How do public/private school parents keep up with the homework?

[MIch elle]

:D

Edited September 28, 2010 by MIch elle

[regentrude]

Wasn't a problem when my kids attended public school (through 6th grade) - they hardly ever had homework because they were able to finish everything at school. Let's put it mildly: they were not challenged.

When DD attended school in Germany (6th grade), she had a lot of homework - but it was HER task to figure it out, not mine. (I helped occasionally, but don't recall any material I could not do).

I am going to tutor my niece who is a senior.. no problem with her homework either.

[Caroline]

It has not been an issue. My oldest is a sophomore, and we have not come across anything we don't know or understand. My kids also don't have a lot of homework. They work smart at school, so not a lot to do at home.

 

ETA: I am an AP Calculus teacher with a PhD in engineering and DH also has a PhD in engineering, so there really won't be math or science we don't know and practice.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Caroline

[Word Nerd]

My fourth-grade daughter gets most of hers done at school, except for regular nightly assignments like reading and (for the next few weeks) times tables practice. My younger daughter is only in K, so her "homework" takes about 2 minutes; so far she's only had homework twice. We have a lot of time for our afterschooling activities and read-alouds, at least at this point in time.

[Luckymama]

When ds17 took AP Calculus and AP Physics C (the one w/ calculus) last year, I reached the end of my "help out with homework"* rope. Luckily, he's usually determined to find the answer OR he has enough sense to go in early/stay after school to ask for help!

 

This year is much easier on me, though the homework load on ds is the same. He's muddling through E&M just fine, AP Stats is easy peasy lemon squeezy :D, in fact, nothing is too difficult in the math/science way. He does have a TON of reading and writing. I just offer suggestions when shown drafts :)

 

And I'm in heaven with dd15 taking chemistry (my background) and Algebra 2/Trig (refreshed my memory two years ago with ds!) I'm hoping I'll remember mechanics when she gets to physics...

 

*helping out with homework means I sit at one side of the kitchen table with my laptop or book, the student sits opposite with laptop, books, notebooks, etc. I periodically say "uh-huh" or "really, are you sure?" or "sounds good!" when student asks questions. When student gets truly stuck, like frustrated-stuck, I'll go over to the other side to look at the problem.

[MIch elle]

:)

Edited September 28, 2010 by MIch elle

[Caroline]

I have a BS in science and my dh has a PHD in chemistry but there are still LOTS of things we forgot that we don't use in life or in our careers.

 

Well, it isn't an issue for us. I was just answering your question. I thought I would offer an explanation as to why higher level math and science wasn't an issue for us, since it seems to be for some people. Sorry to have offended.

[Laura Corin]

My two have not asked for much help so far. They sometimes get it done at school, but otherwise they seem to know what they are doing. I've tested them on vocab etc. One time Calvin had some French homework which was a not-very-obvious fill-in-the-blank sheet. I just helped him to see where the sentences were going, so he could work out what parts of speech needed to be in each blank.

 

FWIW, parents are expected to help when necessary up to age 12; after that, if the parent helps, s/he needs to write a note on the paper to that effect.

 

Laura

[MBM]

I'm a meanie and rarely help with school homework. I know what is being taught (or not), but that's pretty much the end of it for me. :D

 

IMO, children learn to be self-reliant, resourceful and confident by struggling to a certain degree on their own. Granted, you don't want a child to be totally overwhelmed in a class, but if that is the case, then I think it's a good idea to drop to one that is less difficult.

[Bee]

since they use Everyday Math. The hardest part is trying to do the math using the techniques they teach the kids in school. I get frustrated sometimes when dd sits down with her math homework and says she doesn't know how to do it because it wasn't something they've worked on in school. I think they sometimes give the kids things just to see what they don't know. Once or twice I've sent it back undone and wrote that dd didn't understand what she needed to do to complete the work.

 

Other homework is usually spelling or LA that she can do on her own.

[mich311e]

My son is in first grade and I have to say the homework this year (same school) is far better than last year.

 

The weekly homework packet consists of 3 or 4 pages of Saxon math. The worksheets have classwork on one side, which they do in class, and then the homework on the other side. Then we practice the weekly spelling word list. We have a "reading log" but I fill it in each night after my son goes to bed because I don't want him to see reading as a chore.

 

That's it! Hooray! I'm pleased with this year's homework. It gives us time to do some Singapore math/Kumon math once or twice a week. I'd like to do more but I don't want to burn him out.

[Word Nerd]

NM

Edited September 29, 2010 by WordGirl
Never mind

[MBM]

I think they just don't know they are homeschooling. Or maybe they do, but they have to work and need the daycare? :tongue_smilie:

 

Or maybe when the parents weigh the pros and cons, they find the pros of their school outweigh the cons. My children's schools have been mostly good; their high schools have been exceptionally good. They aren't all total failures.

[Laura Corin]

Or maybe when the parents weigh the pros and cons, they find the pros of their school outweigh the cons. My children's schools have been mostly good; their high schools have been exceptionally good. They aren't all total failures.

 

While my boys' school has its faults, they are both getting a great deal out of the experience.

 

Laura

[LibraryLover]

While my boys' school has its faults, they are both getting a great deal out of the experience.

 

Laura

 

 

:) My 16 yr old hardly needs a babysitter.

Edited September 30, 2010 by LibraryLover

[mommaduck]

The private school we just placed our oldest in just had Parents' Night. We found out that the reason why our child seems to have so little homework is that they have worked hard to severely limit homework. Much is done IN SCHOOL. DS usually finishes one or two subjects during Study Hall and brings home only one or two subjects. He comes home, crashes for 4hrs, eats a late supper (not unusual in our home due to DH's shift changes) and then does his homework. Algebra is slated for approx 30-45min...which is abt what it takes him at the most to do.

[fairytalemama]

I was surprised how much homework she has had so far for kindergarten.

 

So far she's had ---

-A sheet to copy the numbers 1-100

-Sight word cards to practice

- A sheet with a bunch of questions to fill in about herself

- Decorate a shoebox to put her favorite book in

- Practice sheets for capital E and capital F

- A weekly poem that she must recite

 

Granted, she's in Montessori K so maybe they're pushing her a little harder because she went to school already knowing how to read and write?

[mommaduck]

I was surprised how much homework she has had so far for kindergarten.

 

So far she's had ---

-A sheet to copy the numbers 1-100

-Sight word cards to practice

- A sheet with a bunch of questions to fill in about herself

- Decorate a shoebox to put her favorite book in

- Practice sheets for capital E and capital F

- A weekly poem that she must recite

 

Granted, she's in Montessori K so maybe they're pushing her a little harder because she went to school already knowing how to read and write?

 

This all sounds like stuff that should be done IN school. However, I admit ignorance about Montessori schools.

[fairytalemama]

This all sounds like stuff that should be done IN school. However, I admit ignorance about Montessori schools.

 

I think she did most of this in school too (with the exception of the questions about herself and the shoe box) and they had sent duplicates home for more practice.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Just popped in here. My 6th grader on up are/were public schooled. It's not the homework it's the incessant projects. Projects, projects, projects. All of which seem to need some art supply we don't have. So far this year they've had to make puppets, a game, a cell model and a table size map of the world, and a scrapbook as Hester in The Scarlet Letter would have made it. That was for my 16yo ds. I thought high school would be better than elementary but it's not.

[wapiti]

I was surprised how much homework she has had so far for kindergarten.

 

So far she's had ---

-A sheet to copy the numbers 1-100

-Sight word cards to practice

- A sheet with a bunch of questions to fill in about herself

- Decorate a shoebox to put her favorite book in

- Practice sheets for capital E and capital F

- A weekly poem that she must recite

 

Granted, she's in Montessori K so maybe they're pushing her a little harder because she went to school already knowing how to read and write?

(practice sheets for capital letters that she already knows how to write? Or are they working on cursive?)

 

Our Montessori school has no homework for K.

 

Homework for grades 1-3 is minimal - a weekly packet copied out of some random workbook - but there is the occasional writing project, and of course nightly reading.

[EmilyK]

Agree there is an issue with supplies, but homework at the public and private schools my kids attend is supposed to be the responsibility of the kids. My older son is at a small private school that wants the parents to totally back out and let them deal directly with the kids on missed deadlines, less than good work, etc. I'm too interested to stay out of my son's binders, but he is being very self generating about work, deadlines etc.

 

My younger son is having substantial homework for the first time. His teacher at curriculum night last night seemed to be saying the same thing about letting it be the kids' responsibility. It surprised me a bit since other teachers want the parents pretty heavily involved with proofreading. She wants a bit of that but again wants us mostly to back out, and there are no special supplies.

 

So it doesn't seem oppressive to me. But it is early in the year.:001_smile:

[Pippen]

I was surprised how much homework she has had so far for kindergarten.

 

So far she's had ---

-A sheet to copy the numbers 1-100

-Sight word cards to practice

- A sheet with a bunch of questions to fill in about herself

- Decorate a shoebox to put her favorite book in

- Practice sheets for capital E and capital F

- A weekly poem that she must recite

 

Granted, she's in Montessori K so maybe they're pushing her a little harder because she went to school already knowing how to read and write?

 

I had two kids enter school before No Child Left Behind and one after. The one after had far more homework.

[kristamaranatha]

I have three in p.s. (3rd, 5th and 6th grades). I do help with homework, and it does take the majority of the evening some nights, but it is worth it. Because I cannot homeschool them right now (personal and family reasons), it is important to me to make sure they understand the work they are doing. My 3rd grader is still struggling to read, and so I need to go over things with her to make sure she reads the instructions properly. My 5th grader is much more independent, but I always check the work (less homework than the others, usually math), to make sure she understands it and it is done properly. My 6th grader has learned to ask for help this year, which is a switch from last year. He was always telling me he didn't have homework, or he did it at school, but when the report card came it told a different story. And so for my kids it is important to check the homework to make sure it is done properly, or else I have found it will be rushed through and not done properly, and they really don't care as long as they can say, "It's done." This year they do care about it being done right, even if it's something hard, like the long division my 5th grader is struggling with right now.

 

One thing I have really appreciated about my third grader's teacher is that she sends home homework packets that have a list of what's due every day, and asks me to sign the front page beside the day's homework. This is great because I always know what homework she has. I wish more teachers did this.

 

I hope this is helpful

[Guest 3kidsmom]

I obviously am missing some organizational gene or something that mom's should have, because although my dd is just in 1st grade, I have the most difficult time remembering her daily reading, math problems, and spelling list. Yes, I am THAT mom.

[TracyR]

Homework has been reasonable here at my home. My daughters attend private school.

My preschooler has her abc cards, sometimes math to do but its rare.

My 1st grader usually has the back of her math worksheet to do ( they use Saxon) and reading

My 4th grader usually has more homework than her 6th grade sister. But they usually come home with the rest of the math they didn't finish up in school. Sometimes I help with studying for tests and what not but I truely have them do as much as they possibly can on their own.

[boscopup]

I obviously am missing some organizational gene or something that mom's should have, because although my dd is just in 1st grade, I have the most difficult time remembering her daily reading, math problems, and spelling list. Yes, I am THAT mom.

 

My son's school has a website for teachers to share grades and assignments with the parent. I just have to pop on there at the beginning of the week and print out the week's assignments, then hang them on the fridge.

 

That said, we still forget the reading and spelling words practice most nights. He already knows how to spell most of the words without us going over them, and he can read the stories in class (though I try to read them once at home too).

 

He usually has the back of his Saxon math worksheet on Monday/Tuesday/Thursday (no homework on Wednesday/Friday), and some assigned reading and a spelling list each week. It doesn't take long at all to do. Then I assign him some Math Mammoth myself. My original plan was to do MM on the days he didn't have homework, but he likes doing it so much that he now gets to do it as soon as he finishes his Saxon homework.

 

My son is only in first grade, so the homework is pretty minimal at this point.