Homework Battle or Not

How much homework does your school age child have at night?  If you are a reader of Mom is Teaching, you know that this is a highly discussed topic over there.  If not, let me just tell you, it is BIG.  I’ve been reading The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish.  I know some of you have heard me mention that here. 

Sara has been in contact with me just about every time I’ve mentioned her book or blog, this lady is on top of things.  I had no idea that there was a community of people out there that had such a problem with homework until I posted My Personal Belief on Homework and folks just came out of the woodwork in favor of my very ideas.  I was shocked, but that’s how I came to chat with Sara along with many others.

So, tonight, when I opened my kindergarten child’s folder to retrieve homework (I wanted to type that so it read like this to.retrieve.homework because that’s how ridiculous it is for a 5-year-old to have homework), I was greeted with a whole mess of stuff.  Now, I’ve moaned and groaned about it quiet a lot on Mom is Teaching but I’ve more or less left the homework talk over there because I’m not exactly sure who reads this blog.

But at this point, it doesn’t matter anymore who reads.  The fact is, this is ridiculous.  I am known to cause controversy and I came by that trait naturally (read any of my posts on my father and you’ll understand).  I don’t want to stir up a bunch of dust and cause my son to be treated differently at school.  And, as I mention in one of my posts on Mom is Teaching, my son asked several times in the first hours after we arrived home if it was time to do his homework, so I’m not so sure it is bothering him.

And, if it isn’t bothering him, then why is it bothering me?  It bothers me because it is “his” homework, but he can’t do any of it unless I am sitting beside him.  Why?  Here’s what the assignments were:

1.  A sheet of paper that was sent home on Monday with random letters in random fonts and random lower and uppercase with a spot at the bottom for a signature on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  The sheet had the following directions at the top “Read 3 times”.

2.  A paper “book” if you want to call it that for him to read to me and a place for a signature.

3.  Inside one of those zip lock bags that were part of his initial school supplies was another paper “book” that had 8 pages instead of 4 like the one above.  Also in that zip lock bag was a list of words that were in that story with the directions for “ME” to go over the random words with him and explain to him how the words sound the same and the difference in a “long a” and a “short a”.  Then, after we have done that he was to read the book to me.  Finally, another piece of paper was in the bag stating that I was not to let him color or write on the book and I was to send it back so she could use it next year.

Let me first tell you that I want to be involved in my child’s education.  However, I do not wish to homeschool him.  I’ve made that plain on the Mom is Teaching blog where a majority of the readers are homeschoolers, they know that for me and my son, our personalities don’t work and they understand that homeschooling isn’t for everyone.  My problem is this, if he has this much homework at age 5 and it requires this much parental intervention, what is it going to be like when he is 12.  Personally, I have no interest in going through any k-12 garde again and I’m not doing homework every night with my child for the rest of my life.  I am going to be involved in education, just not in that manner.

So, where do I start?  I could let him sit and read those letters to himself 3 times, yup, could do it, but if he misses one, how is he gonna know?

Secondly, we’ve read this same paper “book” story for 2 weeks.  I’m sick of it and he isn’t reading it anymore, he has memorized it.  So, yes, he could technically do this one without my assistance.  But, what if he hadn’t memorized?  What if he missed a word? 

And, lastly, don’t even get me started on teaching him the difference in the “long a” and “short a” and how the words sound the same.  Whose homework is this?  And, who is doing the teaching here? 

And, with that, I will leave you with a parting piece of hope if you are the parent of a child in the school system in which my son resides….

…the picture will take you to the future home of blog and later a social scene for the Walker County Parents, Students and Teachers (for those who will brave it).