I HATE 4th GRADE
an in depth look at HOMEWORK for today's youngsters

Who the hell invented homework for elementary school students? Oh I know...some Laura Ingall's teacher type who was not married and had no children and had NOTHING better to do so she wanted piles of homework to correct.

I totally agree with you, Cheryl on the homework thing. And you are even a classroom teacher...A REAL teacher, as opposed to ME, only an ART teacher. Like, what would I know about the value of homework!??! I have to stick to things I know, you know, like BASKETWEAVING (thanks, Cindy).

Anyway...my kids have had homework since K. Wasn't the original idea of HOMEWORK anything that you did NOT have time to complete in school? What is with this making up new stuff above and beyond?

We made it through 3rd grade figuring out that homework was always very "do what you can, the best that you can and don't stress over it." So I figured 4th would be more strict, but what came home today in my son's Friday folder blew me away! He has entered the Harvard 4th grade advanced studies program and I didn't even know it!

I am just too tired to write about it all in depth. Basically sentences for spelling words. Who knew it was like a GRADED thing? Homework to this point has never been GRADED...just kind of checked off. Hell, I don't think last year's teacher ever even LOOKED at homework (OR spelling tests for that matter). He seemed motivated...like doing it right when he got in from school, and we let him do it on his own. I didn't correct it for capitalization/punctuation/picky spelling on other words. I wasn't sure really...like am I supposed to let him be independent? Or sit by him and spell out each word and dictate the sentences? I let him be independent seeing as how it was the 1st one.

HOLY CRAP. He got like a 72 one one night's set. 2 points off for making a small "c" in the name Carter (cat), 2 points off for making his lower case "b" backwards (he still has trouble with bd)...2 points off for a run on sentence, that made sense....but she cut it into 2 sentences. He enjoys writing and putting detail into his sentences. Who am I to squelch that? So then I got thinking... how much background has he really HAD on grammar...and sentence structure. ??? I have NO CLUE.

I happened to be emailing with last year's teacher and mentioned it. She said that with RF that was never a focus in 3rd (the writing and corrections). Is that true? It is just VERY VERY picky. I wish I saved the spelling word list. It had 1-10 on one side (1-8?) and 11-20 (9-18?) on the other. There were un numbered bonus words at the bottom of the paper...kind of not in the same rows. For night #1's assignment he did the first "row" as she said (or column WTFC)...and did not include the 2 bonus words below that were kind of but not really part of that row. He lost 20 points for that. He DID...HOWEVER do the words the following night because he thought he had to do them but you couldn't really tell where they belonged.

Now that I write all that I am worked up and pissed off. I was going to let it ALL SLIDE because it was the 1st homework and I had NO CLUE what the expectations were. But now I am mad about that one.

He also writes a letter home to us each week (journal like) and we write back. OF course that is full of weird spelling and grammar and capital and punctuation crap that is not touched. Just mixed messages. Not really sure. I feel a LOOONG email coming on. There was also a spoken assignment to bring in a frog, fish, worm or lizard to school last week. I never saw it in WRITING so I told him it was probably a kind of if you want to type thing. He INSISTED and was excited about it so Dave helped him catch a frog to bring in Thursday in his little screen house carry along thing. Doesn't he get into trouble for bringing it on the bus (we put the cage in a paper Bath Body Works bag). Then after wards I thought yeah...I should have thought about that! DUH! But I just want her to know that I am an INVOLVED parent and NOTHING slips by. He is NINE and still a KID and I want (NEED) the expectations UP FRONT so that I can know what to have him do.

So this leaves me in the role of the CHEATING PARENT. I will have him do the work and then I will play the role of the EDITOR. I will make the corrections and then point them out to him. How do I know how to do this? Oh yes, wait...I remember, MY MOTHER USED TO DO IT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why? Because she hated homework back in the 1970s too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, maybe I will freaking DO the homework FOR him.

So yes, I will be composing a letter to his teacher about all of this, omitting my admission that I will now be doing his corrections.

On top of nightly homework, of course are the 15 minutes of reading time required each night. Do teachers realize that today's "NIGHTS" are only 3 hours long? That is IF you do not participate in a SPORT? Gone are days when kids got out of school at 3pm and arrived home at 3:10 to a plate of warm toll house cookies. Kids get off a bus pushing 5pm, then there is some down time, TV, talking about the day...then dinner, a bath if necessary.

Ok, I need to stop analyzing and writing. I am getting angrier by the minute.
Signed (at the request of our new contributor),
~Sue