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How to set up a homework club.
Do you have students in your class who fail to complete their homework on a regular basis?
Homework is a hot topic. It can be time-consuming for both students and teachers. Increasingly, there’s a divide between those who believe that homework plays an important part in learning and those who suggest the time would be better spent playing outdoors, with family and developing relationships.
Whatever your personal viewpoint is, you may be tied to the homework policy of your school. So, first and foremost, if you haven’t already done so, make reading your school homework policy a priority.
Next, I would like to offer one piece of advice…
Communicate about homework and communicate well. Communicate clearly with students, parents, guardians and teaching partners. Avoid homework surprises at all costs.
Use our Editable Homework Information Sheet to communicate effectively. It’s a good idea to update this information every term to stay on top of changes and to keep parents up to date with any new additions.
What Makes Homework Meaningful?
Homework tasks should be meaningful. Worthwhile homework is more likely to engage your students and may lead to more involvement in class . Meaningful homework tasks may take a little more time to prepare but believe me, it’s worth it. Before you set a homework task, you might like to consider whether the task:
- has a clear purpose – to practise, check understanding or apply knowledge and skills
- provides an opportunity to review, practise and develop skills they already know
- provides students with an opportunity to do something they enjoy
- enables students to relate learning with the real world
- provides students with an opportunity to experience success and some degree of independence
- provides students with the opportunity to be critical thinkers.
To read more about the wider picture when it comes to homework, read my blog, Why Take an Alternative Approach to Traditional Homework?
Homework Red Flags
For many students, homework is stressful. For many busy families, it’s hard to find the time, space and energy to fit homework into an already jam-packed daily schedule. For some, home life can often be chaotic, loud and full of distractions.
If you have students in your class who are repeatedly failing to complete homework, take the time to consider how your school community can support students and parents.
What is a Homework Club?
A homework club is a safe, supportive and productive student meetup out of school hours to assist students in completing their homework. Homework clubs provide vital support for children who do not otherwise have the help that they need.
Homework clubs can provide:
- a safe, quiet and calm space for students to concentrate
- a supportive environment
- one to one or small group support
- a chance to share knowledge
- an opportunity to build relationships
- an opportunity to develop good work habits and a positive attitude towards learning
- the chance to develop skills involved in becoming an independent learner.
How to Set up a Homework Club
Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Decide who – Start small. Identify a small group of students who need support with completing homework. Follow the protocol for contacting parents and obtaining their permission.
- Decide what – Plan what activities will be included. You might like to go with a simple plan such as snack, active learning game, class homework, chill out time.
- Decide where – Choose a suitable venue. Good options include the school library, a classroom, or a shady outdoor space (my favourite option). Complete a risk assessment.
- Decide when – Start with once a week. Choose an afternoon when you usually stay back after school. Check that your time slot does not clash with other popular extracurricular clubs.
- Decide why? – Decide on the purpose of your homework club. Is it to develop good work habits, provide a calm productive workspace or to improve academic results?
For more helpful tips on taking your homework club outside, read Emma’s inspiring blog Opening the Door To an Outdoor Classroom | Creating an Outdoor Lesson Box .
Tips for Leading a Homework Club
Leading a homework club requires a certain amount of organisation just like everything else. Here are a few tips and ideas to get you started:
- Make sure that your students have a healthy snack and a water break before beginning the session. Don’t forget you!
- Break your homework club session into 4 short intervals : active game, class homework, fast finisher and chill out time .
- Play an Active Game to let off steam and build positive relationships.
- Have a supply of spare pens, pencils and other stationery items.
- Have enough adult support for the number of students in your group.
- Establish clear expectations for conduct and work standards.
Being Ready to Learn at Homework Club
Having clear rules and expectations for homework club is critical. Without rules and regulations, you may find that students think of homework club as the ultimate playdate. Why not use our brand new Behaviour Learning Ladder – Vertical Chart ?
One way to visually keep track of your students’ behaviour is to create a behaviour learning ladder for homework club. A behaviour learning ladder is a great visual reminder for you and the students and includes a step by step warning system for your students.
When you are sharing your expectations, be sure to include areas such as punctuality, commitment, work standards, bringing homework and respecting the needs of others.
For more information on how to set up and use a behavior learning ladder read Holly’s brilliant blog Classroom Management | How to Use a Behaviour Learning Ladder .
Start Homework Club with an Active Learning Game
Don’t forget that after a busy day at school, kids need to be kids. Make sure that the students who attend homework club have a brain break and a chance to play before they are expected to focus and concentrate.
Our Active Learning Resource Pack is a brilliant resource pack that includes 15 active games to play as the perfect brain break before or during homework club. Active games promote fun, active ways of revising learning and are perfect for small groups.
Stock Up on Learning Tools for Homework Club
Get set up with learning tools to encourage independent learning. As a starting point, I used:
- Emoji – Numbers 1 to 100 Chart
- Rainbow Numbers Poster
- Multiplication Facts 1-12 – 4 Per Page
- Phonics Flashcards and Progress Tracker – Motorbike Theme .
Fast Finisher Activities
Stock up on fast finisher activities to avoid one or two students disrupting the calm. Check out the 88 teaching resource in our Fast Finisher Activities Collection to prepare for any situation.
teaching resource
Fast finisher booklet - middle primary.
54 pages of different activities for use in a Fast Finisher Booklet.
Fast Finishers' Folder - Middle Primary
Twenty-one activities for your fast finishers.
Fast Finishers' Folder - Lower Primary
Fast Finishers' Folder - Upper Primary
Homework clubs can make a huge difference to the school lives of students who find completing homework a challenge.
You are an exceptional being because you go the extra mile and do exceptional things.
Take the time to consider the possibility of initiating a homework club. Perhaps, all you have to do is suggest the idea, work out the who, what, where, when and why and find the right team to run the show.
I’ve got your back. P.S. you are amazing!
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Often when youngsters get around to starting their homework, distractions from television, computers, friends, and family make studying a challenge and help is not available. So more students are doing their homework in places other than home, such as school-, library-, and community-sponsored homework clubs.
After-school homework clubs are growing in many communities, with most of them focused on elementary and middle school students. Clubs meet at least one day a week after school and are supervised by teachers or faculty members and volunteers. Students receive general academic help and/or homework assistance.
While some homework clubs are more formal than others, most allow students to "attend" whenever they feel the need. The programs are geared not only to children having trouble with schoolwork, but those who find it hard to concentrate at home or have no one to provide homework assistance.
"We try to re-enforce concepts and the instruction from class," said Damiano Russo, assistant principal of Dearborn Street Elementary School in Northridge, California. "We have a diverse population, and many parents working two jobs. We want to be available for the students. Sometimes teachers will recommend the club to parents if their children are having trouble concentrating at home."
The Dearborn club meets for 90 minutes four days a week, and is staffed by a teaching assistant and a volunteer, who familiarize themselves with classroom assignments. About 25 children attend each day. "It's goal-directed, we try to minimize distractions," Russo added.
Suzanne Piotrowski, a learning disabled specialist at Beech Street Elementary School , in Manchester, New Hampshire, said her school's homework club for third through fifth graders is equally popular. The club meets for an hour after school, three days a week, and draws about 60 students each week.
"Students get tutoring and help completing homework," Piotrowski told Education World. "Some just do homework and some need re-explanation." School officials had hoped more special education students would attend, but the club has been more popular with mainstream students.
The school started the club because a fifth-grade teacher started helping some students after school who she knew had trouble doing homework at home because of noise or other difficulties, according to Piotrowski.
The move to middle school also can mean a big change on the homework scene, and the homework club at Granite Mountain Middle School in Prescott, Arizona, has been so heavily attended that the school had to find another teacher for seventh graders, said Marilyn McCready, the school's library media specialist, who oversees the homework club. "It's very popular and more popular after report cards come out," McCready told Education World.
About 60 students attend every week. Students meet in classrooms with one of four teachers, three of whom are math teachers and one a science teacher. McCready said she recruited math teachers because that is the subject with which students have the most difficulty.
"One reason our homework club is successful is that the teachers maintain it like a regular classroom," she added. "They expect the students to be working and quiet."
Granite's club also meets for an hour after school two days a week, and has a drop-in policy. The only requirement is that once students show up, they must stay for the whole hour unless a parent comes to pick them up. "We've made it as easy as we can."
Teams at Bennet Middle School in Manchester, Connecticut, also organize homework clubs, and set up a schedule for staffing them, said language arts teacher Jenna Brohinsky, team leader for the Royal 7's, a seventh grade team. Students can come for an hour of help after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and some get a chance to work in the computer lab, Brohinsky added.
In some cities, community agencies have taken the lead on homework clubs. Libraries in Sandwell , in the United Kingdom, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for example, sponsor clubs.
The Toronto Public Library operates the Leading to Reading program to help youngsters improve reading skills and homework clubs in 33 of its 99 branches. The Toronto clubs are more formal than some of the after-school programs in the U.S. Students in second through sixth grade sign up for the program, and the library arranges for a volunteer to meet with the student at the library once a week at a specific time for between 60 and 90 minutes.
Library staff members recruit, screen, and train the volunteers, who range in age from high school students to senior citizens. Some library branches have been fortunate to get volunteers from nearby York University , which has a teacher education program. The volunteers provide assistance on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis, and paid monitors oversee the volunteers.
Last year about 347 children participated in the homework clubs and Leading to Reading programs, said Cathy Thompson, east region coordinator for the Leading to Reading and Homework Help programs of the Toronto Public Library.
"Every branch has a waiting list," said David Kondo, Leading to Reading and Homework Help program coordinator, for the west region of the library. "We are limited by space, the number of volunteers, and the salaries of the site monitors."
This year, the library started a homework program for teenagers, because so many who had participated as elementary students came back seeking help, said Joanne Hawthorne a specialist in children and teen services for the Toronto Public Library.
Teen clubs started this year in six branches, and also involve volunteers doing one-on-one tutoring, Hawthorne told Education World. While originally aimed at high school students, some clubs have been opened up to seventh and eighth graders, she said.
While the supervisors have not done studies on the effectiveness of the homework clubs, the feedback from teachers has been positive.
"Anecdotally, we've heard positive things, but we haven't done any follow-up studies," said Russo. "Classroom teachers report that more homework assignments are being done when kids go to homework club. So far it has been a very positive experience, and well-worth the investment."
"Teachers do say at least some kids who were not getting their homework in are doing it," added McCready.
Toronto library staff members have seen homework club students make big gains, Kondo said. "In some cases, the results have been spectacular," he told Education World. "Certainly, a student could go from a C to a B. The fact that the volunteer sees the same child week-to-week means they get used to each other. And any time a child can get individual help, it is great."
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How to Start a Homework Club
by Gwen Moran
For many kids, doing homework together is more fruitful than doing it solo.
Homework clubs are a way for kids to get together, under the supervision of parents or teachers, and do their work in a quiet, structured environment, says Judith Baer, a teacher and education consultant who runs a club in Shrewsbury, NJ. Some homework clubs are sponsored by schools and libraries, others by private tutoring companies. To get a group together if there isn’t one in your area:
Find a quiet location. Check out community centers, churches, synagogues, or homes with extra space.
Look for four to six families (start by asking friends and your child’s teacher). The kids will still be doing their assignments individually, so don’t worry if they’re not in the same grade.
Hold the meetings at regular intervals, from one to three times each week.
Supply pencils, paper, reference books, Internet access — and a snack.
Get help if you need it. A retired teacher may be willing to donate time. Baer says it’s a good idea to have a qualified person in charge to give the club members the help they need.
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Why a homework club could work for your child
What is a homework club?
Homework clubs offer a place for your child to work in a supportive environment out of school hours.
Why choose a homework club?
Some children are so self-motivated that they’re able to work diligently on homework and ignore the distractions of normal family life, but not everyone finds it so easy.
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Doing homework requires a quiet space to work at home and support from you. If your job or other children make it tricky to provide those things you might want to consider the option of a homework club.
Who runs homework clubs?
Schools and many public libraries offer them, usually after school finishes for the day. Check what’s available with your school and local authority. The biggest advantage of a school-based homework club is that it’s on the same premises, so children don’t have to travel to the club. Familiarity with teachers is also a plus point, and your child is in an environment where they are already relaxed.
If your child would prefer a change of location at the end of the school day a library homework club might be the answer. They usually run from 4pm to 6.30pm and sometimes for a few hours on a Saturday morning. “We find that children start getting more homework from the age of nine onwards so our clubs are of most benefit for eight to 14-year-olds,” says Lucy Love, manager for children and young people at libraries run by Enfield Council. “Under-eights can come to the club but a parent or carer must be with them.”
What benefits do clubs offer?
“The great thing about library homework clubs are the homework centre assistants – while they don’t do the child’s work, they have the knowledge and experience to guide them to the relevant books or online resources such as encyclopaedias,” explains Lucy. “We encourage children to use online data, as it’s usually the most up-to-date, and can offer equipment such as protractors and SATs papers. Homework clubs are also a great way of helping the child’s transition to secondary school.”
What to do after homework club
- When you get home, ask your child to explain what their homework is – this will show you they have understood it properly themselves.
- Help your child to settle down and concentrate by making sure there are no distractions around them when they go over their homework with you.
- Encourage your child to check their work to reinforce the learning they have done.
More like this
How To Use A Homework Club To Complete Your Assignments
School is fun for most students, but that’s until the teacher gives difficult assignments. It is an inevitable part of learning as it helps to inculcate the concepts taught in class. Most students would prefer attending classes and never complete assignments on their own but this would be counterproductive. School homework helps you understand everything you learn in class by applying it to questions given.
If you always have problems completing your after-school assignment, it is time to consider joining a tutoring club. These clubs are now more popular than ever especially due to the advent of internet technology. Here you will learn the advantages of these clubs and how they can impact your school work. Keep reading.
- Learn the Basics of Completing Homework
When a homework club starts, the tutor will lay a foundation for students by helping them understand what is homework and how to tackle it easily. You will learn the importance of homework in your studies, and this changes your perception of the same. If you always have a bad attitude towards assignments, joining a homework club changes all this as you get important tips on completing your tasks.
- Interact With Other Students
The class environment is a lot of fun because you meet and interact with friends. It is one reason most students hate afterschool work because they have to work alone. However, joining a homework club changes all this as you can interact with new friends in a friendly environment. Unlike your class where you meet the same students every day, an online homework club gives you an opportunity to meet students from all over the globe. It is fun and you always learn interesting stuff as you complete your homework.
- Availability of Help
The best homework clubs have experts manning the operations and this makes it easy for students who need help. You will get immediate homework help during a session and other students will also chip in to help you. The use of modern technology in these online clubs means you can download and use a homework app to help you along. The other participants will also suggest any other tools you can use.
- Reduce Stress
Studies carried out today indicate that most students suffer from stress and depression due to excessive workload. There is so much to do and without reliable assistance, it is easy to suffer a meltdown. Joining a homework club prevents such problems by facilitating interactions and helping complete the toughest assignment easily.
- Improved Communication
The homework icon homework activities developed for a homework club help improve communication skills. A qualified tutor appreciates the importance of consistent feedback among students and this, in turn, improves communication amongst them. These communication skills come in handy in the future and hence these clubs are crucial.
How could I have done my homework? This is the question most students ask after joining a homework club and seeing the positive results. The club provides a serene learning atmosphere and you get to interact with new friends and have fun while at it.
Frontier College at the U of T St. George Campus
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The Peanut Butter and Jelly Guide to Organizing a Homework Club (1996)
Introduction.
What Is a Homework Club?
Getting Started
A typical homework club session, successful tutoring in the homework club, tips for the first session, tips for improving reading, tips for improving writing, tips for improving spelling, tips for improving math.
Some Secrets of Our Success
- Ideas for Community Outreach
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- Tips for Choosing Books
Suggested Further Reading
Hello there. Thank you for picking up this little booklet. It was written for anyone who wants to help the children in their community to do better in school. It is written for people who want to start a Homework Club.
We are members of the Frontier College: Youth Service Canada project who have organized and run 12 homework clubs in Metro Toronto Housing Authority (MTHA) buildings. Frontier College has been working for almost 100 years to help Canadians with their reading and writing skills. Youth Service Canada is a program of the federal government which recruits young people to do something useful in their communities. Through this initiative, we learn skills which will help us in our life journeys.
The information in this booklet is based on our experience as Frontier College: Youth Service Canada participants. In our work in the Homework Clubs, we realized that there are lots of kids out there who hate homework. These are kids who usually have trouble reading and writing. Few of them get help. So they get frustrated, teachers get frustrated, eventually many of these kids drop out of school and everyone blames the system.
We believe that everyone should be involved in helping the children in our neighbourhoods with their homework so that they are successful in school. There are children in every corner of our country from coastal Labrador to Vancouver Island, who need our support.
We invite you to start a Homework Club in your neighbourhood so you can begin to make a difference. Once you have organized Homework Club with some of your neighbours, you will realize how much you enjoy it and how important it is. Good luck!
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead
What is a Homework Club?
A Homework Club is a space where kids can come after school to do their homework with support from adult volunteers. It can be in a community centre, a subsidized housing building, a school, a church basement – anywhere really. It is a place where learning, reading, writing, and math are valued and celebrated. All it takes to organize a homework club in your neighbourhood is a few caring people who want to do it, a little thought and planning, a few kids, and lots of enthusiasm!
First, get a few friends together who want to start a Homework Club with you and form a Homework Club Committee . The Homework Club Committee is very important. Without one, no club will last very long. Each member of the Homework Club Committee takes on one or more of the following tasks:
- Find a location in the neighbourhood for your Homework Club. (Try party rooms in apartment buildings, church basements, free space in libraries, etc.)
- Recruit and train other volunteers/parents to tutor or to supervise.
- Do outreach in the community to let people know about your homework club. (See more on community outreach in the Appendices .)
- Fund-raise/find donors to provide snacks, books, and supplies. (See more on fund-raising in the Appendices .)
- Make snacks for the children.
- Meet regularly to deal with Homework Club issues.
- Liaise with local schools and teachers so you know what the kids are learning in the classroom so that Homework Club activities are tied to what’s happening in the classroom.
- Organize events to recognize the achievements of the children and volunteers.
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of the Committee. A dedicated Committee is the key to a successful Homework Club.
A typical Homework Club meets after school for about an hour and a half.
This is the general set-up:
- Volunteers/parents should arrive twenty minutes early to set out the snacks and drinks, organize the books, and get ready to welcome the kids.
- When children arrive the volunteers should welcome them, give them a snack (kids like this), and take attendance.
- Get down to helping with homework assignments as soon as possible. Pairing up, one-to-one, usually works best since children are always at different levels of learning.
- Children who do not have homework to do, can read or do educational activities such as word searches and other puzzles, journal writing, etc.
- Allow time for a fifteen minute break.
- After the break, have a volunteer read a story out loud. Follow this with a short discussion about the story.
- After the story involve the children in educational games or activities (spelling bee, hangman, name/place/animal/thing, etc.).
- At the end of the session, ask children and volunteers to put away the materials and clean up the room.
- Thank the children for coming and ask them to come back next time.
Good tutors are made, not born. People often get a bit nervous when they have to help children with homework. But, there is nothing to fear. Helping kids with reading, writing, and math is fairly easy if you have the right attitude, enough patience, and a sense of creativity. If you can read, write, and do basic math, you can help a child with homework.
Following are some tips on how to be a good tutor:
- Be enthusiastic about learning!
- Be patient. Every child is different and special. Children learn in different ways. What takes one child a week to learn, may only take another an hour.
- Be encouraging. A word of encouragement goes a long way.
- Read aloud at every session. Let the child choose the story.
- Think of fun ways to help her. For example, when teaching spelling, use word searches.
- Encourage the children to read. In our experience, many children have difficulty with reading. Research shows that children who have trouble reading also have trouble doing their homework.
Here are three ways you can help a young child read and understand his homework assignment:
- Have her read the instructions out loud with you.
- Ask her to tell you what she thinks the assignment is about.
- Explain anything she may have missed.
At your first meeting:
- Introduce yourself to the child and get to know him a little. What are his interests? Does he like school? What are his favourite subjects? Does he like to read? Who are his favourite writers? Successful tutors take the time to get to know the children they tutor. The tutoring experience will be most rewarding if you like each other.
- Ask the child to write a sentence or two about anything. His writing will reveal his strengths and the areas he needs help with.
- Begin a file of the child’s work. He can decorate the folder and put his name on it. Review the work from time to time to see how he has progressed.
- Encourage the child to get a library card. The ability to use the library and enjoy it are important for success at school. Most children will have to ‘look things up’ or do research at some time in their life as a student. Using the library for enjoyment builds confidence for when the time comes to use it for school.
Make sure there are lots of good books, magazines (like Sports Illustrated and various music-centred magazines) and newspapers available at the Homework Club. (See the section on tips for choosing books in the Appendices .)
When you are reading with a child:
- Give her clues as to what the word may be, then ask her to take a guess at it.
- If the child didn’t bring homework, let her choose the book you will read.
- Allow her to look at the book ahead of time, so she has an idea of what the story is about.
- Make a list of problem words and ask her to study the words. You can have her spell the words for you another day.
- Re-read the book a few times (praise her for improvement).
- Read aloud with her and stop reading from time to time so she is reading by herself. Help her out when she has trouble with a word. Try giving her an example of what the letters in the word sound like.
Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. A good reader generally tends to be a good writer. If you are working with a child who does not know how to or does not like to write, some of the following suggestions may help:
For younger children who are learning how to form letters:
- Write the problem letter on a piece of paper.
- Next to it, make dots that outline the shape of the letter.
- Ask him to connect the dots.
- After some practice, ask him to write the letter without your help.
- Offer plenty of praise and encouragement.
For older children who already know how to form letters:
- Ask the child to make lists of her favourite (basketball, football, hockey, etc.) players. Perhaps she could write a grocery list for her mom or dad.
- Help her to keep a daily journal. One sentence a day is fine.
- As she gets more confident, ask her to write a paragraph about something. If she is stuck, she can use a web drawing (see diagram) to get started. A web drawing involves choosing a topic and writing any ideas the child has about that topic. For each idea, have her write a couple of sentences. Arrange the sentences so that they make sense.
- Encourage the child to write. Don’t worry about the writing being perfect.
Web Drawing:
- There are many types of tree. In the world. Some special trees are redwood tree, pine trees, baobab trees, and eucalyptus trees.
- Trees have many parts – leaves, flower, seeds, trunk, bark, branches, and roots.
- Trees give us many products – wood, to make furniture and paper, fruits to eat, and seeds to plant. Some trees give us medicines. Trees give us oxygen.
- Millions of trees are cut down every day to meet our needs. These trees need to be replaced. In many countries, like Canada, the government re-plants new trees when the old ones are cut.
Spelling is not as big a deal as some people make it out to be. Many famous authors are horrible spellers. Most people learn to spell by seeing a word over and over again and memorizing it. (See the Key Words section in the Appendices .)
Here are a few hints to help a child with spelling:
- Use the word in a sentence. This may make it easier for the child to recognize the word.
- Ask him to write the problem word(s) a few times, then have him spell it for you from memory. The words that he has trouble with can be written in a “word bank.” A word bank is the child’s own dictionary, containing words that he has trouble with. Ask him to practise the words in his word bank everyday until he is comfortable with them.
- Ask him to make smaller words out of a large one. This exercise helps increase vocabulary and improve spelling.
- Play games like “spelling bee” or “hangman.”
See the section on Tips for Improving Reading for more ideas that may help with spelling.
We all know how important an understanding of basic math is. Do everything you can to help children enjoy math. Many of the kids in the Homework Clubs have difficulties with math, often because they cannot read well enough to understand the question.
Here are some ideas to help a child who is having difficulty with math:
- Help the child learn her multiplication (times) tables. Knowing the multiplication tables will help her with other math functions. Write the table on a piece of paper and have the child memorize it. You can help her practise by having a math bee, just like a spelling bee.
- When you are helping a younger child with adding and subtracting, use seeds, stones, or coins.
Whenever possible, use games to teach math skills. Monopoly, cribbage, and snakes and ladders can all help children learn basic math skills and they are fun.
Some of Our Secrets of Success
From our experience, the following ideas work well:
- Reward children for coming to the Homework Club. Give each child a star or other sticker for coming out, and after they have come to 15 sessions, give them some sort of prize. This kind of incentive is sure to keep kids coming back.
- Celebrate success. Have a party every three months. Ask a celebrity reader (mail carrier, firefighter, police officer, local politicians, etc.) to come and read a story. Invite parents, siblings, and grandparents to come and share in the success of the children.
- Always acknowledge the contributions of donors and volunteers. (Have the children write thank you letters, for instance.)
- Decorate the space with kid’s artwork, stories, etc. Make sure there are lots of good quality, culturally appropriate books around to encourage children to read.
- Be enthusiastic!
A. Ideas for Community Outreach
- Design and distribute a simple flyer to advertise your Homework Club. The flyer should tell when (date and time) and where the Homework Club is. (See illustration.)
- Distribute the flyer door-to-door, put it up at the local mall, take it to the neighbourhood elementary school.
- Tell everyone! Word of mouth Is the best way to get people out.
B. Ideas for Fund-raising
- Decide what you need. Mostly you will be looking for supplies, prizes, and snacks. Get a commitment from all your volunteers to do some fund-raising.
- Together, make a list of all the people you can approach.
- Write to each individual or organization on the list telling them a little bit about your Homework Club and what you would like from them. (You’ll be surprised at the response you get. For our Homework Club we were able to get books, cookies, and paper donated.)
- Be sure to send thank-you letters.
C. Tips for Choosing Books
- Get advice from your local librarian on which books to borrow.
- Have a wide selection of attractive and culturally appropriate materials.
- Borrow new books regularly.
- Look for activities that involve reading. Act out the story. Learn a trick from a magic book and show the others.
D. Key Words
Reprinted from Core Literacy Tutor Training Manual (1990), with permission from Don McCracken.
Carpenter, Tracy. The Right to Read – Tutor’s Handbook . Toronto: Frontier College Press, 1986.
Dryden, Ken. In School . Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1995.
Jones, Donald M. Tutoring – One-to-one . Peterborough: Paedagogus Publishing Inc., 1994.
Kropp, Paul. The Reading Solution . Toronto: Random House of Canada, 1993.
Kropp, Paul and Lynda Hodson. The School Solution . Toronto: Random House of Canada, 1995.
Landsberg, Michele. Michele Landsburg’s Guide to Children’s Books . Toronto: Penguin Books of Canada, 1990.
Frontier College would like to acknowledge the financial help of Bank of Montreal in producing this booklet.
Four individuals were instrumental in creating The Peanut Butter and Jelly Guide to Organizing a Homework Club . They are Robin Allmand, Harold Astudillo, Marchia Palmer, and Nancy Skinner.
The coordinators of the Frontier College: Youth Service Canada Project are Philip Fernandez and Rita Mancini.
The other members of the Frontier College: Youth Service Canada Project are Odessa Austin, Yohan A. C. Byrde, Dawn Charlton, Barrington S. Gibbs, Mohamud A. Hamza, Dwayne Jackson, Tracey-Ann Suzette Murray, Sandra Ormsby, Jodi Price, O’Neil Anthony Robinson, Catherine M. Samuel, and Olé-Tunjie Vaz.
Frontier College Press 35 Jackes Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4T 1E2 (416) 923-3591, fax: (416)323-3522, 1-800-555-6523
Converted to HTML by Stephen Hong
<<For an illustrated and bound copy of this publication, please contact Frontier College .>>
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Artists! Writers! Need some support? Strategies for navigating your life and your work? Accountability and deadlines? We all do!
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HOMEWORK CLUB FAQs
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Q: Beth, I hardly ever make art these days / I do not make a living from my art. I feel rudderless and weird. Is this club for me?
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Q: I don’t have time to do all the homework - is that okay? Will we be tested? Will I be graded? WILL I FAIL?
No way! This is homework you’ll never be graded on. We find that artists respond well to homework prompts so these are tools to help you go at your own pace, approaching goals that you create for yourself. You can pick and choose what is helpful for you each month. Use what you like, leave the rest!
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IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
A homework club is a safe, supportive and productive student meetup out of school hours to assist students in completing their homework.
After-school homework clubs are growing in many communities, with most of them focused on elementary and middle school students. Clubs meet at least one day a
How to Start a Homework Club · Find a quiet location. Check out community centers, churches, synagogues, or homes with extra space. · Look for four to six
Who runs homework clubs? ... Schools and many public libraries offer them, usually after school finishes for the day. Check what's available with your school and
In-person after school tutoring services K-12 After school homework help 1-on-1 tutoring available for math+english+science Test preparation.
How To Use A Homework Club To Complete Your Assignments. School is fun for most students, but that's until the teacher gives difficult assignments.
Homework clubs not only have a goal of providing children and youth a safe place to receive academic assistance, but they also foster positive relationships
Homework club definition: an after-school club where students can stay to do their homework | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples.
A Homework Club is a space where kids can come after school to do their homework with support from adult volunteers. It can be in a community centre
Artists! Writers! Need some support? Strategies for navigating your life and your work? Accountability and deadlines? We all do! HOMEWORK CLUB offers