first day of kindergarten and homework!

"toypup" wrote:


"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
news
toypup wrote:

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.

And he will probably resist with both feet, even if he
hates the homework. They tend not to want to change, they
like their friends, they understand the environment. It
becomes a rather heartbreaking choice. Isn't the handwriting
already on the wall with them claiming up to 1.5 hours of
homework a night for 3rd graders?

You're right. When I signed the contract, one of the things IL's were
trying to tell me was that what is written isn't always what is done. DH's
family is full of teachers, so I figured maybe they were right. Also, they
stressed that what takes one student half an hour may take DS 5 minutes.
Apparently, it also takes DS half an hour. Anyway, DS will resist now or
later, because he is very much into routine, doesn't like change, etc. He
likes his school, the few days he's had of it, so if we change, I would make
the change at the end of the year, so that the change coincides with the
change in grades. Having changed schools regularly as a child, I found
starting a new school easier if I started at the beginning of the school
year. Like I said, though, I'm not sure if that would make a difference. I
have heard that they do lots of homework at our local school.

I didn't change schools but once - from 8th grade to HS. But when my
kids changed school it went much better near the end of the year (like
at spring break) - otherwise they had no friends for the summer. Of
course if you are changing schools but not moving, it would work OK at
the beginning of the new year too, depending on how much of a
transient population there is in the new school.

From your description and answers to other people's questions it sound
like this school really will be the best for your ds, although you
will have to figure out what your homework limits will be and how best
to handle it. My oldest had a Bible verse to memorize every day (it
was a Lutheran school) before she could read, and that was very
difficult for us as it meant essentially that I had to memorize it
too. I imaging that it would have been a nightmare had we not been
people who were actually pretty good at memorization.

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
I didn't change schools but once - from 8th grade to HS. But when my
kids changed school it went much better near the end of the year (like
at spring break) - otherwise they had no friends for the summer. Of
course if you are changing schools but not moving, it would work OK at
the beginning of the new year too, depending on how much of a
transient population there is in the new school.

It's year-round schooling here, so the summer may not be there or it may be
only a month, depending on the track. The thing about starting at the
beginning of the year is that is when new kids start. As a kid changing
schools, I found it was easiest to make friends then, because all the
cliques haven't been formed and I could always hook up with the new kids.
That is the reason for waiting. If we switch now, the local school is
likely filled up, we would be using another school temporarily until there's
an opening, so he would be switched twice. Besides, I would like to give
the magnet school a chance to prove itself to me. DS might be one to
actually like homework. I know that I did when I was a kid, though I didn't
know what homework was in kindergarten.

"toypup" wrote:


"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
I didn't change schools but once - from 8th grade to HS. But when my
kids changed school it went much better near the end of the year (like
at spring break) - otherwise they had no friends for the summer. Of
course if you are changing schools but not moving, it would work OK at
the beginning of the new year too, depending on how much of a
transient population there is in the new school.

It's year-round schooling here, so the summer may not be there or it may be
only a month, depending on the track. The thing about starting at the
beginning of the year is that is when new kids start. As a kid changing
schools, I found it was easiest to make friends then, because all the
cliques haven't been formed and I could always hook up with the new kids.

Yes I understand that. But if it is a small isolated community with
few transients, the cliques may form at the beginning of kindergarten
and go right on through. I was in school with the same people from
kindergarten to 5th grade - we did get a few new people in 6th grade,
and more in 7th because that was junior high. My freshman year of
college when I came home for Xmas vacation, my mom had a party for me
and the other home-coming freshman and she called it a 3rd grade
reunion. There were lots of them living in the same place they'd
lived since kindergarten. [Actually at my mom's memorial service, I
met up with a boy who was in my kindergarten class who moved up the
street from my mom's house. And I went from K-8 in Baltimore City so
it wasn't a small town.]

And when I changed schools, it was going into 9th grade in HS, and all
of us were new. BUT... all of the other kids had come from county
junior high schools, and knew at least the kids from their junior
high, I came from the city and didn't know anyone. Plus everyone else
came on the bus, and I walked. I was the only one on my side of
school who walked to school.

That is the reason for waiting. If we switch now, the local school is
likely filled up, we would be using another school temporarily until there's
an opening, so he would be switched twice. Besides, I would like to give
the magnet school a chance to prove itself to me. DS might be one to
actually like homework. I know that I did when I was a kid, though I didn't
know what homework was in kindergarten.

I think except for the homework issue, the school sounds like a good
fit for your ds, and I don't see any reason to move him now.

lkfraley wrote:
It does sound like a lot. Maybe his teacher just wants to see where all
the kids are at with their skills, that way she knows exactly where
each kids needs to be.
I have a daughter going into 1st grade and one going into kindergarten
this year. At the screening, she was expected to know her address, but
not spell it all out. And they asked her if she knew her number too.

I'm not sure they expected him to know it. I thought they were making
a kindergarten version of a face book to be distributed to the class,
which was why they needed name, address, telephone number, drawing of
home, etc. They wanted it done at home so parents could help with the
details the child didn't know.

IMHO, I'd take a wait and see approach. See how your son likes the
school, including the homework, and how well he adjusts. See how YOU
like it. If its not a good fit, you can think about moving him to the
local school instead. At least you'll know more about what both of you
want in a school, and what you don't want, at that time.

Barbara

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.

I'm surprised so many agree and sympathize with you.
30 minutes worth of writing his name, address and phone number and
coloring a couple of pictures doesn't sound 'exhausting',
'overwhelming' or 'ridiculous'. Maybe you don't think it's the best
use of time if you had other productive activities planned instead, but
many kids would otherwise be plopped in front of the tv if there
weren't some structured assignments. I encourage my child to take
pride in completing a task to the best of his abilities (even if the
task itself is of questionable value- give the teacher some benefit of
the doubt). 30 minutes of school assignments outside of the classroom
just does not seem like too much to ask.

frank megaweege wrote:
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.

I'm surprised so many agree and sympathize with you.
30 minutes worth of writing his name, address and phone number and
coloring a couple of pictures doesn't sound 'exhausting',
'overwhelming' or 'ridiculous'. Maybe you don't think it's the best
use of time if you had other productive activities planned instead, but
many kids would otherwise be plopped in front of the tv if there
weren't some structured assignments. I encourage my child to take
pride in completing a task to the best of his abilities (even if the
task itself is of questionable value- give the teacher some benefit of
the doubt). 30 minutes of school assignments outside of the classroom
just does not seem like too much to ask.

How old is your child? And have you had to get a
6yo to try to focus for another half hour after a full day
of school? Or an 8yo to focus and be productive for a full
1.5 hours of homework after a full day of school? And have
you considered that at 1.5 hours of homework for a 3rd grader,
that typically means that you will do precious little on
weekdays besides homework and dinner before it's bedtime?
There certainly won't be room for any activities after
school, so you can scrap any sports, music lessons, scouting,
or whatever else you might consider doing (unless you're
willing to keep your child up well past what would be
sane for my children). This degree of homework in early
elementary will run your life. I've been there, done that.
It's asking *CHILDREN* to put in the equivalent of more than
a 40 hour work week. That's just insane, and it can't even
be justified by pointing to better academic outcomes resulting
from all the homework. So, it just means ridiculous levels
of stress for the whole family plus a lack of exposure to
all the wonderful things in the world that school won't
get around to exposing kids to, but parents just might be
able to provide given a reasonable homework load. There are
lots of kids who do far more than just come home and plop
in front of the tv for hours.

Best wishes,
Ericka

frank megaweege wrote:
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.

I'm surprised so many agree and sympathize with you.
30 minutes worth of writing his name, address and phone number and
coloring a couple of pictures doesn't sound 'exhausting',
'overwhelming' or 'ridiculous'. Maybe you don't think it's the best
use of time if you had other productive activities planned instead, but
many kids would otherwise be plopped in front of the tv if there
weren't some structured assignments.

I think you'd probably consider me to be a slacker, then. Instead of
having my five-year-old in K copying out her name, address, and phone
number, she'd write up stories with her wacky phonetic spelling, or
create strange scenarios involving her stuffed animals, creatures that
she'd color, and tiny plastic animals all battling
whatever-Norse-God-story-we'd-just-read for control of under the dining
room table.

I came up with none of these scenarios, nor the idea of creating odd
'magic' doors in our hallways out of masking tape and butcher paper,
nor the strange ballads she'd sing to our dogs -- they're not big-P
Productive, but in my estimation, they're what kindergarteners should
be doing with their time. Not the rote copying out for 30 minutes --
given my daughter, though, this would end up being 10 minutes of
copying, then a break, then 10 minutes of copying -- so instead of
dedicating 2 1/2 hours a week to this stuff, it'd be closer to 4 1/2
hours.

I encourage my child to take
pride in completing a task to the best of his abilities (even if the
task itself is of questionable value- give the teacher some benefit of
the doubt). 30 minutes of school assignments outside of the classroom
just does not seem like too much to ask.

For me, rote copying for a five-year-old doesn't strike me as either
little-p productive or big-P Productive, but as a 'no-input-required'
activity calculated to fill up time -- unless, of course, the whole
point is to introduce five-year-olds to the concept of activities that
will just 'fill up' time.

Caledonia

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
frank megaweege wrote:
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.

I'm surprised so many agree and sympathize with you.
30 minutes worth of writing his name, address and phone number and
coloring a couple of pictures doesn't sound 'exhausting',
'overwhelming' or 'ridiculous'. Maybe you don't think it's the best
use of time if you had other productive activities planned instead, but
many kids would otherwise be plopped in front of the tv if there
weren't some structured assignments. I encourage my child to take
pride in completing a task to the best of his abilities (even if the
task itself is of questionable value- give the teacher some benefit of
the doubt). 30 minutes of school assignments outside of the classroom
just does not seem like too much to ask.

How old is your child? And have you had to get a
6yo to try to focus for another half hour after a full day
of school? Or an 8yo to focus and be productive for a full
1.5 hours of homework after a full day of school? And have
you considered that at 1.5 hours of homework for a 3rd grader,
that typically means that you will do precious little on
weekdays besides homework and dinner before it's bedtime?

My oldest is 6 and will start 1st grade this year. He has trouble
focusing for 3 seconds to eat a french fry, but I don't have a problem
with sitting with him for half an hour to help him. He has plenty of
time for a sport and lots of reading (read to and independently) and it
still seems like he plays too many video games.
I agree with you that 1.5 hours every day for a 3rd grader is
excessive. That can't be anywhere close to the norm.

Caledonia wrote:
frank megaweege wrote:
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.

I'm surprised so many agree and sympathize with you.
30 minutes worth of writing his name, address and phone number and
coloring a couple of pictures doesn't sound 'exhausting',
'overwhelming' or 'ridiculous'. Maybe you don't think it's the best
use of time if you had other productive activities planned instead, but
many kids would otherwise be plopped in front of the tv if there
weren't some structured assignments.

I think you'd probably consider me to be a slacker, then. Instead of
having my five-year-old in K copying out her name, address, and phone
number, she'd write up stories with her wacky phonetic spelling, or
create strange scenarios involving her stuffed animals, creatures that
she'd color, and tiny plastic animals all battling
whatever-Norse-God-story-we'd-just-read for control of under the dining
room table.

I came up with none of these scenarios, nor the idea of creating odd
'magic' doors in our hallways out of masking tape and butcher paper,
nor the strange ballads she'd sing to our dogs -- they're not big-P
Productive, but in my estimation, they're what kindergarteners should
be doing with their time. Not the rote copying out for 30 minutes --
given my daughter, though, this would end up being 10 minutes of
copying, then a break, then 10 minutes of copying -- so instead of
dedicating 2 1/2 hours a week to this stuff, it'd be closer to 4 1/2
hours.


It wasn't rote copying for 30 minutes. It was writing name address and
phone number (no way that takes 30 minutes) and coloring two pictures.
You should have plenty of time left over to play dress up.

I encourage my child to take
pride in completing a task to the best of his abilities (even if the
task itself is of questionable value- give the teacher some benefit of
the doubt). 30 minutes of school assignments outside of the classroom
just does not seem like too much to ask.

For me, rote copying for a five-year-old doesn't strike me as either
little-p productive or big-P Productive, but as a 'no-input-required'
activity calculated to fill up time -- unless, of course, the whole
point is to introduce five-year-olds to the concept of activities that
will just 'fill up' time.


I don't want much of my 6 year olds time to be filled with boring rote
activities, but a certain amount of that is necessary in learning to
write (physically that is, as opposed to creatively).

I guess at 30 minutes my limit isn't crossed. To me it's not too much
but to you and others it is. So how much wouldn't be too much?

frank megaweege wrote:

It wasn't rote copying for 30 minutes. It was writing name address and
phone number (no way that takes 30 minutes)

*snort* You've obviously never sat with a typical kindergartner and
dictated letter by letter. I'm really amazed the teacher expects them
to be writing *at all* this early in the year -- sure, a lot of
entering kindergartners can write a bit, but many cannot, and early
homework is supposed to be something they can do easily.

--Helen