Saturday, September 12, 2009

Um...this is Kindergarten right?

We are loving Kindergarten. Parker's teacher is terrific. She is kind and inspiring and expects a lot from the children but makes it fun. I do think she is a little excessive with the homework however. This is coming from me who currently thinks it is pretty fun and novel to do homework with Parker even when he is very tired and I can hardly make him hold the pencil let alone try to sound out and write a sentence about a unicorn.

This is our homework packet from last week (remember there was no school Monday because of Labor Day):

Tuesday:

Practice writing the letter Uu.

Challenge: Write a sentence for each of the following Uu words: umbrella, uncle, unicorn, United States.



I loved the sentence Parker wanted to write for United States: "President Monson lives in the United States." You can see where he got tired of holding the pencil because the handwriting improves a bit where we are writing together.

Complete math pages 3,4,5 and 6 (these were fast though - like a circle the object that is different kind of thing)


Wednesday:

Create an AB pattern using objects in your house, (spoon, napkin, spook, napkin...) Draw a picture of your pattern and describe it with words or sentences.



Practice writing the letter Vv

Draw a picture of 3 different signs that we see in the community. An example would be a stop sign, a railroad crossing sign, a speed limit sign. Be creative and go on a walk with a grown-up and find some signs around your neighborhood.

Challenge: Brainstorm words that rhyme with bug. Try and write a silly rhyming poem about the bug.


Thursday:

Sort shoes at your house. Your categories could be sneakers, sandals, dress shoes. Write down how many of each type of shoe you sorted.

Challenge: Make a horizontal bar graph displaying your shoe information.

Here is Meadow doing her "homework" while we are sorting shoes.




We also have a book list every month and if the kids read 20 books with a parent, they get a prize. That part is not difficult.

Parents of Kindergarten kiddos past and present, do you find this excessive or comparable in your experience?

Parker scored his first goal in a soccer game last Saturday. Here he is celebrating! This is also how we feel when we finish homework. I must say that his writing has improved a lot in a short time though.


8 comments:

Alice said...

That sounds like a lot more than Hayden ever had, but I've heard several moms complain about the same thing. It seems to be a pretty common problem. I think it's one of my pet peeves. I want to say to the teacher, "you've had my kid for 8 hours today! whatever you want him to learn you need to teach him at school!". Poor elementary school kids are so drained when they get home that it kills me to make them sit down and do MORE work when they get home - especially boys. They need to be outside getting sweaty. Good luck and welcome to public school parenting.

melissa said...

Yikes. That seems excessive to me. Harrison never had homework in kindergarten, but his old school wasn't very good. He has homework now, but it's much easier than Parker's assignments. Yay for scoring goals!

Mim said...

All right, that's more than a bit much. In kindergarten Beth had to do one, just one of the many things you listed, a week. That's not doing multiple homework assignments a night.

In first grade she had to do one, just one assignment a night. So she'd sort shoes one night, and the next she'd draw a picture and write about it. She didn't have to do multiple assignments a night.

From what I understand her homework is about to get a lot heavier in second grade.

I think Parker's homework is too much. They can't grade it in kindergarten, so if you don't turn it in, it won't affect his grade. You may want to talk to the teacher about it.

Good luck!

Unknown said...

ok, thanks for the input. I definitely thought it was a bit crazy!

Mim, his Teacher taught second grade last year...maybe she thinks she is still teaching it. lol.

I agree Alice, they should be outside getting sweaty :)

Rich said...

I have to agree about the amount of homework, that's almost as much homework as Aydan has as a third grader - sometimes it has taken her an hour a day, then she has her piano practice, and reading to do. Sigh... already her youth being siphoned away. :-)

But, it's probably setting up great habits - and as you said he is improving quickly.

Good luck!

Lisa said...

Seriously? I think this is a little over the top on volume of work, but also the type of homework she is giving. Homework should be of the ability of the child, not the majority left to the parent...I mean, you are having to do more than Parker to complete it. How can he write sentences or rhyming words and poems all on his own?

I would speak up if I were you. This is ok for the first week or two, but get to Christmas and see how much he likes school. Sorry to rant, stuff like this drives me crazy!

Gail said...

I have always hated homework and feel that 98% should be done in the schools. It makes you wonder what are they teaching at school if he still has that much to do at home. I would definatly talk to the teacher. TOO MUCH!!!

Greg said...

Connor's only homework as a kindergartener was to read 20 minutes a night. That's it!
Now as a first grader he has to read 20 minutes a night and do one math work sheet.
You should definitely say something to the teacher!