![]() And Kovacs said that it might be a good idea to chat with the teacher about which elements of homework are the most impactful so you can focus on those first. Her advice? If you’re not sure which assignments are the important ones…ask!īurns urges teachers to be transparent with parents about the “why” behind homework assignments. “The trouble with this,” Kovacs said, “is that parents aren’t always told which parts of the homework are super important for their kids’ growth and which are just to fill a need.” In short, homework at the younger elementary level is helpful in some cases but tedious in others. Kovacs said that as a teacher, she would sometimes assign extremely purposeful homework…but if she was pressed for time, she might make a copy of whatever came next in her planning book. Because teachers are already overworked and stressed-especially these days-each and every night of homework might not have been thoughtfully assigned. Has the school run out of time to cover the curriculum? Do students need more time to practice a new skill? Are teachers trying to find out if students have mastered a concept?Ĭompounding the problem is the fact that the choice of whether to assign homework is rarely given to teachers. Monica Burns, an educational technology and curriculum consultant, said instead of answering yes or no to that question, we should instead ask why homework might be assigned. In other words, why am I torturing myself? And perhaps more to the point, is kindergarten homework even necessary? Additionally, Kovacs maintains that many parents are stressed about their kids doing their best and kids are stressed about impressing their parents, “and this cycle loops and loops until just picking up your kid from school can leave you with a sense of dread for what's coming.” They want to look smart in front of their parents, to show off a little and be the experts in something,” said Talia Kovacs, a literacy specialist, former classroom teacher and founder of the Resilient Reader program. “A lot of kids don't do parts of their homework because it feels hard for them and they don't know how to express that. So, do I need to force my daughter to do work that seems so hard for her (and for me)? But kindergarten is often left out of the discussion altogether, with some educators advocating for full-on reading drills and others maintaining it’s simply too early to demand that of children. So first graders would have 10 minutes of homework, second graders would have 20 minutes, and so on. Today, the general rule is 10 minutes of homework per grade level. The pendulum began to swing back to homework drills in the mid-1980s though, as schools started implementing high-stakes testing and Common Core standards. ![]() Toward the middle of the century, progressive educators began to value learning experiences, eliminating homework at the elementary level. Yep, my daughter is now getting homework literal years before our generation did.īack in the early 1900s, homework prioritized memorization and facts. But I also remember receiving my first homework assignment–in third grade. I loved getting As and stars and check-pluses. I loved making my parents and teachers proud. But it takes time to find the right pencil, sharpen it to precisely the right length, steal an LOL doll from her sister, find a pair of socks that are “less itchy,” use the potty, set up her stuffies so they can do their own homework, beg to play Uno, go to the potty again, ask Alexa to play the “strong girl” song from Encanto, find a safe hiding spot for the stolen LOL doll, lose the pencil in the process and find a new pencil that is sharpened to precisely the right length.īy this point, I am slouched over the kitchen table with my head in my hands wondering how on earth I can get her to finish this one measly assignment without vomiting mom rage all over the place. If she just sat down and did the darn thing, it would be over in two seconds flat. Since that blissful start, it has taken anywhere from 20 to 90 minutes of refocusing, nagging and pleading to complete homework assignments. And I was thrilled to see her excited about school. She was happy to sit down like a big kid to complete the ten-minute assignment in her designated black-and-white composition book. ![]() It was pretty darn adorable the first time my Kindergartner showed me her homework.
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