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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am so appalled by your responses.  What lazy parenting!

My daughter is in third grade at a private school. Each week, we get a daily breakdown of homework.  Guess who will have the advantage as an adult?

[b]It sickens me.  Here is an elementary school with 78% FARMs and 42% ESOL run by a leader who lowers expectations for those already at a disadvantage. [/b]

And THIS is a good idea?  My daughter's not suffering over homework.  She's practicing concepts learned in school.  How can you learn math if you don't practice?  Do you think writing well just magically happens?

so disturbing on so many levels

[/quote]

well your stupidity is sickening but whatever.

One of the main issues is those children are less likely to have an adult in the home to help them complete the homework or even be able to read and understand it. The extra homework doesn't benefit these kids in the long run in the elementary level.[/quote]

I'm a teacher, and couldn't agree more.  The research shows that in elem school, homework has essentially no value.  With this population, parents are much less likely to be able to help their children with homework, and the students are more likely to have no opportunity to do their homework anyway (a homeless shelter feeds into this school).  What parents CAN do is read with their kids for 30 minutes, and if they can't, the students have access to age-appropriate literature in the school media center and can read their library books at home.

My kids aren't in school yet, but I'm seriously considering being that crazy parent that sends in a note at the beginning of the year, saying that we will be "opting out" of homework.  In middle and high school, sure, it's expected and important for study habits.  But five-year-olds should be playing after school, not doing worksheets.  I applaud this principal's brave decision.[/quote]

do tell - how do we opt out of homework?  i would be interested in this in the early grades (K-2).[/quote]

My guess would be to send a note saying "Johnny will not be doing homework."  And then, you know, don't do it.  I wouldn't apply this to long-term projects, though, that do offer some enrichment, and kids do benefit from daily reading at home, so I would be doing that as well. To be fair, I have not encountered this in my own school, so I don't know how much pushback you would get, and you certainly don't want to create unnecessary tension.  BUT if I received a note from a parent, I would probably follow up with them, possibly alert my principal, and then carry on.  I'm not sure if there would have to be any effect on grades, with the new reports cards focusing more on mastery of objectives rather than assignments completed, but even if it did, my take as a parent would be that it doesn't matter.  The ES report card, especially in lower grades, is a measurement of progress, not a college entry ticket.  If your child is progressing appropriately, that's all that matters.

In my medium-length teaching career (10 years), I have had a handful of students in crisis situations at home who could not complete homework and were basically given a pass, after several meetings involving the principal and parents. [/quote]

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