Homework in Kindergarten is ridiculous!!

[Anonymous]

Homework at the kinder level is less about content and more about forming good habits - both the parents and the kid. A can find a study to prove any point. I would rather refer to the experts - the teachers - who have studied education and child development. Some children need to practice more than others. I think it's a disservice to ban homework for other children that might need to practice a skill 100 times more than another peer.

[Anonymous]

Either do it or don't, but it may embarrass your kid if you don't.

[Anonymous]

My son is now in first grade and he loved doing homework in K. It looked forward to it everyday; to each his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to stick THIS thread, among others, so I can link to it whenever you people with options say with a straight face:

Private school in elementary is silly.

There is no appreciable difference between a JKLMxyz and an independent school for the early years - save your money.

Ross/Janney/Brent is just like getting a private school education for free!!!!!!!!!!!

How is this thread relevant? No homework in K at our JKLM.

Think a little bigger: 1. your kid will get homework by the end of the year in all likelihood 2. your child WILL get worksheet homework next year in 1st. 3. Your child will start taking standardized tests in 3rd and the curriculum is tied to that even if Leo "opts out" of the actual test.

The private schools surrounding J, K, L, and MM do none of the above

Reading and following an argument are fundamental.

This thread is about homework in K, and the PP's point was that its presumed presence at "JKLMs" in K is proof of the fundamental difference between private and public. My point was that most Upper NW publics don't give homework in K, so PP's point was moot. Nobody argued that there will be no differences between private and public in the higher grades.

[Anonymous]

I agree it’s pointless op. One of my kids had it in K, the other didn’t. But it didn’t bother me because it wasn’t that much HW and wasn’t every night.

[Anonymous]

My kid happily does 5 minutes of violin practice every night in PK3. I don’t think 20 minutes of homework/night (parceled our over the week in case there are specific conflicts) will kill her somehow...

[Anonymous]

Our kids at JKLMM school also got unreasonable amounts of homework in Kindergarten. We worked with them on the big project assignments and left it up to them if they wanted to do BS worksheets. There is NO EVIDENCE that homework in Kindergarten has any value whatsoever, and for families like the OP's (or ours, or plenty of others, including kids with ADHD, non-native English speaking families, parents who work nights, and others), there are plenty of drawbacks.

Here's the thing: parents make choices all the time about aspects of public school they do or don't want their kids to participate in: sex ed, standardized testing, standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, reading certain books, etc. Hopefully, they sit down with their kids and explain those choices, and why they reflect the family's values.

If homework doesn't work for your family, talk with your teacher and your kids to explain why. We've told our kids and their teachers that family time and reading together are really important to us, especially during these early years when our kids still go to bed early. We are happy to do special projects, and if there is a skill our kid needs at-home practice on, we will absolutely do a worksheet or two. But if our kids are at or above grade level expectations, we are going to opt out of homework packets and spend the time reading books together instead.

[Anonymous]

Also, I would add that homework is like many things in parenting (like sleep, eating habits, etc.): for some kids, it comes easily and for others it's a struggle. Parents of kids who are happy to do worksheets and/or don't put up a fuss tend to be judgy and self-satisfied about it and feel doing homework in early elementary school isn't a big deal. Those of us who have kids who struggle with homework will feel differently, and have a very different calculus about it. I KNOW my kid is always going to have trouble getting organized to do homework--he has ADHD. I see no reason to borrow trouble and start pitched battles now that reinforce negative attitudes toward school. There is plenty of time for that when 7th grade rolls around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, I would add that homework is like many things in parenting (like sleep, eating habits, etc.): for some kids, it comes easily and for others it's a struggle. Parents of kids who are happy to do worksheets and/or don't put up a fuss tend to be judgy and self-satisfied about it and feel doing homework in early elementary school isn't a big deal. Those of us who have kids who struggle with homework will feel differently, and have a very different calculus about it. I KNOW my kid is always going to have trouble getting organized to do homework--he has ADHD. I see no reason to borrow trouble and start pitched battles now that reinforce negative attitudes toward school. There is plenty of time for that when 7th grade rolls around.

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I would add that homework is like many things in parenting (like sleep, eating habits, etc.): for some kids, it comes easily and for others it's a struggle. Parents of kids who are happy to do worksheets and/or don't put up a fuss tend to be judgy and self-satisfied about it and feel doing homework in early elementary school isn't a big deal. Those of us who have kids who struggle with homework will feel differently, and have a very different calculus about it. I KNOW my kid is always going to have trouble getting organized to do homework--he has ADHD. I see no reason to borrow trouble and start pitched battles now that reinforce negative attitudes toward school. There is plenty of time for that when 7th grade rolls around.

Amen.

I couldn’t agree more.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree with you completely. We never did any of the homework packet "homework" the teacher sent home in K. My DD did ST Math occasionally, but pretty much only if she asked or if I suggested and she wanted to. We read a ton at night. As her reading skills improved, she read to us up to 10 minutes per evening, and we read to her maybe 20-25 minutes per night. Her K teacher told me in her end of year conference that my DD did "great with her homework." So she clearly wasn't even keeping very good track of the homework progress/return of the packets. DD is in 2nd now and doing totally very well in school. Her 1st grade teacher had minimal homework which she did, which were shorter than the K teacher's assignments and better designedHomework in K is totally unnecessary and ridiculous. I know kids in very well regarded private schools and *very* high performing public schools in NY, Boston, and Chicago who have no homework at all in K. Best practices research says 10 minutes of homework per grade (so nothing in K, 10 min in 1st, 20 minutes in 2nd), exclusive of reading.

[Anonymous]

I think we all have our struggles with our kids. Some might be severely picky eaters who only want to eat Goldfish crackers for breakfast/lunch/dinner. That doesn't mean that they don't need a more varied diet, though.

Some kids are terrible sleepers. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from a good night's sleep.

Some kids have a harder time with impulse control. That doesn't mean that hitting their siblings is acceptable.

I get that homework is not an easy thing for all young kids. But in full day kindergarten kids are going to be doing worksheets, crafts and other activities that will require them to sit still and follow multi-step directions. Kids who have had little to no practice following multi-step instructions are usually going to have a harder time than kids who have had some practice at home.

If you doubt me, volunteer in a K class sometime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we all have our struggles with our kids. Some might be severely picky eaters who only want to eat Goldfish crackers for breakfast/lunch/dinner. That doesn't mean that they don't need a more varied diet, though.

Some kids are terrible sleepers. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from a good night's sleep.

Some kids have a harder time with impulse control. That doesn't mean that hitting their siblings is acceptable.

I get that homework is not an easy thing for all young kids. But in full day kindergarten kids are going to be doing worksheets, crafts and other activities that will require them to sit still and follow multi-step directions. Kids who have had little to no practice following multi-step instructions are usually going to have a harder time than kids who have had some practice at home.

If you doubt me, volunteer in a K class sometime.

I think some of the parents who are insistent that ven a little HW is developmentally inappropriate for K will simply redshirt their boys in protest of the "overly academic" nature of kindergarten--problem solved. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we all have our struggles with our kids. Some might be severely picky eaters who only want to eat Goldfish crackers for breakfast/lunch/dinner. That doesn't mean that they don't need a more varied diet, though.

Some kids are terrible sleepers. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from a good night's sleep.

Some kids have a harder time with impulse control. That doesn't mean that hitting their siblings is acceptable.

I get that homework is not an easy thing for all young kids. But in full day kindergarten kids are going to be doing worksheets, crafts and other activities that will require them to sit still and follow multi-step directions. Kids who have had little to no practice following multi-step instructions are usually going to have a harder time than kids who have had some practice at home.

If you doubt me, volunteer in a K class sometime.

I think some of the parents who are insistent that ven a little HW is developmentally inappropriate for K will simply redshirt their boys in protest of the "overly academic" nature of kindergarten--problem solved. /s

Whoops, "even."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we all have our struggles with our kids. Some might be severely picky eaters who only want to eat Goldfish crackers for breakfast/lunch/dinner. That doesn't mean that they don't need a more varied diet, though.

Some kids are terrible sleepers. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from a good night's sleep.

Some kids have a harder time with impulse control. That doesn't mean that hitting their siblings is acceptable.

I get that homework is not an easy thing for all young kids. But in full day kindergarten kids are going to be doing worksheets, crafts and other activities that will require them to sit still and follow multi-step directions. Kids who have had little to no practice following multi-step instructions are usually going to have a harder time than kids who have had some practice at home.

If you doubt me, volunteer in a K class sometime.

So because the demands of Kindergarten are excessive, we should place even more demands on kids through homework? Do you have any evidence to support the idea that homework improves classroom behavior in Kindergarten? Kids get plenty of practice following directions and doing worksheets in class. There's no need to follow that up at home. Plus, home and the classroom are two totally different settings for following rules and completing work.