Make-up Work!

Thankfully we have never had that experience. Personally I cannot fathom finding the time to make up that much work. I would look through the pages and see what is concept driven and what is busy work. I'd probably also ask the teacher if everything needs to be completed and in what time frame.

One of my kids would be an emotional wreck when trying to do that much. I think the stress/frustration would have done nothing but make her hate school. The other one might be able to handle it.

good luck!

This is not unusual, but don't think you have to do it all at once. At 2 extra worksheets to his homework every day, plus do a few each day on the weekend, and you'll be all caught up in about 2 weeks.

Also, talk with the teacher. She might help you prioritize. If he's having a math test in 2 days, work on the math sheets first, and put off the grammar until after that (or vice versa if a grammar test is coming up, but the next math test isn't for a while).

It is WAY too much. My son missed a bunch of school in first grade when his grandfather (my dad) was dying. His teacher NEVER had him make anything up. She just checked in with him on what they had been learning and as long as he got the concepts, that was that. The ONLY justification (and it is a very weak one) for homework in the lower grades is that it reinforces what is learned in school. As long as they get the concepts they missed, the rest is pointless busy work. I would simply tell the teacher that you will not be doing it.

ETA - who really cares what his grades are in first grade? As long as he is mastering the material and his behavior is age appropriate, he will advance to second grade. If his teacher feels he might be gifted, she will recommend testing for that - whether or not he has a 'failing' homework grade. When he applies to college he will NOT need to provide his first grade grades.

Typical but insane!! As long as he has the concepts down, I would never make him do it all. Once he knows how to do it, it is busy work. At age 6, I believe your goal should be for him to love learning and at least like school. Having to come home to do all that makeup work is overwhelming and would probably make him dread school! I know many will disagree with me but I would just put the redundant worksheets straight into the trash. I have been doing that for years and not once has a teacher ever asked me for the missing work.

I don't know how your kid is, but mine would be in hysterics if he had to do this. My son has ADHD and one year, I think 3rd grade, his teacher sent home extraordinarily large amounts of homework. After fighting with her, I went to the principal. The principal said after the year is over, all her kids end up testing higher than they started because of all the "practice" work. So they would not make any allowances for his homework. So I asked if he didn't do ANY of it, how much would it affect his grades? Basically the percentage was so low, it didn't matter grade wise if he did it or not. So he didn't. He got an F on all of it and still ended up with A's, B's and a C in math, which is fine with me. So I would ask the teacher if I were you. Sometimes, the emotional stress for the kid (and parent) is not worth it, especially if they are getting good grades already. JMO. Good luck.

We had a teacher last year who gave too much work. It took me too long to talk with her about it. Go talk to the teacher and say, sorry, but this is too much. Let's go through this together and let me know what is truly necessary. A 1st grader should be getting 10 minutes of homework a night. Just make sure your son knows the major concepts and tell the teacher that if they truly believe your son, who had the flu, needs to do 54 pages of work, that you need to schedule a meeting with the teacher AND the principal. Stick up for you child. I didn't want to be "that" parent...but sometimes you just have to be. That's ridiculous.

54 pages doesn't mean anything - are they 10 rows by 10 columns of math problems or coloring sheets and four problems per page? This doesn't surprise me. If you are concerned, talk to the teacher.

Honestly, as a teacher myself, I do not think that is too much. 54 pages is approx 10 pages a day. If my child wasn't doing 10 different things per day in 1st grade I would be concerned. If one sheet is given at each center or learning time, plus some reinforcement with homework, that is about right.

I always encourage parents to communicate with me if students will be out anything longer than one day. I can often e-mail home assignments so that students don't get behind, and can keep up with what we are learning in class.

Ask if your kid can do the hardest problems first. If he gets them right, then he doesn't have to do the easier ones. Cuts down on the workload while still ensuring that he's mastering the required standards. That's what I do with my students.

Shows you how much learning and work they do each day at school.

If she sent home everything he missed, I am not surprised it was that much. I think you just have him work on it each night and this weekend and again next week. . Add to pages each night with his daily homework. She will understand it is going to take a while. Have him turn in some of it each day until he completes it.

Someone else posted a similar question recently. Maybe you can find it. I was surprised how many people said it's pretty normal. Granted, neither of my children were out for a week (knock wood) but they never had make-up work except for homework. So long as they didn't miss any math concepts they can't catch up on, it seems a bit much to me. Reading, writing etc just continue throughout the year. A week of missed practice is not life threatening. Maybe have him skip his reading each day till this is done. I think they're too young for stuff like this. Math is the only thing I'd make sure of. Even things like vocabulary build over time. Same with spelling. So that type of stuff to me will be made up naturally along the way in 1st grade. Have you looked that there is work on all 54 pages btw or she just gave you a stack and when you go through, much of it can be skipped or you read it to him quickly?

Sounds like too much to me - I'd be in communication with the teacher.

It's not too much. 54 pages divided over 5 days is 10 pages a day give or take. Just have him get it done remind him how much couch potato time he had while sick and that he needs to get caught up. Don't make it an option. Just be very matter of fact.

You work through the pages over a normal amount of time.

The pages you received were most likely the daily warm ups, math class, la class, spelling, homework and such. Some of the pages are probably just busy work that was passed out to everyone in the class and not necessary for your child to complete. COMMUNICATE with the teacher to make sure he does the papers that have the main lesson in them.

He is not expected to complete it all RIGHT NOW.

What you do is prioritize so you know what is most important now. Ask the teacher. Spelling tests are typically in Friday's.

Communicate with the teacher to see what is expected at what time in order to get grades established.

It is no surprise that some children are our sick. Communicate with teachers so you know expectations!!! I don't understand why it is so hard for some parents to just not communicate with a teacher and stand back and complain. The teacher is there to HELP you and your child. Just communicate for goodness sakes.

go through and figure out how much is actually useful and how much is filler. then make an appointment with the teacher and find out if you can just work on the big stuff with him.
my main concern would be making sure my kid was au courant with the work being done and confident moving forward. beyond that, what's the worst that will happen? he doesn't turn in 30 pages of busywork? will they actually fail him for that?
khairete
S.

I can't imagine having a 6 year old do all that. I would look through it and see what is redundant, and what is busy work. What material would actually be new to him, and what covers skills you know he's already mastered? I would be looking at those 54 pages with a critical eye, pairing it down, and then communicating to the teacher about your feelings on what is reasonable and necessary for him to be "caught up." and what you feel isn't at this point. The teacher may just be being thorough and getting every single thing to you, fyi, and just in case you want it. She may be perfectly fine not requiring him to turn it all in, and just having you use it at home if you feel he needs it. Whatever things end up being "must-do" I would work it in little by little.

At our school, if you're out 5 days, you get 5 days to get vitally turned in.
Doesn't help though that they're already 5 days behind AND continue to cover new materials at the same time. Stinks but if course the need to do the work.
Added: if you know someone who can bring it home daily, or you can get to the school EOD or something, it makes it better!

I would work through it over time and talk to the teacher about his progress. If he cannot complete it, how long does he have and how much (if any) is for a grade? I agree to discuss it with the teacher and prioritize what he needs to review. I would not stress out over it, frankly, and do what you can within the timeframe provided.

Now, my DD is also in 1st grade and 54 pages would be a LOT of work! Is all of it work work or is some of it concepts he would have otherwise learned in class so there is extra in there that is more than he would have had that week for HW?

For the future, I would ask if you could pick up work after a day or two, if you know he'll be out for a while, or if the teacher could email you work to print at home so it's not this much at once.

My daughter was recently out for a week. She didn't have 54 pages of make up. Instead, I emailed the teacher and asked for the work, he didn't respond. I sent her back to school and told her to ask for it, he told her to sit down. I walked up to him after school and asked for it and he told me he was busy that day, I asked if he would send it the next day and he sent it in the next couple of days. This was after I found her reading grade of 54 online!

Her papers were finally received, completed, and graded. I get them back to find -1 for being late!

Of course this triggered an email to the teacher. He apologized and said he may have missed it in his large stack of work he had to grade.

I would email the teacher and ask what is most urgent to get turned back in right away and what information will he be tested on.

Fifty four pages of work is outrageous!

Sit at the kitchen table and do it with him each night until it is done.

This will speed it up and satisfy both you and the teacher. You will see that he can do the concepts and the teacher will be pleased that it is completed.

Yes, I think it is way too much, too.

Here's what I would do. I'd email the teacher and ask for a meeting regarding 54 pages of make-up work plus classwork after your 6 year old had the flu. This will give the teacher the heads up that you are unhappy. If your meeting ends up with her saying "too bad" that you don't like it, then you should go directly to the principal about it. The teacher would have had her chance and would have blown it.

Your son is 6, not in middle school. My guess is that the bulk of this is busy work.

Send it back to school and tell her she needs to pick some of it. That's way too much for him to do. I'd also say she can have him do some during table time when he's done with the current activity.

That's over 10 pages per day. I don't like this teacher. Does she teach anything or just have them do worksheets? Good grief!

Usually the schools that we have been to allow 2 days to make up the missed work per day of absence. So If he was out a week he would have 2 weeks to finish it. I do think it is kind of a lot though. We have gone out of town during the school year and had the kids do independent study for the week and they never got this much.