Anonymous wrote:Our FCPS school moved to a no-homework policy in 2017. There are lots of studies that show that homework is ineffective. There were complaints that the parents didn't know what was going on in class, so the second year of the no-homework policy, the principal required all teachers to send home a newsletter each week with "what we're learning", "what you can ask your child", "what you can do at home" columns. I love the no-homework policy.

I wish our FCPS school would do this. DD has "homework" in first grade. It's not much, but it's not a good use of the after-school hours.

DS had minor homework in first grade, read a book, write a few sentences, 3-4 math problems.

He is in second grade this year. He is suppose to read 20 minutes a day and will have some language practice (he is in immersion). He is suppose to complete or correct work at home that he could not finish at school.

FCPS ES

OP here. Thank you all for your quick and helpful posts. I guess I will have to probe a little further if they will be starting any homework in a couple of weeks, I guess I will also stick to my 30 min Math and Spelling etc practice, my kinds love to read at night so that should be okay. The lack of feedback is so frustrating though.

The no homework policy exists so that you can send your kid to an after school program where they will get.... Homework.

To be honest, the lack of textbooks, tests, homework, and nebulous feedback makes it seem as though the school system wants to either obscure student progress from parents or somehow mitigate disparate impact/provide equity in education.

Responsible parents will be teaching, encouraging good work habits and getting feedback without the help of the school system.

Our school doesn't have a homework policy. It varies by teacher and grade. Some years my kids have homework and other years they don't. We get lots of in class work home in the weekly folder, so I can see what they're doing.

This is definitely school-dependent. My kids always had HW from their FCPS ES. They almost always had 30 minutes of reading plus a math worksheet each night. In some years they also also had weekly or bi-weekly spelling activities.

I was grateful the teacher sent stuff home, but it would have been easy enough to supplement math on my own if I'd needed to. There are plenty of resources on line - we've used ixl.com, mathworksheets4kids.com, Khan Academy videos, etc.

Our homework hasn't started at my FCPS school. I was told at Back to School we'd start a month in.

Anonymous wrote:Has your school had Back to School night? I'd ask there.

This. For us, our AAP center has a “no homework” policy, but students are expected to still read daily. My AAP student also will have work to complete at home that did not get completed in class; so far this has been 5-15 minutes of finishing something up. Meanwhile our base school does not have a no homework policy (but is also FCPS) and a minimal level of homework existed for the child now at center.

I do understand the rationale behind instituting a no homework policy, I do think a minimal level of reasonable homework still serves to help keep parents better in the loop and to help students set good habits as ingrained from an early age. I do also think a lot of busywork just to say a student did homework is a waste though. I would love a happy medium personally but it’s not my hill to die on. I’m left somewhat facetiously wondering - hey maybe by the time these kids hit HS homework will be a dinosaur too. Maybe even in college haha.

^^PP again - that is a 3rd grade AAP class. Not sure what homework is like in gen ed.

We're in the McLean pyramid and DS is expected to have 30 minutes of homework a night Monday-Thursday, plus 30 minutes of reading. The 30 minutes of homework - they choose a writing prompt from a list and write a few sentences about something they are reading, plus a math worksheet (though he hasn't gotten a math worksheet yet - those will kick in in a couple weeks). I asked about it at back to school night and the teacher said that the county guidance is 10 minutes per grade (so 30 minutes for 3rd).

Clearly schools do what they want with that county guidance.

It's school/teacher dependent. DD had 30 mins of reading and math homework 4 nights of the week last year in 3rd. We're in West Springfield/Burke. The math didn't take much time at all but it was just enough for me to see what she needed help with.

Anonymous wrote:We moved from Rockville (MCPS) to McLean (FCPS) this summer. My kids started 3rd grade in one of the elementary schools in McLean. In MCPS they got homework in K, 1st and 2nd grade, nothing much but something which will take 15-20 mins to finish, I also received their worksheets and projects they did in school, this all helped me understand how they were doing in a particular subject.

Here the school has no homework policy and I haven't received a single paper from school. How am I supposed to gauge their performance level and identify skill gaps, if any? I also believe that 15 mins of homework gives them a structure, helps them form a routine, good study habit.

Is this the case in all of FCPS or this our particular school/teacher? I have downloaded 3rd grade curriculum and I have started them on my own 30 min/evening plan but I am truly disappointed so far.

All you really need to do in 3rd grade is read 30 minutes and work on math facts. Those you can do daily with your child and call it homework.

Our FCPS school moved to a no-homework policy in 2017. There are lots of studies that show that homework is ineffective. There were complaints that the parents didn't know what was going on in class, so the second year of the no-homework policy, the principal required all teachers to send home a newsletter each week with "what we're learning", "what you can ask your child", "what you can do at home" columns. I love the no-homework policy.

Has your school had Back to School night? I'd ask there.

We moved from Rockville (MCPS) to McLean (FCPS) this summer. My kids started 3rd grade in one of the elementary schools in McLean. In MCPS they got homework in K, 1st and 2nd grade, nothing much but something which will take 15-20 mins to finish, I also received their worksheets and projects they did in school, this all helped me understand how they were doing in a particular subject.

Here the school has no homework policy and I haven't received a single paper from school. How am I supposed to gauge their performance level and identify skill gaps, if any? I also believe that 15 mins of homework gives them a structure, helps them form a routine, good study habit.

Is this the case in all of FCPS or this our particular school/teacher? I have downloaded 3rd grade curriculum and I have started them on my own 30 min/evening plan but I am truly disappointed so far.