Already happened

[peggyfromwastate]

I'm flipping out over homework. Already. The kids have been in school for 3 weeks I think. Dd10 and ds10 are in the same math group which sucks bc ds is so much faster at math than dd. And their teacher loves homework. Like 20 problems all the same-- with a reminder to show their work on a separate page. So tedious. I already told dd I'm cutting her off after 45 min. She's so worried about finishing the assignment but I object to more than 45 min for one exercise, especially such redundant exercises. Sigh. Dd10 is so careful with her work. A little OCD.

And ds7 has a teacher who is in love with my signature. On every frigging thing. I'm going to teach him to initial for me. Ugh. I already have to help him with it all. Because he never heard the word "adjective" in class yet he had a worksheet where he was expected to identify the adjective. Sigh. Why don't they ever teach these things in school? I swear I get to teach him so many first concepts.

Blah.

Have you all hit the breaking point for signing every damned scrap of paper yet this year??? I have back to school night got the kids this week. I plan to... Address my concerns to the teachers lol. Especially the twins' math teacher bc that crap just isn't gonna fly. I told last years teacher the same thing-- after 45 min of dd doing the same problem with different numbers, I'm physically taking the paper away! Teacher was... Shocked but let up on it a little lol!

[weeniegeniewife]

LOL...I was reading this post while going through DD's backpack and pulling out all the stuff that needs my signature. Yes, I feel your pain!

[houseelf]

Ohmygod I love you. No, I really love you. I'll commiserate with glee. When did it get this way? DH nor I had little to no homework until junior high and somehow we survived. For the record, every previous teacher has been reasonable with their homework and it felt age appropriate. (Disclaimer...this is NOT a condemnation of all teachers, just the two mentioned below).

DS (Grade 6) has regularly has 2 hours of homework a night. On two nights last week he had 60 prealgebra problems. (Uh, did you ever think about just assigning the even problems and calling it a day?) By the end, his brain was messing up on basic stuff like 6x10. I've never encountered this excessive homework phenomenon before. I am NOT a fan. Oh yeah, homework is 50% of his grade so it all has to be done at the highest level. Read as: I have to check over his math work nightly to calm his fears. This teacher also emails the parents daily. You know, so we can go over land form pictures with our kids to prep them for the test. All of this is going on after evening activities, while DD needs checked to make sure she got conditioner out of her hair from her shower, the baby is parked in front of Toy Story for the 1,000,000th time, etcetera, ad infinitum. Because the 11 y.o. is transitioning into being a fully competent student, this reliance on the parent to oversee homework and relay email curriculum is highly disruptive to our family. Two of the women that I run with had to hire a tutor for 6th grade math last year because they work full time and couldn't check over the HW.

DD (Grade 2) gets a packet on Monday. In her case, it is well below her level. By trying to make things fun, fun, fun it creates excessive busy work. e.g. Very basic addition facts that the student has to decode and then color in as a puzzle. Look kids, its math facts! Look kids, its fun! Instead of giving 20 quick facts, these worksheets turn it into a friggin process. Her backpack has about 1000 papers a day. For spelling, they are equally inventive. Instead of receiving a list of words, she is to comb through her book to find words that meet the phonics requirement for the week. e.g. Find 10 words in your free reading book that end in -ion. Write 10 sentences with those words. Define those words. Spelling is FUN!!!!!

Honestly, I almost have a bigger problem with her hw than the 11 y.o.'s hw. A couple of flashcards and ensuring that some free reading occurs almost daily should be enough for most students in the early grades. If a student has a specific issue, it is appropriate for the teacher to give the parents specific homework for whatever skill needs remediation.


Now that I'm on a roll and dangerously close to approaching hard core harpy, let's talk about the meetings. girl scout parent meetings, back to school parent meetings, open houses, Sunday school meetings, soccer coach expectation meetings...You know I do have three kids and....wait for it....Dh is on call.

Disclaimer: If you are an educator, this is NOT directed at you. I understand your hands are tied by large class sizes, testing pressure, and administrations, parents expect this sort of thing, and a million other things. I deeply appreciate your commitment to our collective kids. If you are reading this, dear iMSN teachers, YOU are fabulous.

As a society, can we just all have a major happy hour and talk about whether we need all this bullshit?

[SoonerTexan]

I'm not looking forward to this. I spent a year with 2 kiddos 2 hours after school 3-4 days a week to get them off the boss and their homework done. The 4th grader's spelling assignments were as painful for me as they were for her.

[Meenah]

Caroline had my signature perfected by her Senior year, with my help!!!!!!

[v-girl]

Thank you for reinforcing my decision to homeschool.

[Vanquisher]

Caroline had my signature perfected by her Senior year, with my help!!!!!!

I love you!

Homework is bullshit. At parent conferences I'll say so. I already minorly approached the subject at back to school night, but I don't think this teacher understood me. Nope, seriously, I'm not doing that shit. If you flunk my kid, then you'll get to deal with me in a much bigger way as I form a REAL fucking campaign to end the endless drivel that is elementary homework. We don't do elementary school homework at this house, and I won't sign random crap that is meaningless.

Signed,

THAT mom


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Deebs]

I am so happy to have DD in school where the principal MANDATES no weekend homework - that is family time, and other than studying, no more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Maybe in two years I'll be on here saying how she lied to us all, but from what I hear from parents with older kids, this is pretty much how it is (at least in the school that is K-3). I have friends with KINDERGARTNERS spending over an hour per night on homework. Seriously.

[diggitydot]

Yup, our youngest had AT LEAST an hour of homework each night beginning in 1st fucking grade. I showed him shortcuts. So sue me.

[Phoebe]

Right there with you! HW=PITA, signatures=PITA

[DCJenn]

We have what would normally be 20-30 minutes of homework a night but because he can't focus it turns into a nightly dramatic interpretation of "you're the meanest parents in the world and I hate you." Good times.

J.

[Pollyanna]

Caroline had my signature perfected by her Senior year, with my help!!!!!!

Yep, DD17 has been signing stuff for us since last year, there is no telling what we have given permission for, lol. Oh, and older sibs help with signatures around here .

[HouseofWool]

Last year, in second grade, DS received a packet of busy work every Monday, due on Friday. On top of that, there were daily sheets that I needed to sign or he would be penalized and not allowed to go out and play for recess. Stupid busy work that did not actually teach any concepts.

I am somewhat okay with having to do a few repetitive math problem because doing them over and over is the only way to drill the concepts into their heads. A FEW problems. Not a sheet of 100 problems with the directions "See how many you can complete in 1 minute." Stupid ass idea, let's teach kids to rush through their work. I am also okay with mandating a certain amount of reading weekly. These strike me as very basic skills needed to get by in the world.

This year, I had made up my mind that if there was any of this type of crap that came home, I was going to talk to the teacher. So far this year, (we are in week 3) I think he has had 10 minutes of homework.

I don't really remember having homework until late in middle school and definitely in high school. I'm pretty sure I turned out to be an okay student without all of the hassle.

[Meenah]

Get a signature stamp made!!!!

[peggyfromwastate]

Luanne I was seriously thinking that a signature stamp would be a great gift for any parent for the first day of kindergarten milestone.