I need my children to be independent. With three of them - and both of us working full time - independence is not a "nice to have" but an actual necessity, if I'm going to stay sane. Independence takes training. Yes, it is definitely faster if I pull up my two year old's pants for him ... but then he never learns. Yes, my oldest son has some cavities because he has brushed his teeth himself since age four, but at least they are in baby teeth and he is now listening to the dentist about how to properly brush his teeth. The idea is that the investment in time (and, apparently money) will pay off later with kids who are able to take care of themselves.
This is why the second grade homework has annoyed me ALL YEAR. While the activities could be done independently, they are not presented in such a way that he could do them himself. The font is too small. The chart to fill out is poorly labeled. The instructions are too vague. After the first two weeks of school, my son gave up on homework out of frustration. He knew he wanted to do it, but he couldn't quite do it himself, and by the time we got home/ate dinner/bathed kids, it was too late for him to be able to concentrate. On top of which, he one time saw his teacher throw the homework chart in the trash, from which he deduced that she didn't really care about his work.
And it wasn't worth the struggle for me. I identified completely with this WaPo article.
Except this week, apparently his teacher finally spoke to him about the fact that he has not turned in a sheet since SEPTEMBER. I had already informed her we wouldn't be doing the activities, and she had acquiesced, as long as he was reading and doing some math. Since he reads -- and makes up elaborate box scores by quarter for basic math skills -- I figured we were fine. We were, until now, I guess.
This homework chart, however, has been causing much consternation this past week. So much, that Friday night he refused to eat dinner in the kitchen because then he would have to see the blank homework chart and be reminded that: (a) his teacher was disappointed with him and (b) he didn't know how to fix it because he couldn't do his homework himself.
After yesterday's meltdown, I realized I couldn't be quite so blasé about this homework situation, even if I did think the assignments were silly. So, today, I took the 10 activities on the chart and typed/printed up 10 corresponding "worksheets." He read the instructions and said he understood them. We found a "homework folder," placed them in the folder, and agreed he could pick one worksheet each day when he got home from school. He immediately recognized this wouldn't work on Wednesdays (Patch has piano then Wm has choir), so he asked me to remind Lea to bring the folder to piano so he can work on it there.
Independence regained. Life back in balance. Fingers crossed this new approach works. Again, as with encouraging all independent activities, it will probably take about 30-60 minutes for me every other Saturday to transform the chart into worksheets, but that is a small price to pay for a kid independently completing his work.
This is why the second grade homework has annoyed me ALL YEAR. While the activities could be done independently, they are not presented in such a way that he could do them himself. The font is too small. The chart to fill out is poorly labeled. The instructions are too vague. After the first two weeks of school, my son gave up on homework out of frustration. He knew he wanted to do it, but he couldn't quite do it himself, and by the time we got home/ate dinner/bathed kids, it was too late for him to be able to concentrate. On top of which, he one time saw his teacher throw the homework chart in the trash, from which he deduced that she didn't really care about his work.
And it wasn't worth the struggle for me. I identified completely with this WaPo article.
Except this week, apparently his teacher finally spoke to him about the fact that he has not turned in a sheet since SEPTEMBER. I had already informed her we wouldn't be doing the activities, and she had acquiesced, as long as he was reading and doing some math. Since he reads -- and makes up elaborate box scores by quarter for basic math skills -- I figured we were fine. We were, until now, I guess.
This homework chart, however, has been causing much consternation this past week. So much, that Friday night he refused to eat dinner in the kitchen because then he would have to see the blank homework chart and be reminded that: (a) his teacher was disappointed with him and (b) he didn't know how to fix it because he couldn't do his homework himself.
After yesterday's meltdown, I realized I couldn't be quite so blasé about this homework situation, even if I did think the assignments were silly. So, today, I took the 10 activities on the chart and typed/printed up 10 corresponding "worksheets." He read the instructions and said he understood them. We found a "homework folder," placed them in the folder, and agreed he could pick one worksheet each day when he got home from school. He immediately recognized this wouldn't work on Wednesdays (Patch has piano then Wm has choir), so he asked me to remind Lea to bring the folder to piano so he can work on it there.
Independence regained. Life back in balance. Fingers crossed this new approach works. Again, as with encouraging all independent activities, it will probably take about 30-60 minutes for me every other Saturday to transform the chart into worksheets, but that is a small price to pay for a kid independently completing his work.
1 comment:
Brilliant! I hope it works for you.
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