Homework

[Goldeneagle]

Imagine when there was no Google to help. I think some teachers take advantage of technology and leave it up to the parents now. Our older generation is so much smarter than today's generation. I think old school is the way to go. Heck kids nowadays are Tide Pod eating idiots!

School should be all education, learning experience. Home should be family/play time! No different than a job. We go to work daily to work and earn a living. When we get home it's family time.

I have to Google some of the stuff just so I can help Alexis in 4th grade.

[bullhead44]

Don’t even get me started.... I’m about to bang my head against the wall with my school district. My 4th grader has 2-3 pages of math problems each night, read 3 books a week, spelling workbook and an English worksheet each week.

I’m going to ask for evidence/research that indicates homework benefits elementary age kids.

I swear to all things holy if I hear one more educator claim “well I have to teach to the test...”. I’m going to scream! If teachers collectively despise “the test” and know it isn’t in the best interest of kids, then collectively revolt against it, there is no more qualified opinion than those that work with kids all day.

I currently teach 8th grade history. I have taught every social studies class from 7th grade to 12th. I try to never give homework. If they do have any, its because they wasted time in class not getting it done. On your comment about why teachers don't revolt against it, its because there is really nothing we can do. It is illegal in Texas for teachers to unionize. We pretty much have to teach to the test. If there are bad test scores, the state comes down on the district and the district comes down on the teachers. It really is a screwed up system.

There is a big push this year for teachers to block vote against the anti public ed politicians. Hopefully this will happen in the march primaries.

[Snacks]

I was homeschooled 1st-12th and found it to be very beneficial.
Being homeschooled I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly, Thankfully, I was given a good work ethic, an appropriate amount of freedom, and lots of socialization from an early age. Therefor, I was able to take full advantage of my situation and start a business out of highschool, which would have been impossible if I had been in a traditional school. I was part of a Christian curriculum called Classical Conversations and was one of the first graduating classes in Texas. I highly recommend looking into it, if homeschooling is a serious consideration.
I'd be happy to talk more about my experiences/thoughts having gone through it myself., just shoot me a pm.

[Antlers86]

I was homeschooled 1st-12th and found it to be very beneficial.
Being homeschooled I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly, Thankfully, I was given a good work ethic, an appropriate amount of freedom, and lots of socialization from an early age. Therefor, I was able to take full advantage of my situation and start a business out of highschool, which would have been impossible if I had been in a traditional school. I was part of a Christian curriculum called Classical Conversations and was one of the first graduating classes in Texas. I highly recommend looking into it, if homeschooling is a serious consideration.
I'd be happy to talk more about my experiences/thoughts having gone through it myself., just shoot me a pm.

Appreciate it.

[lovemylegacy]

My 2 oldest kids attend a Christian Academy here locally. Daughter is in Kindergarten and Son is in First Grade. Last year my son came home daily with 3 pages of math homework, 15 sight words, and a Bible memory verse. Attend school from 8am-3pm and basically come home and do homework from 3:30-5, dinner, bath and bed. Hardly ever get to play outside and be kids. We stuck through it and even had a teacher conference asking why all homework and to see what they do in class. Well this year it has multiplied. 6 pages homework, sight words, spelling words, and Bible memory verse. This is for both my daughter and son each. To spend $14k a school year to basically be homeschooling our kids is getting pretty frustrating! My wife actually teaches and knows the daily schedule for the 2 classes. Out of the whole school day maybe 2 hrs of learning. Rest is recess and extra curricular activities.

I don't ever recall having this much homework until I was in 6-7th grade. Maybe a math sheet every so often but I also didn't attend a private school.

Am I wrong for or does everyone else's kids in similar grades come home with 1-2 hrs worth of homework every night?

Hate my kids don't have time to be outside playing in dirt and being kids.

Rant over!

Try homeschooling, you have even more homework. School day lasts till 5-7, then homework. Granted, homeschooling is a bit more flexible with schedules, but it aint no easier.

[Antlers86]

Try homeschooling, you have even more homework. School day lasts till 5-7, then homework. Granted, homeschooling is a bit more flexible with schedules, but it aint no easier.

How more homework if homeschooling? Wife already teaches at a school 5-6 hrs a day. Homeschooling courses are 2-3 hrs of teaching/work a day. She can do it all both kids combined morning/mid day. Completely eliminates homework every evening!

My point is if we are already doing homework for 2-3 hrs a night why not homeschool and do the 2-3 hrs of work during the day. In addition saving the $14k that it cost to send them to a "daycare"! Yeah we lose my wife's salary and have to pay $1000-$1500 in curriculum but still come ahead with family time as it should be after school.

[stickbowcoop]

My daughter in the other hand loves homework, loves school, even tells us I know this leave me alone.

If that is the case she may not respond well to homeschool. I had a relative who did great in school and loved it, but did not adapt well to homeschool. After one year they put him back in "regular" school where he once again excelled. Just something to think about.

[bullhead44]

I cant imagine being home schooled. Other than flexibility of schedule for trips etc, I don't see any advantages of it. People I see home schooling are usually in one of two boats. There kids are always in trouble at school so they decide to just take them out and do it themselves. Most of these parents have no qualifications for teaching and the kids usually do nothing more than sit on a computer doing busy work all day. I've seen lots of kids come back to public school after being home schooled who have done nothing and are way behind the other kids.
The other end of the spectrum is people who are trying to keep kids sheltered from the evils of the world and from seeing or hearing things they will eventually see and hear anyway. If parents are doing a good job, kids will still make good choices the majority of the time. Kids need to figure some things out on there own. They are gonna have to at some point in their lives. If you do decide to home school, I hope it works out well for you and your kids. It would not be something I would consider for my child though.

[Ouch]

They spend 30 minutes on the playground and 30 minutes recess/PE. Other activities are library, art, music, etc.

You just described my kids' day in a nutshell. They are in public school, 1st and 3rd grade.

What I am about to say is not a reflection on you or your children.

My kids rarely have homework, maybe a total of 15 minutes a week each. I won't include reading, because that's something they do daily anyway, usually 20 minutes or so before bed. That said, there are a number of kids on each of their classes whose parents complain about the copious amount of homework their children bring home daily, to the point that we were concerned our kids weren't doing what they were should be. We inquired of each of their teachers and learned that the kids with all the homework weren't doing their work in class. Again, I'm not saying this is the case with your kids, just an observation from experience.

[lovemylegacy]

[QUOTE=Antlers86;13166133]How more homework if homeschooling? Wife already teaches at a school 5-6 hrs a day. Homeschooling courses are 2-3 hrs of teaching/work a day. She can do it all both kids combined morning/mid day. Completely eliminates homework every evening!

My point is if we are already doing homework for 2-3 hrs a night why not homeschool and do the 2-3 hrs of work during the day. In addition saving the $14k that it cost to send them to a "daycare"! Yeah we lose my wife's salary and have to pay $1000-$1500 in curriculum but still come ahead with family time as it should be after school.[/QUOTE

Yes my daughter has homework. Usually finished with school about 5 or 6 in the evening, sometimes a little earlier.

We loose an income, but it is worth it in my opinion. 2grand for the curriculum vids and lit. Plus the students are taught things that are being lost in the dumbing down of schools these days.

Lot of people are very critical of homeschooling and assume some things that are not accurate. Having had 4 children and 3 of them participated in Private and public schools, home schooling is a very viable option. Actually I think it is the best option.

[rockyraider]

I can feel your pain. Mine are now in 8th and 10th grades. Just wait until your kids get to high school, you won't believe how much its all changed. No longer can you just be a "high school" kid playing football and baseball, making decent grades and expect to get into a decent college. Its a RAT RACE these days if you let it be.

My daughter in 10th grade is straight A's, taking one pre-AP class, playing JV tennis, involved in several clubs, just got sent a letter asking her to apply to join the National Honor Society, etc.... We just met with her counselor last week. She is in the top 20% of her class from what I remember. There is no way for a kid to get even remotely close to top 10% unless they stack their schedules with AP classes. Problem with that is your kid will be doing 4-6hrs of homework every night. AP English along is probably 2hrs of homework per night on average. Its freaking English which really doesn't make a hill of beans in the real world. The kids that are actively trying for top 10% absolutely sacrifice their high school experience for their GPA's. Its just not something I'm interested in seeing my kids do.

We actually decided after talking about the pros and cons of both, to go the dual credit route which will allow her to come out of high school with 24hrs of college credit (community college) vs. playing the AP/GPA game. She can then apply to colleges as a transfer student with just a couple more classes rather than having to apply as an incoming freshman.

I see plenty of parents who are super worried about GPA, clubs, etc., some of which to the detriment of the kid. My 8th grade son has a friend who's mom is super overbearing about all of this stuff. His 7th grade sister just took the pre-SAT, and their mom was hanging by a thread to see how she did. Give me a break, a 7th grader taking a pre-SAT. Its the world we live in.

I have a solid educational background, bachelors and master degree from good State Universities. As far as my kids go, I tell them all the time, you are who you are. Some kids are freakishly smart, some great athletes, some will go on to make millions of dollars without ever stepping foot on a college campus. No ones life is the same so don't kill yourself to conform to someone else's road map of life.

[Antlers86]

I cant imagine being home schooled. Other than flexibility of schedule for trips etc, I don't see any advantages of it. People I see home schooling are usually in one of two boats. There kids are always in trouble at school so they decide to just take them out and do it themselves. Most of these parents have no qualifications for teaching and the kids usually do nothing more than sit on a computer doing busy work all day. I've seen lots of kids come back to public school after being home schooled who have done nothing and are way behind the other kids.
The other end of the spectrum is people who are trying to keep kids sheltered from the evils of the world and from seeing or hearing things they will eventually see and hear anyway. If parents are doing a good job, kids will still make good choices the majority of the time. Kids need to figure some things out on there own. They are gonna have to at some point in their lives. If you do decide to home school, I hope it works out well for you and your kids. It would not be something I would consider for my child though.

My kids are good. Son will occasionally get tally for swinging on a door or talking but he isn't bad. That isn't the reason why we are considering this. Wife actually has a degree for teaching and works with all grade levels from K-6 currently. As far as having the kids stuck on a computer all day is false. A lot of homeschooling curriculum we are looking at is paperwork and some DVD exercises. We are far from being considered parents who shelter their kids. Both are involved in county sports activities, Church events, etc. To help keep them interacted with other kids I am looking at starting a get together for other friends we know that homeschool at our church. Yes the kids will eventually see and hear things we don't want them to but at least me or my wife would be there to explain right and wrong. Some things we won't ever even know about and that's part of life.

For the kids you mentioned that come out way behind would be the parents fault. They probably left the computer to do all the teaching and made time for their selfish beings doing what they want.

[Antlers86]

You just described my kids' day in a nutshell. They are in public school, 1st and 3rd grade.

What I am about to say is not a reflection on you or your children.

My kids rarely have homework, maybe a total of 15 minutes a week each. I won't include reading, because that's something they do daily anyway, usually 20 minutes or so before bed. That said, there are a number of kids on each of their classes whose parents complain about the copious amount of homework their children bring home daily, to the point that we were concerned our kids weren't doing what they were should be. We inquired of each of their teachers and learned that the kids with all the homework weren't doing their work in class. Again, I'm not saying this is the case with your kids, just an observation from experience.

Understand your point. How it's done here is class rule. When we had our conference meeting last year the teacher explained the process. Wasn't that our child wasnt doing his work but her way if teaching. She has cut back this year a little but my daughter still has quite a bit. She came from teaching a college level class for 10 yrs to teaching kindergarten!

1st grade teacher pretty much carried the same layout as kindergarten and stuck with it not cutting back on anything.

[txpitdog]

I focus more on whether my kids understand what it s being taught. If they understand it and can demonstrate they do, I don’t really enforce homework. I spend time expanding on the idea or method instead to give them an understanding of the application of what they’ve learned. However if they are not grasping the material then I make them do extra until they do understand it.


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[lovemylegacy]

My kids are good. Son will occasionally get tally for swinging on a door or talking but he isn't bad. That isn't the reason why we are considering this. Wife actually has a degree for teaching and works with all grade levels from K-6 currently. As far as having the kids stuck on a computer all day is false. A lot of homeschooling curriculum we are looking at is paperwork and some DVD exercises. We are far from being considered parents who shelter their kids. Both are involved in county sports activities, Church events, etc. To help keep them interacted with other kids I am looking at starting a get together for other friends we know that homeschool at our church. Yes the kids will eventually see and hear things we don't want them to but at least me or my wife would be there to explain right and wrong. Some things we won't ever even know about and that's part of life.

For the kids you mentioned that come out way behind would be the parents fault. They probably left the computer to do all the teaching and made time for their selfish beings doing what they want.

Our county has several co-ops that organize field trips. Some are free, some cost. If your county doesn't have that then yes it would be a great idea to do this.

The amount of paperwork is significant in the curriculum that we chose, including a handwriting class, which is lost in todays public schools.

On top of it all, we have piano class, soccer practice, ea 2 times a week plus games, tourneys and recitals.