Wow, it's been awhile. See why I amended my New Year's resolutions?
It has been a hectic week. My daughter has decided to try out for her school's speech meet which meant memorizing a very long poem, in addition to all of her other homework. She's definitely overworked this year, and the homework she is given on a daily basis is certainly a sore spot with me. As an educator, I know this is an absurd amount of work for a 9 year old after having been in class all day, but what can ya do? So we march on..
My precious Grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday party this past weekend, so we were with him for those festivities. He's in hospice care, so we made sure to make this birthday a HUGE party! I have pictures to post of him, bless his sweet heart, but I'm working today and the pics are at home.
What else...I promise I could come up with at least a dozen excuses as to why I've been MIA for 8 days. Um....
Well, anyway, I'll try to be more creative and think of more things to blog about. I typically do okay as long as I have a picture to jumpstart myself..so be prepared for more pics to give you a glimpse into my personal life. In the meantime, if you have any advice on the insane amounts of homework please don't hesitate to speak up.
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13 comments:
We learn during school time - nothing is left over unless there is major piddling. Kids need play time, unwind time, family time. You know my solution. :)
LOL Yes, somehow I knew where you stood, Kim. Laken doesn't make the most of her time at school, and I realize that, but there are times when she has done homework (at least once a week) from 3 to 8. This is ridiculous!
Boy, I wish I had an answer for you, Meg, but I don't. 4th grade was my toughest year as a kid, followed closely by 7th. I think that was a teacher issue, though, and not so much an overwork issue. At least this year's already 1/2 over. I found it amazing that not one single kid in Laken's class made the 'a' honor roll. I think that speaks to the teacher and not the kids. At least she is learning that "life is not fair".
Good point, Sandy. I'm trying to back the teacher in front of Laken even if I wholeheartedly disagree with some of the teaching methods. I think that's important. I am trying to minimize the stress levels at home while teaching her that we don't just quit when the going gets tough. Hard to do both.
And ya..the honor roll thing shocked me. And I believe only one (possibly two) out of 4th, 5th, and 6th grades combined made the A Honor Roll. :/
if you can, yes it says you stay home, give her a snack, take away any distractions such as tv or radio, sharpen pencils, take her empty snack stuff away, go start dinner so you're close enough to help if need be, but far away enough not to be a distraction. dont speak to her unless she asks for help. after she's done with her homework she can video game, watch tv, go outside, whatever... work with her ahead of time on what she needs to do. if you must, teach her how to organize her time, organize her materials, doing the things that are easiest or take the shortest amount of time first, for example, she can write out her spelling words on her own, finish her math problems, then read the chapter. if she needs to study, you can do that at the end of her session, so she retains more, and do a follow up of key items in the morning if necessary. the biggest problem is that kids dawdle. they think they're doing themselves justice by goofing off and really they're just hurting themselves. if there's no distractions and she's organized, she ought to be able to go clip clip clip through it. good luck, the more self sufficient she is, the easier it will be as she gets older and your second one goes to school.
I sure hope so, Mouse! Oftentimes it's not a lack of sufficiency but more an overload of work. 4 tests to study for as well as an assignment for a Thursday night's homework isn't out of the norm here. :(
ugh! i dont think i got that until high school. the teachers were a little smarter maybe? anyway, that sucks, and my mom always sat us down that way. soon it was a habit, get your 'stuff' done and go play. my hubby's lil sis was having the same issue. but she'd wait around until her mom got home at 5 to start, and then she was up half the night. a little poke from me, mom turned in the 'you will do all you can before i get home and that's final' and soon enough she was doing it all before her mom stepped foot in the door. so yeah i guess i have it on 2 levels..
I have three kids, two of them in secondary schools and the other in third grade. The little guy has homework twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in math. It usually takes no more than 30 minutes for him to complete it.
If you haven't already conferenced with the teacher and made your opinion clear, I would do that right away. If you have, take it up with the principal, especially if you think there is a teacher problem.
My big kids don't have more than a couple of hours of homework on their worst days, and that certainly isn't every night. I think there's a problem here.
You're right though, homework is out of control. Is she changing classes or all 1 teacher?
Tag, you're it! http://momunscripted.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/tag-youre-it/
She has two teachers, Kim. And each of the teachers has a child of her own in her class, too. Not that it matters, but I found it interesting. And STILL all this work! :/
Hi Meg,
You got me thinking, so I posted a bit about homework on my blog. I'm thinking the stuff will be redundant for you, but maybe it will give some other parents some helpful hints.
I'm curious - does the school or district have a written homework policy? Every school I have worked in; large or small, rural or urban, American or international; has had one. For nearly every school it includes a guideline of 10 minutes per grade level. For my 5th grade students that means an average of 50 minutes a night. I personally give much less than this for my own reasons - all I believe are research based.
I am also curious what the average amount of time spent each night by the average kiddo in your daughter's class. As a teacher, I periodically poll my students to see how much time they are spending. I especially do this if I have a parent express a concern.
Lastly, have you chatted with the teachers about this? What is their philosophy on homework and what rationale do they have for giving so much? In this age of differentiation, it should not be a problem for a child who is overwhelmed by the amount of homework to be able to demonstrate proficiency with a lesser amount of work. By the same token, if a child is unsuccessful on 5 problems, they should not be made to continue unsuccessfully on 5 more.
Just my opinion. Don't know if you have this resource already from your teacher ed program, but Marzano has synthesized research on homework in this handy article. (http://www.marzanoandassociates.com/pdf/homework.pdf)
Hope this helps. I'm sorry you and your daughter are in this boat.
Smiles,
Kim
http://rainydaydiamonds.blogspot.com
Wow, Kim. LOTS of valuable information and tons for me to soak in. I appreciate it more than you can imagine! Now, to answer your questions...
The school has no written homework policy. The district does, I'm sure, but this is a private school and they don't follow those rules.
I'm not entirely certain of the average time by the average student spent on homework in her class. I do speak to three of the other mothers (class of 10 students) and know that they are in full agreement with me that the homework is overwhelming.
At this point I feel obliged to make it clear that this isn't an everyday occurrence. Typically two nights a week are full of homework from the time we get home till bedtime. Wednesdays are a no homework day to allow time for church, and a small assignment is usually due on Monday, so weekends are typically clear, too.
I have talked with the teachers about it, but not at great length. The main teacher who gives the bulk of the homework has told me that they mostly just bring home what they don't complete in class. They aren't given time in class, though, so at least 8 out of 10 children have to do it for homework. (The teacher told me this).
I'm gathering information to have a lengthy and intelligent conversation with them about this. I will look forward to your next blog about it, Kim, because I am seriously going in to discuss it with a notecard of points I want to talk about! LOL
Meg,
Shoot me an e-mail so we can talk more. I'm having trouble getting to the comments section of your blog -some Blogger error gobbly-goop keeps popping up.
rainydaydiamonds@gmail.com
Smiles,
K
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