Wednesday

We're new to this school stuff.

So, I'm wondering, is 2 hours of homework a night normal for second grade? And, why can't the teachers, bless their hearts, send home any instructions of what these kids are actually supposed to be doing with the assortment of papers and books they bring home? And, does your Kinder ever freak out because you're wrong, you're wrong and teacher SAID and you're lying and now he won't be able to get a treasure from the treasure box because you're wrong?

Just wondering.

6 comments:

Janalee said...

yes! the Kinder gets all his facts confused and insists that you're wrong you're wrong about the oddest things that you're definitely not wrong about. EX: sometimes they send these little Disneyland ad/flyers home with them and my kids would be like 'the teacher said we HAVE to go to disneyland. The teacher SAID!!!!'

as for the homework, I think two hours a night is way too much. 20 minutes tops. my 6th grader has about 1-2 hours though.

Martie said...

It is rare for my high schoolers to have 2 hours. That is just plain wrong. I would stop after an hour and tell the teachwer it was too much. There's no WAY we'd do more than that.

Katie Richins said...

Jana - your kinder and my kinder have a lot in common.

Martie - Seriously, it's crazy. The ahortest homework time so far was 15 min. reading, each i n 2 books, answering questions on it, and practicing 24 spelling words/week on top of it.

Real said...

2 hours is too much. We probably get 2 hours for the entire week. Other than that, Welcome to My Life With Public Schools. It drives me crazy when not only can teh child not understand/complete the homework herself but *I* can't even help because I don't know what they're supposed to be doing.

Also, I never practice spelling unless there's a problem. As in, I think spelling is overrated. All of my kids at least have been able to ace spelling tests with whatever they do at school. No home study necessary so we always just ditch that.

Also, I pretty much scrap in home reading until they are old enough to read unassisted. So like I don't read with my second grader. It's just one of those corners that needs to get cut.

End Rant. But you should have known better than to get me started. This whole post was just designed to see how quickly I could fly off the handle, wasn't it?

Suzy Farar said...

I hadn't checked your blog in awhile and didn't know you had the baby! He sounds like a sweet little boy and Heavenly Father knew just where to send him! You are a great mother with a very positive attitude and I admire that! Even though he may face challenges in life, little James is in very good hands with parents and siblings who love him!

Homework is one of those things that I don't look forward to when school starts. Two hours does sound a little excessive for one so young. You should tell the teacher. I know at my kids school if they get to a certain time limit and still aren't done, then they are supposed to stop and we write a note to the teacher that it took too long. Good luck, I know it's hard to juggle it all esp. when you have more than one kid needing help, dinner to get ready, and a newborn too! I've been there! Hang in there, you're doing a great job!

Can't wait to see you guys again and I can't wait to meet James!

Katie Richins said...

Real - I knew you'd feel my pain. Get this - the 2nd grader missed 3 words on the spelling test and come home with a C-. Apparently the test are spelling, penmanship and aesthetic tests, or something, because how does three word wrong out of 20 add up to a C-? She feels like a failure! All that when mom and baby brother are in the hospital and haven't been home for 3 days. So, this week, I'm hoping she'll do well enough so that she doesn't feel like a "bad student" event though she's working her tail off.

I personally think being a spelling stickler in 2nd grade isn't developmentally appropriate. THAT's why we homeschooled.

It makes me sad.