My kids' school is both socioeconomical diverse and full of immigrant children. The teachers generally assume parents may not be able to help with homework (language issues). The teachers, therefore, assume they must ensure that the kids get the concepts. At most, the parents are asked to make sure homework is done (not that there is a whole lot of homework in the younger grades).
some private schools maybe but Liza's class sizes at her catholic school are larger than the local public school -- she's never had less than 27 and usually in the 29-30 range. And teacher assistants were only in the rooms in K and 1st grade.
That's my philosophy, too, and something we've looked for in the schools we've chosen for our kids so far. I don't want to be hands-off with their schoolwork, particularly in the younger grades.
In grade school, I've noticed that the kids do the work, they get points for each correct answer, then at the end of the term, it's all averaged for a grade (homework, classwork, and tests).
The language issue sounds like a challenge, so I can see why things would be different for you. We're in an urban school district that can't afford small class sizes. More than 50% of the kids in our school are low-income. It's important for parents to know what the kids are working on and help them with their schoolwork. I'm on the school advisory committee, and we're always talking about how to get more parents involved in their kids' day-to-day education. But that would be my own personal philosophy even if we were at a different school.
That is my experience as well. If there is some problem, the teacher may e-mail me every day for a week or so. If things are going well, I usually do not hear from a teacher except on their bi-weekly reports.
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It's not, well at least in my son's school, can't speak for others,
PumpkinAngel
In grade school, I've noticed that the kids do the work, they get points for each correct answer, then at the end of the term, it's all averaged for a grade (homework, classwork, and tests).
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Ducky
I agree and what we have looked for as well.
PumpkinAngel
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