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Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 9th 05, 12:24 PM
polzovatel
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Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?

  #2  
Old November 9th 05, 01:22 PM
enigma
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

"polzovatel" wrote in
ps.com:

Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence
even at this early age ,explain to the child what's needed
to be done and how to do it , let him do it by himself as
much as possible, leave it as it is if even it's not
perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his
back all the time, point out every time when he does not
form a perfect letter, rub it out and ask him to do it
again and again... I think from such an experience the
child might just hate the whole process in the future or
alternatively expect detailed instructions and approvals
from us when he's much older.

Any views?


yeah. homework for 5 year olds is insane.
but since your school sends homework, do NOT micromanage.
please sit with him & help if he needs it. a good way to do
that is to have him do his work at a kitchen table while you
make dinner.
i agree with you that your husband's method is not very good.
my dad wanted to micromanage & i *did* hate (and generally
'lost') my homework...
lee

--
war is peace
freedom is slavery
ignorance is strength
1984-George Orwell
  #3  
Old November 9th 05, 01:53 PM
bizby40
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


"polzovatel" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?


I think there is a middle ground. Five years old is awfully young,
and it's easy at that age to forget instructions. So I stayed with
them at this age, and I would tell them if they started to do
something wrong. That is, if they were supposed to color all
the squares blue, and then picked up a green crayon for
example.

Writing is more difficult of course. There are so many components.
They have to remember how the letters are formed, which way is
forwards and which is backwards, how to spell, how to space words,
where on the page they go, how big and so forth. You need to
talk to your child's teacher, and find out that the main goals are
for this age, and then pay attention to the assignment itself.

In our school, they tend to encourage any creative writing without
worrying about spelling. They want the children to use their
imaginations, and to learn how to write a complete thought,
and later, a complete paragraph or story. If you focus too
much on neatness or spelling, the point of the assignment is
lost.

Having said that though, neatness and letter formation is
important, and this is when they are supposed to learn. If
they get it wrong now, it becomes a habit that is hard to break
later. And so I do have a tendency to hang around and
remind them of things like, "all the letters have to touch the
bottom line" and "your small letters shouldn't be the same
size as your big letters" and "this is a list, so you should
write the words in a line down the page." I will also, after
they finish a word or a list or sentence, tell them that I
see a (some) backwards letter(s), and ask if they can
find them.

I do think that making them erase it and do it over and
over again is a little over the top. I always more or less
steered them back towards the right course without
making them redo what's been done already.

Bizby


  #4  
Old November 9th 05, 02:15 PM
Stephanie
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


"polzovatel" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?



I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.


  #5  
Old November 9th 05, 02:36 PM
Nikki
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

polzovatel wrote:
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it
is if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect
letter, rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions
and approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?


My son didn't have homework at 5yo. He is 6yo now and in first grade and he
is suppose to read to us each night and paste together a sentence strip. It
is part of the deal that we are there, we agreed to it when he started the
reading recovery program. I think at age 5 it is appropriate to sit with
them and give encouragement and direction but not to point out every single
little error until the kid is totally frustrated.

--
Nikki
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
EDD 4/06


  #6  
Old November 9th 05, 02:44 PM
Welches
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


"polzovatel" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?

For #1 (just turned 5, she's in her first year at school)she has to read a
book and answer a question. She reads the book to me. I help her to read the
question. She gives me an answer. She then has to write it as much as
possible on her own. This may mean me saying to her "What word is next?"
"Here" "Look on this page-which word says here?" Then she copies it. For the
words she doesn't know she tries to spell it out, and if it's something she
wouldn't guess (like hiding having the e taken away from hide) I will tell
her, and she may well remember to do that with another word later. If it's a
words she's not going to get then I may write it for her (so it's obvious
what she's done). If she writes a letter wrong/spells something wrong, I may
point it out but not expect her to change it. She sometimes will choose to
change it.
I won't stand over her while this is done-I may well be in the kitchen
cooking and she will come and ask when she needs help.
But she's only in her first term, and only been doing homework for 2 weeks.
I wouldn't expect to be doing that much shortly, but she will also get
different stuff to do too.

We were told that they should be doing about 40 minutes of homework a week,
which sounds a lot to me. Personally I think infants (up to age 7) shouldn't
have more than a reading book. But that seems to be the way things are
going.
Debbie


  #7  
Old November 9th 05, 04:42 PM
Banty
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article , Stephanie says...


"polzovatel" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?



I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.




Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty

  #8  
Old November 9th 05, 05:23 PM
Barbara
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.


polzovatel wrote:
Hi,
I've got a question about homework for a 5 year old.

My opinion is that you should encourage his independence even at this
early age ,explain to the child what's needed to be done and how to
do it , let him do it by himself as much as possible, leave it as it is
if even it's not perfect and help him if he asks for assistance .

My husband seems to think that he's got to stand behind his back all
the time, point out every time when he does not form a perfect letter,
rub it out and ask him to do it again and again...
I think from such an experience the child might just hate the whole
process in the future or alternatively expect detailed instructions and
approvals from us when he's much older.

Any views?


Honestly, I think it depends upon what your child wants and needs.
Some kids find it comforting and helpful to have a parent at their
shoulder; others neither need nor want that. You know your child best,
as to what he needs.

OTOH, I wouldn't *throw him to the sharks* at this age. Rather, I
would check the homework after it's done, and go over things that he
got wrong. This will give you, as the parent, a better feel for how
well he is learning the material, and give you the chance to help him
where needed -- even if he hasn't recognized the need yet. Now that
One is 8, *help* usually goes like this: *read question number 3 to me
again* *If the train leaves at 6 pm, and the trip takes 2 hours and 45
mintues, when will Pedro arrive?* *OK, how long was the trip?*
*OHHHHHHH! I didn't see the 45 minutes! It's 8:45!* Sometimes,
though, it's a concept he didn't get, and I can help and give him more
examples, or alert the teacher to the difficulties. (Caveat -- One has
a language-based learning disability that makes a lot of these things
more difficult for him; maybe my world-view is based on his needs.)

I'm really not worried that helping now is going to cause problems down
the road. Every year, he demands and receives a bit more independence.
I imagine that's how it goes for most kids.

Barbara

  #9  
Old November 9th 05, 05:30 PM
Barbara
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Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

SNIP
I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.


Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty


A lot of 5 year olds are in first grade (school districts like NYC with
a 12/31 cut-off; do any school districts still have a 1/31 cut-off?).

Barbara

  #10  
Old November 9th 05, 05:54 PM
Banty
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Posts: n/a
Default Homework for a 5 year old - how much involvement needed.

In article .com, Barbara
says...

SNIP
I think homework for 5 yos is awful. So I'm not much help.


Yeah - I think she should involve herself right to the school board.

Banty


A lot of 5 year olds are in first grade (school districts like NYC with
a 12/31 cut-off; do any school districts still have a 1/31 cut-off?).


No I'm referring to homework being given at such a young age.

I admit I was being flippant..

Banty

 




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