Daycare homework

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would probably try to do it if it’s something all the kids will have displayed. You don’t want your kid to be the only one without her family on the wall or missing show and tell or whatever toddlers call it. Having said that, I would also talk to the teachers or owner of the daycare about them not assigning busywork to working parents..

A child care program should not be giving out homework, especially not to a child so young. I think I'd ask what this is for. It could be that its supposed to be a family engagement thing, and/or will be displayed as a "my family" display somewhere. If it is intended as a "this is my family" thing that the kids will keep referring to, then it's worth doing. But you could literally draw stick figure of you, child, anyone else in family, label each person, and be done.

For an older kid, this could be a fun craft project. But for a 15 month old, not realistic. And totally fair that many families, like yours, have no time to work on this kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would probably try to do it if it’s something all the kids will have displayed. You don’t want your kid to be the only one without her family on the wall or missing show and tell or whatever toddlers call it. Having said that, I would also talk to the teachers or owner of the daycare about them not assigning busywork to working parents..

A child care program should not be giving out homework, especially not to a child so young. I think I'd ask what this is for. It could be that its supposed to be a family engagement thing, and/or will be displayed as a "my family" display somewhere. If it is intended as a "this is my family" thing that the kids will keep referring to, then it's worth doing. But you could literally draw stick figure of you, child, anyone else in family, label each person, and be done.

For an older kid, this could be a fun craft project. But for a 15 month old, not realistic. And totally fair that many families, like yours, have no time to work on this kind of thing.

I would be super direct and say I need at least two weeks for something like this and I hope there are not many of these projects. I have very limited bandwidth.

[Anonymous]

What?! No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was a problem at my daycare. You need to either shut it down now or change daycares, because it will be a bigger issue when your kid is 3 and realizes they are the only ones without a diorama or whatever.

Talk to the director and ask that all projects happen at daycare. If they need something from home (like a family photo) you will need several days notice.

IME daycare teachers are encouraged in their trainings and rating guides to do assign this kind of thing, so don't blame the teacher. But do talk to the director.

+1

Not only would I not do it, I'd raise it up the chain. I would make it clear that I will not do this, I will not do any future "assignments," and it is my STRONG preference that the requests disappear.

[Anonymous]

15 months? This seems absolutely ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

Preschool teacher again--I'll add this: if you do choose to do it, then talk about it with your kid as he's scribbling "I like the color red. I'm going to draw a picture of mommy and you." Even if he's only 15 months, he's still picking up and learning things. It's the connection that matters, not the assignment itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

Dp, kids do label random squiggles at this age. Mine did, and I've seen others do the same. But even if yours doesn't, I think the point is that your daughter sees her work at school. Daycare isn't going to make you do it over because it doesn't look like actual stick kids. They can't.

It sounds like you made up your mind, though, and that's cool. I hope you were able to get your vent out here and feel less stressed about it. I can't imagine anyone wants parents to feel like these requests are stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

Dp, kids do label random squiggles at this age. Mine did, and I've seen others do the same. But even if yours doesn't, I think the point is that your daughter sees her work at school. Daycare isn't going to make you do it over because it doesn't look like actual stick kids. They can't.

It sounds like you made up your mind, though, and that's cool. I hope you were able to get your vent out here and feel less stressed about it. I can't imagine anyone wants parents to feel like these requests are stressful.

I haven't made up my mind. I still might just send the daycare a couple photos of me, my kid and my cat and call it a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

Dp, kids do label random squiggles at this age. Mine did, and I've seen others do the same. But even if yours doesn't, I think the point is that your daughter sees her work at school. Daycare isn't going to make you do it over because it doesn't look like actual stick kids. They can't.

It sounds like you made up your mind, though, and that's cool. I hope you were able to get your vent out here and feel less stressed about it. I can't imagine anyone wants parents to feel like these requests are stressful.

I haven't made up my mind. I still might just send the daycare a couple photos of me, my kid and my cat and call it a day.

of if i have non toxic markers let her scribble. You are probably right.
And it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

Definitely get the overall sense that adding anything to your plate just feels overwhelming. We had a Family Week and I felt similarly.

But you seem really fixated on this "no art at home" aspect that seems a bit odd. This doesn't have to be a big messy art and craft project as PPs have said. Are you anti-crayons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know. - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

Definitely get the overall sense that adding anything to your plate just feels overwhelming. We had a Family Week and I felt similarly.

But you seem really fixated on this "no art at home" aspect that seems a bit odd. This doesn't have to be a big messy art and craft project as PPs have said. Are you anti-crayons?

Yes I'm overwhelmed in general. If I wasn't so overwhelmed this probably would be NBD.

No art at home is fine but I only have adult art supplies (Holdover from my prechild days - I do actually like doing art ) and no place to do it easily with my child (we essentially live in a small studio without an age appropriate table or even a dining table) but outside is a possibility. Crayons are a good idea but I'd need to get the toddler ones - the ones I have would be a choking hazard. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Anonymous]

I haven't made up my mind. I still might just send the daycare a couple photos of me, my kid and my cat and call it a day.


My daycare did this at that age and DH and I both worked crazy hours. I taped pictures of DS, DH, me, and two dogs on poster board and called it a day. Most parents did that and it was fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not homework, it's a family engagement thing. It does not have to be long and involved or even messy. Give your kid a piece of paper and 3 of the thick crayons and let him scribble away. You write his name on top. That's it. It will take 5 minutes. I know you have a lot on your plate, but doing things like this together is important for the kids to link school and home. As a preschool teacher I actually prefer it when the kids do the bulk of the work and not the parents. I don't want to see a perfectly crafted cut out paper family, I want to see scribbles and splotches and rips.

That said it's not required--your kid isn't getting a grade and they won't kick you out if you don't do it. But if you can keep it simple and child-oriented, I think there will be payoffs for your little one.

OK if my kid were actually in preschool and at a developmental level where they could draw the most rudimentary of stick figures I can see doing this approach.
The kids have already painted frames for this family portrait. I don't think random squiggles are enough - there would be no family based on my kid's current level. So I will need to add the family. I mean it's not like kids that age are even capable of the symbolic reasoning needed to connect a squiggle to a person.

At minimum - I will add some stick figures of myself my kid and our cat. they will probably not be as good as a 4 year olds.
At maximum - I will try to upload some photos to my work computer and print them out at a size where they can be a collage on the sheet with a squiggle (DC produced) background.

These things are going to be hung in the classroom and are part of "family week" project - I wouldn't want my kid to be the only one left out. So yes we won't get kicked out of daycare but I do care about her feelings. For pp who thinks that a 15 month old won't know . - I'm not so sure about that. They were telling me a month ago about an instance where a kid had lost a shoe and when they asked whose shoe is this, she pointed across the play-yard identifying the kid with the missing shoe. It seems like she would know that her family picture is missing if everyone else has one. Particularly if they pictures are used in some way during circle time.

Since I still go to breastfeed her once a day and do other parent engagement things when I can, I feel like daycare -home connection is solid without creating busy work. Art is not part of our home routine and I think that is ok right now. I'm happy to send them photos of us and our cat for them to use in a project. Sorry but I'm too tired for more family engagement and maybe I will make mention of this to director/assistant director (In a nice way of course.)

A 15 month old isn’t even as smart as a dog yet. They’ll be ok. I promise.