Homework-

[Anonymous]

One hour a night is about right. Wouldn't accept any less, and if less does come home, I supplement it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, for my child in K, he does about half of the homework...too bad, I don't care, it is more than I ever did.
My 2nd grader does as much as she can, but I do the big projects, too bad again, just want to keep the teachers off my back. Every now and then I let her do something on her own, like a poster, and it is hilarious ( I don't LOL), but she goes off to school (merrily) with some kind of twisted overly glued mess. Then the teachers see reality.Teacher need to cool it... enough with the posters and projects!!!1

I do the same thing - let my dd do these posters/projects on her own. clear as day compared to the others that she didn't have parents do it. funny how in the parent teacher conferences and report cards she shows up as being one of the most independent and responsible in all aspects of her school life.

[Anonymous]

Some of you really do not get it! Projects are supposed to be done alongside a parent. It gives parents a chance to see what kids are doing at school and to asses their ability. Personally, I appreciate the time working with my child. When we do projects together I am just the "heavy lifter" We use my child's ideas and do a little brainstorming TOGETHER about the final product. I would not miss the opportunity to see my child research on the computer, get excited about learning and show them how excited and interested I am in their school work. Your enthusiasm and excitement fosters a life long learner and love of learning in your child. They will pick pick up on your negative attitudes and lazy work ethic too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you really do not get it! Projects are supposed to be done alongside a parent. It gives parents a chance to see what kids are doing at school and to asses their ability. Personally, I appreciate the time working with my child. When we do projects together I am just the "heavy lifter" We use my child's ideas and do a little brainstorming TOGETHER about the final product. I would not miss the opportunity to see my child research on the computer, get excited about learning and show them how excited and interested I am in their school work. Your enthusiasm and excitement fosters a life long learner and love of learning in your child. They will pick pick up on your negative attitudes and lazy work ethic too!

I don't think the teachers intend for the parents to be the "heavy lifter." I think it's the child's project and the parent is supposed to guide, but not actually do the project.

[Anonymous]

So you would let your child use a glue gun? There are times when the "heavy lifting" is merely cutting poster board or using the permanent marker. You are right it is their project but I do not see anything wrong with assisting a child with a project especially if it is all of their ideas and research/reading that is being used to complete the project. The thinking part is the part I am most concerned with my child showing evidence of in a project. Usually the project is followd up with some sort of presentation and teacher can tell when it is the child's ideas and when it is the parent's ideas!

[Anonymous]

My child is only in 3rd grade, but we haven't had any projects yet that have required a glue gun.

[Anonymous]

My son cam home from school yesterday with a project guide sheet saying that his polygon robot project ( a week long project) was due Friday (that day). I had heard nothing about this weeklong project. It involved creating a model of a robot using cut out construction paper polygon shapes (shapes were specified) and then writing about it -- or something like that. I dunno.

Anyhow, I was soooo thankful to find that the project was an IN CLASS project! I LOVE in class projects. It was done, he enjoyed it, he was proud of it, and I didn't have to sit and make him do it over the weekend.

Now, if he needs help learning which polygon is which, or counting how many sides and angles a polygon has, or anything like that, I'm happy to help him at home. But polygon robot projects, those he can do at school.

[Anonymous]

My mom never knew what my homework was unless I asked for help which I did when I hit multiplication in math in about 4th grade. Other than that, I did my spelling list and my math and read on my own. She would sign my reading list. If I had a project, she would buy me the poster board or whatever and that's it. I think it is great that schools want parents to be involved but there is a fine line between knowing what they do at school and having to help them do their homework. I don't need any more homework than I already have with my job. I can't call my my to help me with it so I want my son to know I can help answer questions about his homework but his diorama/poster/clay sculpture is his responsibility.

[Anonymous]

I don't even ask my kids if they have homework. Sometimes they do the homework, sometimes they don't. School ends at 3 PM and my kids have a very enricking home enviroment. They're in elementary school and homework serves no purpose at this point so it's not even a topic for discussion in our house. If they have a project they just complete it to the best of their abilities on their own. There's no need for a glue gun when a roll of scotch tape is so much fun for them to use. I kind of worry about the women who keep a glue gun at the ready.

[Anonymous]

...and I worry about parents who teach their kids they are above the rules of the classroom. These are the kids who usually lack a decent work ethic later in life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't even ask my kids if they have homework. Sometimes they do the homework, sometimes they don't. School ends at 3 PM and my kids have a very enricking home enviroment. They're in elementary school and homework serves no purpose at this point so it's not even a topic for discussion in our house. If they have a project they just complete it to the best of their abilities on their own. There's no need for a glue gun when a roll of scotch tape is so much fun for them to use. I kind of worry about the women who keep a glue gun at the ready.

you're putting us on.

[Anonymous]

As an elementary school teacher, I am a strong believer in having home reading as the only homework requirement each night--until at least 3rd/4th grade and then no more than an hour after that! Unfortunately, I don't make the rules, but it is very true that it serves no purpose in the early years. With all the "trends" that MCPS jumps on, it always surprises me that they haven't jumped on this one yet seeing that it's "research based" and a "hot topic".

[Anonymous]

16:18 What school is this? Really, this is very unusual.

I agree that homework in the early years should be simple, like learning numbers and encouraging independent reading.

[Anonymous]

My ds is in K and we have homework every night. It is passed out on Monday and due the following Monday. "Read 7 books to your child. Please remember to point out the title, author, and illustrator. Write down the title and author." The other homework includes 1 math worksheet (fill in the missing number sequence; count and label the group of items;draw the corresponding items in the box, etc.) and 1 reading/literacy worksheet (write the sight words twice in your best handwriting and use them to complete the sentences below).

Luckily, my ds is a pretty good reader and we alternate reading pages.

The homework will change as the year progresses, but this is what we've been doing since school began.

[Anonymous]

When my daughter was in K, I read Kohn's book and Bennet and Kalish's book and decided homework in elementary school was not for us. I encourage as much reading as possible and we don't have a television so my kids pretty much have to occupy their time with something constructive. Each year the teachers send home a thing for us to sign that says that we'll help the kids with homework or sign the agenda and I send it back unsigned and say that my kids will read every day and that I will evaluate each homework assignment and have the kids complete the ones that meet the hallmarks of quality homework.