1St Grade Homework

Hi J.,

I can understand your concern regarding your son forgetting the information. The key to learning is making sure you can apply it. If he just memorizes how to spell words, then he's not really learning them. Make sure you look up all the words in the dictionary so he knows what they mean and can give you at least 5 sentences. If he can't come up with sentences for them quickly, then he needs to make up more until he gets it. I would then suggest taking the list with you or remembering what words he needs to know and make sure you use them with him over the weekend. This will ensure that he really knows them and can apply what he learned in everyday life. If you have more questions, send me an email. I tutor kids who have learning problems. Thanks.

3 moms found this helpful

Wow. This makes no sense. My girls have just finished 6th grade and for their entire 7 years in elementary school everything was geared to being turned in on Fridays and/or take tests on Thursdays and Fridays with nothing over the weekend. Everything was a Monday - Friday plan. I think you should talk to the teacher and see if she is willing to change this plan. If not, I would talk to the Principal. Kids are young for such a short time, we should let them have stress-free weekends while they are still young. Just my opinion.

C.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi J.,

It is a bit odd that homework carries over the weekend. I wonder if the teacher is concerned about families' busy schedules during the week and thinks it would be easier to catch up during weekends?

Anyway, my youngest has faced similar requirements and we found the best way was to stick to a homework schedule, even if it is on Sunday. If you and your student study a little bit all week, skipping Saturday and reviewing on Sunday should be pretty straightforward. However, if you wait until Sunday to do everything...well, it'll just cause massive stress and long term learning won't happen. It's the first grade version of cramming. I say that as both a mom and a teacher of 15 years.

Perhaps it would help to have everyone in the family study something of their choice during the Sunday review session. That way your student won't feel like he's missing out on something fun. This has worked very well for my family, particularly during summers. We each pick a theme and dedicate time each day for study. For example, this summer, I'm reading up for a Civil Rights course that I teach, my oldest and I are reading "Great Expectations," which is required summer reading for him, and my youngest has a workbook and a "read for fun" book. When it's study time, we all sit down and work on are various projects, helping each other as needed. Everyone learns and everyone is included.

Hope your meeting with the teacher goes/went well.

1 mom found this helpful

Have him do homework Tue, Wed, Thu, give all of you a Fri and Sat break. Have his spelling list handy whenever you see him throughout the day on Sat and Sun throw out a word for him to spell. If he has difficulty with a word work it in more often. Do a quick review on Sunday night. Make homework fun and inventive not stressful. What you might try is giving him a reward ticket for every word he spells right and both you and he can decide what they are worth and what he can redeem them for.

1 mom found this helpful

Hello! As the mother of a second grader(my youngest of three) last year we experienced a homework schedule like this for the first time. Our schedule was homework given out on Wednesday and returned on the following Tuesday. At first I felt really put out because we always use our weekend for family time and I was so used to homework packet on Monday and return on Friday. It took a little adjusting too because my son was also on a jr swim team a couple days a week so that left us with fewer hours to get the work done. We eventually fell into a routine where we never did home work on Fridays or Saturdays, studied our spelling words on Sunday and Monday (Tests were Tuesdays) and only accomplished written work on school days (Wed., Thur, Mon). Turns out it gave us more flexibility in the long run especially during cold and flu season where we had a few colds and it was nice to have the option to "make up" work over the weekend. Only hardship was that my two other kids were on Monday thru Friday homework routine so I really had to keep on top of things so I didn't get their homework schedules confused! Good thing it is only temporary too and next year will bring you a new set of homework guidelines. Good luck and best wishes to you!

1 mom found this helpful

hgi J. if the hime work goes out on Tuesday and is not dure until the following Monday, use wednesday and thursday to do the home work then you have friday and the wekends free
y kids never had a problem with the weekend gap, your son should be fine, my kids would bring home their homework on monday due back on friday, buit have the whole packet done in the first couple days. As our kids get older life is an adjustment, and you have to keep on adjusting until they are grown, I have 3 grown kids and let me tell you it is so worth it. J.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi J.,
Do the homework on the days that work for you and your child. That means if your child is ready for his spelling pre-test you can give it to him on Thursday (or even earlier in the week) and not have homework on Friday. I would do a spelling review on Sunday night, but that shouldn't take too long. (we sometimes would review on Monday morning on the way to school) I had one child who was a great speller and one child who still doesn't spell very well (at age 15). Thank goodness for spell check.
In our house we love to read, so sif there was no homework (because it was already done) that meant that we had time to read....for fun!
Best of luck to you and your 1st grader. Such an exciting time of learning....they seem to get all basics in 1st grade.
Sincerely, Linda

1 mom found this helpful

My kids have been doing homework this way for a few years now. Honestly it worked out so much better for me. I know they say they should do a page a night but if I knew we were going to be out one night or busy on the weekend, we just doubled up one night. I would also let them choose what pages they wanted to get done. If we were going to be gone and they needed to study, we would use the car ride to do so and would make it a fun way for the family to all join. Hope it works out for you.

1 mom found this helpful

Relax. Go with the flow. If you want your week-end free you can complete assignment during the week. On the week-end or while driving you can have your child read his little books or make flash cards of spelling words with pictures and spelling to insure that son has master task for testing on Monday. My favorite ask your child question while driving, shopping or playing. For example what color do you have on today. How do you spell purple what does it sound like what letters do you hear. what letters do u see. what letters do u see in target. what color is the circle. Pick up the AV Press daily pick out letters talk about the pictures. Make it fun. Learning is everywhere. Try to find your child's learning style. Make sure your child is learning and comphrehending. Don't freak out or speak negatively about the teacher in front of teacher. make it a team effort, you are the expert on your child 1st grade should be fun. make sure ur child learns to run jump laugh and play

1 mom found this helpful

A child's education, does not have to end when he comes home from school and/or completes his homework assignments. Studying for quizzes and/or tests scheduled the following Monday, does not mean that the review can only be done of Sunday. Learning can be fun, as a parent you just need to use your imagination. For example, turn Spelling into a game or a song, that can be played or sang in the car, while traveling over the weekend or play a game like 20 Questions. Learning can also be included in family time as well, after all, you are the parent, you control how family time is spent. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

I don't know about this particular teacher, but as a teacher I give students a homework packet for the week, and they have it over the weekend as well. My personal reasoning on this is that some of my students parents work so much that the weekend is the only time that they can help their child with homework. Again, I don't know this teacher's reasoning, but for me, weekend homework is an option, not required.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi J.:
I realize,your sons new homework asignment sounds as though its going to put a damper on your family time during the weekend,but,You can plan this out without the worry.Your sons teacher,is giving him a week to do his homework. Why would you have him wait till Friday to do that? He doesn't have to memorize his homework,just the spelling words.It is so important to teach children at a young age,(good study habits) You don't want him to believe that its good to goof off all week and then try and cram to get his homework done in one or two days.By the time hes a teen,he will be cramming for a test on the bus to school.I'd suggest you have your son do his homework on the first couple days of the week.Practice his spelling on Friday,then on Sunday evening, refresh and prep him for the test on Monday.I think your just feeling a bit overwelmed right now. You know this is added work,to an already hectic week. Take it in stride,and it will all fall into place.Soon,it will just be a part of your daily routine. The best of luck to you and your growin son.

1 mom found this helpful

J.,
I am an elementary teacher and this homework schedule is very typical in the lower elementary grades. It gives families time to complete homework on their own time. It's meant for students to do a little each night, then review spelling words before the test. You'll be able to figure out how to make it work for your family - give it time. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful