APS BTS Night - Shocked

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was in K at parochial (we moved her there as it was Covid and public was fully virtual, while they were in-person). She had homework 3-4 nights/ week. Ok, it involved mostly pasting, cutting, and coloring (often of alphabet letters) but it was useful and helped her learn her reading and writing better.

Yikes. Homework in K? 3-4x per week?

So inappropriate for that age.

[Anonymous]

We have two in aps - 3rd and 1st. There was definitely a huge tone shift this year with the 3rd grader’s teachers. Of course, I am on the opposite side as OP - I think homework other than reading in elementary is totally bananas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was in K at parochial (we moved her there as it was Covid and public was fully virtual, while they were in-person). She had homework 3-4 nights/ week. Ok, it involved mostly pasting, cutting, and coloring (often of alphabet letters) but it was useful and helped her learn her reading and writing better.

So, she wasn’t learning those skills in school? What were they doing all day that kids needed so much extra practice at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME often the kids who “would have benefitted from an earlier start” for that kind of thing really needed an extra year or two without it, because they weren’t developmentally ready.

Homework in 1st and 2nd really just assesses whether the child is lucky enough to have an adult who can say, ”okay, let’s do homework, what do you have, here are the directions, etc.”

i

Exactly. Homework is inequitable hence it’s banned until near adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was in K at parochial (we moved her there as it was Covid and public was fully virtual, while they were in-person). She had homework 3-4 nights/ week. Ok, it involved mostly pasting, cutting, and coloring (often of alphabet letters) but it was useful and helped her learn her reading and writing better.

So, she wasn’t learning those skills in school? What were they doing all day that kids needed so much extra practice at home?

Have you seen APS reading scores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have two in aps - 3rd and 1st. There was definitely a huge tone shift this year with the 3rd grader’s teachers. Of course, I am on the opposite side as OP - I think homework other than reading in elementary is totally bananas.

Our APS elementary has some homework in the upper grades.

Most often the homework is having kids finish math or writing assignments that didn't get done in class. My kid works quickly, so she rarely has this, but some kids end up with stuff to finish almost every night. A friend with a kid with ADHD says they spend a lot of time every night finishing work.

They also have to study for tests many weeks. This has been good for my kid. She had zero idea how to make herself learn something and it's been helpful for her to try different methods to remember the information. It really is better than spending even more class time on review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DD was in K at parochial (we moved her there as it was Covid and public was fully virtual, while they were in-person). She had homework 3-4 nights/ week. Ok, it involved mostly pasting, cutting, and coloring (often of alphabet letters) but it was useful and helped her learn her reading and writing better.

So, she wasn’t learning those skills in school? What were they doing all day that kids needed so much extra practice at home?

Have you seen APS reading scores?

You mean the scores that show we are doing better than the state average?

https://schoolquality.virginia.gov/divisions/arlington-county-public-schools#desktopTabs-2

If you look at the APS scores for the same population of students that attends private school the scores are similar.

The issue is the huge discrepancy between scores of white and non-white students and of economically disadvantaged students.

[Anonymous]

Nope. My kid didn’t have homework until 6th and it was a huge shock.

[Anonymous]

My thoughts are that there should be a district-wide homework policy and is should being with a very minimal amount in 4th grade (think reading for 30-40 mins, one math worksheet, and study guide review once a week for any tests). No projects or things that are really parent-intensive). Then it should gradually ramp up in MS and HS. You shouldn’t ban it from K-8 because some kids don’t have parents who can help. Rather, make it age appropriate and possible for a kids to accomplish independently. Eliminating it entirely doesn’t help kids practice responsibility or study skills or time management, which are really critical as they get older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts are that there should be a district-wide homework policy and is should being with a very minimal amount in 4th grade (think reading for 30-40 mins, one math worksheet, and study guide review once a week for any tests). No projects or things that are really parent-intensive). Then it should gradually ramp up in MS and HS. You shouldn’t ban it from K-8 because some kids don’t have parents who can help. Rather, make it age appropriate and possible for a kids to accomplish independently. Eliminating it entirely doesn’t help kids practice responsibility or study skills or time management, which are really critical as they get older.

+1.

Reading has been a pretty consistent homework practice throughout elementary (across different schools). I think DC had to start tracking it on a log starting in 4th. In 3rd DC got a weekly reading response and monthly math packet. 4th was weekly math packet and studying for tests as needed. 5th is now daily math sheets but turned in at end of week, so it functions like a weekly math packet. I can't imagine that homework would have been the least bit helpful in the early grades, and would have been more of a burden on parents than anything useful for kids (same goes for any big projects which thankfully we haven't had to do). I do think APS should focus more on writing than they appear to, but think it should largely be in class at the elementary level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What grade is your child in OP?

First kid in APS. Going into 2nd.

Glad to hear homework will start in 3rd, thank you!

Why do you want your kid to have homework? That is super weird and out of step with educational best practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: This is nothing new. Why do you think so many people have left in recent years?

It’s been this way for more than 20 years. People “leaving” in “recent years” has nothing to do with it.

It may shock you to know that parents 20-odd years ago were militantly against homework. I mean they were nasty and vocal about it. It was a complete thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no virtue in elementary kids doing homework. I have no idea why this myth persists. Research is clear on the matter: reading & studying math facts helps. Nothing else does. I have two kids in APS— one in HS & one in ES. Some years that had homework ok ES, other years they didn’t (except for reading); it just depended on the teacher.

I agree that standards based grading is dumb, but I don’t think letter grades matter in elementary school anyway.
Fairfax has used SBG for elementary school for years, from what I understand.

Doesn't this contradict your blanket statement that there is no value to elementary homework?

If anything, homework (even optional) makes it easier for parents to know how to help kids, whereas vague advice means parents need to look for resources themselves and only ppl with time / means / sophistication are able to do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts are that there should be a district-wide homework policy and is should being with a very minimal amount in 4th grade (think reading for 30-40 mins, one math worksheet, and study guide review once a week for any tests). No projects or things that are really parent-intensive). Then it should gradually ramp up in MS and HS. You shouldn’t ban it from K-8 because some kids don’t have parents who can help. Rather, make it age appropriate and possible for a kids to accomplish independently. Eliminating it entirely doesn’t help kids practice responsibility or study skills or time management, which are really critical as they get older.

+1.

Reading has been a pretty consistent homework practice throughout elementary (across different schools). I think DC had to start tracking it on a log starting in 4th. In 3rd DC got a weekly reading response and monthly math packet. 4th was weekly math packet and studying for tests as needed. 5th is now daily math sheets but turned in at end of week, so it functions like a weekly math packet. I can't imagine that homework would have been the least bit helpful in the early grades, and would have been more of a burden on parents than anything useful for kids (same goes for any big projects which thankfully we haven't had to do). I do think APS should focus more on writing than they appear to, but think it should largely be in class at the elementary level.

Seems quite appropriate and reasonable. But, ugh. I hated those reading logs. They really turned my kid off reading - made it a required chore and focused on a minimum amount of time rather than quantity or quality of reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My thoughts are that there should be a district-wide homework policy and is should being with a very minimal amount in 4th grade (think reading for 30-40 mins, one math worksheet, and study guide review once a week for any tests). No projects or things that are really parent-intensive). Then it should gradually ramp up in MS and HS. You shouldn’t ban it from K-8 because some kids don’t have parents who can help. Rather, make it age appropriate and possible for a kids to accomplish independently. Eliminating it entirely doesn’t help kids practice responsibility or study skills or time management, which are really critical as they get older.

+1.

Reading has been a pretty consistent homework practice throughout elementary (across different schools). I think DC had to start tracking it on a log starting in 4th. In 3rd DC got a weekly reading response and monthly math packet. 4th was weekly math packet and studying for tests as needed. 5th is now daily math sheets but turned in at end of week, so it functions like a weekly math packet. I can't imagine that homework would have been the least bit helpful in the early grades, and would have been more of a burden on parents than anything useful for kids (same goes for any big projects which thankfully we haven't had to do). I do think APS should focus more on writing than they appear to, but think it should largely be in class at the elementary level.

Seems quite appropriate and reasonable. But, ugh. I hated those reading logs. They really turned my kid off reading - made it a required chore and focused on a minimum amount of time rather than quantity or quality of reading.

PP here and I completely agree on the reading logs. My kid reads a fair amount by his own choosing and the log is an added hassle, but I assume it's in place for reluctant and/or struggling readers. Fortunately it hasn't turned my kid off reading (yet), and I try to downplay them as much as possible, but I can definitely see how they could turn reading into a chore.