As a parent of 2 elementary age kids in public school, I am watching and checking to see if any of these practices are being implemented in our schools. My elementary kids do have a no homework policy, except that they are to read each night. They also encourage parents to use tools and resources provided when a child needs extra practice. This of course not enforced as homework just suggestions without consequences, but I’ve seen parents around me take these seriously if a teacher asks them to help. I personally like to be able to add our own family values and reading material to augment their public school agenda, so maybe the no homework isn’t so bad if you have the goal that we should always be learning.
My new concern is the offering of re-takes on all the tests for my 5th grader. I remember learning from my mistakes, but there was not an opportunity to artificially inflate my grade because i missed some questions. I vaguely remember we were forced to re-take a test if we failed, which I think is important to ensure children learn the material. Not sure what the high school policy is, but it seems a bit unfair if a valedictorian arrived by just redoing everything to maintain that perfect GPA. This year we were told that they would hold back kids that don’t pass the state reading exam. It is disheartening to see so much emphasis placed on exams. I’d like to go back to when they were just an interruption, not something we practice weeks before….we were preparing for them but it was covert, but not with the overt zeal they do now.
As a parent of 2 elementary age kids in public school, I am watching and checking to see if any of these practices are being implemented in our schools. My elementary kids do have a no homework policy, except that they are to read each night. They also encourage parents to use tools and resources provided when a child needs extra practice. This of course not enforced as homework just suggestions without consequences, but I’ve seen parents around me take these seriously if a teacher asks them to help. I personally like to be able to add our own family values and reading material to augment their public school agenda, so maybe the no homework isn’t so bad if you have the goal that we should always be learning.
My new concern is the offering of re-takes on all the tests for my 5th grader. I remember learning from my mistakes, but there was not an opportunity to artificially inflate my grade because i missed some questions. I vaguely remember we were forced to re-take a test if we failed, which I think is important to ensure children learn the material. Not sure what the high school policy is, but it seems a bit unfair if a valedictorian arrived by just redoing everything to maintain that perfect GPA. This year we were told that they would hold back kids that don’t pass the state reading exam. It is disheartening to see so much emphasis placed on exams. I’d like to go back to when they were just an interruption, not something we practice weeks before….we were preparing for them but it was covert, but not with the overt zeal they do now.