My students get a packet every week. Reading, writing response, phonics, math, printing and sight words.
I hate it and don't agree with it, but its not up to me. And why would it be? I mean, it's only my classroom.
I'm a bitter teacher today.
I have to ask - what's going on with this?                                                 ... What would you like parents doing at home?
I don't believe in worksheeting kids to death- especially young children. I would much rather have a reading journal or maybe just a monthly project that parents and children would work on together. I actually like the reading log, just because it reinforces how important reading to your child is.
But these kids are 5 and being made to sit all day from 8 to 3. The last thing I want them to do is sit at home.
At this stage, she wants homework to simply encourage responsibility, critical thinking, and curiosity at home. I can get behind that kind of kindergarten homework.
joenali -- Thank you for your response earlier. My husband agrees with you as does our K teacher to a degree. But how do you respond to the above? Sounds legit, right? lol
I just know a lot of people who think that homework signifies a good school so I have those voices in my head.
Can you do those things without the direction of a teacher? Go on a walk, look at the leaves changing color, go to the beach and hunt for sea glass and a shells, spark curiosity that way. There is plenty of time to encourage responsibility: laying out clothes for school, putting toys away,helping clear the table. I mean we are talking about 5 year olds, correct?
Post by litebright on Oct 28, 2013 21:32:24 GMT -5
We're on week two of homework. It's usually a multi-part deal, consisting of something like: tell as many facts about X (that they learned in class) as you can remember; look for these -ight words in a book; draw something that happened in the Magic Tree House book we're reading and write a sentence about it; practice writing these half a dozen letters; and something math related like count as many (pennies, macaronis, etc.) as you can.
It doesn't take terribly long, but we break it up over a couple of nights. Comes home on Friday and has to be turned in on Wednesday.
We have short nightly assignments Monday through Thursday, but never any worksheets. In addition to reading and sight word practice they're little things like counting how many of a certain item we have in the house, telling one of us something specific they've been learning about, or helping with household chores. As a teacher myself I'd be kicking and screaming if he was doing drill and kill type assignments, but the "assignments" are more about making sure we know what he's doing at school and getting into the habit of doing learning reinforcement activities at home on weeknights.
Yes. On Monday they were given a book to be read at home. For the first half of the year, we were to read the book to DD 3 nights in a row. After the third time, DD would tell us what happened in the book and we had to write word for word what DD said. She also had to draw a picture of something that happened in the book. For the second half of the year, we were still given the book on Monday, but we only had to read the book one time. After that, DD had to write a sentence about what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the book. She also had to draw a picture to go with each of her sentences. The homework for the second half of the year was much easier than the first half. In addition to the book, we were also to read to DD 15 minutes a night. Homework was due on Friday.
Yes. On Monday they were given a book to be read at home. For the first half of the year, we were to read the book to DD 3 nights in a row. After the third time, DD would tell us what happened in the book and we had to write word for word what DD said. She also had to draw a picture of something that happened in the book. For the second half of the year, we were still given the book on Monday, but we only had to read the book one time. After that, DD had to write a sentence about what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the book. She also had to draw a picture to go with each of her sentences. The homework for the second half of the year was much easier than the first half. In addition to the book, we were also to read to DD 15 minutes a night. Homework was due on Friday.
joenali -- Thank you for your response earlier. My husband agrees with you as does our K teacher to a degree. But how do you respond to the above? Sounds legit, right? lol
I just know a lot of people who think that homework signifies a good school so I have those voices in my head.
Can you do those things without the direction of a teacher? Go on a walk, look at the leaves changing color, go to the beach and hunt for sea glass and a shells, spark curiosity that way. There is plenty of time to encourage responsibility: laying out clothes for school, putting toys away,helping clear the table. I mean we are talking about 5 year olds, correct?
Yes. But not all parents are as perfect and driven as they are here on GBCML, and may need some concrete direction. They may not think/care to take their kid on a nature walk, but if it is "homework," they may be more inclined to do it. The whole point is to lay the groundwork for a successful education. Parents are a critical part of that, and this sort of "open," not-really-graded-but-gets-a-smiley-face-if-you-turn-it-in-homework encourages them to be involved in their child's education.
Can you do those things without the direction of a teacher? Go on a walk, look at the leaves changing color, go to the beach and hunt for sea glass and a shells, spark curiosity that way. There is plenty of time to encourage responsibility: laying out clothes for school, putting toys away,helping clear the table. I mean we are talking about 5 year olds, correct?
Yes. But not all parents are as perfect and driven as they are here on GBCML, and may need some concrete direction. They may not think/care to take their kid on a nature walk, but if it is "homework," they may be more inclined to do it. The whole point is to lay the groundwork for a successful education. Parents are a critical part of that, and this sort of "open," not-really-graded-but-gets-a-smiley-face-if-you-turn-it-in-homework encourages them to be involved in their child's education.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Oct 28, 2013 21:56:56 GMT -5
yeah, I'm pretty sure that the 10 minutes a week we're taking to do this aren't keeping her from going outside to be a kid. But thanks for your helpful advice.
Can you do those things without the direction of a teacher? Go on a walk, look at the leaves changing color, go to the beach and hunt for sea glass and a shells, spark curiosity that way. There is plenty of time to encourage responsibility: laying out clothes for school, putting toys away,helping clear the table. I mean we are talking about 5 year olds, correct?
Yes. But not all parents are as perfect and driven as they are here on GBCML, and may need some concrete direction. They may not think/care to take their kid on a nature walk, but if it is "homework," they may be more inclined to do it. The whole point is to lay the groundwork for a successful education. Parents are a critical part of that, and this sort of "open," not-really-graded-but-gets-a-smiley-face-if-you-turn-it-in-homework encourages them to be involved in their child's education.
That's all fine and good I guess. But I think parents deserve some sort of parents meeting night(s) to outline that the homework their receiving is about creating a cooperative educational experience between the home and school.
I'm a bit uneasy at the notion that teachers are surreptitiously trying to manipulate parents into being involved in the process. I would prefer a very blatant approach.
I mean to say that the way you're describing it sounds a bit underhanded.
Mine did, but it was very simple stuff. Most of it was "explain the difference between x and y", so tell your parents the difference between over and under, or show your parents an example of a circle and a sphere. Nothing to write, just 2 minutes of a showing us stuff.
Yes. But not all parents are as perfect and driven as they are here on GBCML, and may need some concrete direction. They may not think/care to take their kid on a nature walk, but if it is "homework," they may be more inclined to do it. The whole point is to lay the groundwork for a successful education. Parents are a critical part of that, and this sort of "open," not-really-graded-but-gets-a-smiley-face-if-you-turn-it-in-homework encourages them to be involved in their child's education.
That's all fine and good I guess. But I think parents deserve some sort of parents meeting night(s) to outline that the homework their receiving is about creating a cooperative educational experience between the home and school.
I'm a bit uneasy at the notion that teachers are surreptitiously trying to manipulate parents into being involved in the process. I would prefer a very blatant approach.
That's exactly what they did. At curriculum night the teacher outlined her goals for the year, how the classroom was run/daily schedule, and her goals for homework. She didn't assign anything until after the 3rd week of school, after this meeting had taken place. The instructions on what is sent home are very clear that this is a family activity, and suggest ways to encourage discussion and thought. That people (and apparently some teachers, no less) would see that as a problem, and unnecessary, baffles me. It takes all of 10 minutes, and drives home an important point that learning continues at home.
That's all fine and good I guess. But I think parents deserve some sort of parents meeting night(s) to outline that the homework their receiving is about creating a cooperative educational experience between the home and school.
I'm a bit uneasy at the notion that teachers are surreptitiously trying to manipulate parents into being involved in the process. I would prefer a very blatant approach.
That's exactly what they did. At curriculum night the teacher outlined her goals for the year, how the classroom was run/daily schedule, and her goals for homework. She didn't assign anything until after the 3rd week of school, after this meeting had taken place. The instructions on what is sent home are very clear that this is a family activity, and suggest ways to encourage discussion and thought. That people (and apparently some teachers, no less) would see that as a problem, and unnecessary, baffles me. It takes all of 10 minutes, and drives home an important point that learning continues at home.
Your initial description described teachers as orchestrating parents interactions with their children through homework because some parents are deficient and the homework being given artificially provides opportunities that some parents would not naturally be given to providing.
But this second follow-up comment is different. Here you're saying that everything was clearly defined up front and out in the open.
Wow at these responses! My kids first elementary school had an hour of kinder homework a night. It was HARD and there were tests, poem memorizations and recitations. Letter grades. First grade was worse, and by November of second grade, I pulled them from the brutal elementary boot camp beat down.
He's in 2nd grade now, but yes we had a weekly packet for him o do. They also had a Books and Beyond program where they had to read 120 books over the course of a year. He got medals for particpation for K and 1st grade.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Oct 28, 2013 22:23:30 GMT -5
That comment was not meant to define some parents as deficient. That was in a response to a question of why parents can't just do this stuff on their own. Some would, some wouldn't (for any number of reasons). I don't think one is better or one is lacking. But assigning it as homework gets everyone on the same page in terms of expectations. I guess it could be seen as manipulative, but I don't see it that way at all, because the goal isn't winning, or the teacher getting her way, or even a grade dependent on the homework.
Yes, every night Monday-Thursday. It takes about a half an hour for her to do. Monday is always "book report" night, which can be pretty funny. Tonight, DD drew a picture and wrote "'Bark George' is meow-a-licious!" So it's not exactly incisive analysis they're looking for, lol.
My son gets homework every single night. They expect he should spend about 15 minutes on it. He also has weekly "assessments" on five vocabulary words, and I found out he had a surprise social studies "assessment" Friday. I think I'm okay with it; though it may seem to be too much too soon? My husband is in favor it but has really only seen the amount of work and the substance of the work about a handful of times. A lot of parents of kids in his class seem to have some type of problem with it.
ETA We are also encouraged to read each night, which we did anyway, and there is a monthly reading log. He gets a pizza hut coupon monthly if he fills the log out.
My son gets homework every single night. They expect he should spend about 15 minutes on it. He also has weekly "assessments" on five vocabulary words, and I found out he had a surprise social studies "assessment" Friday. I think I'm okay with it; though it may seem to be too much too soon? My husband is in favor it but has really only seen the amount of work and the substance of the work about a handful of times. A lot of parents of kids in his class seem to have some type of problem with it.
Wow that is a lot.
Our kids learn 1-2 new sight words a week. Then they spend the rest of the week reinforcing the use of the words, using them in sentences, spelling them, finding them in books etc. Plus they also add in the previous sight words. Five is a lot for little kids.
Also the sight words at this point are the/like/I/A/see/to etc etc etc. Common words that are easy to spell and are used constantly.