DD6 is a couple of weeks in to 2nd grade, and the homework expectations have been laid on the table. This has always been my one reservation about Tiny Private School. (There was some homework in K/1, and it was a battle, but the teacher was pretty flexible, which made it workable.)
Current expectations for each week are:
- Half hour of reading aloud each night Mon-Thurs
- Spelling exercises
- Ten written sentences with spelling words (to be increased later in the year)
- Spelling pretest Thursday night
- A few pages of math exercises (haven't seen that yet, but I have a general idea)
I'm not a fan of homework, but even when I try to set that aside this feels excessive to me. But that may be because DD is 6, not 7. Maybe she is just too young for the workload of 2nd grade? On the other hand, I may be reacting based on our homework dramas last year, and she's older and more mature now.
On the third hand, DD has been coming home from school and playing SO HARD. Some days she has gymnastics, and she'll walk in the door and pick up her sketch pad or her paints disappear into her own messy colorful world. Or she'll take off on her bike and find friends to play in the mud with. And then it's bedtime. I just hate the thought of taking that away from her for the sake of more schoolwork.
On the sixth hand, she is in the difficult position of both reading and handwriting being still very laborious for her, and this exact workload will probably be much more managable half a year from now.
On the eighteenth hand, I really have the heart of a homeschooler, and I wish I could give her the gift of all the time she needs to just be herself and explore her interests. But on the nineteenth hand, Tiny Private School does such an amazing job with the "extras," the music and art and science and so on, that I really think they are doing a much *better* job than I could do at home.
On top of this, the teacher is a new hire, and while she seems like a lovely person and good at her job, she also gives off a vibe of rigidity and control. I would not feel comfortable talking to her about how to make this work for DD. It's clear already that her position is that DD needs to follow the rules, period. I'm considering a conversation with the director, who I get along well with. She may be able to reassure me about how kids adapt to the increased work load, etc. Or advise me about DD's position vis-a-vis her grade skip.
One thing that would be useful for me would be ideas for "scripts" for how to talk to the director. I want to come across like I'm soliciting information and wisdom, not like I'm trying to barge in and demand anything. But I also don't want to come across like I have my cap in hand, needing to be told what's what.
Thanks for listening!
