AboutPatricia Ireland-Williams Expertise I am a retired K-12 Public School Principal (8 years as a teacher and counselor) and 23 years as an administrator. I can help parents with questions about how the system works, provide ideas on how to solve school issues or assist teachers in coping with the plethera of stressors they face.
Experience I am currently an educational consultant and have served on the State of Arizona Solutions Team.
Question My son is in second grade. It seems that he has a lot of home work every night. He has already done 3 book reports. He spends on average of 1 hour each night doing homework. There are only six kids in his class and 3 are first graders and the other 3 are second graders. My wife observed for a day and the class was utter caos. It seems that they should be able to get all they need to get done at school in second grade other than practicing stuff that is more difficult for the kids. They usually miss at least one recess per day because they did not get enough work done. What do we do?
Thanks
Brett
Answer It is not unusual for children to have home work in second grade. Most schools begin providing "family homework" in kindergarten in order to engage parents in their child's school activities as well as prepare the students for the fact that homework is a reality throughout school. Each grades homework increases in difficulty and time in that there is so much to cover in school......the school day often does not provide adequate time.
If you have concerns about your childs experience, you should certainly speak to the teacher about it so that he/she can explain why an hour of homework is being provided. It is great that your wife has been in the class to observe. I would encourage you to do that also.
It certainly is unusual that this is such a small class...........and that chaos reigns. I would certainly want to talk to the teacher and Principal about that in that this should not be happening.
