Elementary school rant

[diggitydot]

Our current district doesn't do much more than just requiring reading for daily homework. The only worksheets DS beings home are ones that he didn't finish in class.

[metroguy]

hw is common in my area--nyc. my daughter's preschool had homework monday through thursday. i think it took anywhere between 10 to 30 minutes to do depending on the mood of the kid. starting in kindergarten, it got a lot worse--since it's a g&t school.

[mommax3]

None of my kids have ever dealt with the color thing. I have had kids in 3 different public school systems and 2 different private schools in 2 different states. That system would have been horrible for my oldest! We haven't experienced homework overload, either. My first thought on reading about the barrage of emails/social media contacts from teachers is that they are being strongly encouraged to do that by their administrators. Please remember that teachers have very little voice in policy decisions.....

[SuzySunshine]

Maybe it's that the color thing is becoming more common...Since I have voiced my concern about this I have heard from or talked to at least a dozen friends whose kids are also experiencing it both at parochial and public schools.

[samssugarmomma]

Yup - our three parochial schools have all had some sort of color related behavior chart. I'm not sure if DD1(third grade) still uses it in her class. I've never had a problem with it ..... But my oldest is a goody goody brown noser type and my middle kid could care less as to what color she is on. She starts every day on green ("ready to learn") and often comes home on that as well.

I've found that a families feelings towards a school/teacher/ homework are so incredibly kid dependent. One year our good friend's son was in DD1's class. His personality/ learning style was completely opposite if the teacher's style so he was constantly in trouble and getting bad grades even though he knew the material. They hated that teacher and considered switching schools. Next year, different teacher....... Different attitude/ feelings about the school for the entire family.

[Deebs]

We are in the same district as Sheherezade, but my kids are younger. The homework we've had up until second grade is really what I consider studying, and I do think its important. Reading, math fact practice, etc are common, but not much beyond that. At the beginning of the year DD's teacher told us she has one parent who wants MORE homework every year, and if that's the case, contact her, and she'll give more homework to that individual child. The parents literally applauded. As for Common Core, our administration realizes that expectations in this district are incredibly high, surpass Common Core, and treat it as the current framework, at least in the lower grades. I've seen very little change, other than the adaptation of a new, much better, math curriculum. As our principal told us, in a few years a new president will have new ideas, but the school will continue to nurture children, challenge them to grow, and teach them reading writing, arithmetic, science, social studies, technology, etc. the friends I have who are seeing big changes were in pretty crappy school districts to begin with.


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[houseelf]

ITA with the no homework until 6th grade sentiment. The only type of homework ever sent home for this group should be reinforcement. For example, It is reasonable to ask this age group to ensure they read at least 15 minutes 5 times a week and pull out math facts at least 3 times a week. The only other homework should be whatever other specific area of reinforcement that the teachers and parent need for your specific child. My oldest needed a bit of supervision until middle school and my middle child is a bright self starter. Homework had some unintended consequences for both of these different children: power struggles and busy work. Really, they just aren't mature enough to take it on as their own until middle school. I've already graduated elementary school, thankyouverymuch. Please try to train my kids, not me.

[spotty_dog]

I've already graduated elementary school, thankyouverymuch. Please try to train my kids, not me.

At least my son's first grade teacher was honest. In her first newsletter home, she wrote "Please help your child remember to bring his folder back to school every day. Your child's homework grade is really your grade, so shoot for the stars!"

[PrincessFiona]

Haha Alison, that's awesome!

[Sheherezade]

In our district, I don't remember homework being substantial or significant to grades until around 5-6th grade. Then, the teachers start shifting responsibility to the kids significantly as well. One very wise teacher once told me, "we let them swim on their own now - and if they sink, we throw them a lifeline a d then let them try again. Better to drown now when it doesn't really matter than later when it does." Once they hit middle school they have more significant assignments and consequences. It escalates through high school.

I like my system's approach to homework actually.

FYI, there is a little bit of a freak out going on about the Common Core here even though we are high performing. They expect scores to drop significantly - but I think they expect other districts to all drop as well. Relatively, we will stay in the same space. It's probably a good thing since our high performing districts here have been getting slammed for not scoring well on "value added" each year. It's hard to significantly improve each year when your students are already at 99%. Dropping that top level to 87% will freak out parents when common core testing comes in, but it will give us space to improve again.

[GrayMatterWife]

At least my son's first grade teacher was honest. In her first newsletter home, she wrote "Please help your child remember to bring his folder back to school every day. Your child's homework grade is really your grade, so shoot for the stars!"

WTF??? Basically, an endorsement of inappropriate helicopter parenting. Nice.

I NEVER thought I would homeschool. Ever. It sounded alienating, unappealing, and inferior, honestly. I was picturing a bunch of religious extremists with anti-government view points (and I'm a conservative Republican!). I just thought: socially stagnation and isolation. I could not have been more incorrect--at least, with regard to the homeschooling community I'm involved with here in ATL. Now I am eating humble pie. So far, it is working out incredibly well. Far better than public school, far cheaper than private school, and -- most importantly -- our lives are so much less chaotic. The afternoons post-3:00 PM are actually FUN instead of being an insane effort to cram in everything we want to do, outside of school, plus homework. I love all the time I get with DS. I know him so much better now, and feel a lot more genuinely engaged with him. I know homeschooling would not be for everyone, but I am enjoying it thus far.

[ladymoreta]

I think I'll hold out for awhile but probably eventually end up homeschooling. It scares me, though... This last summer about did me in with both kids all day long. I know there would be more structure homeschooling, but I'm just such an introvert, and I was so DONE at the end of every day. Seriously had nothing left to give to anyone by dinner time. That's just not the kind of mom or wife I want to be.

[spotty_dog]

My introverted friend who homeschools her three (planned to be more) has some good safety release valves in place. She enforces quiet time daily even for bigger kids who don't nap, she has a babysitter come twice weekly so she can get out of the house on her own, and she hires a housecleaner so that when the day is done and the kids are in bed she can just relax for a bit.

That said, for me homeschool is a backup plan, one for which I've been preparing since before my kids were born. (The main reason I think INTJ is my correct Meyers-Briggs: I am all about the contingency plans!) But I need to give the main plan a really good solid run before I decide for sure it isn't for us. I'm admittedly cynical about how public school is going to meet our needs in the long run, but as long as my kids are happy and progressing I'm not jumping ship.

[peggyfromwastate]

WTF??? Basically, an endorsement of inappropriate helicopter parenting. Nice.

I NEVER thought I would homeschool. Ever. It sounded alienating, unappealing, and inferior, honestly. I was picturing a bunch of religious extremists with anti-government view points (and I'm a conservative Republican!). I just thought: socially stagnation and isolation. I could not have been more incorrect--at least, with regard to the homeschooling community I'm involved with here in ATL. Now I am eating humble pie. So far, it is working out incredibly well. Far better than public school, far cheaper than private school, and -- most importantly -- our lives are so much less chaotic. The afternoons post-3:00 PM are actually FUN instead of being an insane effort to cram in everything we want to do, outside of school, plus homework. I love all the time I get with DS. I know him so much better now, and feel a lot more genuinely engaged with him. I know homeschooling would not be for everyone, but I am enjoying it thus far.

So glad to read this. I never ever thought I'd actually homeschool. But there is just so much stress at the end if the day, and getting into the classrooms to volunteer this year I'm really able to see how much time is wasted. I'm glad it working for you A.

My main concern is the introverted part too. Summer was stressful... Only when I had the kids in camps and I was driving all over the place. I think the driving more than the introverted issue might tip me over to homeschooling.

My dd12 is so certain she wants to keep with school. More power to her. My sons really are asking me to homeschool them. I can't think of a real reason not to. I have a lot I would like to teach them. I am always trying to cram all this science knowledge about everything from surface tension to electricity into our everyday drives.

I'm not worried about their social lives. Most of my sons friends come from outside if school--- sports and extracurriculars. My ds12 is totally not interested in the popularity game of middle school. My ds9 can't handle all the social interactions and they give him anxiety. My dd5 struggles bc she gets involved in imaginative play with a friend and then has to switch stations to a boring thing... Like worksheets.

Anyway A I'm really glad to read this report from you--- I'm interested to know how you got plugged into homeschooling groups and what not?

[spotty_dog]

I'm so frustrated right now. I just got the login info from DS's teacher for Raz-kids.com. I extrapolate that they will begin using this program this week to enforce and collect data on leveled reading. DS is assigned to level "D". The latest book he brought home and read with just a little support, would map to a level "M". To move up in level he has to read all of the "stories" in a level (inane things with no real point) and answer quizzes on them (inane things with no real point). When he accomplishes these tasks, he earns "stars" which he can "spend" on building a cartoon starship. (I HATE these reading incentive programs! So much! I have dreaded them since my son was a toddler...so I may be a bit biased here.)

In the meantime, while we were talking this evening about our afterschool enrichment plans, he proposed a project. We read one book together every day. ("More complicated than Frog & Toad please, Mom.") Then we "talk about it from beginning to end" and he narrates a summary to me; I may ask him questions if I want to "check that he was listening to himself read". I can choose a sentence from each book that I feel illustrates a spelling word or grammatical concept we should work on, and he will copy it out. Finally, after every 10 books he can dictate a story to me of his own invention, "so he can read his own stories!"

Now that is a way to build literacy if you ask me. I love that kid.