This article discusses how one teacher uses a weekend study buddy as a portable learning center for students (ages 5-9) with mild disabilities. The study buddy is a colorful cloth or paper bag that the students take home over the weekend. It can also be individualized to target particular needs. (Contains 8 references.) (CR)

Three types of homework assignments are common in U.S. schools: practice, preparation, and extension. Reasons cited for assigning homework are: (1) Doing homework is useful as an act of intellectual discipline; (2) Homework eases time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered; (3) Homework fosters student initiative,…

This report introduces the concept of syncretic literacy by examining an exchange in which a 6-year-old Samoan-American boy, in his urban Los Angeles (California) home, involves members of his extended family to complete homework. The study illustrates how English is sometimes used in ways that are consistent with the socialization practices…