Make-Up Work

The following are some general guidelines for your information regarding acquiring homework when your child is not in attendance (whether it be due to illness or vacation). Unusual cases are handled on an individual basis.

When a child is absent for 3 or more days we will provide homework as appropriate. Parents should contact the office as soon as possible to inform us of the situation. Generally, it takes one (1) day to prepare the homework. However, during shorter absences, if a sibling, neighbor, etc. is available to ask the teacher for handouts, worksheets, etc. readily available to take home, this is perfectly acceptable. It is not unusual for a teacher to advise keeping a journal and assigning some reading. This is because it is not effective or best practice to assign new learning as homework.

Factors associated with the make-up issue:

1. Much of what happens in class goes beyond paper and pencil activity, and simply cannot be made up via sending something home (direct instruction, discussions, activities, informal diagnosing/assessing, and group work).

2. Primary students’ (K-2) teachers often prefer to send make-up work with the children upon their return to school.

3. Sometimes make-up work cannot be provided due to the fact that it represents new concepts that need precise instruction prior to independent practice. Please recognize that we are genuinely concerned over the quality of make-up work in which we are asking your student to invest his time and effort.

Due to the above factors it is obvious that we must leave the final decision over make-up work with the specific teachers involved. Please recognize that circumstances will vary throughout the year and the appropriate response will vary with the situation. The general policy for time to submit make-up work is one day for every day absent. Thus, a child missing five (5) days will have five (5) days to turn in make-up assignments.

Parents are asked to always consider the specific sickness when requesting make-up work. Many illnesses don’t foster individuals feeling good enough to devote the necessary thought and effort into producing a quality effort. Often recreational reading will suffice in these instances.

Check out Homework Hints for more on this topic.