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Old 03-28-2016, 02:15 PM
 
311 posts, read 347,179 times
Reputation: 562

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Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626 View Post
I think that most people are panicking over the work "homework". In the schools where I was a teacher the home work for kindergarteners was something like five minutes most nights.

If you can't spare FIVE minutes for your child, than it is pretty sad.

"Find five things in your house shaped like a rectangle"

and the next night

"Draw pictures of four objects in your house that start with the same sound as Dog"

and the next night

"Practice writing your name three times with someone in your house"

and the next night

"Listen to someone read you a story for ten minutes".

Later in the year, it may end up being ten or fifteen minutes a night, like reviewing flashcards with sight words.
But what's the point of any of that?

I spend twelve+ hours with my kids everyday and will spend hours with them every evening when they are in school. I'd rather spend that time running around outside with them, digging in the dirt, reading their favorite book, or cooking together. Why do I need the school sending home busy work when they are five, six, seven years old?

The research is clear. Homework has no benefit to young kids and actually causes harm and a disinterest in learning in many cases.

If my child is excited about those types of assignments and wants to do them, fine. I'm not going to stop him. However, I will not get into a power struggle with a young child about whether or not they complete those types of assignments.
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:12 PM
 
1,955 posts, read 1,751,687 times
Reputation: 5179
Quote:
Originally Posted by VelouriaPDX View Post
But what's the point of any of that?

I spend twelve+ hours with my kids everyday and will spend hours with them every evening when they are in school. I'd rather spend that time running around outside with them, digging in the dirt, reading their favorite book, or cooking together. Why do I need the school sending home busy work when they are five, six, seven years old?

The research is clear. Homework has no benefit to young kids and actually causes harm and a disinterest in learning in many cases.

If my child is excited about those types of assignments and wants to do them, fine. I'm not going to stop him. However, I will not get into a power struggle with a young child about whether or not they complete those types of assignments.

The point of a Kindergartener doing homework is to develop a habit of doing homework and learning how to study. I think that getting into a power struggle with a young child is preferable to getting into a power struggle with an older child. The idea being that you win the struggle with the younger child, and that by the time they are older, there is no longer a struggle because it is a habit.


Research has shown that busywork for homework has no benefit to young kids. Many kindergartens assign busy work. If you don't want to force your Kindergartener to do busy work for homework, I agree with that. But there is plenty of homework that YOU can give your Kindergartener that is not busy work, if the school doesn't. For example, when my daughter was in Kindergarten, her school homework was for her to read or have read to her 3 picture books. Every night, dad read one, mom read one, and daughter read one. That was school homework. Mommy assigned homework included non-busy work activities - tracing on the step board, counting and skip counting on the abacus, learning early math with Cuisenaire rods, playing Dreambox on the iPad, doing easy analogies and logic puzzles, etc.


Some of the things you mentioned earlier, digging in the dirt (science) and cooking (science and math) can also be "homework", if you make it a learning experience. If you call it homework, then your child also starts thinking of homework as fun. Win win
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:18 PM
 
3,167 posts, read 3,991,002 times
Reputation: 8796
Quote:
Originally Posted by VelouriaPDX View Post
But what's the point of any of that?

I spend twelve+ hours with my kids everyday and will spend hours with them every evening when they are in school. I'd rather spend that time running around outside with them, digging in the dirt, reading their favorite book, or cooking together. Why do I need the school sending home busy work when they are five, six, seven years old?

The research is clear. Homework has no benefit to young kids and actually causes harm and a disinterest in learning in many cases.

If my child is excited about those types of assignments and wants to do them, fine. I'm not going to stop him. However, I will not get into a power struggle with a young child about whether or not they complete those types of assignments.
I didn't read the posts that led up to this, but I completely agree. I saw a teacher earlier on in the thread bragging about all the homework she gave, and all I could think was what a bad teacher. I teach in a college and don't give as much homework as my kindergartener got each night. And I only have mine for an hour a day, whereas the K teacher has them for 7.
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:24 PM
 
311 posts, read 347,179 times
Reputation: 562
Quote:
Originally Posted by pkbab5 View Post
The point of a Kindergartener doing homework is to develop a habit of doing homework and learning how to study. I think that getting into a power struggle with a young child is preferable to getting into a power struggle with an older child. The idea being that you win the struggle with the younger child, and that by the time they are older, there is no longer a struggle because it is a habit.


Research has shown that busywork for homework has no benefit to young kids. Many kindergartens assign busy work. If you don't want to force your Kindergartener to do busy work for homework, I agree with that. But there is plenty of homework that YOU can give your Kindergartener that is not busy work, if the school doesn't. For example, when my daughter was in Kindergarten, her school homework was for her to read or have read to her 3 picture books. Every night, dad read one, mom read one, and daughter read one. That was school homework. Mommy assigned homework included non-busy work activities - tracing on the step board, counting and skip counting on the abacus, learning early math with Cuisenaire rods, playing Dreambox on the iPad, doing easy analogies and logic puzzles, etc.


Some of the things you mentioned earlier, digging in the dirt (science) and cooking (science and math) can also be "homework", if you make it a learning experience. If you call it homework, then your child also starts thinking of homework as fun. Win win
So basically, we agree!

I hear what you are saying about habits. One of my concerns is that all this parent-involved "homework" at a young age actually teaches bad study habits. It teaches that a parent is responsible for knowing what the assignment is, deciding when the homework is completed, reading the instructions, helping, making sure it gets put back in the bag, etc etc.

It would be preferable to wait until kids are developmentally ready to do all that mostly on their own. Sure, mom/dad is nearby to answer questions and talk if needed, but the student is responsible for the work.

I often hear educators complaining about helicopter parents with no awareness of the role they are playing to create the need for parents to hover.
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:28 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,287,003 times
Reputation: 50370
Quote:
Originally Posted by tiredtired View Post
Why in the heck does a child need to be able to retell these stories with few errors in order to succeed in kindergarten?
Uhmmmm....requires child both to focus and then to remember...skills that are not innate in youngsters and have to be developed over time. The stories themselves aren't important but they are classics that most everyone knows.
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:34 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,102,689 times
Reputation: 32726
Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63 View Post
Uhmmmm....requires child both to focus and then to remember...skills that are not innate in youngsters and have to be developed over time. The stories themselves aren't important but they are classics that most everyone knows.
Yes, and that's fine and good, but the child doesn't "need" to be able to do that. I think reading is important. I think what you read is less so.
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Old 03-28-2016, 04:37 PM
 
Location: Gorgeous South Florida
499 posts, read 583,977 times
Reputation: 749
Quote:
Originally Posted by pkbab5 View Post
The point of a Kindergartener doing homework is to develop a habit of doing homework and learning how to study. I think that getting into a power struggle with a young child is preferable to getting into a power struggle with an older child. The idea being that you win the struggle with the younger child, and that by the time they are older, there is no longer a struggle because it is a habit.


Research has shown that busywork for homework has no benefit to young kids. Many kindergartens assign busy work. If you don't want to force your Kindergartener to do busy work for homework, I agree with that. But there is plenty of homework that YOU can give your Kindergartener that is not busy work, if the school doesn't. For example, when my daughter was in Kindergarten, her school homework was for her to read or have read to her 3 picture books. Every night, dad read one, mom read one, and daughter read one. That was school homework. Mommy assigned homework included non-busy work activities - tracing on the step board, counting and skip counting on the abacus, learning early math with Cuisenaire rods, playing Dreambox on the iPad, doing easy analogies and logic puzzles, etc.


Some of the things you mentioned earlier, digging in the dirt (science) and cooking (science and math) can also be "homework", if you make it a learning experience. If you call it homework, then your child also starts thinking of homework as fun. Win win
Fantastic post! Very helpful
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Old 03-28-2016, 05:27 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,287,003 times
Reputation: 50370
Quote:
Originally Posted by tiredtired View Post
Why in the heck does a child need to be able to retell these stories with few errors in order to succeed in kindergarten?
Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63 View Post
Uhmmmm....requires child both to focus and then to remember...skills that are not innate in youngsters and have to be developed over time. The stories themselves aren't important but they are classics that most everyone knows.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibbiekat View Post
Yes, and that's fine and good, but the child doesn't "need" to be able to do that. I think reading is important. I think what you read is less so.
Focusing, remembering and being able to repeat stories is something kids do BEFORE they learn to read. Being able to focus and to remember are necessary for reading comprehension. It's great to know how to read but if you can't focus for more than 5 minutes, you can't recall what you read 10 minutes later, and you can't speak about or summarize what you read THEN what do you do later on when you're trying to learn biology?

You're taking this a little too literally - I don't care if they can recite the Three Little Pigs but that's something easy...if you want to make up your own story, by all means - they still need those skills and that's a good way to start getting them.
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Old 03-28-2016, 05:39 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,102,689 times
Reputation: 32726
Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63 View Post
Focusing, remembering and being able to repeat stories is something kids do BEFORE they learn to read. Being able to focus and to remember are necessary for reading comprehension. It's great to know how to read but if you can't focus for more than 5 minutes, you can't recall what you read 10 minutes later, and you can't speak about or summarize what you read THEN what do you do later on when you're trying to learn biology?

You're taking this a little too literally - I don't care if they can recite the Three Little Pigs but that's something easy...if you want to make up your own story, by all means - they still need those skills and that's a good way to start getting them.
I don't disagree with you. It just struck me as a very specific instruction that needn't be. The op asked why it is needed. So did several others. The short answer is "its not." A couple subsequent responses have been quite condescending, as if I know nothing about anything because I didn't drill my preschooler on nursery rhymes. Reading anything is a good idea, obviously. What's not obvious is why it would have to be these specific stories to the point of making them recite with few mistakes.
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Old 03-28-2016, 06:50 PM
 
509 posts, read 552,302 times
Reputation: 1729
Quote:
Originally Posted by germaine2626 View Post
I think that most people are panicking over the work "homework". In the schools where I was a teacher the home work for kindergarteners was something like five minutes most nights.

If you can't spare FIVE minutes for your child, than it is pretty sad.

"Find five things in your house shaped like a rectangle"

and the next night

"Draw pictures of four objects in your house that start with the same sound as Dog"

and the next night

"Practice writing your name three times with someone in your house"

and the next night

"Listen to someone read you a story for ten minutes".

Later in the year, it may end up being ten or fifteen minutes a night, like reviewing flashcards with sight words.


Some schools send home four sheets of paper on Monday night (one for each school night that week). There is one math problem or math activity, one language activity, one alphabet activity and one drawing. It is designed to take about five minutes each night. The goal is start the children having good habits of sitting down and doing the homework at night, bringing it back to school and turning it in in the morning to the teacher.
No, it's not sad at all.
Doing 5 minutes of homework has nothing to do with parenting or the child.
In kindergarten it is done to please the ego of a teacher and nothing else.

Side note: none of the examples you gave take only FIVE minutes. If you are a teacher, I suggest you time some of these yourself in class before assigning FIVE minutes. Be sure to include the time it takes to set up and get supplies as that is what the parents will be doing too.
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