I think the elementary school teachers are not providing you with a syllabus because they aren't required to. I taught at a community college, and we were required to turn in our syllabus by the day the class started. Our public schools have a curriculm set by the sd, and they have pacing guides for at least some of the classes. I don't know if you can get your hands on that info though.

Some teachers are just more organized than others, so some years you lose out. I do know that the teachers at the school where my dd go have 45 minutes of planning daily plus another 45 minutes twice a week. Unfortunately, they spend a lot of that time in meetings, going over standardized test scores curriculm changes, meeting with parents, etc.

I think it's reasonable to ask for the spelling words a week early.