Normal amount of homework for kindergarten? - Page 2

[northwoods1995]

My son had homework every night but it only took 5-10 minutes to complete.

[mags]

My oldest child just started K a few wks ago. They will be starting homework assignments next wk. The teacher wrote in the newsletter that homework should take less than 20 min a day. I think that is reasonable. I have a friend whose move from out of state to our district and she said that the homework in our district is nothing compared to where she came from. So, I'm not surprised to hear that there seems to be such a variation.

[sewchris2642]

Dylan bought home 3-4 pages stapled together (some were double sided; others were single sided) on Mondays that were to be done and handed in on Friday. At one page a day, it took about 10 minutes for him to complete. Of course we had to read the directions which amounted to "with a red crayon draw a line from the bat to the ball" or "cut out the pictures and glue them where they belong". Since Dylan had afternoon K, we did the pages in the morning before he went to school; one page a day. And we read to him every night. But then we had been doing that before he started K.

[gillibean]

Our kindergarten teacher sent home piles of homework. DD liked to do it so she did. Unfortunately, I forced DS to do it for a while and I really regret it. The homework served no real purpose and it made him so stressed out. I think kindergarten homework should be reading books together or going for a walk and observing the environment. We have more exciting things to do than trace the letter 't' 50 times.

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~

Not only does the content sound completely unnecessary, it also sounds like they want the parents to do their job. If it were possible, you might as well home school. 3 hours per week! that's absolutely ridiculous, especially for a 5 year old who isn't even technically in school yet. Maybe it's a sign that I'm really old, but last I checked, Kindergarten is all about hands on play learning, not pages of homework.

my DH totally agrees with you. he thinks they want him to do their job.
i dont HS b/c i am disabled and have DD with DD2 on the way. DSD does great in school, loves it and wants to do her homework. she is bright too. but she cant read yet and writes everything backward. i just dont think she is ready for this stuff. they want her to circle all of the letters (which she can do), and then they want her to write rhyming words which she cant do. half of the homework is what DH considers the teachers job. we will be talking to her about it too. it takes 15 min 3 nights a week. they are adding a literacy packet where she has to read a book and then write words down. that is another 15 min 3 nights a week. so 6 nights a week.

[mommy2maya]

Originally Posted by LionessMom

my DH totally agrees with you. he thinks they want him to do their job.
i dont HS b/c i am disabled and have DD with DD2 on the way. DSD does great in school, loves it and wants to do her homework. she is bright too. but she cant read yet and writes everything backward. i just dont think she is ready for this stuff. they want her to circle all of the letters (which she can do), and then they want her to write rhyming words which she cant do. half of the homework is what DH considers the teachers job. we will be talking to her about it too. it takes 15 min 3 nights a week. they are adding a literacy packet where she has to read a book and then write words down. that is another 15 min 3 nights a week. so 6 nights a week.

15 minutes three times a week is NOT at all excessive. I guarantee that the work that is 'the teacher's work' is just reinforcement. I don't know any teacher that would send home work that is an introduction to a topic or skill. The rhyming words is a big part of reading and phonemic awareness. I am sure they are less worried about the spelling, and more worried about the understanding of rhyming and how it works.

I can definitely say that 3hours a day is excessive. I just don't get parents bemoaning 15 minutes of sitting and reinforcing skills with their kindergarten kids. Besides the fact that it is a great way to see what they are working on in school.

What is more appalling is when educated parents bemoan having to *gasp* READ to their kids on a daily basis. It's not like they are trying to force you to read the dictionary to kids and do a book report on it.

[mommy2maya]

ps, 15 minutes, times 6 is an hour and a half, not three hours. I can't say that 1.5hrs a week to devote towards concept reinforcement and reading to your child is excessive at all.

[chiromamma]

Our PS has a play based kindergarten. So no homework is the norm.
Starting in 1st grade they wanted them reading (or being read to) 20 minutes a day.
They phased in a little math or social studies type homework in 2nd grade. In 3rd grade, in addition to 30 minutes of independent reading, he gets about 10 minutes of math or social studies each night.
I think it's just enough to help him begin to develop good study habits.
Unfortunately, most kindergartens are what 1st grade was when many of us went to school.

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

ps, 15 minutes, times 6 is an hour and a half, not three hours. I can't say that 1.5hrs a week to devote towards concept reinforcement and reading to your child is excessive at all.

sorry, but i meant it is supposed to be that long... but with DSD it takes twice as long b/c she doesnt even know her whole alphabet. she forgets the letters all the time.

[mommy2maya]

Originally Posted by LionessMom

sorry, but i meant it is supposed to be that long... but with DSD it takes twice as long b/c she doesnt even know her whole alphabet. she forgets the letters all the time.

which would make me all the more willing to work with her as long as it takes, to help cement that.

[babymommy2]

we've only been in 1 week, but so far none, only a couple of handouts for parents promoting literacy., nothing required. I require my son to practise reading 2 books/day, they are the first of the bob book phonics books, this takes maybe 5 minutes, then we (I) read stories for fun.

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

which would make me all the more willing to work with her as long as it takes, to help cement that.

i do have other children too.

[mommy2maya]

Originally Posted by LionessMom

i do have other children too.

and a half hour, even broken up into chunks is too much to spend helping one on homework?

[Mandynee22]

Originally Posted by LionessMom

i do have other children too.

I think most of us have more than one child... and jobs and responsibilities.
If your LO is struggling, you need to make time to help her. Not only will it make it harder/more stressful for your child, but if she's behind all/most the other kids, it makes it harder for the teacher and the class as a whole.
No, I'm not saying that parents should do the teachers job, but IMO- it is our job to teach our kids also

[My3guys]

Originally Posted by LionessMom

sorry, but i meant it is supposed to be that long... but with DSD it takes twice as long b/c she doesnt even know her whole alphabet. she forgets the letters all the time.

Have you looked into support services within your school district? Maybe some after school tutoring or something? I see from your signature that your daughter must be about 6. If she is having difficulty remembering the alphabet maybe the school district can help you so she doesn't fall behind.

I think one problem with all the homework angst is that so many kids are being held back these days. Kids are more or less having the same levels of work and same levels of expectations that we did when we went to school. It is just that we were younger. I was 4 in kindergarten. My sons are almost 6 in kindergarten.

I actually don't mind the homework at all. It isn't excessive, at least in our district, and it helps us keep track of exactly what they are learning and how they are doing. Simply observing my children doing their work and seeing how they are thinking about things and where they excel and where they stumble has been very imformative. I also don't see it as the teachers job to do everything. I very much view their education as a partnership between the schools, teachers, my child and my husband and myself.

Good luck. I hope the homework stops being so onerous.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

The standard expectation for the kid's school for K students is to read approx. 3-5 pages of story out loud to a parent each night, plus do about 4 special projects spread throughout the year. Probably took about 10 minutes total each night. If they don't finish work in class due to inattention or such (e.g. playing instead of working, spending 30 minutes in the restroom) then that work is sent home to be completed.

In 1st grade each child has a page of math, a spelling assignment, and a reading assignment each night and its supposed to take 20-30 minutes. They add about 6 special projects/display boards/oral reports spread throughout the year as well, most of which we do on weeekends.

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

and a half hour, even broken up into chunks is too much to spend helping one on homework?

Originally Posted by Mandynee22

I think most of us have more than one child... and jobs and responsibilities.
If your LO is struggling, you need to make time to help her. Not only will it make it harder/more stressful for your child, but if she's behind all/most the other kids, it makes it harder for the teacher and the class as a whole.
No, I'm not saying that parents should do the teachers job, but IMO- it is our job to teach our kids also

Originally Posted by My3guys

Have you looked into support services within your school district? Maybe some after school tutoring or something? I see from your signature that your daughter must be about 6. If she is having difficulty remembering the alphabet maybe the school district can help you so she doesn't fall behind.

I think one problem with all the homework angst is that so many kids are being held back these days. Kids are more or less having the same levels of work and same levels of expectations that we did when we went to school. It is just that we were younger. I was 4 in kindergarten. My sons are almost 6 in kindergarten.

I actually don't mind the homework at all. It isn't excessive, at least in our district, and it helps us keep track of exactly what they are learning and how they are doing. Simply observing my children doing their work and seeing how they are thinking about things and where they excel and where they stumble has been very imformative. I also don't see it as the teachers job to do everything. I very much view their education as a partnership between the schools, teachers, my child and my husband and myself.

Good luck. I hope the homework stops being so onerous.

i think i mentioned that i am disabled.

the teacher says DSD is advanced compared to her classmates.

i didnt ask to be attacked b/c i think i dont need to help my child. i asked if other people have kids with this much homework. and how they felt about it. i like doing it with her. she is bright. i just thought the teacher wasnt judging her students abilties right. if DSD is advanced compared to her classmates, i wonder how they are dealing with it? kwim? DSD is 5.5yo. i have been having her dad do it with her b/c i am 8 months preg and need my rest. and he thinks it is too much too.

[Owen'nZoe]

We're only going into our second week now, too, but so far his homework has been to read at least 15 minutes a day with someone (that is, for us to read to him, since he isn't reading yet), practice counting to 20 whenever he gets the chance (he can count to 12 reliably right now - after that, sometimes he counts correctly, sometimes not), and review the rules for riding safely on the bus. Oh yes, and to be sure to get outside and play every day while the weather is still nice.

All-in-all, the homework level we're seeing seems completely appropriate and doable to me. I know there will be math worksheets and a math journal to make entries in, soon, so we'll see if my tune changes then, but so far the homework is fine.

[roseselene]

My kids attend a montessori school and they do not have homework in the kindergarten year which is the last year of the "primary" program at the montessori. The only things that are asked of that age group is when there is a special project coming up like the spring festival or something -- we made a poster together. But, no homework at kindergarten. I don't think i would be a big fan of homework at that age. DD is in first grade and she is having a hard enough time with it now.
amy

[CJ's mommy]

No homework in Kindergarten. We are supposed to read every day, but we do that any way. Maybe a crafty time project 2 x a year.