Homework and teacher conference
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Homework and teacher conference
| Fri, 10-15-2004 - 10:04am |
Well, there wasn't a venting icon. I'm not really angry, just disgusted. We had parent teacher conferences last night and the good news is that dd's doing very well and far beyond where she needs to be at this point to meet the reading proficiency by the end of the year--no surprise to me as she likes reading just for fun. But we talked to the teacher about the homework situation which has gotten really irritating and is causing terrible friction at home. If you add in her reading of 15 minutes a night requirement and her math facts of 10 minutes (both of which the parent is supposed to do with her and record on logs) that's already 25 minutes. Then there is other homework that takes between at least 15-20 minutes. Hmmm, I'm no math whiz but last time I checked that's more than 20 minutes of homework which is what is listed in the school handbook as the expectation for 2nd graders. We have 2 hours for our family in the evenings before bedtime counting eating dinner. So we brought this up with the teacher and basically she said that they had to just ignore the handbook because testing of these kids at the end of the year means they have to do it at home otherwise "It's all on us the teachers" and Hello, that's their job! I do understand the pressure she feels from standardized tests but it also irritates me that if that's the case she should be focusing energy on doing as much as she can in classtime and working for a more reasonable school schedule (dd has been in school since Aug. 17th and has had 5-6 days off already not to mention the fact that school is out at 2:30 and they've got 3 solid weeks off at Christmas, then a couple legal holidays, mid winter break, spring break, and then days here and there)and spending less of their school time in fun day movie time (and I'm not talking educational films here, I'm talking Disney movies). It just irritated me that basically she told us, "I feel pressure so I think parents should do have the teaching" literally she did tell us that the learning does have to take place at home. I know a couple of you are teachers and I'm not trying to offend but it was irritating to just get excuses rather than real problem solving feedback. Dh basically told her that sometimes she's going to have to expect dd's homework packet to come back incomplete because it was stressing out us, causing dd to get all stressed out and us fighting with her, and making her not like school and she does well and likes to learn so we're not willing to let the homework issue ruin that. And the teacher seemed okay with that, we'll see. Of course we'll continue to do our best but really need to keep a balance. Thankfully, both dh and I have talk college so we could approach it on a good level and some sympathy for the frustration she may feel in trying to keep the kids focued.

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OMG...Homework!
My daughter started getting slammed with homework in 3rd grade.
Kim
(((((hug))))) (oh, and that "let's calm down" is the icon I use for venting!)
I know you and I go around and around w/the same things. Maybe it's an issue more in Colorado Schools? Because my sister does NOT deal with this junk in her public schools in Michigan. I feel responsible for the bulk of the "basics" with regards to Ty's education, while the teachers teach "logic" in math (NOT mulitiplication tables. 5th grade and now they're having to go back becaues the kids didn't get the fundamentals in multiplication, and they are again asking us as parents to drill them nightly) and movies, and
Our teacher is an absolute god as far as I'm concerned. We count ourselves as being very lucky! I feel for these parents out there who aren't so lucky
Last night I met Christy's teacher at open house. I told him that I was concerned about the amount of homework she was getting and asked him how much time a child is expected to work on their homework everynight. He said about an hour is expected and he also commented that this is the first year they are trying the wordly-wise assignments. He admitted that they were difficult assignments and he wasn't sure how they were going to work out. So, they are basically experimenting on my child. ugh... Then he said, if I feel it's too much, it's ok for her to leave some to do on the next day. To which I replied, "well, that just makes more homework for the next day." That doesn't make any sense!
I know there is only more to come...and that C is going to have to learn to balance her extra-curricular life with homework afterschool. So complaining about it or trying to avoid it is not the answer. But I don't know what is...
I'm getting creative though. For example: when she gets done reading the wordly-wise assignment, I count what she just read as her 20 minutes of required reading. And I tryi to pick samples of things she's done or already done that day to help her with her math assignments. She works on what she can do by herself with no help at daycare in the afternoons and then we tackle the hard stuff together.
Mine is in high school, and unfortunately,
Guess what Andi got?
It is even worse for us in third grade than it was in second. But we like this teacher a whole lot better this year...
Becky, it is just all insane!
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