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(Full disclosure: we homeschool our kids.) My impression is that things have changed in the last ten years. We have friends with young kids who have been thro

by bmj 17y ago

(Full disclosure: we homeschool our kids.) My impression is that things have changed in the last ten years. We have friends with young kids who have been through interview processes for preschool. Other friends have complained about the academics in their kids' preschool, or kindergarten (academics in kindergarten? Really? I recall playing and napping, and maybe learning the alphabet.) Many parents are concerned with preparing their kids for college while still in grade school, and the in many cases, it is likely the schools caving to the pressures of parents--they feel without homework, their kids won't be properly prepared. That said, I don't think this is universal. We have friends who teach at smaller private schools that follow a more classical education model, and their students generally aren't required to do large amounts of homework.

jswinghammer 17y ago
I'm curious to know if you sent your kids to preschool or just homeschooled your kids all along? I'm seriously considering homeschooling my children and I'm sort of curious what other people have done with the first schooling decision.
- bmj 17y ago
  Our older son went to "playschool" when he was three and part of four, and we've considered it for our younger son, who is turning four. We aren't terribly concerned about the "social" aspect of school, as our kids have no problems interacting with people (adults or kids their own age), and we are a part of a homeschool co-op. We know several other homeschoolers that have done "normal" preschool for their kids, too. I don't think it's an either/or situation--in fact, it may give you some insight on how your kids learn best (we discovered that our son does really well when taught something one-on-one, but can often become frustrated in larger groups).
shelfoo 17y ago
I live in Calgary, we don't home-school our kids. I have two children, 11 (grade 6) and 8 (grade 3). The homework is about an hour each night for the 8 year old, and can vary greatly for the 11 year old, anything from 1-2 hours (practicing what they were taught that day) to "projects" requiring about 16 hours of work over 2 weeks. They're both very bright children (yes, I know that all parents say that about their kids). Do I think it's too much? Tough call. I do think it's ridiculous that my daughter is carting around a backpack to and from school that weighs half as much as she does. Also irritating is that the onus is on the parents to ensure that things get done, I'd rather that my child is taught responsibility than taught dependence but there is a lot of "sign this and return to indicate that your child did the work" kind of stuff. Lastly, I recall as a child having time in school to do work around projects, and more often than not I had no homework because that time was given. From what I can tell, that kind of time no longer exists (or it does but there is more work). I also don't recall having homework at all until I was in grade 6. It starts now in grade 1 (every night was about 15 minutes).
- shpxnvz 17y ago
  Also irritating is that the onus is on the parents to ensure that things get done, I'd rather that my child is taught responsibility than taught dependence... Err, isn't it the parents' responsibility to build responsibility in their children rather than the schools'?
  - bmj 17y ago
    I'm not sure that the poster's point. When I was in grade school, the only thing my parents had to sign was my report card each quarter. It was my responsibility to do my homework, and my responsibility to shoulder the consequences if I didn't.
    - shpxnvz 17y ago
      Not sure how I misunderstood. It sounded like he was irritated that it was his job to ensure his children completed their assignments by being forced to check and sign something, and would rather that they be taught, in school, to handle that responsibility themselves. My point, probably poorly expressed, was that it's not realistic to expect the school to instill that sense of responsibility in the child, and that the "check and sign this" policy is really just a gentle encouragement to parents to take an active role in their education.
      - shelfoo 17y ago
        I understand what you're saying, and perhaps I came off as not wanting anything to do with my childrens education, which is definitely not what I meant. I guess what I was getting at with the irritated part is that without my signature on the homework, it's deemed 'incorrect/incomplete'. This is teaching my children that they must rely on me for their own success. It's not that the school is not teaching responsibility (agreed that's my job), but that it's teaching dependence. I also suspect that in many cases the work itself isn't looked at, a signature from me is looked for and that's it. If that's the case, it's a situation where the school is giving homework for the sake of giving homework, which I don't think is correct.

by bmj 17y ago

jswinghammer 17y ago

I'm curious to know if you sent your kids to preschool or just homeschooled your kids all along? I'm seriously considering homeschooling my children and I'm sort of curious what other people have done with the first schooling decision.

bmj 17y ago
Our older son went to "playschool" when he was three and part of four, and we've considered it for our younger son, who is turning four. We aren't terribly concerned about the "social" aspect of school, as our kids have no problems interacting with people (adults or kids their own age), and we are a part of a homeschool co-op. We know several other homeschoolers that have done "normal" preschool for their kids, too. I don't think it's an either/or situation--in fact, it may give you some insight on how your kids learn best (we discovered that our son does really well when taught something one-on-one, but can often become frustrated in larger groups).

shelfoo 17y ago

I live in Calgary, we don't home-school our kids. I have two children, 11 (grade 6) and 8 (grade 3). The homework is about an hour each night for the 8 year old, and can vary greatly for the 11 year old, anything from 1-2 hours (practicing what they were taught that day) to "projects" requiring about 16 hours of work over 2 weeks. They're both very bright children (yes, I know that all parents say that about their kids). Do I think it's too much? Tough call. I do think it's ridiculous that my daughter is carting around a backpack to and from school that weighs half as much as she does. Also irritating is that the onus is on the parents to ensure that things get done, I'd rather that my child is taught responsibility than taught dependence but there is a lot of "sign this and return to indicate that your child did the work" kind of stuff. Lastly, I recall as a child having time in school to do work around projects, and more often than not I had no homework because that time was given. From what I can tell, that kind of time no longer exists (or it does but there is more work). I also don't recall having homework at all until I was in grade 6. It starts now in grade 1 (every night was about 15 minutes).

shpxnvz 17y ago
Also irritating is that the onus is on the parents to ensure that things get done, I'd rather that my child is taught responsibility than taught dependence... Err, isn't it the parents' responsibility to build responsibility in their children rather than the schools'?
- bmj 17y ago
  I'm not sure that the poster's point. When I was in grade school, the only thing my parents had to sign was my report card each quarter. It was my responsibility to do my homework, and my responsibility to shoulder the consequences if I didn't.
  - shpxnvz 17y ago
    Not sure how I misunderstood. It sounded like he was irritated that it was his job to ensure his children completed their assignments by being forced to check and sign something, and would rather that they be taught, in school, to handle that responsibility themselves. My point, probably poorly expressed, was that it's not realistic to expect the school to instill that sense of responsibility in the child, and that the "check and sign this" policy is really just a gentle encouragement to parents to take an active role in their education.
    - shelfoo 17y ago
      I understand what you're saying, and perhaps I came off as not wanting anything to do with my childrens education, which is definitely not what I meant. I guess what I was getting at with the irritated part is that without my signature on the homework, it's deemed 'incorrect/incomplete'. This is teaching my children that they must rely on me for their own success. It's not that the school is not teaching responsibility (agreed that's my job), but that it's teaching dependence. I also suspect that in many cases the work itself isn't looked at, a signature from me is looked for and that's it. If that's the case, it's a situation where the school is giving homework for the sake of giving homework, which I don't think is correct.