Public school system- not happy

[princessmom29]

Personally I feel that school is just as much learning positive social behaviors as book learning. I understand that his class all sits together...but to make him sit next to the same kids every day and not even the kids he chooses, seems ridiculous to me.

go and sit in the lunchroom during lunch and just observe for about a week, and you will understand the need.

It's obvious that those who wrote the bill & signed the law are not educators! I'm sure you have experienced much frustration with this.



That is way too much homework for a first grader. If this is what first grade is getting, what are the poor 4th and 5th grade kids doing each night? And why in the heck would the teacher want to grade all of that homework? Buy your DS's teacher this book:

http://www.thecaseagainsthomework.com/ and buy a copy for yourself. It's very enlightening!

Also, have you ever heard of the film, "Race to Nowhere?" See if you can organize the film to be shown for parents & teachers at your DS's school.

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

I don;t think it is too much homework. It is about on par with what DD gets and it tkes us 15-30 min per night to complete. I don't see where that is such a huge deal? I don't agree with the "no homework" movement. I don't give plies of it to my high schoolers, but if I ask them to work 10 problems at home it is not just to punish them or so that I have something to grade. It has nothing to do with meeting some standrad or "racing to mowhere" or whatever the latest buzzword is. It is becuase I genuinely think they need more practice. In 1st grade I think that these kids NEED to be renforcing these concepts at home daily. It makes good sense to allow parents to help renforce what is being taught in the classroom. not for hours at a time but I don't see how 15-30 min is too much homework. I don't see a problem with that or with testing them weekly.

 

[kamgen]

princessmom29- I have observed and worked in a school cafeteria....I still do not see the need for the same assigned seats every day.

And I am not saying there should never be homework...but I believe that 6hrs of class time a day is enough for a 6yr old...

 

[princessmom29]

princessmom29- I have observed and worked in a school cafeteria....I still do not see the need for the same assigned seats every day.

And I am not saying there should never be homework...but I believe that 6hrs of class time a day is enough for a 6yr old...

And I don't see homework as at all the same as class time. To me, they are very different and both equally important. I think homework clues a parent in to where a child's strengths and weaknesses lie and what needs extra help at home. I think working through homework with your child is invaluble to knowing what skills are being covered in the classroom and where your child stands with them, especially at such a young age. I don't think 15-30 min a night is to much to spend for that insight. Sure, teachers can send home completed work, but you aren't there when your child does that work. You don't know where he had to go to the teacher for help, or where he had a wrong answer that had to be corrected. I just don't see giving up 15-30 min of my time as a burden for that kind of trade off, and I DON'T feel it is too much to ask of a child. I think we as a society often sell our kids short in that aspect. They are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I don't know when six hours of school became "too much"??

 

[HelenePA]

Personally, and again this is only my opinion, I don't think there should be so much homework for any grade. And I used to be a teacher, so I can look at both sides of the equation.


As for the lunch argument. It is a big deal to me. If they are not given recess and they have no time for social/talking to friends in class, lunch is the ONLY time to do so. Why not let them sit with a variety of kids.

I can hear it now.. "I wanted to sit next to Suzy".. "No I did".. "but you did yesterday"...."Ms. M. No one wants to sit next to me, why dont they like me?"

Lets save the drama until middle school.

 

[kamgen]

I didn't say 6hrs was too much, I said it was enough. And I do educational activities with my child already...

As for lunch room drama...wow. That's all I have to say on that.

 

[HelenePA]

I didn't say 6hrs was too much, I said it was enough. And I do educational activities with my child already...

As for lunch room drama...wow. That's all I have to say on that.

You really couldn't see that happening? I see that daily when my kids are out playing at the park with their friends... its not a leap... Do your kids play with kids at home after school? I know some neighborhoods aren't blessed with 20+ kids like mine... they socialize enough outside of school. I'm not worried about lunch room assigned seats (which I had when I was in K a very long time ago )

 

[IDoDis]

And I don't see homework as at all the same as class time. To me, they are very different and both equally important. I think homework clues a parent in to where a child's strengths and weaknesses lie and what needs extra help at home. I think working through homework with your child is invaluble to knowing what skills are being covered in the classroom and where your child stands with them, especially at such a young age. I don't think 15-30 min a night is to much to spend for that insight. Sure, teachers can send home completed work, but you aren't there when your child does that work. You don't know where he had to go to the teacher for help, or where he had a wrong answer that had to be corrected. I just don't see giving up 15-30 min of my time as a burden for that kind of trade off, and I DON'T feel it is too much to ask of a child. I think we as a society often sell our kids short in that aspect. They are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I don't know when six hours of school became "too much"??

Well, from what you posted, it seems like way more than 15 min. per night for a 1st grader to do. I have no problem with that as long as it's not busy work and benefits the child. Now in high school, yeah 30 min. is not a lot, but when you mulitply that times 6 classes, it's a lot. Even if only 3 teachers assign 30 min. per night of work, that's another 1 1/2 hours of homework on top of what they've already put in. I have a high schooler who is near the top of her class. Some nights she has hours of homework -- beyond ridiculous stuff like 7 grammar sheets (pure busy work to me because honestly, we don't become good writers by doing grammar worksheets), 3 chapters of reading plus notes, some type of long-term project that needs some attention each night, 20 minutes of math, and about 30 min. of chemistry. To me that is way too much and it doesn't help her become any smarter when it's all busy work.

DH and I are both teachers and I'm privvy to the homework research on both sides.

Now I never did address the assessing concern you had in your original post. Good teachers let assessments guide their instruction. If a teacher is testing just to test, then that's not good. But if a teacher assesses and then adjusts his/her teaching to meet the student where he/she is at, then I'm all for it. Also, when a teacher assesses, they are not always just looking at right and wrong answers. They are looking for patterns which aren't seen if a teacher is just trying to store all of that info up in her brain when working on informal assessments. Maybe the teacher is doing too much, but then you should not worry about it. It's only 1st grade! You'll have much bigger fish to fry later on.

 

[kamgen]

HelenePA- yes, I can see that happening, but that, to me, is part of kids learning social behaviors. Since there are only 18 kids in the class and the teacher controls them all in the classroom, can't she do the same at lunch?

I realize I will probably have much bigger issues as my kids get older. But the purpose of my OP was to get some feedback and hear about what other states/districts are doing.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and feedback.

 

[princessmom29]

HelenePA- yes, I can see that happening, but that, to me, is part of kids learning social behaviors. Since there are only 18 kids in the class and the teacher controls them all in the classroom, can't she do the same at lunch?

I realize I will probably have much bigger issues as my kids get older. But the purpose of my OP was to get some feedback and hear about what other states/districts are doing.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and feedback.

Because there are assigned seats in the classroom, and it is acompletely different environment. I don't think a teacher should HAVE to referee who sits by whom. Why allow chaos when it can easily be avoided. Assigned seats at lunch soles so many problems and harms no one. It is really a no- brainer to use them if there is a need.

As to the response that you do educational activities all the time, it is really not the same as following what the school is doing and checking for understanding of that material. We do educational activites on a regular basis as well, but if you don't know what is being covered as school and how it is being addressed how can yuo know that those activites are giving you a clear picture of what your childs strengths and weaknesses within the curriculium are and what they need help with at a particular time?

 

[princessmom29]

Well, from what you posted, it seems like way more than 15 min. per night for a 1st grader to do. I have no problem with that as long as it's not busy work and benefits the child. Now in high school, yeah 30 min. is not a lot, but when you mulitply that times 6 classes, it's a lot. Even if only 3 teachers assign 30 min. per night of work, that's another 1 1/2 hours of homework on top of what they've already put in. I have a high schooler who is near the top of her class. Some nights she has hours of homework -- beyond ridiculous stuff like 7 grammar sheets (pure busy work to me because honestly, we don't become good writers by doing grammar worksheets), 3 chapters of reading plus notes, some type of long-term project that needs some attention each night, 20 minutes of math, and about 30 min. of chemistry. To me that is way too much and it doesn't help her become any smarter when it's all busy work.

DH and I are both teachers and I'm privvy to the homework research on both sides.

Now I never did address the assessing concern you had in your original post. Good teachers let assessments guide their instruction. If a teacher is testing just to test, then that's not good. But if a teacher assesses and then adjusts his/her teaching to meet the student where he/she is at, then I'm all for it. Also, when a teacher assesses, they are not always just looking at right and wrong answers. They are looking for patterns which aren't seen if a teacher is just trying to store all of that info up in her brain when working on informal assessments. Maybe the teacher is doing too much, but then you should not worry about it. It's only 1st grade! You'll have much bigger fish to fry later on.

It wasn't me that posted the homework, it was the OP, and she siad that was the list for the entire WEEK. I said ours was similar and it only takes DD about 15-30 min per night to finish. I am stealing a second while my high schoolers are on break to respond. I don't assign homework every night in high school. Only when I think that students NEED more work on a particular concept, nad even then it isi a reasonable amount. I don't see the point in assigning nightly homework in high school. In the lower grades I think the parent needs to be working with the child every night.

 

[golfgal]

HelenePA- yes, I can see that happening, but that, to me, is part of kids learning social behaviors. Since there are only 18 kids in the class and the teacher controls them all in the classroom, can't she do the same at lunch?

I realize I will probably have much bigger issues as my kids get older. But the purpose of my OP was to get some feedback and hear about what other states/districts are doing.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and feedback.

The teacher isn't always in the lunch room--usually the 20 minutes the kids are at lunch is the teacher's lunch break as well....

If there wasn't a NEED for assigned seats, the school wouldn't have implemented that policy. None of our kids have had assigned seats in the lunchroom, nor have they had issues where they would, however, I know of other schools that have and it is out of necessity (snotty kids not knowing how to behave really) that they have implemented this.

 

[NotUrsula]

Back in the dark ages when I was in school, our teacher sat with us at lunch up through second grade, and our class was required to eat together. Why? Because she graded us on table manners. That was standard in schools in my area at the time, both public and private; part of the early training in school was learning proper social behavior. We didn't exactly have assigned seats, but we did have an assigned table, and if you bickered at lunch over who sat next to you, your parents would definitely have heard about it.

My DD attends a preschool/kindergarten run by nuns, and they still do this, thank goodness. In fact, twice a year they walk down the street to a very formal restaurant and have lunch served there in a reserved room. (The restaurant does this at no charge to the school, because they have a vested interest in having children know how to behave when eating in a fine dining establishment.)

 

[cassandrap83]

My Kindergartener (in FL) is doing very well! Her school is amazing.

She does take 'tests' which are 2-sided worksheets on a weekly basis in both reading and math.

She has daily homework, and they do the AR program as well.

 

[kamgen]

Lunch room- assigned tables? YES
Lunch room- assigned seats? Not really....at least not the same every single day all year......

As for homework, all I can say is that I believe a first grader should not have homework every night...even if it is only 30minutes.....I do not see the need for it every night. And tests, well I do think it is very important to assess kids, but I think doing it every week is a bit much. Again JMHO.

 

[torinsmom]

HelenePA- yes, I can see that happening, but that, to me, is part of kids learning social behaviors. Since there are only 18 kids in the class and the teacher controls them all in the classroom, can't she do the same at lunch?

I realize I will probably have much bigger issues as my kids get older. But the purpose of my OP was to get some feedback and hear about what other states/districts are doing.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and feedback.

We have 20 kids and 2 teachers in there and it's not always easy to control the kids when they are in the cafeteria with other kids/noise at other tables. One teacher is helping the kids who are going through the line and the other is helping the kids who have home lunch(opening packages, etc.) In 30 minutes, we have to do all this AND somehow eat our own lunches, as we do not get lunch breaks. We don't have assigned seats, but I consider it often. As it is, I am constantly having to move kids away from each other because of noise and silliness. Kids should be playing at recess and not at lunch. Lunch is for eating and I already have enough parent complaints that little Susie or Tommy is not eating their lunch. I don't know how I am supposed to watch 20 kids to make sure they eat and somehow eat at the same time

 

[Coconut36]

We have 20 kids and 2 teachers in there and it's not always easy to control the kids when they are in the cafeteria with other kids/noise at other tables. One teacher is helping the kids who are going through the line and the other is helping the kids who have home lunch(opening packages, etc.) In 30 minutes, we have to do all this AND somehow eat our own lunches, as we do not get lunch breaks. We don't have assigned seats, but I consider it often. As it is, I am constantly having to move kids away from each other because of noise and silliness. Kids should be playing at recess and not at lunch. Lunch is for eating and I already have enough parent complaints that little Susie or Tommy is not eating their lunch. I don't know how I am supposed to watch 20 kids to make sure they eat and somehow eat at the same time

Yeah my Mom had lunch room duty for many many years (she worked almost 30 years before retiring) and parents who are not in the lunch room would be astounded at not only how loud it gets but how wild it can get and that kids also so distracted socializing and messing around don't eat, then their parents call complaining and demanding the school "do something about that" so it tends to lead to assigned seats. It didn't occur when my Mom was on duty but there were some groups/classes/situations where she had to permanently separate kids for the year because of behavioral issues or other problems with them in the lunch room. It happens..assigned seats is not something I would raise a stink about at all..just not a battle I personally find worth fighting.

 

[Art 1]

Lunch room- assigned tables? YES
Lunch room- assigned seats? Not really....at least not the same every single day all year......

As for homework, all I can say is that I believe a first grader should not have homework every night...even if it is only 30minutes.....I do not see the need for it every night. And tests, well I do think it is very important to assess kids, but I think doing it every week is a bit much. Again JMHO.

You may be surprised at the work load in the old established private schools in Orlando. Some of the kids come in from Clermont. Yours are going to need to compete with them someday. I would encourage more work coming from the school, not less.

 

[kamgen]

More is not necessarily better.....sometimes, it is just more.

 

[Coconut36]

More is not necessarily better.....sometimes, it is just more.

And sometimes it is necessary and beneficial to reinforce concepts that the children will need to be successful later in life. They sometimes drill them to death on the "basics" because if they don't have a grasp on those they will fail miserably as more complex subjects/topics are introduced that build on those basics.

 

[golfgal]

And sometimes it is necessary and beneficial to reinforce concepts that the children will need to be successful later in life. They sometimes drill them to death on the "basics" because if they don't have a grasp on those they will fail miserably as more complex subjects/topics are introduced that build on those basics.