Homework for High Ability

[Melissae Stiles]

What do you think is the value or detriment to giving homework for gifted/high ability learners?

[Kevin_K]

Homework is useful for any situation in which the hours of class time are not enough to cover all desired learning.
Some gifted students learn a lot more from homework than from the time spent in class, particularly if it is a standard heterogenous classroom.

Just avoid giving busywork that doesn't challenge the student---it can take hours for a gifted student to do 10 minutes worth of mind-numbing drill.

[Ginger Lewman]

I don't think it's different than giving homework to any kid. It depends on the age and it need to be an EXTENSION of the work they've been doing.

The homework we assign at TPLC is:
1) when the kids have been working in groups, they assign themselves what they need to do before the next day and they talk about who's busy that evening and assign accordingly. Kids also come early to school to finish it the next morning. It has more meaning for them with their peers negotiate it for the group's progress.

2) I assign over-all quarter-long lists of assignments of "rote work" that is unavoidable. Kids work at their own pacing but it all has to be finished by the end of the quarter. Many do it as homework to get it done and out of the way. This is the ugly stuff and we admit that it's a necessary thing. (memorizing countries/capitals so our understanding during our global video conferences and learning is smoother).

3) Sometimes the kids need some reflection time after a particularly meaningful activity. I then assign blog-posts for them to do before the end of the week. I don't give them time in class for this...I like the reflective nature of home or before/after school time.

Please understand I work with grades 5-8, all abilities, and each kid has about an hour's worth of homework every nite.

[Lori Ann Lewis]

In thinking of the range of activities in a gifted kids life, I think assigned homework should be limited. So many g/t kids are off and running pursuing TALENTS that are not offered in school. Many kids have compulsive behavior in their interest areas and need time to attend to their learning desires. Also, many parents of these driven kids forget that kids just need some down time. When homework is not part of the balance, but the focus of the evening/weekend, I ask if we are focusing on the subject matter and not the child. I find that a good consideration is to do two things: 1) give more time than needed to complete tasks so that the kids do have time to attend to them around other commitments, and 2) ask yourself what value the work put forward will have in the scope of the learning task. After all, do we really want to grade Mom's work? The short answer is "detriment" for so many.

[Mark Pennington]

Here's what I did last year and plan to do again this year re: assigning homework to gifted students.

On back-to-school night last year, I made a deal with their parents: I said, "I won't assign grammar or essay homework, if you will supervise your child's reading-discussion homework." Every parent made positive comments about this approach to homework. Few parents at the intermediate, middle, or high school levels want to or know how to supervise written work. Supervising their child's reading is something that parents support and perceive as valuable.

Here, in a nutshell is the homework plan: Students read for thirty minutes, four times per week. Parents grade a three-minute discussion of each reading session. Students lead this discussion with reading comprehension strategy discussion prompts. I got a high degree of buy-in from parents and students. I flesh out this homework program much more on my blog at Homework That Makes Sense.

[Kevin_K]

Do students choose their own reading, or do you have assigned reading? We've had some trouble with assigned reading and reading times, because there isn't enough material to fill the time (my son reads at about 600wpm when reading fiction).

While supervising writing is hard than supervising reading, it is also what my son needs to spend more time on, so I've preferred it when he gets essay assignments or creative writing assignments, rather than grammar, vocabulary, or other make-work assignments.