My 4 year old daughter is in preschool and gets homework once a week. Her teachers really want the class to be prepared for kindergarten, so they give homework so that the information is reinforced at home. However, no one I know who have young kids in other preschools get homework. I am just wondering if anyone else with children in preschool bring home any homework. I think that it's a bit much for a 4 year old. She goes to a pretty academic preschool, but i have never heard of a 4 year old coming home with homework, even if it is only once a week.
There is no evidence supporting homework. In fact, there is more evidence supporting how it destroys the love of learning.Kids are naturally curious.
i’d pull my kid from that preschool so quickly it isn’t even funny. kids need to explore and play at 4, not do boring worksheets. Learning happens, and it happens everywhere and all the time. There is no need for "academic’ preschools. Kids learn, their natural curiosity in an enriching environment is all they need.
I guess it depends on what kind of homework it is? My daughter (3) had to bring in a poster that was all about her and her likes. Of course I did it but I had her kind of help me pick what went on it and stuff. Or we had to bring in pictures of community helpers, we had visited a fire house a couple months back so I brought in some of those pics. Is it like that kind of homework, or is it worksheets? Because I think worksheets would be pretty strange at this age for sure.
Most homework involves worksheets in my experience. Kids don’t need practice doing worksheets. Kids need to be encourage to explore, develop a love of books, and to ask lots and lots of questions. So unless the homework is something open ended, I would just let the teacher know that your child is not going to be doing them at this age. Tell her you will use the time to read to her or do mini science experiments or something like that.
I specifically chose a nonacademic preschool for my son when he was 4. They never did letter of the day or forced the kids to write. They had open ended exploration throughout the day and spent 1/2 the time outside in a 300 acre nature preserve and demonstration farm. My kid is in 5th grade now and since the beginning of 1st grade was reading 3 grade levels ahead of his age.
I think when you choose an academic preschool you should not be surprised when the focus is on…academics.
Is it NAEYC accredited? That’s more important than assigning homework in my opinion. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then Google it.
If they are not accredited then it tells me they are not a “serious” preschool and they’re just giving out homework to look good for the parents and community who (naively) thinks it’s important at this age.
She’s going to an academic pre-school - so I would expect homework - even if it was one page a week.
If this isn’t what you want, then you might need to change schools.
I see their point - you are sending your child there - not just for day care but for learning…so you expect them to ready your child for Kindergarten…they are doing that…
Please clarify on what you mean by homework. People get all crazy when they hear the word homework, but ultimately, I feel like it’s not homework that is the issue so much as it is busywork.
My son is in kindergarten. Yes, he brings home homework. He does this on at least 2 or 3 nights a week. As parents, we are expected to check and sign his folder every day and send it back to school. We are expected to read to our child for 20 minutes a day, and our son colors in the square on the calendar to indicate that he has been read to. His homework has consisted of him reading a short story to us (as in 4 pages of something really short like, “I see the apple,” “I see the alligator,” etc. while practicing his sight words and using the pictures of the apple, alligator, etc. to finish out the sentence). One evening he was asked to draw a picture of the important people in his life.
Yes, when our son was in 3 yr old preschool and 4 yr old preschool we were expected to do similar things. We signed his folder every night. On occasion, he would have activities to do.
As adults, many people hear homework, and they think of a page of 50 math problems or writing long sentences or whatever, but ultimately, that’s not the type of homework that a preschooler or even kindergartener is typically assigned. My son actually gets excited when he has homework, because it doesn’t take much time, and it is really almost always something fun.
As a teacher, I must go on a personal rant here and say that many people in society expect teachers to do everything…but ultimately, the learning needs to start at home and be supported by the parents. YES, I believe that parents should be reading to their children. YES, I believe that parents should at least have a general idea of what their child(ren) are doing in school. YES, I know that it is tough and things get busy. I chose to have children for a reason, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Think about the homework activities that your child is getting and then determine whether the activities are age appropriate and whether or not this preschool is the best fit for you.
It is the preschool you have her in. Some preschools enforce it and some don’t.
My daughter’s school had very little homework, so I purchased the workbooks from the book store and gave her more to do.
It won’t hurt them and they will be well prepared for school. Kindergarten is no longer about singing, coloring, gluing, and nap time, like it was when I went to school.
Preschools, vary in approach and style.
Some are more rigid, some are more play oriented, some are more academic, some are not.
So, at least for me, I chose Preschools for my kids, which I thought I wanted my kids to be in. Per, how each of my kids are and what would click with them etc. Hence they both went to 2 different preschools. And they both loved theirs.
I went with each of my kids, to tour various Preschools, before I chose which one I wanted my kids to be in, and per their own, liking. And I knew what their approaches were, as a Preschool.
And no, not all preschools give “homework.” It is not the norm here, at least, in my area.
Being prepped for Kindergarten, does not mean, giving “homework.”
But well, that preschool your child attends, feels it needs to be that way.
But that is not the way, all Preschools, are.
But that is the way your child’s Preschool is.
no.. my kids did not do homework in 4 yr preschool.. and homework in kindergarten was very little. and kinder homework is fun..
even first grade homework takes 10 minutes maybe 2 nights a week. these poor kids are in school 5 days a week 7 hours a day. unless the child is struggling.. I see no need for homework. let them have an hour or two to play and be kids…
My kid didn’t even bring home homework until first grade, and even now her homework is just spelling words.
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Completely ridiculous. I would just tell the teacher that she won’t be doing it.
Our daughter liked workbooks at this age, but some children are just not into this.
Our daughter also knew how to read at this age, and we did not even realize it!
We had a neighborhood full of children all around the same age. Here is the interesting thing. almost all of our children were National Merit Scholars, and yet, some of these kids, could not read until Kindergarten. Some of them HATED any kind of work book type work. But in the end, they were all excellent students.
I think that it is fun to sit with a young child and be with them as they discover they CAN read. They can write, they can draw.. But I also love to be around the super active kids that are moving at every moment. They can jump, they are fearless, agile and no interest in sitting down.
I would allow your child to have the option of seeing the worksheets and having fun with him giving you some work sheets. The 2 of you could work on your “homework” together. But if he is just not into it, I do not in any way see a problem with this,.
My 3.5 yo gets “homework” once or twice a week in her speech therapy preschool. It is usually a color sheet, along with an activity she does after it’s colored; like gluing them in a certain order, or cutting and gluing pieces while saying that weeks’s sound focus.
However, it is completely optional. They send it so that if the parents want to work on it, they can. It only has to be turned in if the kid wants to show it off to the teacher. They DO ask that we practice the sounds at least once a day, but that’s only because it’s a therapy situation, not academic.
My 4-year old daughter comes home with homework two days a week. Her homework is practicing writing her name and her letters.
Here in GA, preschool (not daycare actual preschool) starts as young as 18 months. We started getting simple homework in their 3 year old class - tracing, coloring, writing their first name ect. At 4 years old we were given weekly assignments. Halfway through their preK (4 year class), we were given 5 words a week and they had a spelling test on the 5 words every week. I have talked to people at different preschools and this seems pretty typical for my area.
I do not see the need for homework before middle school.
Academic preschool? That’s kind of sad because I think even today’s kindergarten kids should simply be PLAYING. They are 5 and 6.
We didn’t get pushed to read that young. All it does is burn them out. And, the vital, creative curiosity that’s in all young kids needs to burn brightly. Academics at a young age do more harm than good…
My son got family projects as homework during PreK, but not daily or weekly worksheets.
When my now 9 year old was in preschool he had homework as well. It was preschool through the school district where he now goes to school. He received a packet every week which included practicing his name, colors, and letters. I remember every week looking through magazines with him for pictures that started with a particular letter. But my now 4 year old goes to full day preschool that is not through the school district, and she does not have homework.