Kindergarten Homework - What Is the Value?

There is no benefit to children of homework. This is clearly demonstrated by a number of studies. There may be some possible slight benefit for high school Kids but even that data could go either way.

Since he's in full-day Kindergarten and he knows the concepts, I would let him skip the homework.

I understand that kids need to get into the habit and discipline of doing homework, but he can do that next year. I have always thought full-day kindergarten was too much for five year olds. So if my child went full day, I would not worry about homework, especially if he has mastered the concepts.

Have you thought of looking into a different school. Each school has a different philosophy and the school that my kid's went to doesn't believe in unnecessary busy work homework. It's a project based Charter in San Diego. Please message me if you are interested in more information.

Happy Holiday's!!

Stephanie

Having older kids who are advanced in their grades, I will tell you that if you undervalue the homework right now and tell him he doesn't need to do what the rest of his class does, you will have a terrible fight on your hand when it does start to be a challenge in a few years. Homework in kindergarten isn't really about learning the material as much as it is about learning the routine, about learning what homework is and showing your child that you're interested in his learning. My kids were advanced above what they were doing. I talked to the teacher about giving them more challenging things so they wouldn't be bored. But never in a million years would I have told them they were above the other kids and didn't need to do it. It's about learning to be responsible and follow the routine, and if it's easy for him now, then encouraging him to make homework part of the school day should be relatively easy.

ETA: Interesting to read the posts saying there is no value to homework. I don't necessarily disagree, and my daughter is in a program now that embraces that philosophy -- she only brings home work she doesn't complete in class. However, that being said, if you want your son to follow that philosophy, then put him in a program that embraces that philosophy. Otherwise, you're sending your son the message that he is above the rules and doesn't need to do what his teacher tells him and that you don't support the teachers.

Somehow I, (along with generations of 5 year olds), was able to do nightly homework when I got older without having even one night of homework in KINDERGARTEN. Somehow I learned to read, write, do math, do well on ACTs and SATs and graduate college without getting nightly homework until something like 4th or 5th grade. Somehow children in Finland outperform our kids by a HUGE margin, and yet they do not even START school until the age of 7 and go for shorter days than our kids and don't even get homework until they are much older and even then have only a maximum of 30 minutes a day - in high school. There is NO need for homework that young.

Yea.. I guess teachers are just lazy and want the parents to do all of the work.
Gosh, why don't they just teach them all day and let the kids come home and play? I mean, I can continue to read to my child for a few more years.. Why would he need to read or have to know how to use a pencil, ! write all of his thank you cards.

They are only 5 and 6 years old.
Why back in the day all we did was play all day in kindergarten.. We had some juice some story time.. colored in the lines..

Gosh, it is just too much work to make our kids have 15 minutes of homework in kindergarten, Monday through Friday..Or 30 minutes for the whole week..

We use every minute at home to enrich their learning.. I can not give up any time for this trivial homework stuff.

I just don't get why they want parents involved with our children's educations..isn't that what the teachers are paid to do?

School and grades do not really matter until high school anyway.

We just send them to school, because the gov't tells us to. Other wise I would just have my kids at home and playing, shopping, doing chores and watching tv all day..
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Obviously, I have heard it all. These are some of the excuses and things i have had parents tell me about their children and homework..

And they wonder why their children hate homework?

If you do not think it is enrichment, then go and purchase some more advanced work books.

Children who have parents that show interest and enthusiasm in what the children are learning and what they have learned, will more likely continue to want to do well with their homework. The kids of parents that think it is a chore, will more likely to end up with children with the same attitude.

IF your child attends college, your child still has 16 years of homework.. Make it just another part of their school day and they will not know a difference.

Be encouraging, be excited, ask your child even more questions than are on the pages of homework.. Make their education important in your home.. Let your child know you are proud of how serious they are about school. Brag in front of your family about how well your child is doing in school and how hard he works on his homework at home. Not just while they are at school.

I think homework in kindergarten is ridiculous. Finland, whose educational system everyone is raving about these days, has minimal homework in all grades, apparently.

I don't think we should be stressing out kids as early as kindergarten. If it were my kid in kindergarten, I would have him do his "homework" in whatever fashion suited him, as long as it remained fun for him.

Your family time is a gazillion times more important than this busywork. If the homework is interfering with it, then it should go, in my opinion.

But I'm not your son's teacher.

I think it helps habituate kids to the idea of homework, so it doesn't come as such a shock to their systems when the suddenly have to turn in book reports in 3rd grade. It's weird, I'm actually pretty opposed to homework for young kids in principle, but I don't mind it in practice. It gives me a very real and practical way to signal how much I care about academics, etc., and I it gives me a lot of information about what they're covering in school - much more than what I'd get from a twice-annual progress report.

I am not a fan of a LOT of homework, but I am a fan of daily homework.
Don't you see that they are laying the groundwork? Pacing yourself, doing a little each day, not rushing through, etc?
Just because he is breezing through K does not mean he will breeze through next year, or the year after. Kids grow and develop in spurts, and he may (or may not) hit a road bump along the way. It's important for him, and you, to understand the value of spending a few minutes every day reviewing and practicing, even if it's concepts that he already knows and gets (and if that's the case it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so, right?)
It's also important for him to see you supporting his teachers and the process of his education. If you don't think it's "important" he won't either.

Hi TT,
I hear you, and I feel your frustration. As a mom of a 1st grader who is also advanced, I see how it can seem a bit pointless. HOWEVER, I would remind you that the point of homework in the early grades is much more about developing "learning skills" than it is about the academic content.
The homework is not MEANT to be challenging to any of the kids (really ALL of the kids should be able to get through their work pretty quickly), it's meant to teach early study skills so that students learn to do a bit of school work each day outside of school. Research on homework only recommends 10 minutes per grade in school. So for kinder you should be looking at no more than 10 minutes spent each evening. That being said, if you son is knocking out a week of work in one evening, he's still spending 3 times as long as a 5 year old should be spending on homework on THAT night.

My advice is to go back to the page a day system. His teacher asked you to have him spend 5-10 minutes a night. If you trust her, you need to trust her. If not, homework isn't really the issue.

HTH
T.

For the first few years of elementary school, the homework has definitely seemed like busy work for my son. But we used it as a way for him to develop a routine and to reinforce good work habits (neat work, review incorrect answers if any, complete and turn in on time, etc). But our school really places the main emphasis on the kids having a certain amount of reading time each night (increased with age). The homework packet is left to our discretion as to when to finish during the week, the the reading needs to be done every night.

Now that he is in 4th grade, the good work habits are starting to pay off because they have bigger projects that need to be broken down into manageable bits.

See if your son's school, has a gifted and talented program.

Regardless, doing homework is not just about knocking it out fast. It is also about, discipline, following directions, and completing a task.
Some Teachers, do not want the kids to just do ALL the homework on ONE day. But doing it, each day. It creates a "habit" and homework routine.
Some Teachers will allow, the kid doing it ALL on just one day.
So talk to your child's Teacher.

Your son is getting additional homework that is geared to his ability, and so as such, this is not tied... to the day's instruction. Because, not all kids are doing the same work, as he. And, every school's curriculum... is, determined by the School and/or the Dept. of Education per grade level. Teachers, have to teach, what they are required to teach, in order to meet the curriculum requirements of the school. If a Teacher for example... does not do what the required school curriculum is for that grade level... and they just veer from it and teach whatever they want, they would not be teaching... at that school anymore.

If your son is the ONLY one, in his class that is ahead... then speak to your school about how his work can be, in line with his ability.

Don't teach him to "skip" his math homework all together. Because, then he will learn that he does not have to... do anything, if he doesn't feel like it. It will create a bad habit and teaching him excuses. And it will teach him that his being "smarter" is allowing him to just not do what is required. That can sometimes, create an attitude in a child, that they are are "exempt" from regular responsibility. The opposite of this is: being lazy or feeling entitled. Because they are so smart they don't have to do the work.

Kindergarten kids at my kids' school, get homework. But their homework is given out, daily. EACH day. And it is due, the next day. Then there are also projects here and there, that may be due, later.

Homework for this age, only takes about 1/2 hour. Then after doing homework, a kid can play and relax.
All of this... teaches a kid about good "habits" for studying and responsibility and discipline and about following direction and... doing your best, even if it is easy or hard, for them.

Once a child comes home from school, they all have homework.
But once it is done, then playing and family time, can be done.
It is about life and organization and routines and discipline and respect... for doing what one has to.

BUT your son is obviously... academically advanced.
SO... focus on that... and what can be done and per the school's programs. And talk to the Teacher.... about it. Because, he is advanced.
Or can he skip a grade???
That is a whole other thing to consider.
Or you can find a school for him, that is more in line with what you feel he needs to be in academically.
Or you can, home school him.

Your son is at this school, the Teacher has to teach as she is required by the school's curriculum and standards and grade level... she knows your son is advanced, and she perhaps does not know... how to challenge him, because, within her grade level they have certain things they teach.
Outside of that... to be on pace with your son's level... just talk to the teacher and school. See what can be done.
Make her your ally... so she can try and find out more for you or do more.

If he can knock out all 5 pages in about half an hour, isn't that just really coming down to 6 minutes a day? Does that really affect your home time all that much? Not trying to sound snarky, but I really don't think it makes much of a time difference to spread it out vs all at once.

More importantly, I think it's more to get the kids to get in the habit of doing homework every day. While it may not be "necessary" (and without getting into a debate about it's merits or lack thereof) it is a fact of life in the American education system and something they're trying to get him into the habit of developing good study habits.

At this point *right now* is it a big deal? Probably not. I think I'd be more concerned about the fact that your son might get bored with school early on and look for a gifted program or some other enrichment programs...

I do think that he should do some of the work. whether it is all at one time or not, that is your call. to me it would depend on our after school schedule for the week.

Since your child is advanced you are seeing this as unnecessary, however, not all kids are as lucky as your child and need the extra time and reinforcement. Not all kids have parents that willingly help them learn math or read to them, or even encourage them TO read, so that they too are on a 4th grade level. Kudos to you and your son for that.

With that being said, the teacher has to use the class standard by which to grade your son. Kinder kids pick up on EVERYTHING! They would notice in a heartbeat if they had a homework packet and Billy didn't. How would the teacher explain to them, without hurting their feelings that Billy was smarter or better than them and didn't need to do homework? Life for Billy in that class would become hard and lonely.

So in the long run, everyone gets the same homework packet so that they all seem to be on the same page.

When my middle son was in K (he is in 1st grade now) I let him do it all at once...b/c like your son, he was far more advanced than his peers and really it was easier for him to do it all at once.

I mean c'mon? what's the point of making the kid who can do double digit multiplication in his head and is reading at a 4th grade level, sit down and practice 1+2=? and write 'CAT' 3x, EVERY DAY?? It was counter productive and it didn't do my son any harm to allow him to do it all at once and get it out of the way, as to not worry about it for the rest of the week.

My son is in kindergarten. He gets a lot less homework and it's definitely easy for him. He can do the whole worksheet correctly in about five minutes and takes maybe 10 minutes doing his other assignment. I've tried to think of the value as well, and here is what I've decided:

1. It helps him work on his writing skills. While he knows how to write all of his letters, his penmanship has a long way to go. Any practice he gets writing the letters is good.

2. It helps him work on his spelling. While all he technically needs to do on the worksheet is look at a picture and write the first letter (b for a picture of a ball), he writes the whole word, spelling it as he thinks it sounds. This helps with spelling and phonics, as he sounds out the words. He can read fluently, but still doesn't spell all the words correctly, even though they are all words he can read.

3. Most importantly, I think it is teaching him responsibility and time management. These are the skills that are going to help him in the future, when he has a lot more assignments and a lot less time to do them. He knows what needs to be done each week and, to a degree, I let him manage how and when he does them. I make sure they are done, of course, but I don't force him to do it at a certain time within the week. There are a couple of kids in his class who haven't done their homework a couple of times, and I think this is a bad habit to start. if they can't do their simple homework in kindergarten, what's going to happen when they're in high school? They need to learn the importance of it now, even if it is just busywork that is too easy for them.

" If I really felt strongly that this was a complete waste of time, I would address it with the teacher rather than telling my son that he doesn't need to do it if he doesn't feel like it. I dislike this idea that sending my child to school means that I have to completely agree with what and how he is being taught. I don't feel that my child's education is an all-or-nothing proposition and that by sending him to school I have sold my soul to the public education system and relinquished my rights as the ultimate authority in his life. I do believe that education is important, but it's not the most important thing."

But it sounds like you DO feel it is a complete waste of time.....and it is! He already knows the material and it is way too easy for him, right? You also mentioned having him do it every night at his age isn't some sort of golden lesson in time management or paramount to his future ability to nightly homework. And you said it even increases the risk of burning him out - which many studies also confirm. And you are right! He's just a little boy. He SHOULD be playing and spending that time with his family. But still you have him do it. Why? Because unfortunately, Jane is right and you DO have to go with the system. It's part of handing over your kids to someone else to educate. It's sounds harsh, but it's just fact. If you want them to succeed in public school, you have to go through the "hoops", even if you don't always agree certain things are necessary. Of course you can have a say and try to work with the teachers. But when push comes to shove if they feel every child should have homework and if you feel it is unnecessary and he doesn't do it, then he will be the one to suffer - through bad grades and a reputation. You are still having him do the unnecessary homework, however, because you know he will sometimes have to do unnecessary things in order to succeed in public school - even if it means for many kids they lose that love of learning, eventually. :(

Check out this link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201003/....

Please let your child be a child. There is no method behind the madness. The madness is a direct result of bureaucrats getting involved in education. Any sane educational theorist would tell you that we should hold off on ALL formal instruction until 7 or 8. (My background is in philosophy of education, btw.)

I read many of the answers and there are some great ones! Hope you don't mind just one more! Thanks you inspired a blogpost..

I am a retired school teacher. I taught for 10 years and then I had to leave. I could not put up with the "guidelines" that were in place. Homework rules, teach the curriculum not the student, crazy stuff like that.
Here is what I know for sure:
EVERY CHILD is different. To assume they all must work on the same page at the same time is RIDICULOUS! There are kids who get if faster than others and are "held" back and expected to wait. If your child can get the work done is one night then do it. Allow him to be a kid for the rest of the week. Could you imagine your BOSS sending you work home EVERY NIGHT to show you a "process"????? Seriously this is the problem with our school system.
Children will grow up fast enough, let them be little while they can. If he gets his work done, reward him with free time, don't punish him with unnecessary routine.
Grade 1 - 12, even post secondary education...they are all the same. Homework MAY happen. But to give homework simply to establish "routine" is simply laughable.
Trust your gut as a mom. He will be glad you did.

B.

there is a saying among educators. Its the process not the product. it doesn't matter that your son is smarter and can finish it quicker. he needs to get used to the idea of having homework each night. and completing it each night. he will eventually have homework that he can't "knockout" in half an hour. he needs to get used to sitting and doing the work each night. it sounds like the work will take him literally minutes to do.

Elizabeth and a few others on here are correct. Facts and studies have PROVEN over and over that most homework - especially for young kids is pure and simple busywork with no educational value whatsoever. It boggles my mind to see how EVERY study done on this proves it, how countries, like Finland, who do SO much better than we do at educating their kids, believe this, and STILL our teachers and education leaders push homework every night. And starting in KINDERGARTEN. It's seriously insane. Who are educating these teachers and policy makers in the education system? Why don't they look around and copy what WORKS? Sigh...... Oh, well. Fact is, your son is in a public government run school system and so you have to go with the system - no matter how lousy or crazy it is. (Unless you can afford a private school with more enlightened views or choose to homeschool, of course.) That being said, I highly doubt that if you allow him to do it all in one sitting that he won't have the ability to figure out how to do nightly homework next year, when they start piling it on more in the 1st grade. So do what works best for your family. :)

I'm not really sure why it's a big deal if it's so easy for him. It takes what then - 5 to 10 min? My daughter's K and 1st grade homeworks have also been very easy for her so no big deal, it's over quickly. I think it gets kids into the habit bc someday the homework will be more time consuming. I'm almost upset there's not more challenging homework and keep meaning to print out worksheets for her. If your teacher is tailoring the homework, why not ask her to make it even harder. Also, sometimes teachers see things differently in terms of how much a child has really grasped. Not so much in math as that's more black and white but I've heard many times that a child can read words great but not get all the meaning of a story. So some of the homework may have more meaning than meets the eye. But I know lots of people who complain K homework is too easy. And then I've seen in later grades, now that I have an older child, these same children not as academically advanced anymore. Other kids have caught up and/or things got harder. So be happy it's easy now and doesn't seem like a big deal if he spends a bit of time every day getting used to homework. A half hour to do a week's worth is 7.5 min a day. Not worth worrying about.

Speaking from experience of teaching over 10 years...

Although your child is advanced, he still needs to learn certain skills that he will use throughout his years of school, most of which begin in K.... self discipline, pacing yourself, developing good habits for studying, organizing thoughts, effects of procrastination, working with others, etc.

That said, in K, the HW should be minimal and simply going over the lessons of the week, however boring that might be for some children, including those who are advanced. Ask to have your child tested for the G/T program if he is that advanced, then he will get extra instruction which will help challenge him more.

My opinion is that no matter how advanced a child is, they need reinforcement at home. Maybe he doesn't need so much academically, per say, but he does need it for structure, organization, and continued learning. Most especially, as a parent, wouldn't you want to set the stage by modeling the importance of the work and routine?

I see a lot of children with no reinforcement or support from home, some of whom are gifted... it appears that the parents are just leaving the education up to the teachers and children need more than just teachers for education... they need good role models who demonstrate good work ethics, self motivation and self discipline so that the children learn to seek more information and set higher goals for themselves.

This reinforcement is not something that requires sitting down at a desk and working a half hour to an hour a night. You can easily reinforce good study habits in your child and review the weekly lessons as well as and enjoy playtime, relaxation, and family time.

Just my two cents on what I have observed in my experience.

******************************************************************************
PS, slightly off topic... Our school district is one of the best and my daughter will graduate in May 2013. The University of San Diego is a college she is considering. You thoughts? She is not looking for a glorified high school or party school. What we've read about it so far sounds pretty good. Just thought I'd ask since I saw your location.

Good luck!

Wow. I am used to a 2.5 hour kindergarten. 6 hours is way too long!!!!
But if you have full-day, then so it is. That's great he is doing well, too!

I stress that kids need to play, run and jump and we've only done half-day! I can't imagine all day for a young child.

I don't think there is much value to kindergarten homework, at all. For any child. I do think there is a huge benefit in more play and exercise, though.

Our teachers said it creates the habit of studying and working, because they'll have more homework in first grade.

We also have the weekly kinder packet coming home... though my daughter doesn't knock it out in a half hour... We have to cajole her each night to make her sit down and do a page or two! She could easily do it in 1/2 hour, the entire thing... but she just wants to play so it is a tiny bit of a battle to get her to do some each night.

There has been a lot of research showing that there is really not much value on homework in grades k-8. That it does NOT actually increase student performance. My principal just went to a whole conference on it. I'd love to site some of this research for you but I'm not in the mood for looking it up and making links etc.

Personally, I DO see value in homework at the elementary school level, as a family-school communication tool about what they are doing in class, and a chance for parents to get involved, show their kids that they value education and share their own knowledge at times. And a chance to see how their kids are progressing firsthand through the year.

I'd definitely support a decrease though, through the elementary years anyway!

Anyway, I'd say have your son do the whole packet the first night and enjoy the rest of his week!

THAT is EXACTLY why after kindergarten, our son begged us to homeschool him. We took a big breath (scared to death) and jumped. It's turned out wonderful. Our son was one of the smarter kids AND it was a dual immersion classroom.

When I was in school, I got all of my homework done for the week on Monday, if the teacher gave out a syllabus. It provided me the incentive to get it done, so I could play for the rest of the week. Why breed mediocrity? I ended up a self starter and have started 2 corporations that are still growing. My brother was the opposite. He'd do enough to get by and he's still does that today.

Our kids know what they need to do for school/home work. Our oldest is 10 and he gets up at 6am on his own accord, so he starts him work and is done by 8am if he really buckles down. He then, has the rest of the day to be a kid....you know, ride his bike, rip stick, explore behind our fence, jump on the trampoline and play with his siblings, as well as help with a few chores. Then, when the neighborhood kids home, they have MORE homework (because 6 hours isn't enough????) so if the neighborhood kids get their homework down before dark, then my kids get to play with them. Our 2nd son doesn't get up until after 8am and then starts his work. Our DD is 4 and starts her work somewhere in between. Of course, the load is age appropriate, but WE HAVE NO BUSY WORK. If they get a concept, we move on. We do go back throughout the year, to be certain it's still filed in their heads somewhere. ;)

PS My son is 10 in 6th grade. We have to hold him back from doing anymore than 1-2 hours each day, otherwise, he'd be in college and he's not child genius status, but rather a child who loves to learn and we don't waste his time. He loves learning because it's not taking over his life.

We didn't realize how much school was busy work, preparing for recess, coming back in from recess, preparing for lunch, preparing to leave, changing subjects, etc.

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Organiz...

http://www.hslda.org/docs/media/2009/200908270.asp

As long as your son isn't complaining about doing it all at once, let him do it as he wants. Kids learn in different ways, and gifted or self-motivated kids usually find their own way of doing things. As for learning to do homework everyday - I don't think kindergarten sets up your study skills for life.

The value behind any homework is to reinforce concepts taught in class and in some cases (like your son's) give him a bit more of a challenge. For K and other low grades, it also helps to establish a routine for doing homework each night (which will serve them well as homework increases) so doing some each night is really beneficial.

Consider the alternative...what would be the value if he weren't getting homework?

Here's another point of view on homework - it has nothing to do with teaching the kids something extra, and EVERYTHING to do with teaching PARENTS to be involved, informed and in tune with their child's learning progress, abilities, challenges. When I grew up, I didn't have Kindergarten homework, but I did have a mom who was involved - played with us, read to us, taught us things outside of school. For many (if not most) families, this kind of involvement isn't guaranteed, and maybe is a luxury. My husband & I (as do many other parents) work 50 hours/week each. Having a homework every night FORCES parents to sit down with their child, talk about what they're learning, watch their child do an assignment, think through the homework, and see first hand the successes and challenges their child has. It's building a routine that is both for parent & child!