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Here Are The Homework Free Holidays For South Brunswick Schools

The district's homework-free nights hope to give students time off to spend time with family and enjoy outdoor activities..

Sarah Salvadore , Patch Staff

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – The South Brunswick School District is continuing its tradition of not assigning homework to students during major holidays.

The school district’s “homework free nights” hopes to give students time off from homework and projects to explore topics they are interested in, spend time with family and enjoy outdoor activities.

Education Weekly estimates that a high schooler takes home 3.5 hours of homework every day. A Stanford researcher found that students in high-performing school districts who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, alienation from society and lack of balance.

Find out what's happening in South Brunswick with free, real-time updates from Patch.

The homework-free dates for the 2022-23 school year are:

• Fall: November 23- November 28, 2022 (Thanksgiving Holiday) - No assignments or long-range projects due or tests given before December 1.
• Winter: December 23, 2022 – January 2, 2023 (Winter Break) - No assignments or long-range projects due or tests given before January 5.
• Winter: February 17, 2023 – February 20, 2023 (Presidents Weekend) - No assignments or long-range projects due or tests given before February 23.
• Spring: March 31, 2023 – April 10, 2023 (Spring Break) - No assignments or long-term projects due or tests given before April 13.

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Seasons and Holidays

Our Christmas page has lots of printable Christmas puzzles, games, calendars, crafts, and worksheets.

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Celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2nd with worksheets to name Dr. Seuss books, Rhyming words, and a biography.

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When it's time to celebrate Easter, print out these puzzles, stories, bunny crafts, and word search puzzles.

Dads will love receiving specially designed greeting cards and writing activities from their children.

In the USA, Grandparents' Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day. On this page you'll find writing activities and cards that kids can present to their grandma and/or grandpa.

Print articles, poems, and worksheets about groundhogs.

We have the best collection of Halloween worksheets on the Web!

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This January, when you celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, check out these MLK math worksheets, articles, and puzzles.

Remember fallen soldiers this Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May.

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Teach your class about pi, the most tasty number of all. Pi Day is celebrated all around the world on March 14, or 3.14.

When you celebrate Presidents' Day (USA) in February, use these printable puzzles and articles.

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See an index of all math, reading, writing, handwriting, grammar, and spelling worksheets.

Elementary school worksheets that focus on various holidays offer a fun and educational way to engage students throughout the year. These themed worksheets are designed to align with major holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, as well as less commonly celebrated events such as Earth Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Presidents' Day. By incorporating holiday-themed activities into their lesson plans, teachers can capture students' interest and make learning more enjoyable, while reinforcing important concepts in subjects like math, reading, and writing.

Teachers can use these printable holiday worksheets to supplement classroom instruction in a variety of ways. For example, math worksheets might feature counting candy for Halloween, solving turkey-themed word problems for Thanksgiving, or calculating the cost of gifts for Christmas. Reading comprehension worksheets might include passages about historical events related to Presidents' Day or the significance of Earth Day, followed by questions that challenge students to think critically. Writing activities can also be holiday-themed, such as crafting Valentine's Day poems or writing letters to Santa Claus, allowing students to practice their creative writing skills.

The Holiday worksheets on Super Teacher Worksheets are versatile and can be easily integrated into daily lessons or used as enrichment activities during holiday seasons. They provide a break from the usual routine while still maintaining an educational focus, making them a valuable resource for teachers. Additionally, these worksheets can be used to celebrate cultural diversity, helping students learn about different traditions and holidays from around the world. By incorporating these materials into the classroom, teachers can create a festive atmosphere that encourages learning, creativity, and cultural awareness at any time of the year.

Why We Should Give Students a Homework Break Over the Holidays

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I have so many fond memories from holiday seasons growing up: the smell of delicious food being made by my Mexican and Filipino families, warm light on the faces of my relatives, and lots of laughter. As I got older, though, things changed—mostly because I had so much homework to do.

Instead of joking with our relatives at the holidays, my brother and I would often sequester ourselves at the edge of the room, thick textbooks open and pens in our hands. Sometimes, we’d miss events altogether. When we did attend, the ramifications could be intense. During one spring break, I chose to go to an Easter party with my family. But by midnight, I was stress-weeping because I had so much work to do by the next day.

As a teacher, I now understand the temptation to give work over school breaks. There never seems to be enough time to do the projects or read the texts I’d like to with my kids, and asking students to work or read during breaks eases that crunch. I also worry that my students will lose some of their learning in the weeks they are gone.

Recently, though, my school created a new homework policy that, among other things, encourages us to avoid giving students work over extended school breaks. Our administration cited studies that raise questions about the benefits of hefty doses of homework.

I worried about how this new plan would affect my curriculum pacing, and about what my students might “lose.” But I realized that my concerns were really about my desires, not what was best for my students.

The new policy led me to re-evaluate my assignments and timing, and I ended up being able to make adjustments so my kids could complete necessary projects without working when they should be recharging. I’d worried about my students’ learning, but recent research challenges our long-held belief that students’ learning “slides” significantly over long breaks.

Taking the stress of homework out of my students’ holiday breaks is important. They deserve an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate as much as I do—particularly if they are overscheduled to begin with. Young or old, we all need rejuvenation time. In addition, more studies are demonstrating the benefits of down time for students. Having unstructured time recharges them, but also allows their brains to build connections that strengthen and improve their executive functioning.

We need to be mindful of other factors that complicate homework assignments over holiday breaks. We don’t always know what our students’ lives are like outside our classrooms. Do they struggle with access to the resources necessary to complete assignments? Do they have stressful home situations?

Here are a few ways we can send our students off on a positive note when they leave us for holiday breaks. I’m trying them myself this winter!

Provide activities that support students reconnecting with themselves, their loved ones, or their community.

While we want to avoid giving mandatory work to students, we can offer opportunities and ideas for learning-friendly activities they can do during their break. Maybe that’s an optional/extra credit project that asks students to interview a family or community member (though we should also provide time after break for those who couldn’t work over break). Or maybe we can offer students some ideas about how they could use their time to take care of themselves or their communities. We could provide reflection questions once they’re back from break, to help them find meaning in the experience. Encouraging students to use their time to volunteer or take care of themselves allows us to help our kids grow not just as students, but as people.

Offer opportunities to find a new passion, set goals, or reflect.

While some students may travel or connect with family, some of our kids may have a lot of free time over their break. We can encourage them to use the time to set goals for the year, dream big and draw or write their five-year plan (remind them this is for fun and plans will change!), or reflect on their year or life so far. We can also encourage students to discover something they’re passionate about, or use the time to pursue something they love.

Deepen your relationships with students and allow them to open up to you.

Sometimes, our kids are simply not given the space to dive deeply into something that lets them tell us who they are. Give students a project that allows them to explore their identity or have them write a story about their lives. This will not only provide some critical thinking, reading, or writing enrichment, but more importantly will provide valuable insight into our students’ lives and help us build deeper connections with our students. We can return the favor by completing the project ourselves or writing a story and sharing it with them.

After the break, see what stuck with students.

Instead of returning from break with the mindset of what was “lost,” give students a chance to share everything they remember from the last unit. Instead of assuming they all had a great time they want to share, welcome kids back with an opportunity to celebrate the experiences that stuck with them from their breaks. Help students generate a class-created study guide so they can review what they learned before the break. This gives them space to support one another and remind each other what they learned, as well as gives us an opportunity to praise students for what they’ve retained. It also provides important feedback for us on what stuck over the break and what we need to reteach.

Ultimately, our students look to us not just for academic growth, but to support their growth as human beings as well. Taking away homework stress over break may cause us to change our short-term plans, but providing them with opportunities and resources instead can have some long-term benefits that can change their self-perception and their lives more than a packet of homework ever could.

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