Pardon me for my lack of blog posts lately. It has been an emotional, and tumultuous week. You may think that some new health issue has arisen, but no….it was my daughter’s first week of kindergarten! Ack! Big kid school. Long days. Emotional child. Emotional me.
Call me silly, but I’m having a problem with hauling my five year old out of bed at 6:15 am, in order to have her at the bus stop on time. School starts at 8 am!! When I was young, school started at 9 am. What was wrong with that? Beginning in grade 3, these children go to school from 8 am to 3 pm. That’s a whole extra hour of school per day than in my youth. THEN, they’re expected to do a half hour of homework per day, when they get home! My daughter has already brought home 10 minutes of homework a day….for kindergarten, for crying out loud!
My daughter is used to having 12 hours of sleep every night. To continue that level of sleep, she would have to be in bed at 6 pm. That’s our normal dinner hour! So, dinner is now earlier. I still can’t see when the children are to have baths, and homework……never mind PLAY! I think the 8 am start time for school, has working parents in mind, not the best interests of the child. As for homework….has anyone read The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much Of A Bad Thing? I just don’t think that homework is needed in the elementary school years. If the work can’t be done in the huge number of hours that children are in school, then something is very wrong. I understand that one on one instruction is very important, but that should be available in school also. There should be time remaining in the day, for other important things. There are other types of learning, besides what’s learned in schools, and I think they help to form a well rounded individual.
The school district’s policy on homework and study habits is that, “…if begun in the early grades, this should have a lifelong impact on your child”. That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid that it could affect her adversely. In fact, there is research to prove it. Also, the school district’s statement leads me to believe that homework is being sent home, not to further knowledge, but to instil some sort of work ethic….in kindergarten children!! Isn’t getting up at 6 :15 am every day, to go to school enough? Hurumph! Get this,…they are now putting special sensors, in the new school buses, to detect whether or not a child has fallen asleep and missed their stop. They did not need those in my day. My suggestion would be to start school at a more reasonable hour instead. Then, use the money that would have been spent on sensors, and equip the buses with seat belts! Now there’s an idea! That’s the end of my rant. Yes, this is still a knitting blog. However, if anyone has any feedback on this, one way or the other, I would be very pleased to hear it.
Alrighty then, in other news, I’m still working on this endless sweater.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying knitting it. I’d just rather be wearing it. I’m nearing the home stretch. However, I’m currently doing the ruffle edging, which seems to go on into infinity. When you’re knitting an infinitely long ruffle, the last thing you want to read in the pattern is, “increase row”. Gah!
Last but not least, I have an Eye Candy Friday photo.
This big guy perched itself on my husband’s foot, and would not go away! It’s Eye Candy Friday at my husband’s suggestion. “Quick get the camera!”
Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!
September 15, 2007 at 8:04 am
I hear you about the school issues. The school hours are not as long here for kindergarteners though. They go from 8-2:00.
Your sweater is looking awesome and I love the picture of the dragon fly.
September 16, 2007 at 9:46 am
I wanted to let you know about my book, The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It, and my website stophomework.com. You’ll read the stories of so many parents who feel the same way as you do and the book also gives you lots of ideas for ways to talk to the teacher about homework and how to organize other parents to change homework policy.
On my website, there’s a forum where you can talk with other parents who feel the same way you do.
As you already know, sleep, the family dinner, play, relaxation, etc., are what a child needs to do at the end of a long school day.
I hope you can figure out a way to get homework abolished in your child’s elementary school. Good luck.
September 17, 2007 at 12:57 pm
I read this and wanted to think about it before I replied. I don’t think homework has helped my son now that he is in the 5th grade. If anything it has caused him to be lazy and avoid doing homework. In his school the homework is counted late if it is not turned in by the first bell the next morning (8:15) and the students lose 20% off the top. If it isn’t turned in the next day it’s 50%, then 0%.
My son has always had “homework” even if it is nothing more than reading for 20 minutes each night. That is wonderful as I think we should all ready for at least 20 minutes a day. But when you add Math, Science, History, and Social Studies homework to this 20 minutes of reading, then he really has no life.
And when we have wrestling, they practice from 5:30-8 three nights a week. How do they get homework done too!
September 21, 2007 at 12:49 am
Hello, Somewhere I red about your ’school’probleme.
Your children went to a school system with is also in your country. It’s Antroposofie (Rudolf Steiner) and want to teach children to become who they are. Th not only teach reading, writing and maths but also art in different ways.