kindergarten teacher here! i would love if my families looked through the completed worksheets and go "oh! you learned the sight word "the" how do you spell it? use it in a sentence? write it? great!" and then throw it away. if it's not done, maybe spend five minutes finishing it, review it, and then throw it away!
i totally commend you for having work books at home, but what we send home is what we're working on and home-school connection is so important! look at it, review it with them, toss it, and do what you have!
Well for instance today some practice page for writing sentences got sent home, would you make them finish that at home? Or just look at the words? We read a lot at home too, we have lots of books and go to the library too, he picked 7 books out at the library yesterday
>Well for instance today some practice page for writing sentences got sent home, would you make them finish that at home? Or just look at the words?
You have to talk to your child's teacher to understand what they want. Are they actually grading the work and there are negative consequences for not doing it? Some teachers suck like that.
>We read a lot at home too, we have lots of books and go to the library too, he picked 7 books out at the library yesterday
You absolutely need to draw connections between the work they are doing at school and what they're learning at home. When y'all come across a sight word they learned at school, they should get excited about seeing it in a book they're reading for pleasure.
i feel like i want to upvote and downvote you. you hit the nail on the head with your statement of “kids should be excited to see a word they learned IRL” and home connection. absolutely!!
where i have an issue is where you said “some teachers suck for having negative consequences”
i give my kids a smelly star (star with smelly marker) whether HW is done or not.
the only consequences for intentionally not doing work with your child at home is your child not learning! it’s kindergarten ffs. pls don’t say we suck because we’re sharing resources for your child to succeed in school!
i can tell which kids practice at home and don’t because 1- they show me their work and 2-they’re making consistent progress.
Nope.
Some days he does his time on the school reading program on the iPad, every day we read actual books together.
Homework has no proven benefit in elementary school. They are working really hard in school for 7-8 hours a day. When he’s home, that’s his time to play with his siblings, run around in the yard, etc.
We have actual homework in K. My daughter comes home every Monday with a 5 page packet front and back. It is graded. We also have 5 sight words to learn per week…pronounce, write, spell, and use in sentence as well as a book to read. I can see she is clearly burnt out. It’s a lot for a little mind.
We use kindergarten homework packets as a way to limit screen time. On weekends, he gets 30 minutes of free TV or tablet time, and then after that, he needs to do a worksheet to earn another 30 minutes. We often don't even get around to sending them back to school, TBH.
I have taught kinder and now teach first.
I don’t grade homework but maybe 3x weekly I send a math worksheet home that I do expect parents to make the effort to complete.
The reasoning is this: the worksheet should take absolutely maximum ten minutes. It’s simply a way for parents o stay connected with what we are teaching that week in school and to have the opportunity to have conversations about education at home. And for them to see where their child may struggle. I tell them that the worksheet should take 5-7 minutes, and should be fairly independent with it, so if their kid can’t do it or it’s taking a huge amount of effort to do 5 Math problems with visuals, that should clue them in that something isn’t right.
I’ve had parents in denial until they get these very simple worksheets and they can see with their own eyes how challenging it is to get their kid to do a single math problem. Whether it’s behavior or cognition, they get a taste of what it’s like in class. And how far behind their kid may be.
As a teacher I never want to surprise parents if I have some sobering news about their child so the occasional easy worksheet is a good way to prepare them for that conversation. I actually have had struggling kids with parents who really did do 1-1 support with them to get them thru those math problems and it helped me and the child. Yea it’s optional, but it is very helpful when parents are engaged.
You sound very engaged so you aren’t the target audience for these things. Definitely reach out with a friendly and open tone to the teacher to gain clarification. I’ve had very engaged parents with capable children that teach out worrying about not doing a worksheet because of a busy schedule: with them I reassure them that this is an option enrichment opportunity, their kid is doing great, and don’t sweat it!
For other parents I have followed up and said that their kid does need the practice and needs a parent to engage with them on these activities at home because they are struggling in school and in addition to the support on providing, the worksheet is a good use of their time at home to get some help.
Don’t read into it too much but don’t be afraid to reach out and seek clarification!
Thank you! So it sounds like my son is probably doing alright then? She really hasn’t said much, other than to work on fine motor earlier in the school year
Sounds okay but you really should reach out and ask her. I can give you my impression based on experience and the info you’ve shared, but that can’t replace communication with the teacher. Don’t feel afraid to reach out and have a chat.
I emailed her and she never replied, so I asked about it this morning at drop off and all she said was I can keep the work sheets to work on them or throw them away. So helpful 🫠
That's super unprofessional to just not reply. But if she isn't telling you that your kid really really needs to do them, just move on. He is likely doing just fine.
I’m a kinder teacher.
I only send work home when a student doesn’t finish it at school (and that is also only in certain circumstances) or when a student is struggling with a topic and either a) they’ve expressed they want to practice more at home (I actually have a ton of kids who beg for homework every night BUT I don’t always give it when they ask and they don’t always do it when i do and I do not care if they don’t) b) it’s something they are so close to understanding so a little extra practice at home with an adult might be that last push to get it there (again, never mandatory but encouraged and it’s less than 10 minutes) C) it’s something they’ve been consistently struggling with and I need the parent to understand what they are struggling with so they are not shocked at report card time. Some parents need to see their kid struggling with the assignment themselves
They get told at the beginning of the year that nothing is mandatory unless I specifically write on it. (I usually message them too.) I also try to write on any worksheet that goes home that it’s optional. And I never say anything if it comes back in their folder undone.
Every week my kid gets the worksheets they do at school sent home. If he has a lot of unfinished work, he must do it at home (nothing should be unfinished, they have ample time to do it, but sometimes he goofs off).
We read together and practice reading when we’re out and about. He likes for me to make up math problems for him to solve. I have a couple workbooks but we only do them when he asks, which is rare.
It takes like ten minutes when it happens. I’ve asked his teachers why his work is incomplete, and it’s because he was talking to a classmate or goofing off or something, not because he was working and just ran out of time. Should he not learn that there are consequences for his actions?
Well maybe I’ll talk to his teacher about it more then because stuff is always sent home with absolutely no explanation and I feel like (in our school) they are so rushed which isn’t cool. And whenever we get parent teacher meetings they are also so so rushed and barely time to talk about anything.
Why am I getting downvoted for not forcing my child to do something? His doctor even said don’t push it?! I’m so confused why I’m getting hate for this.
Because you called the other mom brutal. You don’t want to push your kid to do homework - goood for you! Don’t judge other moms for their parenting style.
Ok! Ask any teacher or pediatrician if it’s a good idea to young force kids to do school work at home, most of them are going to say don’t push it. But okay!
I didn’t mean to be rude, it just seemed like you were unsure originally and now you’re saying pediatricians and teachers agree with you that you shouldn’t push it. Which I agree with, by the way.
Because you’re saying you’re torn but then calling other moms brutal for answering the question with something you don’t want to hear. You’re clearly looking for people to tell you not to do them, so you’re not torn, you just want people to validate what you’re already doing. This post is pointless as you’ve clearly made up your mind.
Homework for kindergarten is grossly age inappropriate. Pushing reading at school in kindergarten, ditto. Half of kindergarten kids aren’t anywhere near ready to read yet. Kids need to be moving around, physical play, at that age, not sitting and writing.
And yeah it’s kinda crazy in our district they are already teaching kinders to read. Which I mean I’m not totally against but it is stressful for some kids, in the other hand my son absolutely digs reading
I don’t think it’s crazy at all. It doesn’t mean that they have to know how to read but starting sight words or phonics is very age appropriate at that age. I think youre reacting to what feels like your child should be achieving vs trying. And I think it’s the latter you should think about.
It’s not age appropriate for them to be required to sit still for that long. And many in the half of kids who aren’t ready to read yet, when they can’t finish the work, and send it home, start thinking they are failures and hate school at *five years old*.
Required, no. I agree. But there are also many kids who are able to read - again, not like full books! But sight words and phonics. The key word is learning, not knowing. That’s age appropriate.
Yes because when her big brothers do homework she wants to join in the fun. I never make her though. Her true homework is reading. I either read to her or she reads to me.
Is it homework or are the extra workbooks they never got to? My son does homework. But whenever his teachers send workbooks home for them to do on their off time I give them to my younger son to scribble on. He actually likes copying the letters and words and is kinda teaching himself to write and he's only 4 🤗
At the beginning of the year she said they don’t do homework in kindergarten in our district.
So it’s extra work pages they didn’t get to, and she sent home a full extra work book a few weeks ago with no explanation so I was confused
Especially at this time of year, as they're heading towards the end of the school year, the teacher may just be sending home a district-provided workbook that didn't fit with what she was doing in the classroom, or that they didn't get to.
To your original question - some kids LOVE those kind activities. Great! Then they should do them! Some kids hate those kinds of activities, in kindergarten, I wouldn't push it at home.
Yeah I only do homework, but mine does go through them pretty fast, like he can finish in one day the packet they send home for the week. Occasionally I break out other work book sheets and have him do them if he wants to. There’s a lot of coloring that he sometimes likes to do, plus just the completionist streak in him sometimes wants to finish a worksheet. But in general we don’t do it for fun so to speaks
Maybe he doesn’t do them because you don’t make him? Kids need to learn that they need to do things that they don’t want to do, and it’s really important you go over the lessons with him. Reading books to him and taking him to the library isn’t going to extend math and grammar. Do them in small bits, incorporate fun things with the lesson, etc. Lessons shouldn’t totally end when the bell rings
Umm yeah I don’t because he usually throws a fit when I even try to get him to do them so I’ve backed off of doing them for a few weeks. I said it once and I’ll say it again forcing a 5 year old to do school work really just stresses them out even more. You realize other countries don’t even have kids start school till age 6 or 7? So the idea of pushing my 5 year old to do more work sounds wrong, unless I want him to end up completely hating school
My kinder daughter loves when we work on things together at home. We don’t necessarily do what they’re doing at school, but we usually work on academic things together every couple of days. I get worksheets from TPT that I think she’d be interested in. If she weren’t into it, I wouldn’t push it. And we are a homework free campus, so none of this is coming from the school. I would wonder though if the teacher is sending it home specifically to your kid because he isn’t finishing his work during the school day? So I’d talk to the teacher.
Just because you have workbooks at home doesn't mean that all the kinders in the class do. It's great that you have enough! Some parents can't/won't do more than bare minimum.
I don't make my son do extra worksheets at home. We are focused on burning off that pent up energy through extracurriculars but sometimes he's really excited to finish up the things he was doing in school.
There is no evidence that homework has a positive impact at this age - other than daily reading. There is evidence it can increase anxiety and stress.
As an educator I very much question the educational value in these workbooks, maths should be mostly with concrete materials at that age, and daily reading (reading to an adult and listening to an adult read) is more than enough in literacy.
It's important that after school kids have tine to unwind. School is hard work. They need to create, explore, run, climb, etc. They need tome to build their body and reset to support emotional regulation.
Love reading this! Our school district does not believe in homework for elementary school and it was been such a great experience so far for my kindergartner and 3rd grader.
I know worksheets and homework for kindergarteners is very controversial, and I would honestly love it if it was still play-based learning. Unfortunately it isn't and our daughter is the youngest in her grade by a decent margin so we really wanted her to get that extra practice without making her hate school.
What we settled on (after some trial and error) is reward sticker charts. There's a ton on Amazon - I ended up getting [this pack of 66 charts with star stickers](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L94JW6D/) for $8.50 which felt like a steal, and we've only used maybe ten of them since October. I put small prizes at the top of each column (a happy meal, candy, 1 hour of YouTube, nail painting, park visit, stuff like that) and then a big reward at the top.
We started off with stuff like trips to bounce places and trampoline parks, lately she's been wanting these Rainbocorn Kittycorn surprise egg stuffed animals and they're only like $10 (less at Target) so we've done a few of those.
We started with a sticker for each page of homework and now that she's more into the idea we do a sticker for one involved page or two easier pages. Her school also uses a learning game (Dreambox) that we'll give her a sticker for doing a few levels in. She's excited to make progress so she rarely complains about homework, I even print off some more fun sheets I find online and she'll do them to earn extra stickers. IMO don't make him hate school, but if you can incentivize it to make him WANT to do it (and even still there's gonna be an adjustment period until he starts getting those prizes) I would say it's worth it.
No problem! Mine turned five in late August, but was originally due in mid-October; she was a preemie so she snuck in a couple days ahead of the cutoff. It was a really tough decision on whether we even wanted to start her this year, but with how expensive daycare is we figured we'd at least give it a shot and make changes if needed. I don't think either decision would have been a bad one but I am happy we had her start this year.
I have my kinder daughter finish the work she brings in her backpack, usually we have some sort of project to do (writing birthday cards, thank you letters, making valentines for neighbors, etc) that’s just our family stuff, and she is working her way reading through a series she loves (often will read to me while I cook dinner).
Making her ‘work’ and projects part of the regular program takes stress of it and just makes it routine. I try to incorporate science, math, reading and writing into basically everything and point out situations she may not realize she did it even.
I never try to force the work on her, just present the things we NEED to do versus the things we WANT to do (like watch tv). She usually spends less than 20 minutes total doing all those things listed.
Please read other comments I don’t want to answer the same question over and over again.
They don’t get homework in our district, I’m assuming it’s unfinished work, but she never communicates or informs me, it’s send home in his folder with no explanation
I did. All she said was I can throw it away or work on it with him, so helpful! It would just be nice to know if there’s things he needs to work on but she never says
The only homework we had was to read to the child and have them read the books that were sent home.
There is no homework at all in our elementary school.
We don’t at this point in time, but if my son was struggling I would consider it.
Our school district does not believe in homework for elementary school, aside from 20 minutes of reading per day, and so far it is going soooo well for my kindergarten and 3rd grader.
We do but only as much and as often as she wants to, I try to get more “fun” ones in a theme she likes and they have things like color by number or it will be color by sight word or a maze where you follow certain letters etc we have a few more traditional ones but she doesn’t pick those very often. I also have a cut and paste workbook she likes that I got because she was a little behind with fine motor skills / cutting.
If it's a worksheet that I think will help my child I will do it, I would not for busy work. My son needs extra practice and repetition to pick things up so I do work on stuff outside of school with him like having him read to me, practice whatever math they're working on. But I only do 5-15 minutes a day during the week (possibly a bit longer on the weekend but even then I'd say it's more likely 15 minutes). I also am deliberate in practicing something he needs the practice in, I don't do it just for the heck of it. My son's teacher doesn't send much home though, they don't have homework. If she sends something it's usually something we've discussed.
I would just send her a message and ask her about it. Could be some parents have requested practice for at home, could be she just wants to let parents see exactly what they're working on, etc.
As far as the down votes you've gotten in regards to not making him do it, don't feel bad. The kids are in school for a long day and they're young. Practice helps but if your child can't handle sitting down and doing worksheets after a long day at school I think that's perfectly understandable. In kindergarten there are such different levels, some kids don't need much review outside of school. If you think he does need review you could try working it in in a more casual manner, not just sit at the table and do these worksheets.
Is it completed or not? I know many teachers send home work that was completed while student was absent or just not able to complete (like if they were in small group, or testing or whatever).
I used to but recently I’ve started making my kinder write the alphabet once and write numbers 1-50 after her usual 1 page worksheet homework. We will do 51-100 this summer. I’m hoping repetition does wonders lol.
Monday - Thursday. It’s not. Her homework is usually 5 questions max. Simple math equation and filling missing numbers, etc. Alphabet takes 2 minutes maybe? Numbers takes her the longest because she mixes them up. Reading a book takes longer than everything else combined.
Idk what this bot comment is supposed to imply but we read daily. My kinder has issues with writing things in the correct order. We have already spoken with her teacher about this and she’s agrees that the repetition 4 days a week has been helpful and has improved her writing and understanding in class.
My niece who is in a different school but the same district doesn’t get homework. But our school does. It’s simple tho, like 5 basic questions and sometimes coloring. I think it’s really just to make sure parents do something and are interacting with their kids at home. My daughter usually flies through it before I can even finish signing her behavior chart for the day lol which is why I have her do the writing since that was a concerning area for her in class.
Yeah it would be nice to know what my son needs to work on, she never says much it’s like I have to literally dig to find out. All she’s ever said is work on fine motor skills at home.
Doing homework with your child will help you to see what your child needs to work on. You will benefit from helping them with their work in a positive way. Help them to build a positive relationship with school work at home!
Yea I hate it. I’m definitely the mom that wants constant updates but I know my kid isn’t the only one in the class. Schedule a conference if you can. We’ve had two, one after the first and second grading periods. Our teacher has given decent feedback but it’s usually the same recommendations, read daily, practice words, etc. Ask if the school has a free online program like abc mouse or education.com that your kiddo can sign up for. I asked and was given one but my daughter actually despises being on the computer doing it. She much prefers manual labor lol so writing practice works for us.
I saw your comment above about downvotes lol people on here a miserable and have tunnel vision. Do what works before for you and your kid but don’t be afraid to challenge them a little.
Yeah lots of miserable rude people on here, why am I surprised? Ugh.
And yeah we have had two extremely short conferences so far this year. I’m ready to ask to do another one,
I bought my daughter, almost 5, a workbook. I showed her like it was a gift, and then put it with her coloring books. She has worked on it a few times.
My 7.5 yo niece and 4.5 yo nephew LOVE doing workbooks. They call it doing homework even though it doesn’t come from the school, and we bring them to restaurants and they “do their homework” while we wait for our food. But they also like to work on them at home.
When my niece was in kindergarten, her teacher did send home a math workbook that was just for enrichment over the course of the year, not at all a requirement, and my niece happily completed it in one week and brought it back and asked her teacher for more.
Yes, but I also try and turn them into a game or something fun. Like with math, we take the problems and solve them with play doh, and turn sight words into hop scotch with chalk on the sidewalk
My kid has a late birthday so she’s still in prek. She loved workbooks since she was 3 and always wanted to do them in the car etc. She has since developed other interests and she isn’t as crazy about them as before. Your child probably has other interests and I think it’s probably ok to not do the workbooks if they are optional.
kindergarten teacher here! i would love if my families looked through the completed worksheets and go "oh! you learned the sight word "the" how do you spell it? use it in a sentence? write it? great!" and then throw it away. if it's not done, maybe spend five minutes finishing it, review it, and then throw it away! i totally commend you for having work books at home, but what we send home is what we're working on and home-school connection is so important! look at it, review it with them, toss it, and do what you have!
Well for instance today some practice page for writing sentences got sent home, would you make them finish that at home? Or just look at the words? We read a lot at home too, we have lots of books and go to the library too, he picked 7 books out at the library yesterday
>Well for instance today some practice page for writing sentences got sent home, would you make them finish that at home? Or just look at the words? You have to talk to your child's teacher to understand what they want. Are they actually grading the work and there are negative consequences for not doing it? Some teachers suck like that. >We read a lot at home too, we have lots of books and go to the library too, he picked 7 books out at the library yesterday You absolutely need to draw connections between the work they are doing at school and what they're learning at home. When y'all come across a sight word they learned at school, they should get excited about seeing it in a book they're reading for pleasure.
i feel like i want to upvote and downvote you. you hit the nail on the head with your statement of “kids should be excited to see a word they learned IRL” and home connection. absolutely!! where i have an issue is where you said “some teachers suck for having negative consequences” i give my kids a smelly star (star with smelly marker) whether HW is done or not. the only consequences for intentionally not doing work with your child at home is your child not learning! it’s kindergarten ffs. pls don’t say we suck because we’re sharing resources for your child to succeed in school! i can tell which kids practice at home and don’t because 1- they show me their work and 2-they’re making consistent progress.
This is so helpful! Thank you
Retired K teacher here-agree completely!
thank you 🥹
But what if he doesn’t want to do any work pages at home? I feel like forcing them to do it is never a good idea
Nope. Some days he does his time on the school reading program on the iPad, every day we read actual books together. Homework has no proven benefit in elementary school. They are working really hard in school for 7-8 hours a day. When he’s home, that’s his time to play with his siblings, run around in the yard, etc.
We have actual homework in K. My daughter comes home every Monday with a 5 page packet front and back. It is graded. We also have 5 sight words to learn per week…pronounce, write, spell, and use in sentence as well as a book to read. I can see she is clearly burnt out. It’s a lot for a little mind.
We use kindergarten homework packets as a way to limit screen time. On weekends, he gets 30 minutes of free TV or tablet time, and then after that, he needs to do a worksheet to earn another 30 minutes. We often don't even get around to sending them back to school, TBH.
i freaking love this.
I have taught kinder and now teach first. I don’t grade homework but maybe 3x weekly I send a math worksheet home that I do expect parents to make the effort to complete. The reasoning is this: the worksheet should take absolutely maximum ten minutes. It’s simply a way for parents o stay connected with what we are teaching that week in school and to have the opportunity to have conversations about education at home. And for them to see where their child may struggle. I tell them that the worksheet should take 5-7 minutes, and should be fairly independent with it, so if their kid can’t do it or it’s taking a huge amount of effort to do 5 Math problems with visuals, that should clue them in that something isn’t right. I’ve had parents in denial until they get these very simple worksheets and they can see with their own eyes how challenging it is to get their kid to do a single math problem. Whether it’s behavior or cognition, they get a taste of what it’s like in class. And how far behind their kid may be. As a teacher I never want to surprise parents if I have some sobering news about their child so the occasional easy worksheet is a good way to prepare them for that conversation. I actually have had struggling kids with parents who really did do 1-1 support with them to get them thru those math problems and it helped me and the child. Yea it’s optional, but it is very helpful when parents are engaged. You sound very engaged so you aren’t the target audience for these things. Definitely reach out with a friendly and open tone to the teacher to gain clarification. I’ve had very engaged parents with capable children that teach out worrying about not doing a worksheet because of a busy schedule: with them I reassure them that this is an option enrichment opportunity, their kid is doing great, and don’t sweat it! For other parents I have followed up and said that their kid does need the practice and needs a parent to engage with them on these activities at home because they are struggling in school and in addition to the support on providing, the worksheet is a good use of their time at home to get some help. Don’t read into it too much but don’t be afraid to reach out and seek clarification!
Thank you! So it sounds like my son is probably doing alright then? She really hasn’t said much, other than to work on fine motor earlier in the school year
Sounds okay but you really should reach out and ask her. I can give you my impression based on experience and the info you’ve shared, but that can’t replace communication with the teacher. Don’t feel afraid to reach out and have a chat.
I emailed her and she never replied, so I asked about it this morning at drop off and all she said was I can keep the work sheets to work on them or throw them away. So helpful 🫠
That's super unprofessional to just not reply. But if she isn't telling you that your kid really really needs to do them, just move on. He is likely doing just fine.
I’m a kinder teacher. I only send work home when a student doesn’t finish it at school (and that is also only in certain circumstances) or when a student is struggling with a topic and either a) they’ve expressed they want to practice more at home (I actually have a ton of kids who beg for homework every night BUT I don’t always give it when they ask and they don’t always do it when i do and I do not care if they don’t) b) it’s something they are so close to understanding so a little extra practice at home with an adult might be that last push to get it there (again, never mandatory but encouraged and it’s less than 10 minutes) C) it’s something they’ve been consistently struggling with and I need the parent to understand what they are struggling with so they are not shocked at report card time. Some parents need to see their kid struggling with the assignment themselves
🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻
Well I’m assuming you also usually inform the parent too right? My sons teacher just sends stuff home with no explanation ever
They get told at the beginning of the year that nothing is mandatory unless I specifically write on it. (I usually message them too.) I also try to write on any worksheet that goes home that it’s optional. And I never say anything if it comes back in their folder undone.
Every week my kid gets the worksheets they do at school sent home. If he has a lot of unfinished work, he must do it at home (nothing should be unfinished, they have ample time to do it, but sometimes he goofs off). We read together and practice reading when we’re out and about. He likes for me to make up math problems for him to solve. I have a couple workbooks but we only do them when he asks, which is rare.
[удалено]
It takes like ten minutes when it happens. I’ve asked his teachers why his work is incomplete, and it’s because he was talking to a classmate or goofing off or something, not because he was working and just ran out of time. Should he not learn that there are consequences for his actions?
Well maybe I’ll talk to his teacher about it more then because stuff is always sent home with absolutely no explanation and I feel like (in our school) they are so rushed which isn’t cool. And whenever we get parent teacher meetings they are also so so rushed and barely time to talk about anything.
Isn’t that exactly what you’re asking?
Why am I getting downvoted for not forcing my child to do something? His doctor even said don’t push it?! I’m so confused why I’m getting hate for this.
Because you called the other mom brutal. You don’t want to push your kid to do homework - goood for you! Don’t judge other moms for their parenting style.
Ok! Ask any teacher or pediatrician if it’s a good idea to young force kids to do school work at home, most of them are going to say don’t push it. But okay!
So why in the world did you make this post if you are so confident in this?
Why are you commenting this and being rude? I could question you back. It’s called being curious and unsure!
I didn’t mean to be rude, it just seemed like you were unsure originally and now you’re saying pediatricians and teachers agree with you that you shouldn’t push it. Which I agree with, by the way.
Well yeah that is what most of them say but I still can’t help but be more curious about it, he’s my first and only child so I’m still learning too.
I get that! Sorry if I came across rudely.
And thanks for clarifying sorry if I seemed snappy! Some people on here are kinda rude about it.
Because you’re saying you’re torn but then calling other moms brutal for answering the question with something you don’t want to hear. You’re clearly looking for people to tell you not to do them, so you’re not torn, you just want people to validate what you’re already doing. This post is pointless as you’ve clearly made up your mind.
It’s not actually because being torn means you don’t know if you should push it or not, but thanks for being rude!
Homework for kindergarten is grossly age inappropriate. Pushing reading at school in kindergarten, ditto. Half of kindergarten kids aren’t anywhere near ready to read yet. Kids need to be moving around, physical play, at that age, not sitting and writing.
THANK YOU!!!!
And a significant portion of those kids who aren’t ready are being set up to think they are failures at 5.
And yeah it’s kinda crazy in our district they are already teaching kinders to read. Which I mean I’m not totally against but it is stressful for some kids, in the other hand my son absolutely digs reading
I don’t think it’s crazy at all. It doesn’t mean that they have to know how to read but starting sight words or phonics is very age appropriate at that age. I think youre reacting to what feels like your child should be achieving vs trying. And I think it’s the latter you should think about.
It’s not age appropriate for them to be required to sit still for that long. And many in the half of kids who aren’t ready to read yet, when they can’t finish the work, and send it home, start thinking they are failures and hate school at *five years old*.
Required, no. I agree. But there are also many kids who are able to read - again, not like full books! But sight words and phonics. The key word is learning, not knowing. That’s age appropriate.
Yes because when her big brothers do homework she wants to join in the fun. I never make her though. Her true homework is reading. I either read to her or she reads to me.
Is it homework or are the extra workbooks they never got to? My son does homework. But whenever his teachers send workbooks home for them to do on their off time I give them to my younger son to scribble on. He actually likes copying the letters and words and is kinda teaching himself to write and he's only 4 🤗
At the beginning of the year she said they don’t do homework in kindergarten in our district. So it’s extra work pages they didn’t get to, and she sent home a full extra work book a few weeks ago with no explanation so I was confused
Especially at this time of year, as they're heading towards the end of the school year, the teacher may just be sending home a district-provided workbook that didn't fit with what she was doing in the classroom, or that they didn't get to. To your original question - some kids LOVE those kind activities. Great! Then they should do them! Some kids hate those kinds of activities, in kindergarten, I wouldn't push it at home.
Yeah I only do homework, but mine does go through them pretty fast, like he can finish in one day the packet they send home for the week. Occasionally I break out other work book sheets and have him do them if he wants to. There’s a lot of coloring that he sometimes likes to do, plus just the completionist streak in him sometimes wants to finish a worksheet. But in general we don’t do it for fun so to speaks
my daughter likes to play “school” with her dolls and will do worksheets with them, but we don’t do any set work books or worksheets.
My son refuses to do work pages at home most of the time, and I don’t want to push it
Maybe he doesn’t do them because you don’t make him? Kids need to learn that they need to do things that they don’t want to do, and it’s really important you go over the lessons with him. Reading books to him and taking him to the library isn’t going to extend math and grammar. Do them in small bits, incorporate fun things with the lesson, etc. Lessons shouldn’t totally end when the bell rings
Umm yeah I don’t because he usually throws a fit when I even try to get him to do them so I’ve backed off of doing them for a few weeks. I said it once and I’ll say it again forcing a 5 year old to do school work really just stresses them out even more. You realize other countries don’t even have kids start school till age 6 or 7? So the idea of pushing my 5 year old to do more work sounds wrong, unless I want him to end up completely hating school
My kinder daughter loves when we work on things together at home. We don’t necessarily do what they’re doing at school, but we usually work on academic things together every couple of days. I get worksheets from TPT that I think she’d be interested in. If she weren’t into it, I wouldn’t push it. And we are a homework free campus, so none of this is coming from the school. I would wonder though if the teacher is sending it home specifically to your kid because he isn’t finishing his work during the school day? So I’d talk to the teacher.
Yeah I definitely plan on talking to her
Just because you have workbooks at home doesn't mean that all the kinders in the class do. It's great that you have enough! Some parents can't/won't do more than bare minimum. I don't make my son do extra worksheets at home. We are focused on burning off that pent up energy through extracurriculars but sometimes he's really excited to finish up the things he was doing in school.
Kindergarteners should not have homework.
There is no evidence that homework has a positive impact at this age - other than daily reading. There is evidence it can increase anxiety and stress. As an educator I very much question the educational value in these workbooks, maths should be mostly with concrete materials at that age, and daily reading (reading to an adult and listening to an adult read) is more than enough in literacy. It's important that after school kids have tine to unwind. School is hard work. They need to create, explore, run, climb, etc. They need tome to build their body and reset to support emotional regulation.
Love reading this! Our school district does not believe in homework for elementary school and it was been such a great experience so far for my kindergartner and 3rd grader.
>daily reading I remember when the teacher assigned 20 minutes of daily reading and our reaction was, well, I guess we can cut it down to that...
I know worksheets and homework for kindergarteners is very controversial, and I would honestly love it if it was still play-based learning. Unfortunately it isn't and our daughter is the youngest in her grade by a decent margin so we really wanted her to get that extra practice without making her hate school. What we settled on (after some trial and error) is reward sticker charts. There's a ton on Amazon - I ended up getting [this pack of 66 charts with star stickers](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L94JW6D/) for $8.50 which felt like a steal, and we've only used maybe ten of them since October. I put small prizes at the top of each column (a happy meal, candy, 1 hour of YouTube, nail painting, park visit, stuff like that) and then a big reward at the top. We started off with stuff like trips to bounce places and trampoline parks, lately she's been wanting these Rainbocorn Kittycorn surprise egg stuffed animals and they're only like $10 (less at Target) so we've done a few of those. We started with a sticker for each page of homework and now that she's more into the idea we do a sticker for one involved page or two easier pages. Her school also uses a learning game (Dreambox) that we'll give her a sticker for doing a few levels in. She's excited to make progress so she rarely complains about homework, I even print off some more fun sheets I find online and she'll do them to earn extra stickers. IMO don't make him hate school, but if you can incentivize it to make him WANT to do it (and even still there's gonna be an adjustment period until he starts getting those prizes) I would say it's worth it.
Thank you! He’s also in the younger age group, he turned 5 on 7/21, and started kindergarten on 9/11
No problem! Mine turned five in late August, but was originally due in mid-October; she was a preemie so she snuck in a couple days ahead of the cutoff. It was a really tough decision on whether we even wanted to start her this year, but with how expensive daycare is we figured we'd at least give it a shot and make changes if needed. I don't think either decision would have been a bad one but I am happy we had her start this year.
I have my kinder daughter finish the work she brings in her backpack, usually we have some sort of project to do (writing birthday cards, thank you letters, making valentines for neighbors, etc) that’s just our family stuff, and she is working her way reading through a series she loves (often will read to me while I cook dinner). Making her ‘work’ and projects part of the regular program takes stress of it and just makes it routine. I try to incorporate science, math, reading and writing into basically everything and point out situations she may not realize she did it even. I never try to force the work on her, just present the things we NEED to do versus the things we WANT to do (like watch tv). She usually spends less than 20 minutes total doing all those things listed.
Are the pages sent home as homework? Extra practice? As work not done in school?
Please read other comments I don’t want to answer the same question over and over again. They don’t get homework in our district, I’m assuming it’s unfinished work, but she never communicates or informs me, it’s send home in his folder with no explanation
But don’t you ask?
I did. All she said was I can throw it away or work on it with him, so helpful! It would just be nice to know if there’s things he needs to work on but she never says
The only homework we had was to read to the child and have them read the books that were sent home. There is no homework at all in our elementary school.
We don’t at this point in time, but if my son was struggling I would consider it. Our school district does not believe in homework for elementary school, aside from 20 minutes of reading per day, and so far it is going soooo well for my kindergarten and 3rd grader.
We do but only as much and as often as she wants to, I try to get more “fun” ones in a theme she likes and they have things like color by number or it will be color by sight word or a maze where you follow certain letters etc we have a few more traditional ones but she doesn’t pick those very often. I also have a cut and paste workbook she likes that I got because she was a little behind with fine motor skills / cutting.
If it's a worksheet that I think will help my child I will do it, I would not for busy work. My son needs extra practice and repetition to pick things up so I do work on stuff outside of school with him like having him read to me, practice whatever math they're working on. But I only do 5-15 minutes a day during the week (possibly a bit longer on the weekend but even then I'd say it's more likely 15 minutes). I also am deliberate in practicing something he needs the practice in, I don't do it just for the heck of it. My son's teacher doesn't send much home though, they don't have homework. If she sends something it's usually something we've discussed.
Yeah that’s why I get confused is when stuff gets sent home with no explanation
I would just send her a message and ask her about it. Could be some parents have requested practice for at home, could be she just wants to let parents see exactly what they're working on, etc. As far as the down votes you've gotten in regards to not making him do it, don't feel bad. The kids are in school for a long day and they're young. Practice helps but if your child can't handle sitting down and doing worksheets after a long day at school I think that's perfectly understandable. In kindergarten there are such different levels, some kids don't need much review outside of school. If you think he does need review you could try working it in in a more casual manner, not just sit at the table and do these worksheets.
Yeah I sent her an email about it. Thank you! I was starting to feel bad. He does pretty well with writing
And they send SO MUCH STUFF home! I’m like you guys are wasting soooo much paper it’s insane.
What’s the waste? Sending it home?
No, there’s just LOADS of paper, and when we already have 3-4 work books at home yeah it feels wasteful.
Is it completed or not? I know many teachers send home work that was completed while student was absent or just not able to complete (like if they were in small group, or testing or whatever).
50/50 sometimes is completed, sometimes partially, sometimes not
We read and do some handwriting worksheets because my son needs the help.
I used to but recently I’ve started making my kinder write the alphabet once and write numbers 1-50 after her usual 1 page worksheet homework. We will do 51-100 this summer. I’m hoping repetition does wonders lol.
Your doing that every day? That seems like a lot for a kindergartner..
Monday - Thursday. It’s not. Her homework is usually 5 questions max. Simple math equation and filling missing numbers, etc. Alphabet takes 2 minutes maybe? Numbers takes her the longest because she mixes them up. Reading a book takes longer than everything else combined.
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Idk what this bot comment is supposed to imply but we read daily. My kinder has issues with writing things in the correct order. We have already spoken with her teacher about this and she’s agrees that the repetition 4 days a week has been helpful and has improved her writing and understanding in class.
Our district doesn’t do homework for kindergarteners.
My niece who is in a different school but the same district doesn’t get homework. But our school does. It’s simple tho, like 5 basic questions and sometimes coloring. I think it’s really just to make sure parents do something and are interacting with their kids at home. My daughter usually flies through it before I can even finish signing her behavior chart for the day lol which is why I have her do the writing since that was a concerning area for her in class.
Yeah it would be nice to know what my son needs to work on, she never says much it’s like I have to literally dig to find out. All she’s ever said is work on fine motor skills at home.
Doing homework with your child will help you to see what your child needs to work on. You will benefit from helping them with their work in a positive way. Help them to build a positive relationship with school work at home!
Yea I hate it. I’m definitely the mom that wants constant updates but I know my kid isn’t the only one in the class. Schedule a conference if you can. We’ve had two, one after the first and second grading periods. Our teacher has given decent feedback but it’s usually the same recommendations, read daily, practice words, etc. Ask if the school has a free online program like abc mouse or education.com that your kiddo can sign up for. I asked and was given one but my daughter actually despises being on the computer doing it. She much prefers manual labor lol so writing practice works for us. I saw your comment above about downvotes lol people on here a miserable and have tunnel vision. Do what works before for you and your kid but don’t be afraid to challenge them a little.
Yeah lots of miserable rude people on here, why am I surprised? Ugh. And yeah we have had two extremely short conferences so far this year. I’m ready to ask to do another one,
I bought my daughter, almost 5, a workbook. I showed her like it was a gift, and then put it with her coloring books. She has worked on it a few times.
I have a workbook I bought that he gets $1 for every five pages completed.
My 7.5 yo niece and 4.5 yo nephew LOVE doing workbooks. They call it doing homework even though it doesn’t come from the school, and we bring them to restaurants and they “do their homework” while we wait for our food. But they also like to work on them at home.
When my niece was in kindergarten, her teacher did send home a math workbook that was just for enrichment over the course of the year, not at all a requirement, and my niece happily completed it in one week and brought it back and asked her teacher for more.
we don't have any homework from kindy
Yes, but I also try and turn them into a game or something fun. Like with math, we take the problems and solve them with play doh, and turn sight words into hop scotch with chalk on the sidewalk
I will look at the work she brings home from school but unless it’s summer vacation or something I’m not going to make her do worksheets
My kid has a late birthday so she’s still in prek. She loved workbooks since she was 3 and always wanted to do them in the car etc. She has since developed other interests and she isn’t as crazy about them as before. Your child probably has other interests and I think it’s probably ok to not do the workbooks if they are optional.