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Expectations for an 8 year old


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My son is in a "Saturday" school for German. Most of the kids (if not all, we have yet to find another) are in public/private school. VERY few homeschoolers. My son was in this school last year but had very little homework. Normally it was writing 5 vocabulary words, if that. He was considered in 1st grade last year. This year he is considered in 2nd grade (born at the end of September so they go by the state and their cut offs). 

 

My son has a sizable amount more homework this year. That is fine, I knew it was coming. I want my son to be fluent in German. My husband and myself don't speak german at all really. So when we look at his work, it isn't immediately clear on what is homework and what isn't. The teacher has been sending emails to the class but she is already getting lax on it. Last week I sent her an email on Monday and that day she replied what the assignments were. This week, I wanted to give her a bit of time, so I didn't "bother" her till today. She replied back but this week he has more then the normal amount of homework. Frustrating when I do 4 day weeks with him for his normal school, and tomorrow is his "last day". 

 

So my question is this: Should my son be expected to keep track of all of his assignments and what is due when at his age, or should the teacher be communicating with us better? I am trying to figure out a way of not becoming "that parent" that is always annoying, but my son does get graded on his work. I want to make sure he is learning everything we are wanting him to learn. 

 

Should I be teaching him how to take notes on what is expected of him or should I contact the principle over the teacher and her delay in emails?

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I would encourage him to keep track, but I would also separately ask the teacher to keep you informed well in advance of any homework due.  Perhaps there is some way she could post the homework like on a facebook page or similar?

 

Do you send him with a notebook or something where he can write the assignments?  If so, ask the teacher to check that he has it written down correctly before he leaves each class.  That was pretty much what my kids' b&m teacher did when they were 8yo.  If he doesn't have the assignment written down when you go to pick him up, ask the teacher right then to provide it.

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Can you get the assignment info at pick up time? That is what I do and did for Japanese school for my son.

 

Some teachers are better about sending email than others. I have not seen that it makes a difference in what class they teach. It is a personality quality instead. We seem to get more email friendly ones in alternating years. This is a not good email year, but he is better about remembering and taking notes. And I ask his teachers before we leave every time now.

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My husband and I alternate pick up. It is just whoever is available more then anything. Saturday, she just sent all the kids out of class at the same time. The week before, she tried to tell the parents what homework was in German. I was LOST. The other moms that knew german (or at least talk it outside the classroom) looked lost too. 

 

My son does have a notebook, workbook, and textbook. My son just showed me what he writes in his book about what is homework. It too is all in german. It is also confusing even with google translate. "Play with parents" "Workbook 12/2, 13/1, 2 and my words"

 

Hmm... I guess I will give it a few more weeks and see what happens. Saturday he has a substitute teacher so I will make sure that he doesn't leave without knowing what he is doing for the week. 

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There may be different schools of thought about what's reasonable for him to do in terms of remembering and recording and be responsible for the work... but I don't think it's unreasonable for *you* to expect that there be a written communication that is completely clear to him (in German) or you and him (in English) what the work is - whether she emails it, has the kids write it down (and checks that they are and that it's clear), puts it on a website, hands out a piece of paper, etc. And it should be at the end of class so you can do it on your timetable.

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You can encourage him to keep notes on the homework requirements as well as to speak up and ask the teacher what the homework is explicitly. But, with students aged 8, it is a reasonable assumption that the teacher sends out an email with homework information in english or puts it up on a website. At that grade level, my son's Spanish teacher used to print out the homework assignment sheet and ask the kids to put it in their folder every week during class and she also had the same information on the class website in case it got lost. She was also available to answer questions by email any time.

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My kids are the only homeschoolers in their Saturday german class. The teachers do write down the homework on the whiteboard for the kids to copy down. The teacher for the preK and K class would email weekly the homework assignments to parents. The teachers teaching classes for kids 1st grade and up would only email test reminders.

My oldest was in public school and was supposed to learn to write down homework assignments in 1st grade. So expectations varied per teacher.

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My kids were expected to write their assignments in a planner and keep track themselves in 3rd grade. In 2nd assignments are the same week to week and the teacher sent a note to parents at the beginning of the year what the homework would be on each day of the week. This school has higher expectations on independence then other schools in our area.

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