If you have an ELEMENTARY aged child... School talk?

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  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    deluxmary2000 wrote: »
    odusgolp wrote: »
    Man, this is all over the map! It's really hard to judge. I guess, personally, I'm struggling. I get home with him at about 6pm (he's in after school care until I'm done w/ work at 5:30. He works on homework for 30 minutes there.) At 6, it's an hour for dinner prep and eating - if he's not cooking with me, he's eating some fruit and either starting homework or playing outside.

    So, now it's 7:00, we've eaten. Homework time, usually until about 8:00-3:30.

    8:30, Bath, Teeth, Jammies...

    9:00 Bed, Read for 20.

    Here's the problem. WHEN is there time for basketball? Karate? Music Classes? TV Time and play time??? I fell like his life is work and it sucks. I'm not even going to lie, it's just... NOT fun. And shouldn't life be some sort of fun when you're 8 years old?

    What if we want to grocery shop, or go out to dinner with the family? Forget it...

    We've had to quit karate... no time. I'm a huge advocate for music and sports, but they're not offered at his school (private). Sure, we do basketball on the weekends right now, but games are coming and that's on a school night.

    I realize I"m whining *LOL* But where's the school/work/life balance?

    Could he work more than a half hour on his homework at the after-school program?
    Because honestly, it sounds like a lot of the issue with the "work/life" balance for him is that you get home so late because of your work schedule. That's totally not a judgment - my schedule is almost EXACTLY the same, and I understand that it stinks. But a lot of the that stuff you mention - basketball, karate, music classes, etc, usually take place a lot earlier in the day. So if you're working and not getting home until 6, those things wouldn't really fit into your schedule, anyway.

    That's the one 45-60 minute chunk of playtime he gets after 7 hours of school and 30 minutes of after school study. To make him work through it while the other kids play? I can't see that being wise.

    But honestly, around here, he definitely has the opportunity for the outside sports/music after 5:30.

    Don't get me wrong, we can TOTALLY get the homework done, but Karate did have to go as a result.

    I work until 5, get to the car, get to his school, then drive home. Just takes time, so it's about 6 before we're ready to start dinner. I can't imagine most working adults have it much different albeit they may work different shifts.

    But I know what many of you are saying... shorten dinner, shorten the work day, etc. There totally are ways... like I said, I'm whining *LOL*
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Mischievous_Rascal wrote: »
    RavenLibra wrote: »
    zero homework policy in my kids school when she was in elementary and Jr. High

    Mine, too, and it drives me nuts. I make my son read for at least an hour a night, just so he has SOME study habits going into high school.

    So true. I really actually can't imagine NO homework, especially in Jr. High. I wonder if they have some different system of an after school independent study or something.
  • Dadof3bbg
    Dadof3bbg Posts: 85
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    I'm a teacher and I'll say that's way too much homework, for any level. If I were you (hate when ppl say "if I were you" but gotta in this instance) I would let the teacher know you all worked for 30 minutes on the homework and that's it...that's the limit.
    This actually pisses me off
  • Misshodge64
    Misshodge64 Posts: 8,588 Member
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    Honestly keep the child into studying and reading, no matter what. It will pay off in long run. Especially when they get to college and they don't mind studying for hours, whatever keep them productive.
  • Dadof3bbg
    Dadof3bbg Posts: 85
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    Misshodge64 wrote: »
    Honestly keep the child into studying and reading, no matter what. It will pay off in long run. Especially when they get to college and they don't mind studying for hours, whatever keep them productive.

    I don't think anyone's saying not to study and learn good habits. It's about being good thinkers and problem solvers, not spitting out information on a test to make teachers, administrators, and school systems look good. Reading is great but even the kids who love to read most will get burnt out if they're forced to do too much. Get out and be active. Sweat a lil too!!
  • Misshodge64
    Misshodge64 Posts: 8,588 Member
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    Dadof3bbg wrote: »
    Misshodge64 wrote: »
    Honestly keep the child into studying and reading, no matter what. It will pay off in long run. Especially when they get to college and they don't mind studying for hours, whatever keep them productive.

    I don't think anyone's saying not to study and learn good habits. It's about being good thinkers and problem solvers, not spitting out information on a test to make teachers, administrators, and school systems look good. Reading is great but even the kids who love to read most will get burnt out if they're forced to do too much. Get out and be active. Sweat a lil too!!

    Every child is different, so far my child hasn't got burned out and when we go some place she brings her books, I know when my daughter gets in high school than college, studying will be already engraved in her character.
    To each its own.

    P.S. my daughter is number 1 ranking in her class as far as grades, from kindergarten up to her current grade level. I am Grateful. Every child is different, I will let people raise their kids and I will raise mine. She already talking about college in elementary. Grateful of my daughter <3
  • ilfaith
    ilfaith Posts: 16,769 Member
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    I have three boys, in 5th, 3rd, and Kindergarten.

    Ninety percent of my 5th grader's homework is done online (they use a variety of websites, Kahn, IXL, ScootPad, XtraMath, Word Dynamo, and a few others...all their textbooks are also online)...which can make it difficult for me to supervise exactly what he is doing (nothing for me to look over when he is done...or says he's done). He's also expected to read for 30 minutes each night (he's an avid reader, so for him this is no problem...he'd much rather enjoy a book than do any of the rest of his homework). Overall, his homework doesn't take more than an hour or so.

    My 3rd grader has a math worksheet each night, a weekly writing assignment, and is encouraged to read 30 minutes nightly.

    My kindergartener gets a worksheet once or twice a week, has sight words to study, but often his "homework" is for me to ask questions about whatever they were learning about in class ("ask your child to tell you three things about bats" or "have your child name three foods eaten by native Americans"). We are also supposed to read together for half an hour (I confess some nights we don't).

    I think the amount of homework they have feels about right. They aren't overtaxed, yet they do get some review of their classwork as well as a chance to build good study habits. I have heard the "10 minutes per grade" rule, and agree that seems to be an appropriate amount of time to spend.
  • Dadof3bbg
    Dadof3bbg Posts: 85
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    I teach high school and the kids with the "best" grades are a lil backwards. The kids who balance schoolwork, sports, and social stuff are the ones who do 90% of the student government type stuff and activities in the school. Good grades are nice but who you are and what you do for others is way more important.
  • ourtruelovewillneverdie
    ourtruelovewillneverdie Posts: 170 Member
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    I have two 7 year olds in 2nd grade and a 6 year old in 1st. The second graders are normally assigned one math sheet and a spelling activity every night. They also are supposed to read twenty minutes but no summary. My 1st grader gets a math sheet every other night and spelling every day. He is supposed to read 15-20 minutes. There are no reading summaries just a reading log to document the books and have a parent initial. The work may not be meant to take that long. Please take no offense to that. It takes my one 7 year old a max of thirty minutes to complete two assignments a night. Conversely, it takes my other 7 year old up to 4 hours sometimes to even finish one sheet. She is a child that just expects someone to give her the answers. When we don't give them she just messes around to get attention, even though it is negative.
  • Junken__Diraffe
    Junken__Diraffe Posts: 102
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    My third grader generally has 2 math worksheet with 5 or 6 problems on it, a few days a week and is supposed to read 20 minutes per night. They never get homework on weekends.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Dadof3bbg wrote: »
    I teach high school and the kids with the "best" grades are a lil backwards. The kids who balance schoolwork, sports, and social stuff are the ones who do 90% of the student government type stuff and activities in the school. Good grades are nice but who you are and what you do for others is way more important.

    Love this.
  • leadslinger17
    leadslinger17 Posts: 297 Member
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    I like how my son's teacher does it (he is 7 and in 1st grade)... he has a homework journal, but she only checks it Monday morning for the previous week. So if we have a busy night, or he isn't feeling well, etc we can skip a day or two and make it up later. In theory he has like 30 minutes of work (10min math, 10 min spelling, 10 min reading) but in practice it can take much longer depending how well he focuses or fights doing it. Honestly I feel bad that after such a long day he has to do that.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
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    I have a 3rd and 6th grader. They never have any home work unless they missed a few days. In our school district they believe the kids spend enough time in class and if they need to take work home the teachers aren't doing their jobs. It is public school in granite bay, cali. When schools out, they're just kids free to play and do sports, etc. Its very nice.
  • kbolton322
    kbolton322 Posts: 358 Member
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    I have a 5 year old who in in kinder she has to read 20 minutes plus a little work sheet my 7 year old who is in 2nd grade has two math sheets spelling and 20 minutes of reading each night...
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,566 Member
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    mitch16 wrote: »
    I've heard 20 minutes per night per grade level as a guideline. I have a 9th grader in a highly rated school in the suburbs of Boston who has 3-4 hours per night routinely.

    My 9th grader, who chose a challenging course load of her own will, has 1-4 hours of homework/studying per night, and she probably does 5-6hrs of getting ahead on the weekends.

    My 4th/5th/6th graders often complete all their work at school, so not too much homework, occasional math worksheets, studying for spelling or other tests and the youngest is required to read 20 min daily, though she would anyway.

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