School-Aged Children

Kindergarten Mommies, please come in...

I'm a first time school age mom, so maybe times have really changed since I was in kindergarten.  Is it just me, or are kids doing A LOT in kindergarten?  DS has a science project due on poster board on the water cycle.  He had a science diagram quiz on plant life.  He has weekly spelling words (six words). He's in a computer skills course where they actually learn how to use the keys correctly.  Memorizing decent length poems. The rest I'm okay with, social studies test on people in our community, Bible quiz on Noah and the Ark, language arts writing lower and upper case letters, blends, etc.

I took a break from going over his homework last night and just had him do it before school.  Geesh, it just seems like a lot.  Is it just me? 

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Re: Kindergarten Mommies, please come in...

  • No, our school doesn't (seem to) do that much. DS has a homework packet that comes home Monday and has to be completed by Friday. It's tracing, counting, rhyming words, drawing pictures, and following directions. They also have a math workbook that deals with counting, matching, and tracing numbers.

    They have 2-3 new "word wall words" each week, which are sight words they should be memorizing, but they aren't quizzed on them. They are also asked to do 10-15 minutes of reading each day.

    They are doing a science unit in class about trees and leaves, but the only thing we had to do was take a nature walk and collect leaves/pine cones/acorns, etc.
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  • neverblushedneverblushed member
    edited October 2013
    Sounds like you are in a private school.  I teach in a private religious school.  My school offers a lit more rigor in each grade than would be offered at a given grade level of public school.  We try to make it genuine rigor and not just "more homework."  If you feel like your child is just getting more homework (or an inappropriate amount of homework) but not more education, I'd speak to the teacher, the school, and perhaps shop around for another school for next year.

    A private school can count on many of the students who can afford to attend the school being ready to do actual academic work in kindergarten, as opposed to merely school-readiness activities.

    Also, we have to offer more education and more rigor than the public schools would, otherwise no one would pay to send their kids to our school!  My school is $28K/year for high school students!  We have to earn that!
    High School English teacher and mom of 2 kids:

    DD, born 9/06/00 -- 12th grade
    DS, born 8/25/04 -- 7th grade
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  • No, our public school did nothing like that last year. I think testing in Kindergatren is only being done to day to parents, look at all we do! Kids that are 5 and 6 should not have that much pressure. And I am the person that complained that my son was not challenged enough last year because at home he could read chapter books, count to 1000 and do double digit addition and subtraction. I wanted more challenge but not more tests and pressure.
    Jen - Mom to two December 12 babies Nathaniel 12/12/06 and Addison 12/12/08
  • Our public school isn't quite like that either. He has weekly homework but mostly related to math or sight words. It usually takes him 5 minutes to complete. He's reading already and is well ahead in math. No real tests though as of yet anyways and I don't think they should at this age either. Kindergarten sets the stage for the rest of the school years and we want them to be positive.
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  • We get something to work on at home about once a week (public school). I'm happy with what they're doing. I'm not a fan of a lot of tests/homework in kindy.
  • No, that is a lot compared to what DS1 had. Our district has already implemented Common Core, so you usually hear about more work too! In kindy, he only had a packet to complete all week. The entire thing usually took him 20 minutes. I don't even think he was reading by October in kindy, so I don't know how he would have spelling words.
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  • That sounds like way too much to me.  Starting school is a huge change for most kids.  Need to give them time to adjust.  My son's school will implement weekly homework in November...basically send home a packet on Monday and return by Friday.  They also encourage daily reading with DS...at least 20 minutes a day.
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  • mrszee2b said:

    We get something to work on at home about once a week (public school). I'm happy with what they're doing. I'm not a fan of a lot of tests/homework in kindy.

    This, except the reading at home part.

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  • Danie007 said:
    We get something to work on at home about once a week (public school). I'm happy with what they're doing. I'm not a fan of a lot of tests/homework in kindy.
    This, except the reading at home part.
    Oh, we read at home a lot, but it's not "homework."  We just read a lot anyway :)  The curriculum that the OP described sounds similar to ours: last week the kids were looking at leaves under a microscope and making lists of attributes, they work in the computer lab, they have "words of the week" that they focus on in class.  They just don't do quizzes or much homework.
  • I was in school for Early Childhood Education before I got pregnant with my 6mo. I also work for a middle school teacher, who is going for her masters in teaching techniques or something like that... she does a lot of research on various aspects of teaching - One of the things she showed me was the state education standards. Kindergarten NOW has to learn things that 1st and 2nd graders learned 10-15 years ago. She said the standards are changed almost every year now, and they are doing more and more and teachers are required to teach more topics than ever before.

    My DD's kindergarten class gets 2 homework sheets every night, except weekends. They have a list of sight words to work on for every month. We haven't had any 'quiz/tests' yet.
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  • That sounds like a like a lot to me. DS is in private school and his homework consists of a short (3-5 page) reading assignment and memorizing that week's Bible verse (which is due Friday.) Starting in January, they will begin spelling tests.  He does have occassional additional projects (creating a family tree, All about me board, etc..) but nothing compared to what you mentioned. In fact, we had a parent/teacher conference today and the teachers recommendation was not to spend more than 10-15 minutes per day on homework - considering they sit still and work hard all day, that's a lot to ask of a kinder kiddo!

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  • Spin313 said:
    No, our school doesn't (seem to) do that much. DS has a homework packet that comes home Monday and has to be completed by Friday. It's tracing, counting, rhyming words, drawing pictures, and following directions. They also have a math workbook that deals with counting, matching, and tracing numbers. They have 2-3 new "word wall words" each week, which are sight words they should be memorizing, but they aren't quizzed on them. They are also asked to do 10-15 minutes of reading each day. They are doing a science unit in class about trees and leaves, but the only thing we had to do was take a nature walk and collect leaves/pine cones/acorns, etc.
    This sounds like what we are doing as well.
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  • jnksmomjnksmom member
    edited October 2013
    No, our school doesn't do that much in K. DD brings home a book from reading group each night that she has to read and they ask that you read an additional 20minutes as well and practice sight words. They also sent home a math workbook to work on...it is not required and doesn't have to be turned it though. They also send home a monthly homework packet that has 1 page per weekday for the month. DD finished it in the first weekend. It was tracing, counting, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, writing simple sentences, simple math.  All science and social studies are done in the classroom. 

    They do test on math skills at the end of each unit and reading levels and sight words every 4.5 weeks. 
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  • No, our school has nothing like that.  That is way too much in my opinion.  My DD has Spanish immersion class 3x a week for 20 mins.  Her homework is M-TH completing a little work sheet that is mainly working on numbers, letters, coins and other basics and is coloring or saying things to me like counting to a certain number.  She has reading homework over the weekend and we are asked to read to her nightly which we already did.  She has art, gym, music during class and they go to the media center each week to check out books, get a story and starting now, they will get to use the computers and have some lessons on those.
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
  • No tests or quizzes here.  However, DD does have a lot of work. She has computer skills assignments during class time on Tuesdays.  She is given 6 new sight words every week to practice. She is reading small, 15-20 page books (gets a new one every Monday).  She is given two poems once per week to read and she has to do activities based on what she read.  It seems like a lot, but it's not really a lot of work. We spend 15-20 minutes per night doing homework with her.
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  • DD1's homework in kindergarten was to read with us for 15-20 minutes every night. That's it.
    Annalise Marie 05.29.06
    Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
    Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
  • My eldest is just starting kindergarten this year too so I am new to it also but she does not have to all of that. She does do computer classes but for homework she usually gets a folder of work pages sent home monday and has to bring it back in on Thursday completed she also has workbooks she has to keep at home to practice on. One math work book and one ELA workbook where she practices spelling writing reading etc. They send home their words of the week every monday for them to review all week also. 

    Majority of her school work is done in school and they send it home on Friday for me to look through and see what she learned that week.
    DD1 Jaydyn Rose DOB 3/13/08
    DD2 Kaydence Lynn-Marie DOB 1/3/10
    DS1 EDD 2/28/14 (Yayyy it's a boy!)
    Anniv. 10/14/03 Travis Allen-Eugene 

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  • shannmshannm member
    edited November 2013
    DS gets a wonderful and broad education in his kindergarten class WITHOUT homework and I am thankful for that. He is a book worm by nature and tends to do activity books and read after school anyway but I am happy that he doesn't HAVE to do work after a long day at school.

    Edited to say that he is in a private school.
  • My son is in Transitional kindergarten (due to him being a late fall baby) and receives a HW packet on Thursday with 2-3 pages of work that he has to turn in on Tuesday of the following week.  He is ihn public school.
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  • macchiattomacchiatto member
    edited March 2014
    I've been asking about homework at the schools we're visiting this week.
    One (which is an award-winning school with a great reputation) has a very detailed Homework Plan so expectations and amounts are clear and consistent across the school. Their plan includes "20 mins or less of student's 'personal best' effort" per day of homework for Kindie, 10 mins of which is reading.

    The other school (which we've also heard great things about) sends a homework packet home every Monday for K and you have till Friday to finish it so you can pace yourself throughout the week, do it all at once, etc. The amount varies but it sounds like about 20-60 minutes' worth per week.

    These are both public schools.
    fraternal twin boys born january 2009
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