Does your kindergarten assign homework?

[Anonymous]

Does your school assign homework in kindergarten? Mine does, and the reasoning is:

1)"To prepare them for first grade"

2)"To show you what we're learning in school and to reinforce it."

This is nuts, right? Anyone had success at pushing back at this insanity? Not to be super Finnish about this, but I don't think the kids should have homework in first grade, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your school assign homework in kindergarten? Mine does, and the reasoning is:

1)"To prepare them for first grade"

2)"To show you what we're learning in school and to reinforce it."

This is nuts, right? Anyone had success at pushing back at this insanity? Not to be super Finnish about this, but I don't think the kids should have homework in first grade, either.

Mine all had either daily homework or a weekly homework packet in K and 1st, including the child we had to homeschool for a year. The homework is easy and it's a great way to get kids acclimated to study habits they will need throughout their education. What is so onerous about tracing a few letters, reading a 4-sentence easy reader book, and a couple of bonehead simple addition problems?

You don't strictly *have to* do any of it, but you look like an uncooperative a-hole if you start emailing the teacher a wall of text about what you think is "developmentally appropriate" for all the children in the class, as if you know what is best for other people's children. You can just be a silent refuser or turn in the amount you think is best. No need to be a showboat about it.

[Anonymous]

No. Nothing in K.

[Anonymous]

Nothing in k in our private school. They say kids should read every day for 20-30 min starting in 1st. Real Homework start in 3rd

[Anonymous]

Nothing in K. Nothing in 1st beyond "read for 20 minutes a day." And so far, nothing in 2nd.

[Anonymous]

Ours gives homework but they don't have to turn it in

[Anonymous]

Mine had homework. We never did it (without comment), and it never came up. No one cares.

[Anonymous]

We have a packet that amounts to one page each of ELA and math (so far - tracing letters and sorting things into sets or finding patterns) for each day M-Th. It takes DD about 2 minutes, but I can see the argument for setting up study habits.

From a parenting perspective, it's been useful to see how even though she's very bright she's EXTREMELY distractable. She does not take in instructions the first time (or sometimes the second or third) and now I make her repeat back the instructions after I explain each thing because she was just nodding along and then drawing whatever because she 'didn't remember' what she was supposed to do.

All that said, I don't think there's any repercussions for the kid if they don't turn the packet back in. The teacher may make a note that this kid's parents aren't cooperative, but I don't think there are grades.

[Anonymous]

Some parents give their kids homework even when the teacher doesn't. In some schools there's a whole underground culture of secret supplementing and enrichment that starts as early as K, if you believe that thread in the general parenting forum.

[Anonymous]

Our school doesn’t give homework in K but I make my kid do 5-10 minutes of both math and reading in addition to family reading time. If you don’t want to do the homework, then just toss it out or leave it in your kids room to do whenever he is bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a packet that amounts to one page each of ELA and math (so far - tracing letters and sorting things into sets or finding patterns) for each day M-Th. It takes DD about 2 minutes, but I can see the argument for setting up study habits.

From a parenting perspective, it's been useful to see how even though she's very bright she's EXTREMELY distractable. She does not take in instructions the first time (or sometimes the second or third) and now I make her repeat back the instructions after I explain each thing because she was just nodding along and then drawing whatever because she 'didn't remember' what she was supposed to do.

All that said, I don't think there's any repercussions for the kid if they don't turn the packet back in. The teacher may make a note that this kid's parents aren't cooperative, but I don't think there are grades.

Agree with this. Ours is a math workbook but we are not asked to turn it in. We don't always do it, but it has been elucidating to work with DS and see some gaps in how he thinks through or understands things. It's less than 5 mins a day and low stakes. I see the value but appreciate that it's not intended to be a burden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a packet that amounts to one page each of ELA and math (so far - tracing letters and sorting things into sets or finding patterns) for each day M-Th. It takes DD about 2 minutes, but I can see the argument for setting up study habits.

From a parenting perspective, it's been useful to see how even though she's very bright she's EXTREMELY distractable. She does not take in instructions the first time (or sometimes the second or third) and now I make her repeat back the instructions after I explain each thing because she was just nodding along and then drawing whatever because she 'didn't remember' what she was supposed to do.

All that said, I don't think there's any repercussions for the kid if they don't turn the packet back in. The teacher may make a note that this kid's parents aren't cooperative, but I don't think there are grades.

Agree with this. Ours is a math workbook but we are not asked to turn it in. We don't always do it, but it has been elucidating to work with DS and see some gaps in how he thinks through or understands things. It's less than 5 mins a day and low stakes. I see the value but appreciate that it's not intended to be a burden.

I agree. Doing the kindergarten hw with my child showed me what she was breezing through and what she had trouble with. Then I spent a little more time on the things that were harder for her to grasp and less time on the things she was good at. And I'm talking about hw like "Practice putting on and taking off a jacket with a zipper," and "Draw a picture of yourself in your favorite place."

Some people will complain about anything.

[Anonymous]

Mine had homework in preschool (letter writing, matching) and Pre-kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Do it or don’t do it, but please don’t email the teacher or admin about it. Early elementary teachers get soooooo many emails about the dumbest things. Here are some of my emails from this week:
“My kid isn’t allowed chocolate milk.”
“My kid is going to ride the bus/walk/go to aftercare.” X50 (We need to know but there are just so emails!!!)
“I think my kid has X disability.” (Very important! Almost lost among the chocolate milk emails.)
“Can you send a link to the movement break videos so I can review?”

Just please, please, please chill with the emails the first month unless it matters.

[Anonymous]

What kind of required structured homework are they giving in kindergarten? We had a packet of books come home each week and it was highly, highly encouraged to read every night but not required. I’m pretty sure everyone did it!