Always evolving, Never Average
When it comes to elementary education, there are three things I feel pretty strongly about. I don’t believe in homework for students in grades K through 4. I think kids need way more recess than they currently receive. I don’t believe kids should have cell phones in school. If you’ve been around here for a …Read More
This is the box that contained the pizza we had for dinner tonight. Those holes and that big gash in the box? That is the result of a homework meltdown tonight. It’s not the first meltdown we’ve had here. It’s not the second. It’s not the third. Between my second, third, and fourth grader, it’s …Read More
I work Monday through Friday coaching the swim team from 4:30 to 8:30. So I’m not really around once all the kids are home from school to help out with homework, but I am 100% the default parent in that department. Number 3 and 4 get home from school around 3:00, so they know if they …Read More
Editor’s note: I did send this exact email to one of the kid’s teachers, but wanting to not throw the kid under the bus, I changed the Number of the kid and I may or may not have changed the gender. Dear Mr. (Science Teacher), As you know, there is a personal science experiment due …Read More
This afternoon after I picked up Number 7 from school, we made a quick stop at the place where I get my hair cut because I had to ask them a question, and when we left they gave Number 7 a lollipop and when we got into the car she took the wrapper off and …Read More
Today I had a conversation with Number 3’s math teacher and I broke down crying. Yep. I was sobbing on the phone over math homework. And I used to be an elementary school teacher. But last night was the last straw. Number 3 lost all focus. I lost all patience. And ultimately, he crumbled up his math …Read More
The transition from 4th grade to 5th grade in the school district I live in can be tough for some kids. The social and independent part of it has been great for Number 3. And the homework hasn’t been too bad either. But the pace of the math program is really hard for him. That’s …Read More
Our kids finished up their fifth week of school today. This year we have a junior, a fifth grader, a fourth grader, a first grader, a kindergartner, and a preschooler. And I’m concerned about kindergarten again. It has nothing to do with the teacher. I’m more concerned with what kindergarten has become here in Connecticut and …Read More
On Tuesday while I was volunteering at the polls for our town budget referendum, a woman asked me a question about how the schools were addressing, in her words, “the huge amount of stress that students are under.” I didn’t really have a good answer for her. For two reasons. One, I have no idea …Read More
Dear Teachers, I used to be one of you. Overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. For ten years, up until I got married, I was an elementary school teacher. Back in those single days, before I had kids of my own, I felt pretty strongly about homework. Kids should have it. They should get used to it. …Read More
