How much homework to give?

[northerngirl]

Hi, just wanted a bit of advice on how much homework I should be giving to my student. We live in Greece and she is currently in Senior C, so has this year and another 3 years before giving the fce exam. At the moment, for homework, I give her the workbook that accompanies the lesson and have her learn the new vocabulary that we have seen in the lesson for dictation. In your opinion is this enough or should I be giving her more. Thanks in advance. Claire

[Lucy]

Hi Claire,

That sounds like a really sensible idea. She has some exercises to practise what you've studied together and the task of learning new vocabulary. She's reinforcing what was done in class which is perfect.

You may wish to ask her how long it takes her each week and whether she thinks she could spend a little more time on the work, even ten minutes. If that's the case, give her something extra, probably based on what difficulties she has that week: e.g. re-read a grammar explanation, write some sentences containing new language, etc.

Hope that helps!

Lucy