Homework in Kindergarten

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Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Public kindergarten that doesn't give homework?

Sept 2009

We are trying to find kindergarten classes that do not give homework. We really cannot afford private school but have major reservations about local public schools. We are willing to move (around Oakland, maybe Berkeley) to get into a school, but don't want to go through that to be faced with homework after all. If your child's teacher has a no homework policy, we'd love to know! Thanks! kinder-searching mama


You will probably have a bit of trouble finding a teacher in OUSD who does not give homework (or who will admit to such). I believe the district has an official policy of homework every night (something like 10 min. per grade per day). However, in my experience, many teachers are willing to work with you and your child individually on what is reasonable and works for you. anonymous


Wow. I guess I can't help you. We had a kindergarten teacher that gave light, fun homework, some that we could all enjoy participating in, and my kindergartener learned a lot from it. be openminded about homework


Can't speak for Oakland, but Berkeley public schools are on the homework-in-kindergraten bandwagon. Why? Doesn't make any sense. My slightly-above-average 2nd grader has not been able to complete ALL the homework (which includes nightly reading) a single week.


Hi there, I think it really depends school-to-school and even teacher-to-teacher what the homework situation is like. My daughter was in kindergarten at Oxford Elementary in Berkeley last year. Her daily ''homework'' was for me to read to her at least 15 minutes every day and we had to log what we read. Totally no big deal (I read to her way more than that anyway; I just had to remember to write down some of what we read). Then there was a monthly homework sheet that they sent home with various activities and you had to choose I think 3 per week. A lot of them were artistic (draw a picture of what you think Fall looks like, draw a picture with a moon shape in it, etc) or pretty simple (how many letters are in your name? What's your phone number? Or sort of fun for me to do with her .... Tell someone a story about your day or What are you thankful for? We just had to turn it in at the end of the month with X's on the activities we chose and a few sentences about what we learned (parents and kids). Sometimes it was tedious, but some of the activities were sort of cool. My daughter was always happy to do them and sometimes wanted to do every single one.

There was also math homework, but it was optional. Sometimes my daughter wanted to do it... she really likes math concepts. But I never suggested it or pushed it at all and didn't ever turn anything in.

I also would have preferred absolutely no assigned homework, but I found what we had acceptable. This year she's in first grade and it's yet to be seen what the homework will be like. All I know is that it's mostly math and it's supposed to take 10-15 minutes a day.

I know that some of her kindergarten friends at other BUSD schools had daily worksheets that they had to complete at home and return at school the next day. Given that you don't know what school you'll get in Berkeley, there's no guarantee....

Good luck with your decision! Not a homework fan either

Excessive homework in Kindergartens we're visiting

Jan 2006

We've been checking out kindergartens (public and private) for my son next year. Yesterday, we visited our local public elementary school, and one of the kindergarten teachers there mentioned that she assigns ''half an hour to an hour'' of homework a day.

This seems excessive to me, not to mention that I can't imagine my son actually doing it. I'm hoping that this is just because the teacher teaches half-day classes -- and next year, when they change to full-day kindergarten classes, the amount would be reduced, because there'd be more class time to do the work.

My question for the kindergarten parents in the group is this: how much homework does your kindergarten student do on an average night? Does 30 to 60 minutes seem excessive to you? And how would you induce an active boy (who is not much interested in writing, though he LOVES being read to) to do homework? Karen


My kindergartener has a full day of school 9 to 2 in a berkeley public school. He gets a homework packet once a week on a Wednesday and returns it on the following Tuesday. The packet contains 5-7 pages of work. It takes him a half hour total and he usually does it in two sittings.
hope this information is helpful.


My son is mid-way thru his kindergarten year in the Castro Valley Unified School district and I volunteer in the classroom weekly-the homework phiolosphy at our school is yes-homework comes home on friday, its due Wednesday....if you did it all at once it would take 45-50 minutes HOWEVER the goal is a couple smaller increments to develop ''study skills.'' It is usually re-inforcement for what they are learning in class. I think there is a lot going on in kindergarten and most kids have some skill set they need to improve upon. They are expected to be able to write (alphabet(caps/lwrcase)#'s thru30), read, and write 3 sentences by June. This in in addition to the social dynamics, trips to the library, computer and science labs...all between the hours of 11:30 to 3pm because our school has a half day program. Prior to starting kindergarten you might want to bring your children up to speed in the alphabet and basic printing skills. Not only is Lakeshore Learning in San Leandro a great resource for materials but there is a series of workbooks at Barnes & Noble put out by Kumon that help with ''pencil skills and letter/number work for AGES 3PLUS...An hour per night of homework seems excessive given everything else they are expected to learn. sydney


We have a daughter in private Kindergarten. She attends from 8:30-3pm each day and has about 15-30 minutes of homework a night. I don't know if an hour of homework is the standard in public school but I will say that our child LOVES doing homework ! Your child might love it as well and it may not be the burden you think. Also, in discussing homework with our daughter's teacher, she told me that if our kid is too tired - don't do it ! She thought it more important that our child think of homework as fun and not a burden. The teacher you spoke with might have the same attitude so you won't feel so much obligation. Best of luck! - love homework


To the parent of too much hom ework in Kindergarten. The answer is YES it is WAY too much! WAY too much!!!!!!! Follow your intuition.

At our school (Park Day) the children in Kindergarten got about an hour of homework to do over 4-5 days! We got a homework packet on Thursday and it was due on the following Tuesday, so the kids could either get through it quickly or take their time. There was also work that was optional for more advanced students. 15 minutes is enough. The (very well established) research shows that homework makes absolutely no difference in learning until 6th grade, and homework given prior to that is a way to build the habit of after-school learning practice so that when 6th grade comes around it's deeply ingrained. The children gain no additional knowledge or know-how by doing that much homework, and it\x92s a terrible burden on the parents, on family, on family relations, and stresses-out the children terribly. I would say, don't do it, read to your kid at night, play fun learning games with colors, shapes, easy math, words, language. Go for hikes, walk the dog and do a building project. Your child will thrive in school, and you can just tell the teacher your child will not do the homework. Best of luck! arodman


We're looking at schools for our kindergartener for next year and we are very interested in this topic, because we don't think kindergarteners should have homework. Two of the schools we've looked at do not give homework in kindergarten: Head-Royce and St. Paul's. HR, which is considered an academic school, doesn't give homework in kindergarten or 1st grade either (not sure about St. Paul's) Probably there are others too, but these are the ones I know about and these are the ones I'm applying to! a Mom

 

Just started kindergarten - homework battles already

Sept 2005

The first month of school is not over yet, and I'm already battling with my kindergarten son over homework! He has to write upper and lower case letters -- a letter a day -- but he has never liked writing or drawing. He's imaginative-creative, but not into the visual arts. He is VERY strong-willed. I have already cajoled and bribed, and I don't like who I'm becoming. It is already stressful for both of us. I don't really want to open a discussion about kindergarten homework -- he's in a Berkeley pubic school and I think I just have to accept that. (I think there is too much too soon -- let them get used to the school first!!-- what happened to the kindergarten I had? oh, yeah, it's called preschool now!) What I would like to hear from those who have been there and created successful homework routines and habits is how?! What works for you? My son is overwhelmed by the change from preschool to Kindergarten - will homework get easier once he's more accustomed to his new environment? Homework Hag


This is from a homeschooling mom's prespective. I would venture a guess that your kindergartner is not complaining about the idea of homework per se, but the actual handwriting. It can be physically difficult for young boys to write. My son just turned 7 years old and is just now mastering his penmanship. My goal is for him to be able to write legibly with upper and lower case letters by the end of the year -- when he will be close to 8. I tried to have the same goal last year and it was too hard for him. So far this year the difference in his ability is like night and day. He writes well in upper case and has way more control to form lower case letters.

I'm not suggesting you homeschool your kindergartner, but I'm just reminding you that it can be physically hard for younger kids to do things we take for granted. Some skills (fine motor skills, for example) develop at a different rate than others. I don't know if you've considered talking with his teacher about suggestions for making homework easier for him (and you!). I'm sure s/he has been there, done that before. Laurel