first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It took
about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to
read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the alphabet,
but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there many kids
coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing addresses. We
happen to have a very long address, so it wasn't easy. Anyway, just
venting. Today, there is more homework, but I tried to get some of it out
of the way this morning before school so he is not overwhelmed after school.

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

"toypup" wrote in message
m...
DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his
homework, he had to write his name, color a house, write his
address, draw a picture of someone he wants to talk on the phone
with, write his phone number. It took about half an hour and he was
exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to read, but I wasn't going
there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the
alphabet, but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying
there many kids coming into kindergarten not even reading much less
writing addresses. We happen to have a very long address, so it
wasn't easy. Anyway, just venting. Today, there is more homework,
but I tried to get some of it out of the way this morning before
school so he is not overwhelmed after school.

My kids didn't have homework in kindergarten until after winter break.
And even then, what you describe sounds like a week's worth, not a
day's worth.

Bizby

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 21:38:49 GMT, "toypup"
wrote:

DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It took
about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to
read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the alphabet,
but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there many kids
coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing addresses. We
happen to have a very long address, so it wasn't easy. Anyway, just
venting. Today, there is more homework, but I tried to get some of it out
of the way this morning before school so he is not overwhelmed after school.

That's a lot of homework. After reading some threads here, I was
expecting terrible amounts of homework, but E only had one assignment
a week for Kindergarten.

Nan

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

"toypup" wrote in message
m...
DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It
took
about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to
read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the
alphabet,
but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there many kids
coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing addresses. We
happen to have a very long address, so it wasn't easy. Anyway, just
venting. Today, there is more homework, but I tried to get some of it out
of the way this morning before school so he is not overwhelmed after
school.



Wow. I hope that is not going on in my son's kindergarten coming up. This
would be Not Ok with me.

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

DD had homework in kindergarden but it was 20 minutes of reading and a
couple times of week she had 1 page of math homework that took no more
than 5 minutes to complete.. Sounds like your DS has waaaay too much
work to do!

Barrie
http://youchoose.momsmakemore.com

toypup wrote:
DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It took
about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to
read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the alphabet,
but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there many kids
coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing addresses. We
happen to have a very long address, so it wasn't easy. Anyway, just
venting. Today, there is more homework, but I tried to get some of it out
of the way this morning before school so he is not overwhelmed after school.

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

Hi --

You need to push back! I've looked up, over and over, studies relating
to the value of homework. There appears to be little to no value for
homework done prior to about 4th grade. What homework that is of value
is reinforcement of work done in class. The recommended amount of
homework for elementary school is no more than 10 minutes per night per
grade. So, 2-5 minutes per night for kindergarten (maximum), 10 minutes
for grade one, 20 for grade two, etc.

There is a LOT of value to you and your child reading together for at
least 20 minutes/night, gradually moving to having your child read
independently for 20 minutes/night. The reading should be of anything
your child enjoys, including comic books, cereal boxes and sports
magazines.

There is also a great deal of value to you seeing what homework is
assigned so that you know what your child is working on during the
school day, what he understands and what he doesn't.

Finally,there is a lot of value to you playing number games with your
son. Count things in different ways (ie, English, Spanish, as planets
in order, as element in order ..) These kinds of games lead to numeracy
the way that reading and talking lead to literacy.

Do go in and discuss this issue with his teacher. Be firm that you will
not require more than 5 or 10 minutes (that's distractable kid minutes,
not 10 minutes of actual concentration) from your child, but you WILL
make sure that homework is part of the daily routine. (That's so that
you can show the flag as "supporting the teacher" while actually
supporting your child.)

My two cents,
--Beth Kevles

http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the AOL one if you would
like me to reply.

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

"toypup" wrote in message
m...
DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It
took about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed
to read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the
alphabet, but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there
many kids coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing
addresses. We happen to have a very long address, so it wasn't easy.
Anyway, just venting. Today, there is more homework, but I tried to get
some of it out of the way this morning before school so he is not
overwhelmed after school.

Wow... After reading this and all the replies so far, I am actually
amazed...
DS was in kindergarden last year and 'homework' was reading together - they
sent home log sheets that the parents signed for every book read - or about
10-20 minutes worth of reading.
I didn't really consider this to be homework, as this was, and still is, a
nightly event at bed time here.
I know some children start kindergarden reading and/or printing, and I also
know that some children don't do either when they walk into kindergarden.
DS was one that would point out simple words he knew and he recognized his
name but could not spell it on his own. It was the first day of school that
he came home with some work - can't remember exactly, but probably was a
picture or something - that HE had written his name on, obviously with some
help.
If there was set homework on the first day of kindergarden, or even well
into the year, I would not be alright with this. In kindergarden, as an
early starter even, DS learned to spell and write his name, first and last
(and he has a long last name, but since he just has *my* last name, not
hyphenated with DH's last name like DD's is and mine is now - that's 9
letters HIS last name is compared to 15, what mine and DD's name is) He
knew the alphabet before going into kindergarden, but ended the year with
being able to write it all out, upper and lower case, learned his name in
Ukrainian, could count to I have no idea what, as I normally ask to be
spared come aorund 200 or so ;) lol and can count to 20 in Ukrainian... He
learned his phone number, and that's about it... Other than basic, beginner
math (color 2 apples red, 2 apples green and you have a total of 4 apples or
whatever it may be) Days of the week, months of the year, whatever... Just
the basics, I guess.
I was satisfied with what he learned in a year, and it required no
'homework'

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

toypup wrote:
DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his
homework, he had to write his name, color a house, write his address,
draw a picture of someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write
his phone number. It took about half an hour and he was exhausted.
Afterward, we were supposed to read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the
alphabet, but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying
there many kids coming into kindergarten not even reading much less
writing addresses. We happen to have a very long address, so it
wasn't easy. Anyway, just venting. Today, there is more homework,
but I tried to get some of it out of the way this morning before
school so he is not overwhelmed after school.

My five year old who has been in kindergarten since the beginning of
February so is almost 3/4 of the way through the school year has much less
homework than that. Every afternoon he brings home two repetitive reading
books suitable for his level of reading (by our design he was pre-reading
and writing apart from his name at the beginning of the year). He also has
had short lists from the 100 most common words to read and memorise but
that's been a very gradual and gentle process and I don't think they've got
through fifty of them yet. In the last month the whole grade has had an
exercise where they've all learnt how to recite their address and telephone
numbers but there's been no requirement to do more than read them. At this
point they are all writing simple sentences while those who came with some
writing skills already write a little more. Spelling is haphazard and based
on recognising some of a word's letters by their sound.

Occasionally there is some extra homework task like collecting autumn leaves
or drawing a fire escape plan for our house (with parental help) but it's
not onerous and there're usually several days to complete the task. My
experience with three children is that for the first half year the wee new
entrants are very tired by the time they get home from school and the last
thing we, as parents, have wanted is to do anything that makes schoolwork a
less than happy and fun experience.

I would request a meeting with the teacher (after arming myself with lots of
the anti-homework for lower grades research) and prepare to do battle.
Either that or just practice a bit of civil disobedience on behalf of my
child's mental and physical health. (This one gets a lot easier with
subsequent children, btw. ;) )


Tai

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

"Beth Kevles" wrote in message
...
Do go in and discuss this issue with his teacher. Be firm that you will
not require more than 5 or 10 minutes (that's distractable kid minutes,
not 10 minutes of actual concentration) from your child, but you WILL
make sure that homework is part of the daily routine. (That's so that
you can show the flag as "supporting the teacher" while actually
supporting your child.)

I would love to do this, but we all signed a contract saying we will support
the teacher and homework assignments. I was worried about the homework
load, but I was told it was similar at other schools here (thought they
don't have contracts). The contract stated kindergarteners do 15 minutes,
but no more than half hour. So, we did the half hour. I was hesitant to
put DS in this school because of the contract, but IL's family really pushed
for it. SIL teaches at a magnet school and said it was best to try him in
it and we can always take him out if things don't work out, but it's hard to
get him back in if we decline. MIL works with young children as a teacher's
aide and she said all the kids are doing lots of homework these days and the
amount of homework in the contract isn't necessarily what they would assign.
Well, I think they meant every word of what they said in the contract.
Anyway, I'm willing to see how DS adjusts to this. I know I don't like it
much, but he's very much into stability and routine and he likes structure,
one of the most positive aspects of the school. We're very lucky that he
already knows how to read at a first grade level and he's been writing a
little in preschool. I think breaking the homework up into little sessions
today did help, so I will do that from now on.

First grade homework is half hour to an hour. By third grade, it's 45
minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Ugh. We'll have to see. One of my coworkers had
three kids in this school. She had to fight them every night to do
homework. If that happens, DS is out of this school.

first day of kindergarten and homework!
 

In article ,
"toypup" wrote:

DS finished the first day of kindergarten yesterday. For his homework, he
had to write his name, color a house, write his address, draw a picture of
someone he wants to talk on the phone with, write his phone number. It took
about half an hour and he was exhausted. Afterward, we were supposed to
read, but I wasn't going there.

I was expecting homework, I thought maybe write one letter of the alphabet,
but this is ridiculous. I told DH and he agreed, saying there many kids
coming into kindergarten not even reading much less writing addresses.

I can just see them trying to pull this in my area -- DS1's school is about
90% kids of non-English-speaking background (NESB), including a small
proportion who start with no English at all. AFAIK DS1 was the only child who
started the year already reading, and he wasn't writing.

FTR, K don't have homework at all in Term 1, it's reading in Term 2, and
pretty occasional in Term 3 apart from the reading! (He had a work sheet for
last week.) I would be asking them what the heck they think they are doing,
and how do they deal with NESB children.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue