Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid came home this week from PK a printout from "reading a to z" and the teacher said she should read it as homework and then on Friday she could read it to the class. My kid knows all of her letter sounds and sort has started sounding out words but isn't reading yet. Anyway the book had this repeating pattern of " I see a _______" and there was a picture of whatever that blank was so between the repeating pattern and pictures she wasn't really reading as much as figuring out the pattern.

Anyway was curious if other DCPS parents had experienced this.

Pre K teacher here.

Sounds like the teacher has found your child "capable and advanced" enough to complete great pre reading/sight word activities such as those that reading A to Z offer. If your child can identify basic sight words, give beginning letter sounds and sound out simple words, what's wrong with encouraging that? Entering Kindergarten, students will be tested within the first 30 days with a Dibels assessment. This assessment tests, letter recognition, beginning sounds and parts of books (ie. front, back, title, where to start reading etc.) Your child will do great.[/b] It's February - time to get ready. [b]Homework is fine. Or are you still just wanting your child to play and nap? Especially if your child can do more? You decide.

Some teachers push rigor/academics especially if your child is capable. Some push playing. However,[b] in Kindergarten there is little to no play. So there is no right or wrong, just different. I encourage you to support your child's learning.

This assumes a public school. I guess this thread is about public school, so, OK then.

But be assured there are still kindergartens out there in DC and MoCo that don't track this philosophy -- they're in independent schools, like my son's. Where he spent a great deal of kindergarten playing!

Decide=decode

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid came home this week from PK a printout from "reading a to z" and the teacher said she should read it as homework and then on Friday she could read it to the class. My kid knows all of her letter sounds and sort has started sounding out words but isn't reading yet. Anyway the book had this repeating pattern of " I see a _______" and there was a picture of whatever that blank was so between the repeating pattern and pictures she wasn't really reading as much as figuring out the pattern.

Anyway was curious if other DCPS parents had experienced this.

Pre K teacher here.

Sounds like the teacher has found your child "capable and advanced" enough to complete great pre reading/sight word activities such as those that reading A to Z offer. If your child can identify basic sight words, give beginning letter sounds and sound out simple words, what's wrong with encouraging that? Entering Kindergarten, students will be tested within the first 30 days with a Dibels assessment. This assessment tests, letter recognition, beginning sounds and parts of books (ie. front, back, title, where to start reading etc.) Your child will do great. It's February - time to get ready. Homework is fine. Or are you still just wanting your child to play and nap? Especially if your child can do more? You decide.

Some teachers push rigor/academics especially if your child is capable. Some push playing. However, in Kindergarten there is little to no play. So there is no right or wrong, just different. I encourage you to support your child's learning.

It is really too bad that a PK teacher has this attitude. There is absolutely no reason for a 4 year old to " get ready" for a DIBELS assessment in Kindergarten. There is no reason at all to encourage a child to "do well" on the DIBELS. Literally all they need to do is to point to a picture that begins with the sound "ssssssl" and name some upper case and lower case letters. And all it does is give the teacher a baseline pic of early reading skills to be sure the student is progressing over the kindergarten year.

Well educated teachers in early childhood Ed should know it is entirely developmentally inappropriate to push reading and writing etc. at age 4. They should be doing so much other critical educational activities at this age around social skills, self regulation and understanding how their physical world and community function. When students decide like crazy in 1st grade but have no idea how the post office works or don't have the self control to sit and read a book, then problems begin

My DC is at a frequently mentioned charter--no homework. We get a weekly email that details what they will be working on that week and books they will be reading (read by teacher). My DC has lots of enrichment at home (I realize many don't) and we read together daily. I don't think kids at this age need formal homework but I can see how some families may need the encouragement to engage their child. As long as there is no punishment or humiliation involved if it's not "done" I can't see the harm but I don't think it should be mandatory at all.

That is sad. I wonder what other developmentally inappropriate things are happening.

Homework starts in first grade at my kid's school.

Well My PS3 gets weekly homework. He runs right through it. He's in the spanish immersion at Cleveland

Anonymous wrote:My kid came home this week from PK a printout from "reading a to z" and the teacher said she should read it as homework and then on Friday she could read it to the class. My kid knows all of her letter sounds and sort has started sounding out words but isn't reading yet. Anyway the book had this repeating pattern of " I see a _______" and there was a picture of whatever that blank was so between the repeating pattern and pictures she wasn't really reading as much as figuring out the pattern.

Anyway was curious if other DCPS parents had experienced this.

Pre K teacher here.

Sounds like the teacher has found your child "capable and advanced" enough to complete great pre reading/sight word activities such as those that reading A to Z offer. If your child can identify basic sight words, give beginning letter sounds and sound out simple words, what's wrong with encouraging that? Entering Kindergarten, students will be tested within the first 30 days with a Dibels assessment. This assessment tests, letter recognition, beginning sounds and parts of books (ie. front, back, title, where to start reading etc.) Your child will do great. It's February - time to get ready. Homework is fine. Or are you still just wanting your child to play and nap? Especially if your child can do more? You decide.

Some teachers push rigor/academics especially if your child is capable. Some push playing. However, in Kindergarten there is little to no play. So there is no right or wrong, just different. I encourage you to support your child's learning.

yes, the homework is to make the parents engage in their children's learning. Not independent work for the kid to do outside of school. It is not "insane."

homework for PK is insane.

Oh please. PK 3 and 4 are set up to make sure that kids who are disadvantaged actually get a leg up in life by making sure someone reads to these kids on a regular basis and engages them. The homework is for the parents to make them actually pay a bit of attention to their kids and maybe read to them before parking them in front of the TV. Get off your outraged horse.

My daughter is in preschool at AppleTree CH. She gets homework assignments every week and over vacations. But often the assignment is to draw a picture or practice writing different letters or identify patterns. It usually takes 10 minutes or less, and never more than 30. I don't think it's a big deal at all, it's not graded, and it's usually something fun. I don't think a blanket statement about the inappropriateness of homework in pre-K is all that helpful.

Having read Alfie Kohn's books and articles on homework, I am skeptical about its value. However, I am fine with the "homework" that is sent home with my PK kid from Two Rivers PCS. Each Friday, we receive a packet called "Ask Me About" that gives prompts to parents to talk to their kids about the material that was covered in the past week. I like it because it gives insights into what has happened in the classroom and gives us a chance to reinforce learning at home. Once a week there is also a small writing/math sheet sent home. My kid likes it and I don't think it's doing any harm. Occasionally, kids are asked to prepare "shares" (aka show-n-tell) in which they share a talent or favorite book with their classmates. Finally, parents are encouraged to read to their kids, or read together, daily.

I agree that homework in the traditional sense isn't great for PK. My charter doesn't have daily homework, but does send home projects to work on over the summer and Christmas break -- but there's no actual enforcement. I think the idea behind a lot of the PK and K homework is to get parents to be engaged with their kids. Some of the things folks are describing as homework (e.g., reading an age appropriate book together once a week) are honestly things I'm doing anyway (and more).

I actually suspect that you'll find more schools that have "homework" where there's more concern about whether parents are engaging kids at home. So, e.g, where you have a lot of high SES families with the time or resources to engage their kids on a regular basis, you're less likely to see regular "homework."

Of course, I have absolutely no data to support my hypothesis. Just my thoughts. =)

My DCPS pre-k kid gets weekly homework, comes home Monday and due the next Monday. It's usually one math activity and one letters/reading activity, most often in the form of a game. He doesn't even realize it's homework or educational half the time. We also get a weekly reading log that we're supposed to fill out and send back.