We don't have homework in our charter until 3rd grade. Which is developmentally appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC’s kindergarten and 1st grade teachers both told us that the daily 20min of reading included parents reading to children. So if you already read with your kids nightly, logging it shouldn’t be a huge burden.

"Logging" as in scribbling down on a worksheet 1/week "we read 15 books this week" is fine.

If by "logging" they want you to write down title, author, and date -- that's nuts and I would not do it.

We are huge readers, and I have to say, I absolutely hated reading logs. I don't know what it was, but there was just something about having to write a list of what we read that just sucked all the joy right out of it. I realize that makes no sense at all, but it truly drove me to edge between annoyance and anger. Totally dumb of me, but there it is.

HI OP,
I didn't read all the posts so far, but I wanted to say I had the same sentiments as you when my son was in K. His dad was even more adamant that I was that homework in K was actually detrimental to development based on all this research yada yada and didn't want him to do it at all, while I was more on the fence. I even wrote into the post columnist megan Leahy about it. Her response was hey, there is no benefit to homework in K but if the kid isn't complaining too much, it doesn't really do anything postitive or negative. We decided to stick with that judgement.

Well, turns out he finished the homework in aftercare almost every day. It didn't affect the schedule at all, and we could still read to him and everything else we were doing before..it really was a non issue, even though it felt like more of a potential issue at the beginning of the year. He didn't have any complaints about it and it actually primed him for the potential of homework in general (they haven't gotten any yet, but I'm guessing he will probably again do it in aftercare).

I guess every situation is different, good luck!

I have a kid in K also. He gets a weekly packet that is due Mondays. My philosophy is that if he cannot read the instructions (sometimes there are picture instructions, and he can follow those) and know what to do on his own (because, um, he can't read yet, which is one of the goals of K), he doesn't do it. If he doesn't want to do it, he doesn't have to. I am not taking away family time or making family time full of fights over HW in K. So - he does what he can do and doesn't do what he can't, and I don't lose any sleep over it. I think HW in elementary school is ridiculous.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Not really sure why it's the schools fault that you don't get more time with your kids in the evenings because you don't get home until 6.

This.

OP here. Please elaborate. I have a job. I would love to be an heiress but alas, that is not my lot in life. I think it's normal to work to put food on the table, a roof over your head is it not? And if this is in reference to having two working parents - I'm afraid that's far and away the norm these days. Most, us included, have no other way of making ends meet.

Hire a damned babysitter then

OP, I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but can you have your kid either work on HW on the weekends, or arrange to have him complete it before 6pm? I know not all schools have study hall during after care, but could you hire an after school babysitter who could also help with HW prior to your arrival?

That's an absurd upheaval of family finances just so a kid can do needless busy work in KINDERGARTEN.

Just say no.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really sure why it's the schools fault that you don't get more time with your kids in the evenings because you don't get home until 6.

This.

OP here. Please elaborate. I have a job. I would love to be an heiress but alas, that is not my lot in life. I think it's normal to work to put food on the table, a roof over your head is it not? And if this is in reference to having two working parents - I'm afraid that's far and away the norm these days. Most, us included, have no other way of making ends meet.

Hire a damned babysitter then

OP, I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but can you have your kid either work on HW on the weekends, or arrange to have him complete it before 6pm? I know not all schools have study hall during after care, but could you hire an after school babysitter who could also help with HW prior to your arrival?

Dinner, work sheet, brush teeth, bath, PJs, story, kiss, good night. Make it a part of your evening routine.

Ugh. No. The school doesn't get to interfere with our bedtime routine. I'm fortunate enough that DS's after-school nanny generally oversees the homework. But if the only way it could get done was by taking 20 minutes out of our evenings (which ends up being more than 15% of our evening time together!) I would just opt out.

Anonymous wrote:I told my sons teacher in K that we weren't going to do the homework, she said no problem. Kids need to play, Va doesn't even require kids to attend K (although DC does).

K/early elementary school teachers are usually very flexible about the homework rule. It's suggested, not mandatory. Do whatever works for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really sure why it's the schools fault that you don't get more time with your kids in the evenings because you don't get home until 6.

This.

OP here. Please elaborate. I have a job. I would love to be an heiress but alas, that is not my lot in life. I think it's normal to work to put food on the table, a roof over your head is it not? And if this is in reference to having two working parents - I'm afraid that's far and away the norm these days. Most, us included, have no other way of making ends meet.

Hire a damned babysitter then

OP, I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but can you have your kid either work on HW on the weekends, or arrange to have him complete it before 6pm? I know not all schools have study hall during after care, but could you hire an after school babysitter who could also help with HW prior to your arrival?

Dinner, work sheet, brush teeth, bath, PJs, story, kiss, good night. Make it a part of your evening routine.

In 2nd grade in upper NW and have very little to no homework. I would talk to the principal/teacher if you have a real issue. If it in fact taking much longer than 20minutes and adding stress tell them. Its K, not senior year.

I told my sons teacher in K that we weren't going to do the homework, she said no problem. Kids need to play, Va doesn't even require kids to attend K (although DC does).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really sure why it's the schools fault that you don't get more time with your kids in the evenings because you don't get home until 6.

This.

OP here. Please elaborate. I have a job. I would love to be an heiress but alas, that is not my lot in life. I think it's normal to work to put food on the table, a roof over your head is it not? And if this is in reference to having two working parents - I'm afraid that's far and away the norm these days. Most, us included, have no other way of making ends meet.

Hire a damned babysitter then

OP, I wouldn't quite put it in those terms, but can you have your kid either work on HW on the weekends, or arrange to have him complete it before 6pm? I know not all schools have study hall during after care, but could you hire an after school babysitter who could also help with HW prior to your arrival?

The original post with its numbered listings just for 20 mins of homework is one of the funniest things I've seen on this site.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really sure why it's the schools fault that you don't get more time with your kids in the evenings because you don't get home until 6.

This.

OP here. Please elaborate. I have a job. I would love to be an heiress but alas, that is not my lot in life. I think it's normal to work to put food on the table, a roof over your head is it not? And if this is in reference to having two working parents - I'm afraid that's far and away the norm these days. Most, us included, have no other way of making ends meet.

Hire a damned babysitter then

Aren't you reading anyway? So that shouldn't be anything new, you just have to record (takes two seconds).

The worksheets are good for kids and shouldn't take too much time.

I see nothing unreasonable here except for your attitude.

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Anonymous wrote:Growing up in Asia, I have to laugh at these kinds of posts. 20 minutes a day of homework is nothing. This is why the US consistently ranks so low compared to other industrialized nations.

Except that it's not. Research shows homework in the early years doesn't lead to academic improvement- so why do it?

I think the studies sometimes reflect what they want to find.

A kid who knows their shapes, numbers, letters and sounds before they go into K is going to start reading and doing math sooner. The more practice they have with math facts and word recognition the easier it will be for them to learn other concepts in school.

Learning is cumulative. If they start off with a weak foundation they are going to have a harder time than a kid who has had daily practice.

Ok, well, as long as we're just making things up: informal, relaxed family learning is superior to busy-work homework. It teaches the child skills in a natural setting, which is more intellectual enriching. It improves the bond with parents and household routines, which helps the child learn more responsibility down the line. The more school disrupts the family routine, the less enriching the family routine is. In addition, since the homework doesn't actually reflect substantive learning, it inculcates a resentment and lack of respect towards formal schooling that will reduce the child's ability to learn in school over time.

The "busy-work" is assigned for a reason. Usually it is meant to help kids get used to completing tasks with multi-step instructions. Ex: Color the stars blue, the circles red, the rectangles green and count how many stars, circles and rectangles there are on this page.

There's a reason for everything - doesn't mean it's a good reason.

Then don't do it.