Anonymous wrote:I know I'll be in the minority here, but for most of the younger years, the value of homework isn't learning the material, it's learning to do homework, which is in itself kind of a skill. The ability to sit and pay attention to rote, or even thinking, tasks outside of school but not of the child's choosing is not something that comes naturally to most children but is a very important skill nonetheless. I am delighted my K daughter does her homework readily. I was dismayed that my now 3rd grade daughter always hated her homework and it was a chore to get her to do it (and to some extent still is). Now it's getting better, even though the homework is much more boring (memorizing math facts, spelling sentences, etc.). Repetition, however, is necessary for memorization for most children. Indeed, she loves to write creatively and does so all the time; but she hates to write anything that's assigned. She's learning how to harness her creativity for assigned projects through -- you guessed it -- HOMEWORK.

I don't like the fights, and I'd rather use my time with her to play too, but it's very important to give her the gift of this valuable skill.

I agree with you. And, from having taught mine to do homework early, I have been reaping the benefits because we never fight about it.

I know I'll be in the minority here, but for most of the younger years, the value of homework isn't learning the material, it's learning to do homework, which is in itself kind of a skill. The ability to sit and pay attention to rote, or even thinking, tasks outside of school but not of the child's choosing is not something that comes naturally to most children but is a very important skill nonetheless. I am delighted my K daughter does her homework readily. I was dismayed that my now 3rd grade daughter always hated her homework and it was a chore to get her to do it (and to some extent still is). Now it's getting better, even though the homework is much more boring (memorizing math facts, spelling sentences, etc.). Repetition, however, is necessary for memorization for most children. Indeed, she loves to write creatively and does so all the time; but she hates to write anything that's assigned. She's learning how to harness her creativity for assigned projects through -- you guessed it -- HOMEWORK.

I don't like the fights, and I'd rather use my time with her to play too, but it's very important to give her the gift of this valuable skill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm anti-homework as well. My son's daycare also assigns homework in pre-K, and gives him stars if he completes it. 4 stars earns him a treat out of a "prize box."

I don't care if he does it or not. We don't force it. For most of this year, he had no interest. Just recently, he's gotten very excited about doing the worksheets, so we do them.

I'm very grateful we are able to choose a school for him next year that doesn't give homework until about 3rd grade. Even that seems too early, depending on what it might be.

I turn 40 this year and 3rd grade is when I remember first doing homework. Why do you think that's too early?

Yes, same here (I'm the PP you quoted). Both my husband and I work outside the home, so our evening time is the precious little time we really get to spend with our son. I would much rather fill it with playing outside, reading books my son chooses, doing crafts or mini science experiements, just playing with Legos, etc. All these types of activities help him learn. I personally think they help him learn better than the worksheets the school sends home. So when I learned his DAYCARE was going to assign homework each night, I just about flipped.

I started reading up about the benefits (or lack thereof) of homework. And by most quantifiable measures, homework in itself doesn't provide any significant benefit in the elementary school years. Of course, there are exceptions -- times when homework is necessary -- like memorizing things like multiplication tables. I came away with the belief that homework is something that should be assigned sparingly, and only for true needs (something that requires more time to learn than what class time allows). Not just busy-work.

Anonymous wrote:The only appropriate "homework" for kids this age is (1) self-directed play and (2) being read to.

as a former preschool teacher, at my school we never assigned work sheets or typical homework. But someone else mentioned activities like bringing in an object for a color or letter of the week jar and things like that are totally appropriate but never mandatory by any means. anything else does seem too much for that age.

Anonymous wrote:I'm anti-homework as well. My son's daycare also assigns homework in pre-K, and gives him stars if he completes it. 4 stars earns him a treat out of a "prize box."

I don't care if he does it or not. We don't force it. For most of this year, he had no interest. Just recently, he's gotten very excited about doing the worksheets, so we do them.

I'm very grateful we are able to choose a school for him next year that doesn't give homework until about 3rd grade. Even that seems too early, depending on what it might be.

I turn 40 this year and 3rd grade is when I remember first doing homework. Why do you think that's too early?

The only appropriate "homework" for kids this age is (1) self-directed play and (2) being read to.

I'm anti-homework as well. My son's daycare also assigns homework in pre-K, and gives him stars if he completes it. 4 stars earns him a treat out of a "prize box."

I don't care if he does it or not. We don't force it. For most of this year, he had no interest. Just recently, he's gotten very excited about doing the worksheets, so we do them.

I'm very grateful we are able to choose a school for him next year that doesn't give homework until about 3rd grade. Even that seems too early, depending on what it might be.

I looked at quite a few preschools that didn't have homework. Maybe it was the difference between traditional preschool programs (2-3 mornings a week) as opposed to preschools that operate as daycare (FT care). My child has the rest of his life to do homework. He doesn't need it at age 3 and 4. I taught him to read when he was in preschool and some other parents wanted to know why their kids weren't reading. I told them that I taught him myself and they couldn't believe that was possible.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think I would ever choose a preschool that assigned homework. It would show that they really don't understand child development at all.

Then you had better not bother with preschool, since most around here assign homework. And I see no issues with it. In DD's pre-K class, the kids have a letter of the week, so one night need to look for three photos that start with that letter. They paste them in a notebook and label them. Parents read a book on another night and the kids have to draw a scene in their notebook from the story. And they have a box of sight words that they practice over the weekends. None of this is time-consuming and DD loves the learning process so always looks forward to homework. The school also allows kids to check out books they can read to their parents, then the parents initial that the child has read the book to them. The words in the books are simple and there are only about 5 pages of really short sentences. All of this just serves to get the kids excited about learning. DD is so excited to read her books to us; the enthusiasm is contagious! It's not about grades or being competitive, at least not at this age, but rather learning for the sake of learning. I wish this was the case once this kids got older, as maybe then they would continue to love the educational process rather than loathe it.

Like many things in life, it's a zero-sum game.

I don't think I would ever choose a preschool that assigned homework. It would show that they really don't understand child development at all.

I think its a great idea.

I think homework at that age should be optional or interactive - and I say that as the parent of a child who does worksheets for fun. But *she* gets to pick the topic she feels like working on, and if she doesn't want to follow the directions I'm fine with that too.

I'd also be fine with 'homework' that got me involved with my kid. Things like 'find 3 green things you keep in your house', or 'how many windows are in your house? ask you parent to help you count them all'. Though again - it should be optional. But if my kid's teachers want to give me ideas for educational activities to do with my kids I'm all for it.

My kids loved the homework that they got during their pre-kindergarten years. Even if I had wanted, I don't think I could have stopped because they would have protested. And, I have to admit that it was fun to be able to be able to have a legitimate reason to shut the other kids out and spend some one-on-one time with a little one, even if it was only for about five minutes.

This article in the NY Times: "Should PreSchoolers Have Homework?" is so, so true:
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/should-preschoolers-have-homework/

The daycare in DC where my daughter went assigned homework. From age 2. It was so, so stupid, but I was taught to obey teachers and to do my homework. Part of me was scared they'd kick us out and I work fulltime! So I did the homework--it wasn't much ("color the green things green"). Finally, at age 4, many parents just stopped doing the homework and it was not assigned anymore. Freedom.