WWYD -- homework addition

[Anonymous]

I guess the question to me is, are the questions illegible because these are hard concepts to draw legibly, or because the kid is rushing through the work. If it's the former, I'd let it go, or maybe have the child add a few words to explain what they were trying to draw. (e.g. add captions "two cousins", "going to Grandma's", "too happy" to help someone understand why these 3 pictures, each showing 2 smiling people, actually represent 3 different words). After all, the point of the activity is to develop understanding, not to develop the ability to draw legible pictures of their vs they're. On the other hand, if my kid was rushing through an assignment, and not doing something they were clearly capable of doing, then I'd reinforce the idea that in our family we work carefully and do our best, and I'd ask for the assignment to be re-done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all. I let it go.

My bigger question -- for her teacher, I guess -- is how to get her to work hard on things that don't come easy to her. 99% of her homework she can do in 2 minutes, effortlessly, and the 1% that causes any amount of challenge totally throws her for a loop.

I'm 38 and my kid is 12. Since she was almost three she's been able to draw better than me. I can't draw for shit. Let it go. You could stand over me and scream butnthatnwouldnt make me better able to draw. I could choreograph you a dance about them though, or write you a beautiful story using them, or make up a few games with them. But my creativity does not extend to drawing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean "edition?"

Ironic since edition and addition are kind of homonyms if you mumble a bit.

I say them the same way; am I mispronouncing one?

The "ed" in edition rhymes with "Fred". The "add" in "addition" rhymes with "bad". That's how I say it.

However, pronunciations tend to be regional so there's probably not a right or wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean "edition?"

Ironic since edition and addition are kind of homonyms if you mumble a bit.

I say them the same way; am I mispronouncing one?

The "ed" in edition rhymes with "Fred". The "add" in "addition" rhymes with "bad". That's how I say it.

However, pronunciations tend to be regional so there's probably not a right or wrong.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually dedicate a set amount of time to homework. I take my kids age and attention capabilities into factor and pick an appropriate amount of time. After that time is up I write something like this on the ditto... "Dear. Mrs.Teacher, Larle did 30 minutes of homework last night and this is as far as we got. If you have any questions or concerns please email me. We would be glad to spend another 30 minutes on this tonight/over the weekend. Thanks, Mrs. Parent."

I do this, too. I try to discern what the purpose of the assignment is to figure out how much emphasis I should place on helping her and encouraging her to complete it as assigned. I also write down how much she did on her own vs with help and how much time she spent on it (if these are noteworthy pieces of information).

For example: My DD cannot for the life of her do word find assignments! Like, honestly, almost at all. She's in 2nd grade. I LOVED word finds in school--they felt like games and not in the least bit like work. And you know what, they probably do have minimal instructional utility--although maybe helps a bit with spelling? I don't know. Anyway, I let her go to town on a word find for maybe 15 minutes and then cut the cord.

Another time my DD had a loooong math assignment that required multiple addition and subtraction problems to build a sort of "math pyramid." She just got tuckered out, especially since one wrong answer impacted the rest of the pyramid's answers. So she worked on it alone for 15 minutes, I helped her for another 15, and then *click* we moved on. I noted that she seemed to be able to do most of the problems, some with help, but lost interest, focus and motivation.

If the teacher found this information useful, who knows. But I think it sets a good precedent that (a) you try and (b) I help and then (c) if you need more help, write it explicitly on your assignment.