Send "Afterschooling" Work to School?

[Guest beechgirl]

Hello! I just recently found these boards and have absolutely LOVED reading about all of your experiences.

 

I was wondering if anyone has sent assignments you are working on during your afterschool time with your child to school. My daughter has been finishing her work so quickly this year she seems to have A LOT of downtime (especially since they've started serving breakfast DURING class time EVERY morning--and that's a story for another post!).

 

Would it be unfair to send her with extra work to do during those lulls (I am thinking some math problems)? We work on history, geography, and Latin before school, but it drives me crazy to think of all the time wasted during her day.

 

Thank you in advance for any advice!

[IsabelC]

Not sure, it depends.

 

What is your daughter doing during this 'downtime'? Is there something useful and/or fun provided, or is she just sitting and waiting? Doing pointless busy work? Socializing?

 

What's the teacher's attitude towards your afterschooling? Would she/he feel insulted or otherwise annoyed if you sent extra work to school, or would that be a help? Is it something worth discussing with your dd's teacher?

 

What about the other kids? Will they think it's super weird for her to have other work to do?

 

My feeling is that it would be preferable for her to be extended within the school curriculum, so that if she finishes quickly, she can do some more in-depth work on the same topic rather than pulling out something unrelated that you happen to be doing at home. But if that isn't an option, your idea might be worth persuing.

[SKL]

I have thought about sending stuff for them to do during "late room." They go to the cafeteria after school for a couple of hours. I haven't yet decided. On one hand, this can be their "down time" which every child needs. They have some stuff to play with there - games, gameboys, etc. They seem to be content with that. They don't even bother with the books etc. they have in their bags. This may change as they get more used to the routine.

 

I think that if I send "afterschooling" materials with them, they won't be responsible and work on them anyway. It seems more sensible for us to spend a little intense time at home making sure the learning takes place. But my kids are 5, so when they get older, hopefully the dynamics will change.

[slackermom]

We don't send in workbooks and such, but we have done the following, in cooperation with the teacher:

 

By the second half of last year, DD had exhausted the class library, so we sent in books on topics we were studying at home. That was for regular reading time. In addition, DD had a discussion with her teacher about other subjects she wanted to read about, and the teacher brought in books on those subjects. The teacher came up with an independent project for DD based on those materials.

 

In math, DD is ahead of her class, so DD's teacher eventually asked us if we had any recommendations for materials for her, and based on posts here, we suggested the Zaccaro Math Challenge books. The teacher bought them for DD to use when she was done with her regular classwork, and for homework twice a week. That homework led to many at-home math lessons, as it was material not covered in class.

 

At ages 5-6, DD also attended a late-room program like SKL described. DD wanted something to work on while the big kids did their homework, so we came up with spelling. I mentioned the idea to the program director before doing it, and he endorsed it. It was up to DD to work on it if she wanted to. She would copy words from a big list, and eventually some of the older kids started quizzing DD on her words.

 

These things were successful because of DD's motivation to learn, and her own frustration with having nothing academic to do during chunks of the day. I wouldn't have done it otherwise.

 

As it is early in the school year (DD has only had 2 days of school so far!) I would not try sending anything in yet. At the first conference, which is about a month into the school year here, I would discuss with the teacher how the downtime is handled, and what options are available. One of those options could be sending stuff in, but it is likely that the teacher would prefer to go with something connected to what the class is working on, or to address a skill your child needs/wants to work on.

[CathyEJ]

I too would wait and speak with the teacher about it when you meet with her - she might have some great ideas.

 

What grade is your daughter in? My son is a quick worker and had a lot of downtime last year in 3rd grade. But, he wouldn't have been comfortable pulling out other work in the middle of class. Instead, he read. Sometimes he'd get through an entire novel in a day and his teacher would have to let him run down to the library to get another. Still, I'm sure it was less distracting to his classmates than if he had been working on something from home.

[Guest beechgirl]

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts!

 

I know the beginning of the school year is always a little slower, and includes a lot of review. We just moved and the school is in a low-income area, and didn't make AYP last year (not that tests scores mean everything, but I have to go off of something). We miss her last school so badly! I think I am just nervous and overreacting because of all the bad things we've heard about the school compounded with the fact that her teacher is new too. I just need to calm down! :)

 

I'm mostly just concerned about the morning. They eat breakfast for 40 minutes once the school bell has rung for the day to begin. The teacher let us know it is cutting in to their math time (it's the first year they've had to serve breakfast in class). Hence my idea with the math worksheets. 40 minutes is a pretty long time to sit with absolutely nothing to do. Her teacher also let us know the class is pretty unruly this year; the longest they've been able to sit without interruption is three minutes. I'm sure it will improve! I think I will talk to the teacher and ask her to supplement with something if possible. I just know she has her hands really full and didn't want to be obnoxious, but it's true it might be even more obnoxious for my daughter to pull out something totally different than what the rest of the class is working on. I will continue to send lots of books with her too!

 

Thanks again, guys!

[IsabelC]

I find it sad that the school has to serve breakfast. Is this a common practice?

 

Schools have so much to cover already, surely it isn't too much to ask for parents/guardians to send the kids to school fed? If a few families aren't able to manage this, wouldn't it make sense for those families to be helped individually as needed, rather than have whole classes use up their learning time on breakfast?

 

In your situation, I'd be seriously tempted to just bring my kid in half an hour later!

[SKL]

I find it sad that the school has to serve breakfast. Is this a common practice?

 

Schools have so much to cover already, surely it isn't too much to ask for parents/guardians to send the kids to school fed? If a few families aren't able to manage this, wouldn't it make sense for those families to be helped individually as needed, rather than have whole classes use up their learning time on breakfast?

 

In your situation, I'd be seriously tempted to just bring my kid in half an hour later!

 

School breakfast is pretty much served to every kid in low income schools. I thought they served it before school, but where I was tutoring, the kids would eat it at their desks in the classroom, and some of them would take a long time to finish.

 

There are different schools of thought on the free breakfast program. I have my own opinions, but I don't want to get political. The prevailing opinion is that low-income parents can't be trusted, even with food stamps, to make sure their kids eat before school. And if a certain % of kids in an area qualify for free breakfast (and lunch), they just give it to everyone rather than try to keep track of who gets what.

[IsabelC]

Right. Yes, I can see that it might be cheaper and easier to administer a general school breakfast program than to keep track of who needs food stamps and whether they're actually using them to feed their children. But wouldn't it be just as easy to serve breakfast 30 minutes before school is supposed to start, so families who prefer to have breakfast at home could bring their kids later, and the class wouldn't be missing out on the math?

[Roadrunner]

My DS takes his book to read during reading time. I don't send anything because I don't want to offend the teacher.

[Caroline]

My kids always have reading books, a math book-Life of Fred or Singapore, and some history reading or science reading. It has never offended a teacher. In fact, I am good friends with many of my kids' former and current teachers.

[eloquacious]

That's odd. At the school I taught at (over 95% reduced or free lunch) they served "breakfast" every day, though the nutritional value of that was about equivalent to the "lunch" they served every day. It was served half an hour before school started, and whoever wanted it just had to arrive early and go down to the cafeteria.

[Roadrunner]

My kids always have reading books, a math book-Life of Fred or Singapore, and some history reading or science reading. It has never offended a teacher. In fact, I am good friends with many of my kids' former and current teachers.

 

One of the k teachers last year got quite upset when I sent a book with younger DS. She let me know it in an angry email. I am threading carefully since that incident.