Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are two things I cannot tolerate in schools these days: Homework and lack of creativity/physical movement.
These kids will have ulcers, anxiety, and depression issues before they even get into high school at this rate. I'm trying to understand what the goal is? Are parents driving this? Are parents afraid their kids will be stupid and won't be able to get good jobs? Do they not have more faith in their children and their ability to become inspired and find their way towards their passions and interests by just leaving them alone and letting them be kids? Pressure will only make it harder for kids to be true to themselves and know who they are. They are born with so much enthusiasm and are clear about what they want and then most schools teach them to turn all that off and learn lots of facts first..and THEN they get to do all that creative, fun "meaningless" stuff later..down the road...or perhaps after school. Anytime..as long as it's not during class time. Oh..but there's no time after school either because, of course, there's homework that has to be completed just in case they forget between 3 pm and 8 am. Ugh! Our society has it all backwards! I now understand what is driving the huge number of homeschooling families now.
Tell you sister to relax...or she will do more damage to the kid's mental state than homework ever could.
Stress is very bad for little tiny kids. Encourage and sometimes directly help him to 'do his best' on the homework.
But it's homework...it AIN'T graded.
Yes, there is something wrong with homework in preschool. Preschool is by its nature supposed to be about learning to cooperate with other kids and to understand classroom rules.
I taught preK - I have taught 2 year olds, 3 to 5 year olds and a 4 year old class. We did not give homework to any of them at least not worksheets.
For the 4 year old class, we would - ask them to find something that began with a particular letter and bring it in to share with the class or take home a backpack with a stuffed animal in it and have adventures at home with the animal with mom or dad's help and share that with the class or take home our class camera and take pictures to tell the class about. This happened only few times each year for each child.
Everything was play based with teacher input to help the kids learn to take turns and to cooperate and problem solve.
High school students generally get the biggest benefits from homework, with middle school students getting about half the benefits, and elementary school students getting little benefit (Cooper et al., 2006). Since young students are still developing study habits like concentration and self-regulation, assigning a lot of homework isn't all that helpful.
Yes, there is something wrong with homework in preschool. Preschool is by its nature supposed to be about learning to cooperate with other kids and to understand classroom rules.
I taught preK - I have taught 2 year olds, 3 to 5 year olds and a 4 year old class. We did not give homework to any of them at least not worksheets.
For the 4 year old class, we would - ask them to find something that began with a particular letter and bring it in to share with the class or take home a backpack with a stuffed animal in it and have adventures at home with the animal with mom or dad's help and share that with the class or take home our class camera and take pictures to tell the class about. This happened only few times each year for each child.
Everything was play based with teacher input to help the kids learn to take turns and to cooperate and problem solve.
Congrats on having a better approach. Unfortunately you're not the teacher to this kid.
I would tend to agree with you, actually.
However, my point is simply: the very existence of the homework is not the battle worth fighting here. The battle is helping the child navigate (yes, even at this early age) competing demands. Show the kid how to view the task for what it is. It's meant to be helpful. Also, help the kid view things in perspective. Is letting the homework slack on some nights OK? Yes!
If this teacher is actually so spun up about the homework, it's a great opportunity to present your child with an alternative view of the homework...thereby teaching them not to stress just because the teacher is and to consider an alternative way of viewing things. Take control and stop being a victim of the nutty teacher.
There are two things I cannot tolerate in schools these days: Homework and lack of creativity/physical movement.
These kids will have ulcers, anxiety, and depression issues before they even get into high school at this rate. I'm trying to understand what the goal is? Are parents driving this? Are parents afraid their kids will be stupid and won't be able to get good jobs? Do they not have more faith in their children and their ability to become inspired and find their way towards their passions and interests by just leaving them alone and letting them be kids? Pressure will only make it harder for kids to be true to themselves and know who they are. They are born with so much enthusiasm and are clear about what they want and then most schools teach them to turn all that off and learn lots of facts first..and THEN they get to do all that creative, fun "meaningless" stuff later..down the road...or perhaps after school. Anytime..as long as it's not during class time. Oh..but there's no time after school either because, of course, there's homework that has to be completed just in case they forget between 3 pm and 8 am. Ugh! Our society has it all backwards! I now understand what is driving the huge number of homeschooling families now.
The point is that more kids than ever are going to college and competition to get in and for scholarships is higher than ever. Public schools are preparing kids for that college route earlier than ever before. And none of that is a bad thing. What is detrimental is that vocational or career ed has basically disappeared from most schools. For kids who are not particularly inclined for a college path there is nothing but the college prep track. And all of that trickles down right past middle school.
So bring back voc, tracking, themed schools for kids like yours who want to pursue the arts or other interests and so on.
Congrats on having a better approach. Unfortunately you're not the teacher to this kid.
I would tend to agree with you, actually.
However, my point is simply: the very existence of the homework is not the battle worth fighting here. The battle is helping the child navigate (yes, even at this early age) competing demands. Show the kid how to view the task for what it is. It's meant to be helpful. Also, help the kid view things in perspective. Is letting the homework slack on some nights OK? Yes!
If this teacher is actually so spun up about the homework, it's a great opportunity to present your child with an alternative view of the homework...thereby teaching them not to stress just because the teacher is and to consider an alternative way of viewing things. Take control and stop being a victim of the nutty teacher.
Your sister could change her son's preschool to a better one. She could also talk to the school and show them the research that says homework is not a good thing at this age.
This topic perplexes me. I see all of the research showing how homework in early grades do not produce results. But then I also see all of the Asian moms continuing to give their children real homework (while laughing at the trifles sent home from school) from an early age, and how it is very obviously producing exceptional results.
Perhaps it is the nature of the homework. The school my kids go to is pretty good, most of the "homework" from preschool through 1st grade is "read at home, with your parents". But I have seen my kids' friends public school homework, where in Kindergarten they are doing tedious worksheets that are very much drone work. I could see those not being helpful at all.
However, the "Asian mom homework" that we do at home every night is not so much drone work. With my preschooler, we watch hooked on phonics videos, we read bob books together, we play ipad apps like reading eggs and math seeds together, we do the logic type workbooks from Kumon, we play apps that target working memory, we do new instruction with a math curriculum called right start math which teaches Kindergarten math and strong number sense using manipulatives and games (and no writing) where we do things like learn place value using an abacus, cuisinaire rods and Popsicle sticks, and of course we practice piano. Perhaps if it were possible for a school to give homework like this, it would work better. But of course a school can't do that because most of the above requires 100% parent participation.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think "homework in preschool" is bad, in and of itself. I think any homework in preschool that is busywork or does not involve a parent working with the child is pretty much useless.
This topic perplexes me. I see all of the research showing how homework in early grades do not produce results. But then I also see all of the Asian moms continuing to give their children real homework (while laughing at the trifles sent home from school) from an early age, and how it is very obviously producing exceptional results.
Perhaps it is the nature of the homework. The school my kids go to is pretty good, most of the "homework" from preschool through 1st grade is "read at home, with your parents". But I have seen my kids' friends public school homework, where in Kindergarten they are doing tedious worksheets that are very much drone work. I could see those not being helpful at all.
However, the "Asian mom homework" that we do at home every night is not so much drone work. With my preschooler, we watch hooked on phonics videos, we read bob books together, we play ipad apps like reading eggs and math seeds together, we do the logic type workbooks from Kumon, we play apps that target working memory, we do new instruction with a math curriculum called right start math which teaches Kindergarten math and strong number sense using manipulatives and games (and no writing) where we do things like learn place value using an abacus, cuisinaire rods and Popsicle sticks, and of course we practice piano. Perhaps if it were possible for a school to give homework like this, it would work better. But of course a school can't do that because most of the above requires 100% parent participation.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think "homework in preschool" is bad, in and of itself. I think any homework in preschool that is busywork or does not involve a parent working with the child is pretty much useless.
I am really getting sick of this tiger mom stereotype. I grew up in Asia, my stepmother was Asian, my husband is half, my best friend is Asian, my goddaughters are Asian, my siblings and child are Asian. The tiger mom stereotype is just that a stereotype and racial stereotypes are harmful.
Asians in general value school and see it as the "job" of children to work at school but white americans tend to view this tiger mom thing as a good thing. It frequently isn't. Kids in Asia with high pressure parents are just as likely to crack as kids with high pressure parents anywhere. I have had many gifted students who are ethnically Asian, they are no more likely to have high pressure parents than any other kids.
The real difference is throughout Asia and even carried over here in the US, Asians and Asian americans are much more likely to emphasis work ethic over innate ability. The mainstream american culture like to put the emphasis on being born "special". Look at Michael Phelps, people talk all the time about his physicality, flexible ankles, long arms, whatever and ignore the tens of thousands of hours he has spent practicing.
Homework is not necessary in preschool, and kids can learn a good work ethic a hundred different ways besides learning things that will make sure they end up bored to tears in kindergarten. They can feed the dog, help load the dishwasher, take music lessons, play t-ball, whatever.
I agree lkb. We are a biracial Asian/Caucasian family and I HATE that my kids and myself are constantly thrown into this "asian" stereotype. My poor daughter is lousy at math and in the 100th percentile for height and I'm so sick of her coming home upset because someone has questioned her about why she's so tall if she's Asian, or why she needs math tutoring, I mean she's Asian right?
Oh and by the way Asia is a huge continent with lots of different cultures and ethnicities, and we don't all act or look the same. Afghanistan is in Asia, so is Burma, India, Tajikistan, Japan, Indonesia, and China and yet you throw us all in this tiger mom bucket that is just so inaccurate.
Replace the word Asian with Jew, Black, Latino, and you might get a taste of how offensive this continued stereotype is.
honestly, that preschool has no business to be sending the kid home with "homework" and teacher shouldn't even be saying this stuff to the mom, "falling behind, etc!" if i ever gotten a phone call like that from my oldest son's preschool teacher last year, i would have pulled him out!
at that age, it is actually on development track to not even know all this stuff, what is more important at that age is social cues and learning how to share, play nicely, being outdoors as much they can get. I'm not opposed to that kind of "work" i.e tracing letters, cutting up different shapes, etc as that *CAN* fun to a bunch of 4 year olds, as well being read with lots of different books, sing a songs during the SCHOOL hours. Not to ever be send on home after a long day at preschool.
my son's preschool when he went last year as a 4 year old was spot on; tons of outdoor/physical activity/play, sing a songs, circle time with books, tracing letters, doing fun short theme projects like halloween, valentines, etc along with many fun field trips. It really sparked his interest for learning more interesting stuff, and not seen as *boring* and that really helped his readiness to begin his kindergarten year. This is a kid who cannot write a full sentence yet, just his name and few letters at this point, and im beyond thrilled he is right where he should be as a 5 year old. What is important to me is having a love of learning, natural curiousty, ability to strike up different conversations with all ages of people (his peers, older kids, adults, senior people) and with known people to strangers, i think having a skill for conversation is more important than knowing what is 2 +2 as a 4 year old.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
