homework policy — SIDEBARS

Homework Policy

It’s important to remember that the work you do to prepare for classes at the Academy isn’t really homework in the traditional sense of the word: It’s class work. You just happen to be doing it at home.

The best part of learning with other people is the conversations you can have about what you’re studying — but in order for that to happen, students must come to class prepared. We don’t want to spend all of our time together reading and taking notes; instead, we ask students to do that part of their work at home, bringing their questions and ideas about the work to class with them. Just as in college classes, you’ll be doing a significant portion of your work independently.

That means that you should expect to spend the equivalent of two full in-class days doing work at home. Your assignments are set up to prepare you for your next class; not doing them means that you are coming to class unprepared. Sometimes you’ll also have homework-homework — projects or writing assignments that ask you to delve deeper into a particular concept or topic. You should expect to spend 12 to 20 hours on homework a week — which sounds like a lot until you remember that you can spread those hours over three days and still have the weekend off. The key is to find a schedule that works for you and not wait until the last minute — if you take four days off and try to squeeze all of your homework into one day, you will probably feel overwhelmed and stressed — and your work will seem sloppy and incomplete.

We have a generous homework policy that recognizes and rewards effort — some of the work we do is challenging, and we don’t expect you to come in with perfect understanding every time. The purpose of homework is to learn to tackle increasingly challenging work, and we ask not for perfect execution but for authentic effort. If you’re working hard, coming to class with questions, and demonstrating that you’ve made a genuine effort, it will be hard not to get a high grade. On the other hand, if your work is consistently half-hearted, if you forget or don’t finish it on a regular basis, and you’re unable to answer very basic questions about it, your grades will reflect that.

Homework is not busy work. It’s important, thoughtful work that deserves your careful attention and best effort.

high schoolAmy SharonyDecember 15, 2019homework policyComment

Homework Policy

Classes only meet in person twice a week, so homework is part of the homeschool equation at the Academy. Your middle school student will have somewhere between 4 and 8 hours of homework each week, which can be done at any time on the five off-days. It’s often easier for students to spread this work over several days than to do it all in one burst of energy.

Students keep an assignment notebook, and we go over assignments and write them down together at the end of each school day. Students and parents can also visit the website to download copies of each week’s assignments.

We don’t believe in busy work. The purpose of homework is to help students experience academic success and build confidence through independent learning, reinforce the critical concepts taught in the classroom, allow students to build executive function and time management skills they will need in high school, and give teachers an opportunity to assess student understanding. We understand that your student has a life outside of school — and we think that’s a good thing! Homework isn’t a test, and it shouldn’t be stressful — the idea is for students to make a genuine effort to tackle the assignment, not for them to complete assignments perfectly.

Ultimately, homework builds confidence and teaches students how to learn independently.

junior highAmy SharonyDecember 14, 2019homework policyComment

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Would you like more information about the Academy? We’re a hybrid homeschool for secular homeschoolers located in Dunwoody, GA. We offer middle and high school classes.