We are in going into our fourth week of homeschool and I was just wondering do you give homework to your 1st graders. We are using different types of curriculum for different subjects and the curriculums that I am using so far has not had me give any homework as of yet. I'm just wondering if those who have taught or is teaching 1st grade do you have homework for your child each night? If so, what? Hope this makes sense. Thanks
No. Homework for young children has never been a part of our homeschool. Doing projects together,such as baking cookies, painting crafts, playing games, putting together puzzles, etc. is a much better way for a child to spend time. A little help with the chores such as setting or clearing the table or folding a load of towels is also more beneficial to a child's development than the drudgery of "homework". Here is an article you may be interested in. http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs12-karenandreola.html
we dont have homework at any age. sometimes the kids have projects that they want to keep working on that carry over into the evening, and sometimes we just get so wraped up in things we have "school" right up untill dinner, but thats one thing i love about home schooling, when we put school away for the day its done and we can spend the evening just hanging out and doing fun stuff togehter. i cant imagine a 1st grader benifting from homework even if you do plan to do it later on.. i always thought they just sent homework home at that age so you could see what your kids were working on and "involve the parents"
hmmm All of our school work is called Homework around here. heh. I think public Schools send homework for several reasons: 1. To teach them responsibility. (They have to remember what to do, to do it without the teacher, and to bring it back) 2. To allow parents to see some of what kids are doing 3. So kids can finish stuff they should have finished in class but didn't. In HS 2 and 3 don't really fit and we can teach responsibility in other ways at that age.
I make my one child do "homework" if he does no finish when we are done with stuff for the day, stuff I'v explained but he really has a hard time focusing when the other kids are around. (he does 2nd/3rd).
I'm with Amy. When they're younger, they learn that work not completed in a timely manner can be put off. And that means they WILL do it when Daddy is home and their siblings are watching TV or playing! Rachael, when she was younger, was giving me grief about writing a paragraph. I told her if she didn't have it done in 15 minutes, she could do it at 6:00 that evening. GREAT!!! Then she suddenly stopped. "But I have soccer practice at 6:00....." I looked at her and said, "Then I guess you'll have to call Coach to explain to him why you won't be able to make it...." The paper was done in ten, lol! Seriously, though, right now Rachael is finding she has more to do in the evenings. But even then, it's more scheduling. She will put something off to do something else, but will tell me that she'll have time to do it before soccer, or after something else. I try to respect that as much as possible, because it shows responsibility on her part. Sometimes a friend will call, though, and I will remind her that she said she'd do her math during that time......
No homework. Sometimes if they are "goofing around" and not working when they should be I will say well....if you don't finish you will have to finish when dad is home tonight and....that is enough to get them busy. Hopefully, it will work for a few more years. :wink:
I would revolt if our curriculum called for homework. Getting the regular stuff done is sometimes hard enough!
Whether or not we do homework in first grade depends.......on the child......on the situation....... For example, if the lesson plan calls for homework, I decide based on what it is and how much time we have left whether or not we do it now with the rest of the lesson or do it for homework. I also expect them to finish work for homework if necessary. The thing is, my youngest child has yet to have any homework for first grade, but my oldest child had homework on a consistent basis when she was in first grade (due to the fact that she didn't finish stuff). So you can see why I say it depends on the kid. Now for older grades, I do think homework can be a good thing but typically it's only a bit of reading or studying for a test. I do this primarily to build responsibility, so the child can take ownership of their work and grades (i.e. you didn't study for your spelling test so you didn't do as well as you could have). For other homework assignments, I take the same approach as I said before. If the work can be done now, why assign it for homework, but if we're running out of time, then it's homework. And this has a lot to do with how diligent she's being with her lessons.
I can see if they are messing around. As a single mom though making her do it in the evening would be worse for me than her. LOL I have used the "You cannot do anything else until you are finished" routine though. She had BEGGED for a lesson and then wouldn't do do it. It took 6 hours for her to finish and since then she hasn't begged for schoolwork she dosn't want to do. I'm sure it will happen again.. she is still young. LOL
I don't really have "homework". Each child has a weekly schedule of work to be finished. It is broken down into each day (Mon.-Fri). We use it as a guideline to get things done. My younger 2 usually finish what they are supposed to each day, but sometimes my son doesn't. I just tell him that by Friday, all work has to be completed. If he chooses to slack off one day, he will have more to do later. He realized that quickly and sticks more to the schedule now. We also have a deal that if all work is done by Friday morning, we will do something like go to the park. It doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes....
I tend to say that I do things if they are "Working for me today." (Yes, I am a Dr Phil Watcher! haha) Today, homework does not fit into how things are working for our two first graders. We tend to do a lot of work during the day and when we are done, we are done. However, I believe in the benifit of "Self Study" at a later time: ie: "HomeWork". But I think it is more appropriate for older children (My opinion my change). OH! I forgot! We do have a "Bonus Work Program"! If child A wishes to get something extra (ie: toy, trip, etc..) Then he or she can do a "Bonus Work". Rules: 1. Mom chooses a sheet or project from a pre-defined set of "Bonus Materials" and defines the time period in which the bonus work must be completed as well as a profecintcy level. (Earn a B or above). 2. Child does work, mom checks it. 3. If work is acceptable, child earns said bonus! Did I mention we don't do homework? I was wrong. hahaha! My kids ask for it all the time! hahaha! (They are limitd to ONE Bonus Work per school day, though.
We do have the challenge box. Which could be considered "homework" I dunno. It's a box wrapped in shiny silver papaer that I put stuff in there for her to do if she wakes up before me in the mornings. (I am SOOOOO not a morning person!) I used to do it everyday but I forget alot now, mainly All my current materials for it are too hard for her so I'm just waiting on it for a year or so. I have materials to put in it for 2nd -8th grade and she's doing 1st grade.
I agree with most of ya'll. One thing I've thinking about lately is how ps kids already are away from their families for 8-10 hours a day and then still have to come home and spend more time away from family doing homework. So after all that time at school they didn't get everything finished. Huuh! Personal Problem!!!
We are using Explode the Code, and these exercises are self directed. I let the student work the lessons by themself, only answering questions when asked. We do the lesson, then the book is completed. I selected this material in part because I wanted at least part of the work to be self directed, and I feel that this is about the same as having homework to do. We need more lettering practice and I might start giving my student a lettering page to complete in the afternoons a couple of times per week.
I think it depends on what you call homework, since the school work is done at home anyway. If it's something structured that is done on paper in a set period of time, then yes we do homework in the form of simple math and reading worksheets. However it's very low-pressure, short (5-10 minutes) and if he doesn't want to do it then we don't do it and we don't bring it up again. But then if he doesn't do it he doesn't get a rabbit sticker or chocolate milk snack or something else that is specifically for doing that work. Since we never seem to run out of ideas for rewards we have been doing it consistently and almost daily for nearly 2 years (since he was 4) and now he is relatively advanced in reading and math (compared to school standards for 1st grade). I think it was a good investment.
No, we don't give any 'traditional' homework (doing sit-down work in the evenings or on weekends) like the public schools do. This is one of the reasons we homeschool - I don't know when ps kids have time to be kids...
