Homework in Kindergarten: Is It Actually Helpful?

Homework is a hot topic for kindergarten teachers! One one hand, it can be helpful for students to practice at home the skills they’re learning in the classroom. On the other hand, homework doesn’t seem like the most age-appropriate choice for kindergarteners. If you’re on the fence about using homework in kindergarten, keep reading! I have some tips to help you create a homework routine that works for you and your students.

The Benefits of Kindergarten Homework

First, let’s talk about some of the benefits of using homework in kindergarten. There are a variety of reasons why teachers and administrators choose to include homework as part of the kindergarten curriculum.

Provide Additional Skill Practice

Kindergarteners are learning a lot of new skills at school every day! A homework routine allows students to get a little more repetition with these skills outside of the classroom.

Build Responsibility

A homework routine can help students build responsibility. They need to get their work home, complete the assignment, and then return it to the designated place in the classroom. This is a skill that students will need to have throughout their time in school, so it can be helpful to build that responsibility early on.

Increase Family Involvement

When students work on schoolwork at home, their parents and guardians can get a feel for what their child is working on in the classroom. As they help their child with the homework assignment, they can see what skills their child needs to continue to practice. 

The Disadvantages of Using Homework in Kindergarten

On the other hand, there are some common disadvantages of using homework in kindergarten. 

Not Developmentally Appropriate

Kindergarten students are young, and they’re exhausted at the end of the school day. Adding more work to their daily routine might not be the developmentally-appropriate choice for young students. 

Adds Stress to Families

While a homework routine can help students build responsibility, much of the stress of staying on top of daily homework falls on the families of kindergarteners. This additional stress can be felt by students as they are working on the assignment, which can plant a seed that homework is an unpleasant burden. Also, an inconvenient homework routine can have a negative effect on the parent-teacher partnership, with parents and guardians resenting the additional work coming from school.

Takes Time Away from Other Things

There are so many important things that kindergarten students do outside of school that can have a positive impact on their classroom performance. This could include playing with friends in the neighborhood, participating in extracurricular activities, and reading for fun. Time is limited in the evenings! Homework can take precious time away from these other beneficial activities that students could be participating in outside of the classroom.

A More Effective Kindergarten Homework Option

You can probably tell that I’m not a huge fan of homework in kindergarten. If I had my choice, I wouldn't give any homework. However, there were years when my principal made us assign homework for our students. So I decided that I needed to come up with a more effective option for my young kindergarteners. 

That’s when I started to use homework menus, and families loved them! These homework menus are choice boards filled with age-appropriate things for kids to do at home with their grown-ups. They are very similar to homework calendars, where each day has a different age-appropriate task for students to complete. However, a homework menu has more flexibility, since students can choose which of the 20 activities they will complete and when.

There are several reasons why homework menus are much more effective than traditional homework:

• Reduce Conflict and Stress: When using a homework menu, students are able to choose an activity that appeals to them at that particular moment. There is no conflict between students and grown-ups to get the assigned worksheet finished in time to send it back to school the next day.
• Involve the Family: A homework menu includes activities that get families involved beyond just supervising the completion of a worksheet. For example, one task on the homework menu might be to play outside with a trusted adult. Another task could be playing school with a family member so the student can teach their family member something they’ve learned at school.
• Provide Real-Life Skill Applications: One thing I love about a homework menu is that the tasks give students the chance to apply what they’re learning to real-world scenarios. They can practice color identification as they sort laundry by color. They can practice one-to-one correspondence as they count how many doorknobs are in their house. 
• Include More Developmentally Appropriate Activities: Finally, a homework menu allows students and their grown-ups to choose tasks that are the most appropriate for them. They don’t have to stress over challenging worksheets. Instead, students can choose the tasks that suit them best.

Printable Homework Menu Bundle

Would you like to incorporate a homework menu routine into your lesson plans for this year?  I have put together a bundle of printable homework menus that will last all year! Each month comes with an editable homework menu with seasonal activities and corresponding worksheets for some of the activities on the menu. These are easy to print and assemble into homework packets for your students.

These homework menus include a wide range of activities, including fine motor practice, life skills, math, literacy, and even gross motor skills. Students can complete a variety of age-appropriate activities each month with these homework menus.

If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this bundle, you can find it in the Teaching Exceptional Kinders shop or in my TPT store. 

Save These Tips for Using Homework in Kindergarten

Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these homework choice boards when you’re setting up a daily routine for your students.