Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindy 09-10 question, homework policies...

While I am waiting around for Kindergarten to start at the end of Aug, I'd like to ask some of the posters to the K thread about homework.

I am not a fan of homework for K kids. Won't be able to find out what our district's policy is for at least two weeks. In the mean time, I am curious about other schools.

Have you found out in advance what the policy is at your school? (if your dc is going to school...) what is your opinion?

thanks, EW

Miss 8 is in year 4 and this is the first time we've faced 'homework'. While I grimaced at first, I've found that the homework activities are all open-ended and really suit my gifted child. We can make the projects as big or as small as we like. She LOVED her geography homework this week - which was to play a game of naming countries (like China) and then the next player names a country starting with the last letter (like Australia). It was designed to be an oral game but we turned ours into a written exercise and then mapped all of the countries in our game (@75 or so). It was quite cool! If homework is boring, monotonous worksheets - I'd have a real problem with that. So I guess what I'm saying is ... it's the nature of the homework that's the real issue. And I guess that all depends on individual teachers *sigh*

Does the school have a website? Many schools now have their handbooks online and policy on homework should be in handbook. At least that's how it works here. We had homework M - Th (lousy worksheets). We had a great K teacher who at least gave us more advance worksheets. She also gave more handwriting and writing assignment than his 1st grade teacher (who initially refused to differentiate homework).
I guess in the end it all comes down to the teacher just like pretty much everything else.

Ds had 1/2 day K but it'll be full day for dd when she gets there...but no homework. I don't think there was any in 1st either. 3rd was the first time ds had anything like an assignment which took more than one night to complete. This seems about right to me, homework in K doesn't make any sense to me, other than maybe once or twice a year just for fun.
Our county sets a list of grades and maximum avg homework times, such as <20 minutes per night for 1st grade. They do this in part to let you know things shouldn't be taking an hour a night, and if they are, to get with the teacher.

In our area it depends on private all day vs. public 1/2 day option. DD went to a private K as a 4 year old and they were expected to complete weekly homework and daily reading. The homework packet was given on Monday and it was supposed to take 15min. per day. Reading requirement was 15 min. a day as well. DD usually did the homework in two evenings instead of Mon-Thurs.

Our public schools also give homework but it was much less. Our friends told us there was a suggestion to read every night and then a weekly sheet for the letter of the week. Our public school has a 10 min. rule for homework, meaning 10 min. is added each year to how much homework the kids should have. I would ask what the requirement in in your school district. Our schools have a family handbook posted online that explains their policy.

Jen

My DS6 was in K and 1st last year and neither grade had any real homework. No required reading time either.

That being said, every few weeks he would bring home Everyday Math worksheets to be completed. I only had him complete the 1st grade ones. The K teacher seemed fine with it. Most of the Everyday Math homework in K was more about number concepts. For example: one asked that you allow the child to play in water with various containers, another asked the child to count the number of steps from one place in the home to another. IMO, things we had done with our children since they were 2 years old. The first grade ones were only slightly more challenging. DS6 hated doing them.

Also at the beginning of the year in K we did get a list of sight words the children should work on weekly to be completed by end of year. Since DS6 read them all perfectly on the first day I threw the list away. Same with the first grade "difficult words" spelling list. I had DS6 spell them in the bathtub one evening and then threw the list way.

My DD5 is actualy attending Montessori K this year I already know that they do not get any homework except a few family "projects" near the end of the year.

Thanks to all for the responses.

It is interesting to see how much variation there is.

The websites for the elementary schools in my district don't have the hw policies listed

I will be able to call and ask in a few weeks, but right now the school offices are closed.

I heard from friend in a neighboring district (schools are similar to ours) that their homework was along the lines of what M2myE described - weekly hw and daily reading.

I guess I will know for sure soon enough

No real homework is assigned at our public K. If an assignment isn't finished, the teacher may send it home for completion, but even my foot-draggingly slow DS8 rarely had anything in K. I don't expect DS5 to come home with anything at all 90+% of the time. He is more of a people-pleaser than DS8 was, and I think the work in K will be more appropriate to DS5's ability than it was for DS8.

We'll find out tomorrow.

Well DS5 will have homework in K, but not regular everyday homework. Just sometimes. That's what he had in pre-K, and he enjoyed it. It also gave DH and DS some good time together. DH is far better with working with reading/comprehension stuff. I am better with math concepts and grammar. We might just make a good team afterall. But that was totally unrelated to your question... I think some homework is ok at this age. But I think too much might make them resent school and hate homework far too early.