I hate homework!

"Chookie" wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-D1321E.09023609042008@news...
In article ,
(Beth Kevles) wrote:

As a teacher myself (slightly older children) and a parent of
distractable boys, let me suggest the following:

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Encourage your son to concentrate for those
15 minutes. Let him work aloud if it helps him with the sentence
construction.

When the 15 minutes are over, so is homework. If he hasn't done enough,
so be it.

I know Banty has mentioned this but how does limiting HW to 15 mins and
ditching the rest *discourage* a child from procrastinating/daydreaming?

Yeah. If the child daydreams everyday during hw, does that mean the child
should never do hw?

toypup wrote:


"Chookie" wrote in message

I know Banty has mentioned this but how does limiting HW to 15 mins and
ditching the rest *discourage* a child from procrastinating/daydreaming?

Yeah. If the child daydreams everyday during hw, does that mean the
child should never do hw?

The usual advice is that the homework be cut off after
X minutes of *focused* work. So, if the child dilly dallies,
it's longer than 15 minutes, but if the child really focuses
it's guaranteed to be done in X minutes. When homework drags
on and on, some kids start to rebel by not being focused
because as far as they're concerned, homework is a never-
ending task so they might as well play while they can. The
limited homework time is supposed to help them see the light
at the end of the tunnel so that they become motivated to
remain very focused for the defined period of time.

That, of course, would be the theory. It doesn't
always work that way in practice, but it does seem to help
some kids. Not mine, of course. That would have been waaaaay
too easy.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In article ,
Beliavsky wrote:

I more and more believe that the solution is a lot of different, niche
schools

That's what we would get if we abolished the public school monopoly
and instituted a voucher system. Of course, public school teachers,
through their unions, lobby furiously against changes that would
diminish their privileged positions.

The voucher system has been discussed in Australia quite a bit, but we
ultimately come up against the problem of geography. As a (well-off,
car-owning) resident of Australia's largest city, I can access any kind of
education I wish, really. Vouchers would be fine... and my son would still be
at our local primary school.

It's a bit of a problem if you live in Woomera or Aurukun or on Lord Howe
Island, though: how do you exercise your choice? We already have students
who travel a couple of hours each way to the nearest school, and I bet the US
does too. The smallest primary school in NSW has five students -- how many
other schools do you think that town has? And therefore, how much choice is
there about those five children's education?

Incidentally, where is there a public school "monopoly"? Apart from
uneconomic places like the town with five kids?

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

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

In article , Banty
wrote:

There is no reason non-fiction books can't be written at a level for
elementary
school students. Including books about science subjects.

Dorling Kindersley had a stack of them, last time I looked. DS1's favourite
book is a DK Science Encyclopedia. Then there are the Horrible Science books
(along with the Horrible History series, a great way for ghoulish little boys
to learn those subjects). Or Caren Trafford's lovely books. She has written
a social history of sewerage for children, "Where does the poo go?" (no, I'm
not kidding!) and other books on environmental topics for kids. There's also
Kingfisher books -- I think they have some science titles.

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

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

In article ,
enigma wrote:

it's so much *easier* if the kids are exposed in grade
school...
my dad is an electrical engineer with an interest in
chemistry,

LOL, and did you also grow up picking resistors out of your feet?

My DH picked up an object at my Dad's once: "What's this?" I goggled at him.
"It's a variable capacitor, of course. Didn't you know?" :-D

if i could find somewhere where tv & pop culture isn't the
high point of the kid's conversations, i think he'd fit in
better... but i doubt that exists, so i'll "settle" for
someplace with more academic challenges for him. he's a bit
bored currently & (in an unMontessori like manner) they aren't
giving him new, challenging work. just more workbook pages.
gah.

Doesn't sound very Montessori to me. The place where pop culture isn't the
sum total of children's conversations is to pick a really, really
multicultural school IME! I don't think DS1 was the *only* instigator of the
archaeological digs in a corner of the playground...

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

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/

Chookie wrote in
news:ehrebeniuk-F69C7B.14083209042008@news:

In article , Banty
wrote:

There is no reason non-fiction books can't be written at a
level for elementary
school students. Including books about science subjects.

Dorling Kindersley had a stack of them, last time I looked.
DS1's favourite book is a DK Science Encyclopedia. Then
there are the Horrible Science books (along with the
Horrible History series, a great way for ghoulish little
boys to learn those subjects). Or Caren Trafford's lovely
books. She has written a social history of sewerage for
children, "Where does the poo go?" (no, I'm not kidding!)
and other books on environmental topics for kids. There's
also Kingfisher books -- I think they have some science
titles.

*some* DK titles are available in the US. the Horrible
Science & Horrible History books appear to also be UK-centric
on a short search & i've never seen a Kingfisher book in the
US either. (looks like i'm in for some international ordering)
i agree the DK books we can get are great & Boo has several
of their history & science titles, but the others are not
books that are readily available or even *known* here... then
you get into the sticky wicket of schools not having enough
funding to buy books for their libraries, or school boards
that certainly wouldn't approve their purchase for assorted
reasons.
while it's *possible* city libraries might have DK books in
their children's section, many (most) small town libraries
don't. they don't have the budget to buy the books *or* the
shelf space to put them. Boo is already known at our town
library for requesting interlibrary loans (which are useless
if you need to research for homework, as it takes a week at
the least to *get* a book)

lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

In article , enigma says...

Chookie wrote in
news:ehrebeniuk-F69C7B.14083209042008@news:

In article , Banty
wrote:

There is no reason non-fiction books can't be written at a
level for elementary
school students. Including books about science subjects.

Dorling Kindersley had a stack of them, last time I looked.
DS1's favourite book is a DK Science Encyclopedia. Then
there are the Horrible Science books (along with the
Horrible History series, a great way for ghoulish little
boys to learn those subjects). Or Caren Trafford's lovely
books. She has written a social history of sewerage for
children, "Where does the poo go?" (no, I'm not kidding!)
and other books on environmental topics for kids. There's
also Kingfisher books -- I think they have some science
titles.

*some* DK titles are available in the US. the Horrible
Science & Horrible History books appear to also be UK-centric
on a short search & i've never seen a Kingfisher book in the
US either. (looks like i'm in for some international ordering)
i agree the DK books we can get are great & Boo has several
of their history & science titles, but the others are not
books that are readily available or even *known* here... then
you get into the sticky wicket of schools not having enough
funding to buy books for their libraries, or school boards
that certainly wouldn't approve their purchase for assorted
reasons.
while it's *possible* city libraries might have DK books in
their children's section, many (most) small town libraries
don't. they don't have the budget to buy the books *or* the
shelf space to put them. Boo is already known at our town
library for requesting interlibrary loans (which are useless
if you need to research for homework, as it takes a week at
the least to *get* a book)

lee

We do have things like "Magic Schoolbus". Which irritated my son with their
cutsiness and mainly though - WHY oh why do these series (and frankly from the
titles I get the same impressoin about the books Chookie points to) have to have
the literary gimmick of children running into science facts. And it's kinda
disjoint "looky this, looky that".

Pick up any non-fiction written for adults. It doesnt' have these gimmicks.
There are a *few* of these written in an early-grade reading level for children
that we saw. The other problem, though, was the apparent inability for
educators and librarians to understand the interest in non-fiction vs. fiction
with historical settings, and those only dealing with select aspects of those
settings. If you go to a school library or children's section of a bookstore
and put in the search keywords "World War II" or "airplane flight" and see what
you get - a lot of fiction.

Banty

On Apr 8, 10:59*pm, Chookie wrote:
In article ,

*Beliavsky wrote:
I more and more believe that the solution is a lot of different, niche
schools

That's what we would get if we abolished the public school monopoly
and instituted a voucher system. Of course, public school teachers,
through their unions, lobby furiously against changes that would
diminish their privileged positions.

The voucher system has been discussed in Australia quite a bit, but we
ultimately come up against the problem of geography. As a (well-off,
car-owning) resident of Australia's largest city, I can access any kind of
education I wish, really. *Vouchers would be fine... and my son would still be
at our local primary school.

It's a bit of a problem if you live in Woomera or Aurukun or on Lord Howe
Island, though: *how do you exercise your choice? *We already have students
who travel a couple of hours each way to the nearest school, and I bet the US
does too. *The smallest primary school in NSW has five students -- how many
other schools do you think that town has? *And therefore, how much choice is
there about those five children's education?

Voucher advocates such as myself are not saying the current government
schools should be abolished. But if a government school is currently
getting (for example) $8000 a year per student, parents should instead
get an $8000 voucher which can be used at the school or at another
accredited school. The requirements for accreditation would need to be
debated, but I think they ought to focus on outcomes, including scores
on standardized tests, rather than inputs. If for geographical or
other reasons no private school taking $8K/child could attract
students, the status quo would be preserved. The threat of losing
students and funds to private schools would cause public schools to be
more responsive to parents, which would overall be a good thing IMO.
Maybe Ericka K. would disagree.

Parents are mandated to mandated to feed and clothe their children,
and if they cannot earn enough to do so, the government provides
subsidies. The government does not run textile mills, farms, and
stores, except under communism, which has failed. Government should
ensure that all children are educated, but I don't see why the
government should be *providing* the education.

On Apr 5, 3:34 pm, (Beth Kevles) wrote:
That's what we would get if we abolished the public school monopoly
and instituted a voucher system. Of course, public school teachers,
through their unions, lobby furiously against changes that would
diminish their privileged positions.

Good lord! If you think teachers have "priviliged" positions, you're
really out of touch. While there are certainly problems with public
education, the sources are far more complex than you appreciate, and
scapegoating teachers, while perhaps emotionally satisfying, isn't
actually practical.

The privileges I am talking about are the effective insulation from
competition that many public schools (and thus their employees) enjoy
and the lack of accountability of teachers for student performance.
Both privileges are defended vigilantly by the teachers unions.

Here is a story from today's NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/ny.../09albany.html
By DANNY HAKIM and JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: April 9, 2008
ALBANY -- In the latest rebuke to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's agenda,
state lawmakers have decided to bar student test scores from being
considered when teacher tenure determinations are made.

Legislators said the move was the final detail negotiated as part of
the budget, which they expect to complete on Wednesday. It was a
setback to efforts by the mayor and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer to hold
teachers accountable by using student performance data, and a boon for
the teachers' unions, which hold enormous influence over the political
process in the capital.

The new language being prepared for the state law says that for the
next two years student scores will not be considered in decisions on
teachers' tenure; in the meantime, a commission is to be created to
study the issue.

The move was denounced Tuesday night by the Bloomberg administration.

"I am dismayed that the State Legislature would even consider tying
the hands of principals and school districts as they decide who gets
lifetime job security," said Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein. "This
is unconscionable. Lawmakers should do all they can to ensure every
student has a good teacher. I urge our lawmakers to vote no tomorrow.
Our children deserve better."

Chookie wrote in
news:ehrebeniuk-16AA46.14261209042008@news:

In article ,
enigma wrote:

it's so much *easier* if the kids are exposed in grade
school...
my dad is an electrical engineer with an interest in
chemistry,

LOL, and did you also grow up picking resistors out of your
feet?

yes. can you still recite the meanings of the color stripes on
transistors?

Doesn't sound very Montessori to me. The place where pop
culture isn't the sum total of children's conversations is
to pick a really, really multicultural school IME! I don't
think DS1 was the *only* instigator of the archaeological
digs in a corner of the playground...

me either. i've enrolled him in a different Montessori school
for next year. it appears from the visit that they follow the
Montessori philosophy a bit closer, and the class is more
diverse.
it's hard to find a very multicultural school outside of
Manchester's public schools in this state & those schools have
a LOT of problems because many of the students are ESL (and
very poor), & with 80 some languages represented, it's a
challenge for the teachers to meet the No Child Left Behind
nonsense, nevermind actually teach anything to a brighter kid.
lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.