Basically, I don't want to be THAT parent but I also don't want my kid overwhelmed.
5th grade is a big deal at my kid's school. The amount and difficulty of work is exponentially harder. Kids who have been straight A students are struggling/failing - some in several subjects. This week was a lot. Two major tests (Tuesday - science and Thursday - social studies). Every family I know was stressed all week.
We get a grade-specific newsletter every Friday. Today's indicated that there will be three major tests on 10/17 (math), 10/18 (language arts), and 10/19 (science). My initial reaction is that schedule is ridiculous. Am I just being a baby or do you agree?
Post by icedcoffee on Sept 29, 2023 9:26:24 GMT -5
I think it's ok to point it out to them "Hey--just wanted to flag that all three of these tests are in a row. That seems like a lot and just wanted to make sure you were aware." And then drop it. Maybe they didn't notice? Or maybe it was intentionally. Teachers are people. I think it's ok to communicate with them and let them know.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Sept 29, 2023 9:35:40 GMT -5
It’s a lot. We’re going through the same thing. There aren’t enough hours in the day and no matter how many times I reach out about my kid not understanding concepts, no help is given. We’re having to practice and practice and practice at home and teach her ourselves.
I feel like this is where the burnout and the “just get them through” must begin. I’ve never felt so much school pressure.
It’s a lot. We’re going through the same thing. There aren’t enough hours in the day and no matter how many times I reach out about my kid not understanding concepts, no help is given. We’re having to practice and practice and practice at home and teach her ourselves.
I feel like this is where the burnout and the “just get them through” must begin. I’ve never felt so much school pressure.
Is yours in 5th grade as well? My kid loves school and I feel like this is the year that will change - which I hate.
It’s a lot. We’re going through the same thing. There aren’t enough hours in the day and no matter how many times I reach out about my kid not understanding concepts, no help is given. We’re having to practice and practice and practice at home and teach her ourselves.
I feel like this is where the burnout and the “just get them through” must begin. I’ve never felt so much school pressure.
Is yours in 5th grade as well? My kid loves school and I feel like this is the year that will change - which I hate.
Yep. She still feels good about school, but the work is just insane.
DH and I have noticed the amount of graded work notifications has increased almost triple this year. I don't know if it's because more is done online by these teachers test wise, but she had the best 4th grade teacher last year and we didn't have this type of graded work notifications by a long shot.
Unfortunately our county has done away with back to school for total BS reasons and I plan to bring it up at the first family engagement night because I can't figure out why there is so much graded work. We are 5 weeks into school.
This sounds exactly like 6th grade for David. Part of the problem for us was there were a few new teachers that year and they didn't talk to each other. Parents brought it to their attention and it was much better after that. His school is good about staggering the tests a bit as to not stress the students too much. Even in 9th grade, the only times he has tests like you described is during finals. I'm not an educator or anything, but that's seems like a lot, especially for fifth grade.
Post by purplinsky on Sept 29, 2023 9:44:11 GMT -5
Does the elementary school go up to 5th or 6th grade? We had a lot of this, along with substantial projects every quarter, starting in 5th but it was really ramped up in 6th grade and our elementary is K-6th. The kids were constantly told all the work, tests, and projects were to prepare them for junior high. 6th grade was miserable for all of us, but when my DD hit 7th grade it was a breeze and so much less homework. She’s in 8th now and still tells me there is so much less work in junior high than there was in 6th grade. It seemed like the elementary school teachers had this vision of junior high that wasn’t accurate. 🤷🏻♀️ We survived, but those were rough years.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Sept 29, 2023 9:45:15 GMT -5
My son is in 5th grade, and the work has increased, but not *that* much. His school is K-5, if that matters.
I'm glad my son's school moved away from letter grades, because it really does make it less stressful for parents, teachers, and kids. I wish more districts did this (and standards based grading for HS level).
Post by ellipses84 on Sept 29, 2023 9:46:59 GMT -5
I would contact the teacher and let them know your child is feeling very stressed or struggling to get homework done, and implore other students’ parents to do the same.
DS2 is only in 2nd grade and his school is pretty anti-homework (even when DS1 was in 5th grade and middle school homework for 6th/7th isn’t even that bad). DS2’s teacher has been sending a massive amount of homework weekly. We haven’t been able to get it all done. An elementary teacher friend with a child in his class messaged me saying this is crazy! She works at a different elementary school in our district and they don’t assign homework at all. So I messaged the teacher about my kid and I think she’s going to do the same (although she hates having to do that since she’s on the other side of parents, too). The teacher responded back saying just do what we can (like it’s pretty much optional) and her reasoning for it (which I understand - but it’s just too much to complete in the time we have).
Post by thebreakfastclub on Sept 29, 2023 9:48:45 GMT -5
This is so different from what my son is experiencing in 5th grade this year. There is no homework, no graded work, and so far no mention of any big tests etc.
Does the elementary school go up to 5th or 6th grade? We had a lot of this, along with substantial projects every quarter, starting in 5th but it was really ramped up in 6th grade and our elementary is K-6th. The kids were constantly told all the work, tests, and projects were to prepare them for junior high. 6th grade was miserable for all of us, but when my DD hit 7th grade it was a breeze and so much less homework. She’s in 8th now and still tells me there is so much less work in junior high than there was in 6th grade. It seemed like the elementary school teachers had this vision of junior high that wasn’t accurate. 🤷🏻♀️ We survived, but those were rough years.
I’m sorry your daughter is so stressed this week. IME this is very normal though. Since 3rd grade they have had 3 major tests in each subject every quarter. Generally the teachers do a good job with review/test prep and the kids get used to it. Teachers are assigned certain days they can test but yes they do come in clusters. DD is in 7th and has had 5 end of quarter tests this week and will have 2 more on Monday. It’s a lot but with good time management is doable and DD doesn’t stress nearly as much as she used to.
IMO the first quarter of school is always the hardest. After that everyone settles into a routine and knows what to expect. I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to the teacher though and ask how you can support DD at home through this as it’s stressing her out. Good luck and plan things for her to look forward to! Dinner out, ice cream with a friend, etc.
ETA: I guess our experience isn’t normal so maybe it’s not helpful. There is still very little homework and projects. Some math and science but not too bad. Just time management skills and some studying. DD isn’t too stressed by any of it.
That sounds significantly more intense than my 8th graders schedule! 5th graders are still little kids in elementary school for christ sake. This is really outside the bounds of what I would expect in our district. We don't even have homework AT ALL in elementary school. That slowly begins starting in 6th grade.
It seemed like the elementary school teachers had this vision of junior high that wasn’t accurate. 🤷🏻♀️ We survived, but those were rough years.
I think this is what is going on with OP. Honestly the most difficult part of middle school for DS1 and his friends is the different schedule, organization, switching classes, keeping track of homework, personal responsibility, and social aspects like making new friends, not being in the same class with your friends all day or having the same lunch as them.
Post by maudefindlay on Sept 29, 2023 9:52:33 GMT -5
My DD is in 5th (our elementary goes thru 6th). No, here it is not normal for all kids and parents to be stressed (sure short term over a random peoject/test, but that's not what I'm reading from your post. Your post reads like stress is the new norm). 5th grade does start a push for kids to be more responsible and write down assignments and for kids to talk to teachers about issues etc. Homework is more than 4th grade, but not exponentially.
My DD is in 5th (our elementary goes thru 6th). No, here it is not normal for all kids and parents to be stressed (sure short term over a random peoject/test, but that's not what I'm reading from your post. Your post reads like stress is the new norm). 5th grade does start a push for kids to be more responsible and write down assignments and for kids to talk to teachers about issues etc. Homework is more than 4th grade, but not exponentially.
This is so different from what my son is experiencing in 5th grade this year. There is no homework, no graded work, and so far no mention of any big tests etc.
Similar for my 5th grader. Except now I'm worried that I might be missing something! But we do get class newsletter 2x per week so I'm pretty sure I haven't missed anything...
5th grade was awful for both of my kids. The amount of homework, large projects and tests was just ludicrous. They kept saying, we are preparing them for middle school!! They don't understand how hard middle school will be for them!!!
Yeah, middle school was not a big deal and life went back to normal when they hit 6th grade.
I have no advice, just sympathy pains...Both of my sons and I cringe whenever 5th grade is brought up (and it is brought up, from the context of...that was hell.)
My 5th grader has not experienced this, he’s able to complete most of his work at school, occasionally has some math problems to finish/practice. There’s definitely more expectation for them to be more independent and responsible for their work etc.
I would absolutely point out the timing of the tests. It sounds very stressful, and at this age it seems so unnecessary.
Is it elementary school or middle school? If it’s elementary, 100%, talk to the teacher and say that that feels a little bit unreasonable for your family. If it’s middle school, it’s a little bit more complicated because what happens sometimes is that the teachers don’t teach the same group of kids, and they don’t necessarily know what the kids are doing. I actually depend on kids to say to me. We already have two tests this week. Can I wait till next week? Otherwise I don’t really know. so there still could be a conversation, but I would be putting the conversation more on my kid in middle school that I would if they were still in elementary care
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
My kid is only in 3rd grade and I already think it's a lot. Totally feel you. She comes home at 5.30 ish and we immediately jump into HW which takes an hour at least. And then we prep for the weekly language test and then the weekly math test. These are not major tests but the kid is a perfectionist so she stresses about these a lot. What happened to kids being kids.. sob..
My H teaches has taught 5th for several years and he says that sounds like too much, especially this early in the school year. UNLESS these are the typical BOY/BOG assessments in each subject to see where kids are starting (meaning they aren’t expected to study for them).
Is teaching departmentalized at your school (ie: does your kid have different teachers for each subject)? If so, it’s possible that they aren’t coordinating on the schedule.
That is a lot. My DD is in 5th and the work load so far is pretty light, but 2nd grade is known to be a horrible year at our school (it was!).
I don't see any harm in bringing it up, but be prepared for nothing to change. Talk to parents with older kids too, maybe they can shed some light on how the year will go.
For fifth Grade my daughter generally did not have homework. Sometimes she would need to finish class work at home. she would have a test occasionally. Her elementary school did not give out grades though.
In middle school, she only has homework if she doesn't finish in class. 4 days a week they have advisory where they get to do homework, catch up on missing work, or meet with teachers. She may have 20 to 30 mins a night of homework. And that is because she chooses to read during advisory.