Another Question About K Homework?

Let him color it yellow. My new phrase that I just learned from Rae yesterday, "unsolicited advice is implied criticism."

And if you don't believe that from a person who made the mistake of micromanaging her first child's homework, think of it this way: don't you want a child who thinks outside the box?

Yes! Be an iconoclast! Color that balloon whatever you feel like! And maybe you'll be the next Bill Gates.

#1 rule of parenting thru homework: never, ever do the work for them. If you have them change an answer to suit you....going against what they believe to be correct - then you are negating all of the teacher's end of the learning process!

If your child truly does not know the correct answer, then the teacher needs to know this! Let your child make the mistake....that is how he will learn the correct answer. & the teacher will have an accurate assessment of his knowledge & will reteach as needed. This is a process of trust in the teacher's ability to do her job. Learn to let go, Mom!....Peace.

Kindergarteners might need help reading the directions, but should do the work on their own!

Please let your child do his homework on his own! The teacher needs to see what he "doesn't know" so she can reteach it the next day. Homework is for practicing the skills taught that day- if your son's homework reflects "mastery" then the teacher will move on! If his homework says "I still need help", he will get a review session!

If you are telling him how to do it and it is still doing it wrong let him turn it in that way. We all should learn from our mistakes let him make them.

Helping a Kindergartener with homework, is not the same as doing it, for them.

Kids this age, cannot read like a 2nd grader anyway. If some can, that is not the majority.

But the Teacher needs to see, for herself/himself, what areas your child needs more help with. Too.

Sure, you can help your child pronounce the words. Nothing wrong with that. I do that too, with my son who just started Kinder.
Teaching phonics and reading phonetically, is a parent's job too. Not only the Teachers. This is Parenting.

Both my kids are in school now, and I also, ASIDE from school, home school them too, in other areas or areas they need more help, in.
But I don't micromanage them or do their work for them.

Let him color it yellow.

Teaching a child and helping them, is not the same as doing the work, for them.

And for the future, MOST Teachers, have websites & e-mail addresses, which you can see by going to the school's website. Then you CAN contact the Teacher, anytime. For any questions or clarifications you wonder about.
I do that.
It is no big deal.
That is the form of communication for Teachers/Parents, nowadays.

My daughter is in Kindergarten too. She gets one sheet a day that reflects something she learned that day to re-enforce what she learned. Really it takes 5-10 mins of this work at home, at kindergarten age I think that is a perfect amount of time to learn the skill of sitting down and making sure all homework is done.

I help my daughter read thru the worksheet, then we talk about what she thinks needs to be done. Then while I clean up the kitchen from dinner items she sits at the table and does the sheet. I let her know if she has a question to ask me. I then go over the sheet with her after she does it and as we are talking about if she sees a mistake she can correct it otherwise I let it be (I do not point it out we just talk thru the worksheet).

All teachers have their own opinion on this. Ask your child's teacher. I'm a second grade teacher and I would prefer the parent correct their child. I remember hearing a statistic, at a professional development training, that once a child makes a mistake it takes more repetitions to correct the mistake. I have never used homework as a guide to see if a student has met mastery. I go strictly by classroom monitoring and assessments.

Kids are a handful, huh? It sounds like he understands, but didn't want to do it the way the teacher wanted? Ultimately he has to deal with the consequences with the teacher. As long as you are clear in explaining the work to him, he has to do it. So I would have probabaly let him color it yellow and let the teacher correct it.

Homework in Kindergarten is stupid for a variety of reasons. However, I believe the goal is mostly to get them used to the process of sitting down for a few minutes every day and concentrating on an addignment. So in this way, you were successful. If you see continual insistence from him to do things differently, let the teacher know you are concerned. But she has a way to deal with this in class, and would let her handle it.

My rising second grader and I have these "conflicts" often. I ususally say, "well, it's your decision, but this is my understanding of what the teacher wants." Or "Let's ask the teacher to make sure."

Isnt this the beginning of Kindergarten?? why would he expected to read independently? I would have showed him how to MATCH the word on the balloon with the word printed on the crayon. Seeing words as a whole, matching like words, learning to follow directions, are very appropriate skills for young K's. without expecting an immediate answer, email your child's teacher with questions about homework to make sure you both have the same expectations about homework. She may have showed the class how to match the word on the crayon with the word in the balloon or she may have expected you to sit with him and use the first letter in the word as a clue.

let him get it wrong.
it is ok for them to get it wrong, it's ok for them to fail every once in a while.
That's how they learn.
I have never helped my kids with their homework beyond reading the directions and walking them through a tough problem , mine are 1st and 4th grade. If you are always correcting their homework the teacher won't know what they need extra help on.

ETA : color words should be sight words for kindergarten. The first list in fact here

Okay, let me start by saying that we homeschool. ;)
I think you should teach your child properly. Have him sound it out again, then ask him to say it quickly. If he thinks it is yellow, ask him to say "yellow" very slowly. Then, say purple on the balloon (without telling him it is purple). Ask him if it is the same thing. Keep it light and fun, no stress, but teach him. Don't just give him the answer. Just have him "try again." It does have the same number of syllables, so that may be what is tripping him up. Have fun!

I would make sure he is doing it right. It would be hard to be a teacher for a lot of little ones and having to correct many of them the next day. She will go over the work and probably with the whole class. But I wouldn't want your son to feel embarrassed. Grrr on the homework though.. I am totally and completely against homework! Seems to me that they have these kids enough hours per day. Once again, if I'm to do this work at home they may as well stay home. The whole thing makes me feel like the school system is a tax provided daycare for school age kids.

you know, i always checked my sons kindergarten homework but never corrected it! i didnt think i needed to, but his teacher got mad! she told me that i needed to make sure he did it the right way!
i was annoyed at that.
in first and second we did the same thing and the teachers would comment on how im not doing what i should be when it concerns his homework! i always thought that homework was given to the children to do as practice for what they were learning in class, is it not?
eventually i switched him from that school to another one for different reasons, but they were too uptight in my opinion! our new school is fantastic.
who cares what color the stupid balloon is? as long as he gets it by the end of first grade, its fine!