support their growth as human beings as well. Taking away homework stress over break may cause us to change our short-term plans, but providing them with opportunities and resources instead can have some long-term benefits that can change their self-perception and their lives more than a packet of homework ever could.

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Pros and cons of holiday homework

Homework is that word that sends a shudder down the spine of most of the students. While some people think that homework is an effective way of revising what you learn at school but many think that homework plays no vital role in the lives of students. Is homework necessary or does it add more stress and pressure on students? Is homework important? Here are some pros and cons of holiday homework so you can decide better.

Pros of holiday homework:

1. allows for a comfortable place to study.

There is no doubt about the fact that with time, the classrooms have evolved to be more welcoming toward students but there is nothing more comfortable and safer than home. Students will be more comfortable studying more effectively at home, and the best way to do that is by revising everything that you have learned at school by doing it in the form of homework. Students may feel more focused and attentive at home rather than in class, in this way they can learn and study better.

2. Time management skills

Time management is an important skill that helps one for a lifetime. Homework will help students in developing time management skills and how to stay on track. Students will learn to plan a schedule and ensure that all tasks can be completed during the day. This will encourage research skills as well as develop problem-solving skills and independent thinking which will be beneficial in the real world.

3. Parents more involved in a child’s life

By bringing homework, students can engage their learning process with their parents. Parents can be involved in the studies of their kids and know what the kids are doing or how well they are performing in their studies. Parents would also know where their child lacks or what improvement is needed. Many parents also want their kids to bring homework, so they know what they are being taught at school. Moreover, parents get to spend more time with their children, especially in their study time, so they also know where the child stands in terms of studying.

4. Encourages the discipline of practice

Repeating the same lessons might be boring and frustrating for students but this will only encourage the discipline of practice among them and make them better. To get better at one subject or even skills, repetition is the key. It is necessary. If the students are having trouble solving a math problem in class but bring homework and do it again, chances are high that they will get better at it. The concepts become much easier to understand.

Cons of holiday homework:

1. causes unnecessary stress.

Students are often given lots of assignments and homework so it gets hard to cope with the pressure. The word homework or assignments can instill a sense of dread in students. When the workload and deadlines are at large, homework can cause students to feel stressed and anxious all the time. This can also lead to them not being motivated enough and can take a toll on their studies and grades.

2. Not always effective

Many surveys and studies have shown that homework has zero effects. Homework can only create a negative attitude towards schooling and discourages students from even making efforts and making them anxious all the time. Homework doesn’t help in achieving good results. It might be helpful to certain students struggling with a few subjects but overall, there is no evidence that shows any improvements in students’ academic results with the help of homework.

3. Not every home has a beneficial environment

While there are many homes and parents that want to play an active role in the studies of their kids but on the other hand, some students might not have the same experience. Some students might face difficulties at home as there may be no welcoming, beneficial environment for the kids so it may get a bit hard for these students to go home and do homework. Some parents may just push the responsibility of teaching off on the teacher and provide no support to their kids.

Other than pros and cons of holiday homework, you can also read Smart strategies to complete your holiday homework

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How to Do Your Homework During the Holidays

Last Updated: January 5, 2022 References

This article was co-authored by Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed. . Alexander Ruiz is an Educational Consultant and the Educational Director of Link Educational Institute, a tutoring business based in Claremont, California that provides customizable educational plans, subject and test prep tutoring, and college application consulting. With over a decade and a half of experience in the education industry, Alexander coaches students to increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence while achieving skills and the goal of achieving skills and higher education. He holds a BA in Psychology from Florida International University and an MA in Education from Georgia Southern University. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 50,606 times.

Sometimes, even if you are done with exams for the academic term, you end up with homework during your school holiday. Whether you are making up work, preparing for a new class, or simply already have to start working on next term, it is possible to get your homework done during your holiday and still enjoy your free time. All you need to do is set a schedule, designate a space to study, and stick to your plan—we'll show you how!

Organizing Your Time

• Try setting aside consistent times for certain subjects every day. For example, if you know you will have time in the afternoon, set aside a block from 2pm to 4pm to work on your homework.
• If you need to work on multiple subjects over the holidays, alternate your study time from day to day. You may want to work on your history homework on Mondays and Wednesdays, and your maths work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• Use a personal planner or calendar to mark down your study times, and write what assignments you want to work on for each day.

• Studying distracted can actually make it more difficult to learn and retain information. When you designate no-study time, it’s important to stick to it so that you don’t miss vital steps or information in your school work.

Setting Up Your Space

• If you are traveling and you forget something, it may be difficult or expensive to get a replacement on the go.
• To avoid missing anything, look at each assignment before you leave and make a checklist of what materials you need to complete that assignment. Go through the checklist and make sure you have packed everything you need to take with you before you leave school.

• If you carry a phone or tablet with you regularly, set reminders on your digital calendar so that you get instant notifications.
• If you use a planner, write reminders down there as well, so that you know what you expect to do and when you expect to do it.

• Clear your study space of all distractions. If you work at a desk, for example, make sure that only your computer, your notebook, your school books, and materials relevant to your studies are set up.
• Make the space more comfortable by providing yourself with comfortable seating, good lighting, and accoutrements such a blanket that may help you feel more relaxed in your space.

Working On Your Homework

• Apps like Freedom and LeechBlock allow users to temporarily block certain sites or set whole blocks of time where the internet is inaccessible.
• Tools such as FocusWriter and Focus Booster are designed to help you track your time to accomplish specific tasks.

• Taking occasional breaks has been found to improve attention and potentially make your overall studying more effective. [7] X Research source Even if you are focused on an assignment, try to include breaks to keep from overworking yourself.

• Do try to avoid packing schoolwork into times that won’t properly allow you to focus, such as on a tour or during a family get-together. Save the school work for designated study time or your leisure time.
• Make sure your environment is compatible for the work you need to do. For example, avoid bringing your computer or scientific calculator to a beach setting, which could damage such equipment.

• If possible, save any editing for a time when you are not on a trip or dealing with family visits. Find a low-stress point in your holiday where you can go over the work you’ve done thus far.
• See if any of your peers would be interested in exchanging assignments and peer editing. Arrange it with a friend before you leave school, and set exchange deadlines for the two of you.

Expert Q&A

• Do not save all of your homework for the last day of your holiday. This makes it more likely that you will not get all of your work done on time and at a satisfactory level. Thanks Helpful 10 Not Helpful 0
• Let your friends and family know your planned study schedule so that they can plan not to disturb you during those times. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 1
• Make sure you have a way to contact your teacher, such as their email address, in case you have any questions that arise while you are away from school. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ Alexander Ruiz, M.Ed.. Academic Tutor. Expert Interview. 18 June 2020.
• ↑ http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/68908.html
• ↑ https://psychcentral.com/news/2011/02/09/taking-breaks-found-to-improve-attention/23329.html
• ↑ http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/how-not-over-or-under-pack-winter-break
• ↑ http://ameritech.edu/blog/tips-make-environment-best-study-space/
• ↑ http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/apps-media-distractions-947/
• ↑ http://www.medicaldaily.com/health-benefits-beach-3-reasons-hit-beach-summer-246789
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/01/

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Learning with Fun: how to enjoy Holiday homeworks

Summer holidays mean relax : students can finally take a break and spend some time with their friends and families. Assigning them books to read, exercises to complete and problems to solve is an outdated homework model. Thanks to education technology , it is now easier than ever to stimulate students during holidays , motivating them to keep on training their mind. Here are some ideas.

But first, catch their attention and enthusiasm

Before using smart tech tools to engage students and help them to enjoy the summer learning activities, it is important to understand their needs and catch their attention , improving their motivation and enthusiasm. This has nothing to do with technology. It is a previous process that teachers should conduct face to face in the classroom.

Rule #1: appeal to students’ interests

Students enjoy their homework when it sounds funny, interesting, relevant to them: that’s why teachers should incorporate what their learners know and love in the summer assigments. How? First of all, taking a poll to find out what the majority of the class is into – sports, arts, nature? – and then creating a way to integrate the favourite subjects into the summer homework. Appealing to students’ interests is a great motivation driver!

Rule #2: keep it short

Holiday homework has the purpose to practice – or extend – those concepts learned at school during the school year. The duration of homework per day depends on the purpose . The National PTA (Parents Teacher Association, U.S.A.) recommends 10-20 minutes of homework in the 1st grade, arriving to 120 minutes of homework for a student in high school. But it is very tough to find a student who enjoys 2 hours of homework per day! In fact, consistent studies suggest that shorter – and more frequent – homework assignments are more effective , because learners are more likely to complete them.

Rule #3: stimulate sharing

During summertime, students prefer to stay outdoor, enjoying leisure with friends . Holiday homeworks can be a great opportunity to leverage on students’ cooperation, stimulating them with assignments including teamworks and activities to complete together with their classmates.

Rule #4: make it fun

Instead of force students to do traditional summaries regarding books they have read during summer, try to assign different kinds of homeworks, maybe including more subjects at the same time . An example: a written recap of summer holidays where students have to talk about the places they visited, merging this story with the music they listenend to, the histories they learnt and including even the photos they took during holidays. This could be a great way to test the students’ capability to deal with multitasks and activities of different nature. Regarding the many ways students can learn with fun, technology gives a lot of solutions suitable for students to do their holiday homework and keep on learning during summer in a more engaging and funny way. In Google Play Store , you can find a lot of apps that allow innovative and effective ways to learn at home during holidays :

• To students , the apps enable them to learn and to do homeworks in a more innovative and – above all – fun way;
• For teachers , it will be possible for them to assign homeworks and other activities with the possibility to better organize students’ tasks and to collect homework in an easier way when students will be back to school.

Holiday Homework — It’s Essential!

Amongst many teachers and parents, homework is a pretty hot conversational topic. While some believe that homework is an essential part of the school experience, others think it's a waste of our children’s time.

It’s not always easy to know what’s best for your child when it comes to schooling, but at William Clarence Education, we’re big supporters of homework – particularly when it comes to the holiday season. Here’s why.

The Summer Break Lasts A Long Time…

The long summer break is a great opportunity to spend quality time together as a family, but it can also lead to your child being intellectually understimulated. In an age of social media and Netflix, it’s easier than ever for our youngsters to spend their downtime frying their brains in front of screens. While every child should be allowed their own time to relax and recover from the stresses of school, it’s important not to let that behaviour dictate their entire summer break. Holiday homework provides the perfect opportunity to keep their "school brain" ticking over, and keeps them challenged and stimulated.

Preparing For University Life

As our children grow up, homework becomes a more important part of their schooling, allowing them to develop vital skills such as independent research. It also helps them to prepare for the demands of a university career. Many undergraduate degrees will involve a lot of directed learning, but others will rely upon the students going away and spending their own time reading, researching and writing. One way to begin learning these skills is through holiday homework assignments while your child is still in school.

Learning Outside the School Environment

When a child struggles at school, it often has less to do with their academic potential than with social distractions – and the manner in which they are taught. Put plainly, the school environment is not always conducive to learning. For this reason, homework over the holidays can be the perfect opportunity for your child to catch up on work they have missed or found too challenging. If your child is really struggling, you might even consider private tuition – educational consultancy services around the London and the UK, such as William Clarence Education, can supply excellent private tutors who will specialise in home schooling and exam preparation.

The key thing to remember when it comes to holiday homework is balance. Your child deserves a break during which they can enjoy themselves and have some freedom, so opt for a fair working schedule that is flexible around their needs.

_________________________________________________________________

William Clarence Education is the leading education advisory and consultancy service in the UK. With an unrivalled reach into the UK Schooling and University network, we help and advise families from around the world to reach their maximum potential and gain access to the very best of British education.  

William Clarence put the student’s needs and welfare at the centre of every programme of study we deliver with a focus on integrity and discretion.  Services include UK School and University Placement, Residential Tutoring, Oxbridge Application, US College Admission and Homeschooling. 

For more information   please contact :

+44(0)2074128988 [email protected] williamclarence.com

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Organising Students

How to get started and on top of your holiday homework

We know school has finished, or is just about over for the year for most students, and the last thing you probably want to think about right now is completing your holiday homework.  Let us tell you it is important to do, particularly for those in senior years at school, and that you want to get on top of your holiday homework early!

Unfortunately most students will push holiday homework aside and not even start to look at it until maybe sometime the week before school goes back.  Don’t let this be you as it will just create unnecessary stress and pressure.  Whilst you are not expected to study for 8 hours a day over the holidays, it is important you do set aside time to prepare and complete what you have been assigned to do as a minimum.

When working with our current students we have highlighted they would be better to start now and spread out what they need to do by chipping away at it.  For may we have set them the a goal of trying to get most of it done prior to Christmas and then reviewing again just before they go back.  Do you think you could give that a go too?

So how do you get started and on top of your holiday homework? Steps to take:

• The second step is to work out what order you are planning to do it in and then allocate time to each task – naturally it is holidays so if you were planning to do a task tomorrow and something comes up just reschedule it until the next day or another time – you can be flexible!

• If you have had a step up to the next year level it is also important to re read any notes you have taken to assist consolidating that knowledge now rather than not doing anything with them until you go back to school.

A few other things that you can do include:

• going through your school notes from this past year and work out what materials you might like to reference again next year ie those subjects that you are continuing with and put them somewhere easily accessible.
• working out where your dedicated study space, or spaces, will be and set them up ready to work at.  Purchase any necessary stationery, books or supplies you need.

All we can do is to urge you to take notice of this advice and ensure you won’t be one of those students rushing to get your work done at the last minute.  For those of you in Year 12 it will be much better to start the year ahead wouldn’t you agree?

Now go and get started but also remember to enjoy the summer too!

For further information on how we might be able to assist you or your child please do get in touch for a chat.

If you have a child in Year 10-12 in 2023 you might also like to consider the Success as a Senior Student Workshop we are running online on 29 February 2024  – click here .

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Three types of holiday homework tasks

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• Three types of holiday homework…

Think about the key ideas in a text

Reading or watching a set text for study is probably the most basic holiday homework task students get. Beyond merely familiarising themselves with the text though, something else essential that students need to achieve from an initial reading or viewing of a text is to begin to consider how key ideas in a text are conveyed and what their messages are. To get students to do this:

a) When you set holiday homework and before students engage with a text for the first time, introduce students to the 3-4 key ideas in a text and show them examples of essay tasks they’ll come across. Give them a short simple list of the key ideas that they can keep inside their novel. b) Students can begin to think about the key ideas in the text as they read or view it by identifying examples of something that happens that shows a key ideas. c) Another way students can think about the key ideas in a text is by finishing simple message sentence starters about the text once they have finished it:

*The text shows it’s important to… *By the end of the text, the protagonist has discovered… *The text shows that when…

Develop vocabulary lists

Since everything in English is fundamentally a writing test, vocabulary lists will always come in useful in helping students write better. So you can get students to:

a) Develop word lists for each of the key ideas in a text response text (i.e at least ten words for each idea). They can do this through their own brainstorming or by using a thesaurus. They can practise using some of these words to complete an activity like c) from above. b) Develop a list of alternative nouns and adjectives for a key idea they are studying for idea frameworks. Trying using some of them in a simple persuasive writing task.

Brainstorm creative writing ideas

In order to come up with two good ideas to write about for the creating texts area of study, students will need to begin with a long list of possibilities. This process should begin during the holidays. After introducing students to the idea framework before the holidays, set students the challenge of coming up with at least ten things they could write about over the holidays.

Author:  tickinglogin

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What’s the Purpose of Homework?

Finding the right balance between school and home..

Posted November 4, 2014 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Remember the days of sitting in class waiting eagerly for the bell to ring before the teacher said that dreaded word, “homework”? Sighs, rolling eyes, and grunts quickly filled the quiet classroom at the mention of that word. Well, not much has changed today except for the fact that many teachers post assignments electronically. I have yet to see a student jump for joy when the word homework is mentioned, nor have I seen students eager to get home to do their homework (maybe finish it, but not to do it). This brings up the question, “What’s the purpose of homework?”

Research shows mixed results when it comes to homework. Some research has shown that students aren’t doing any more homework than their parents did at their age. In a study, school-aged children and parents completed surveys about how much homework youth have. The results showed that the typical elementary student has 30-45 minutes of homework each night. The average high-school student has about 60 minutes per night. Interestingly, these numbers have remained consistent since 1984!

As an educator, I would like to see a replication of this study. Today's teens are taking college-level courses as early as the ninth and tenth grade. With the push of programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Dual Enrollment, it is amazing that teens are not completely burnt out. No wonder 8% of teen's age 13-18 years meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder. Too many teens are spending a lot of time on schoolwork outside of the classroom. Ask today's teen what has him/her so stressed and you'll find that about 80% of them will say school.

There are those who argue that homework does serve a purpose . For example, it helps to prepare students for national and statewide exams and tests. It helps to reinforce what’s being taught in the classroom. It enables parents to actively engage in their child’s education . Plus, it helps teach fundamental skills such as time management , organization, task completion, as well as responsibility. What’s more important is students get to demonstrate mastery of material without the assistance of a teacher.

How much homework should your child do each night? Organizations such as the National Parent Teacher Association support giving students about 10 minutes of homework each night, per grade level, starting in first grade. So a middle school student would have a full day in school and then an additional 60 minutes of homework after school. Is that too much? Are these guidelines being followed? I would recommend speaking with high-achieving teens and let them share how much of their time is consumed with homework. Many will tell you that they spend hours upon hours each night studying for tests, and preparing for papers and projects, etc.

According to Stanford University , more than a couple of hours of homework a night may be counterproductive. Researchers looked at students in high achieving communities, defined as a median household income exceeding $90,000, and 93% of the students attended post-secondary institutions. Students in these areas spent an average of three-plus hours on homework every night. So imagine a teen spending an entire day at school, going to work or extracurricular activities, then going home to do three or more hours of homework each night; only to get up the next day to do it all again.

Researchers have found that students who spend too much time on homework experience more levels of stress and physical health problems. Too much homework has also been shown to have a negative impact on students’ social lives. This is no surprise to the parents who rarely see their child because he/she is too busy working on homework, or to the parent who gets up at 12:30 A.M. to check to see if their child has made it to bed yet. Overall, high school students shouldn’t be spending over two hours on homework each night.

According to the Stanford study , too much homework leads to:

•Stress: 56% of the students surveyed considered homework a primary source of stress. Less than 1% of the students said homework was not a stressor.

•Poor health: Many students reported sleep deprivation, headaches, stomach problems, weight loss, and exhaustion.

•Less time for a social life : Students reported that spending too much time on homework led to pulling out of enjoyable activities, quitting extracurricular activities, and not spending much time with family and friends.

OK, I know not all students spend a lot of time doing homework. According to a survey by the U.S. Dept. of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics , the majority of youth spend an average of seven hours of homework outside of school each week. So while that doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount, what about the student who spends three-plus hours per night? Where is the happy medium?

There are definitely pros and cons to doing homework. I think the bigger question that educators need to address is “what’s the purpose of the assignment?” Is it merely a way to show parents and administration what's going on in the class? Is it a means to help keep the grades up? Is the homework being graded for accuracy or completion? If so, then what if the assignment is wrong? Have the necessary skills been taught so the student can master the material on his or her own? I read an article once that stated teachers underestimate the amount of homework they assign by 50%. If that's accurate then there is definitely cause for concern.

In summary, there seems to be no clear answer on the homework debate. I started the blog with a question “What’s the purpose of homework?” I’ll end with the same question. If a teacher who is assigning the homework can’t provide a clear rationale behind this question, then maybe the homework shouldn’t be assigned.

I welcome you to weigh in with your thoughts. Do you think students have too much homework? If you are a teen reading this, how much homework do you have on an average night?

Raychelle Cassada Lohman n , M.S., LPC, is the author of The Anger Workbook for Teens .

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11 Ideas for Creative Holiday Homework for Class 4 Students

• Updated on  
• Apr 18, 2024

Children studying in class 4 have a mind that needs to be nurtured. Holiday homework is always aimed at learning goals that students reach just in the lessons. There are a lot of valuable skills such as time management, confidence, creativity, strategizing, etc that students pick up along the way as they complete their holiday homework. This blog is packed with 11 ideas for creative holiday homework for class 4 that have been categorized as crafts and art homework, games and activities homework, etc. Teachers can use these ideas to shape young minds and develop them. To know more, keep reading this blog! 

Table of Contents

• 1.1 1. Make a Board Game 
• 1.2 2. Prepare a Dish from a Recipe Book 
• 1.3 3. Create a Birdhouse 
• 1.4 4. Transform a Fictional Book Character into a Hand Puppet 
• 2.1 5. Making a School Replica in Minecraft 
• 2.2 6. Play Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon 
• 3.1 7. Walking Quest 
• 3.2 8. Rope Skipping 
• 3.3 9. Obstacle Quiz 
• 4.1 10. Create a Picture Album 
• 4.2 11. Describe it in 5 minute Video 

Here are 10 Fun Things You Can Do While Staying at Home

Art and Craft Creative Holiday Homework for Class 4 Students 

We have compiled a list of arts and crafts creative holiday homework for Class 4 students in this section. Let us look at them now. 

1. Make a Board Game 

This is one of the most creative ideas. Creating a board game with students’ own rules is a great way to allow them to be inventive and imaginative. 

2. Prepare a Dish from a Recipe Book 

There are many skills like reading, chemistry, math, etc that are covered in cooking. This is a great way to allow them to develop all this along with proper measurement and precision. 

3. Create a Birdhouse 

In this activity, students will have to create a blueprint of the birdhouse, measure all the sides, properly construct it, and then decorate it. This will add to their creativity and craft side. 

4. Transform a Fictional Book Character into a Hand Puppet 

Fictional stories become so much more fun when we can bring those characters to life. In this activity, students will explore their imagination to create puppets of their favourite fictional book characters. 

Also Read: Benefits of Clay Art for Children  

Games and Activities as Creative Holiday Homework for Class 4 Students

There are plenty of games and activities that can be assigned in the form of homework that will help develop young minds. Let us look at a few interesting games and activities as creative holiday homework for Class 4 students. 

5. Making a School Replica in Minecraft 

Minecraft is a computer game that replicates building blocks. Students can be asked to develop a replica of their own school in the said game. 

6. Play Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon 

In these two games, students have to build a zoo or a theme park. And along with that, they have to solve problems all the time. They have to gather money to keep building and make the park profitable. This game teaches students how to handle money and how to solve problems. And it’s fun at the same time! 

Also Read: 5 Best Social-Emotional Learning Activities  

Physical Homework Activities as Creative Holiday Homework for Class 4 

Physical activities can also be assigned as creative holiday homework for Class 4 students. These will allow them to develop their fitness skills. Let us look at some of these activities now. 

7. Walking Quest 

In this activity, students have to go on a walking tour and get a paper with pictures on it. They have to find the points in pictures on their way and put them in the right order. This is a fun activity and will help develop their attention while at the same time making sure that students get their daily walk done. 

8. Rope Skipping 

Students can be asked to create a video of them skipping rope to attain a particular level of jumps. This is a perfect activity to promote agility and mindfulness in students. 

9. Obstacle Quiz 

In this activity, students must create a quiz from their lesson materials. This allows them to work with the lesson material and, hence, helps them remember it better. Apart from that, they have to make a game out of it. This will transform a normal quiz into a quiz with challenges. 

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Digital or Computer Holiday Homework for Class 4 Students 

These activities will not only allow the students to complete their homework, but at the same time, they enhance their computer learning. 

10. Create a Picture Album 

You can ask students to create a photo album of their vacation days along with sentences describing the pictures. This will allow them to use computer software to create the same. 

11. Describe it in 5 minute Video 

Students can 5-minute asked to describe any one of their interesting days in a video. This will allow the students to develop great speaking skills along with developing confidence. 

Ans: You can make holiday homework creative by giving students different activities like arts and crafts, quizzes, etc as homework. 

Ans: You can plan your holiday homework by creating a schedule giving equal importance to each aspect of your day. 

Ans: If you plan on completing your holiday homework in 2 days, then create a study plan for those two days dividing it across various subjects that you will have to cover in your holiday homework. 

Explore interesting ideas for school children here : 

To refer to interesting ideas related to childrens’ school education activities, follow Leverage Edu now!! 

Deepansh Gautam

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Talking research, issues and ideas for teachers, students and learning

Homework – what’s the point of it?

Senior Lecturer in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of Canberra

University of Canberra provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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A middle school student I know came home from school with the task to recreate a medieval fort out of cake. I expect the History teacher thought this was a creative and engaging activity. This particular student, from a refugee background living with his single uncle, first had to figure out how to make a cake and spend scarce money on cake tins and ingredients.

Even putting aside the cultural and economic challenges the task presented to this boy, what was the point of that homework?

What is the point of any homework?

Who likes homework?

It’s a question I pose my preservice teachers and the responses always fall into three categories, which I suspect are also reflective of the broader community.

There are the righteous supporters – they tend to be swats whose memories of gold stars give them warm feelings to this day. Who wouldn’t want to do homework, they wonder?

There are the vocal opponents – they tend to be parents who have wasted too many evenings trying to figure out how long division is taught these days, and too much money on sheets of coloured cardboard.

Then there’s the rest – they think you should do homework, because well, they had to do homework at school. They are the status quo majority. For some of them, the idea of setting and marking homework is inextricably tied up with the vision they have of themselves ‘doing’ teaching – but they’ve not really thought much about what homework achieves.

Does homework improve learning outcomes?

Research finds that homework doesn’t improve learning outcomes in primary school, and has a weak link to improved outcomes in junior high school. Those improvements are connected to parental involvement – but parents who are keen supporters of homework may be disappointed to hear that their positive contribution is largely just ensuring their children hand in their homework.

Parental involvement in the homework itself can actually reduce the child’s success at school . Parents rarely have the expertise to fill in gaps in their children’s understandings of concepts, and the predilection of some parents to take over the homework reduces the autonomy of the children, leaving them less able to work independently at school, and less confident of their own abilities.

There are many parents, dedicated and desperately interested in their children’s education, who cannot involve themselves in their children’s homework. They may not have had schooling opportunities themselves, they may speak English as an additional language, they may work long hours or shifts, or they may just be like most of us, and simply can’t remember what a quadratic equation is.

Those with spare cash buy the homework support, in the form of after hours tutoring. In high school, where homework tasks contribute substantially to the course grade, homework is the great unequaliser, contributing to the achievement gap.

Homework generally falls into two categories: practising or catching up on work done in the classroom, and creative extensions of work being done in the classroom. The latter – like making a fort out of cake – is really just busy work.

There are children who enjoy this busy out of school project work, but they don’t need a teacher to set a project for them. Kids find projects everywhere: they build the birdhouse they saw on the lifestyle channel, they create complicated archives for their card collections, they make shields out of paint can lids and they create secret languages for their secret clubs. Or they would, if they weren’t busy trying to make a fort out of cake.

Homework that involves practising or catching up on what was missed in class simply exacerbates the challenges those trailing students are already facing. If there is a child who is behind in classwork, an untrained parent is not going to achieve what a teacher is failing to. If success at school is dependent upon the work being sent home, then the work should be done at school.

There are enough hours in a school day to teach the curriculum. If a school thinks there aren’t, they should audit their use of the school day and teacher expertise. Colouring in, show and tell, roll call, whole school assemblies and assigning and marking homework during class are all examples of ineffective use of teachers’ skills and student learning time.

Homework does not enhance connections between home and the school

Perhaps the most beguiling of contemporary arguments for homework is that it provides the connection between home and school.

The raised voices and tears around the homework table suggest this particular home-school connection is rarely a productive one. Tired and emotional parents, feeling inadequate about their knowledge of improper fractions, helping tired and emotional children, feeling inadequate that they can’t understand what their parent is saying – and anyway it’s not what Ms J said in class today.

A recent photo story of a young child crying as she struggles with her homework makes a compelling case for how damaging homework can be for some.

Better connections between school and home are important, but homework seems more likely to kill the connection than build the connection.

So what should parents do?

Spend those precious after school hours talking to your children about anything and everything, reading to them and with them, loving them and being interested in them. It’s not work, but it is what home is for.

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