Homework

The first week of kindergarten, there was no homework. There wasn't even a note home about what they were working on in class. I assumed we were starting slow, and quite frankly I was glad. Soon enough, we started getting a daily conduct grade and worksheets that Connor completed at his after-school care. Last week he had a little book to read, and sight words to work on. Since he missed school Tuesday, we didn't get this stuff until Wednesday, and then we managed not to even go over it with him until breakfast on Thursday. It was basic stuff, though, and he had no trouble reading the book himself. I wasn't worried that we were slacking.



Sunday I saw the mother of one of Connor's best friends. This kid goes to Grahamwood, where they expect a little more out of their kids, and their parents, than they do at Snowden. This mother told me how each night they have read the book, gone over the sight words with flash cards, had him write the words, form sentences with the words, write five words that start with whatever letter they're working on (I don't even know if we're working on letters in Connor's class!), and on and on about how much they have done to make sure he gets into an optional class next year. "Yeah, but I sign Connor's conduct sheet each night!" I countered, mentally scanning my desk drawers for index cards with which to create flash cards.

Have I been too passive, and as a result laid a weak foundation for the entirety of Connor's educational career? Not a month into this, and I've already ruined his chances for future success. I guess I'll just start putting more money into his college fund, since he'll obviously never be a scholarship student. Hopefully I'll save enough to put him through some kind of trade school.