And, when they do, they definitely aren't smiling like they are in these photos.
As a former teacher and the daughter of two teachers, I do understand the necessity of some homework. I respect the teachers and I know they are trying to help my kids learn. But, after a day of school and in the midst of busy afternoon schedules, homework is the last thing any of us want to tackle. Even reasonable homework has become the bain of my existence most weekday afternoons.
The oldest is in 6th grade at a magnet school for advanced learners. Because of the nature of the school, they often get "long-term" projects that are to be completed over a week or more. She loves this and it certainly suits her learning style, but we have been on quite a time management learning curve since the beginning of the school year. And, if she has math homework, she's on her own. (Unless my hubby is home - Math is his parenting responsibility!) There have been many tears shed over the math this year.
The middle one is just a ball of energy. She works hard to control it all day at school and, when she gets home, the last thing she wants to do is sit down and do more work. She wants to play, ride her bike, anything that allows her to move and let loose all the energy she has kept harnessed throughout the day. When I mention homework, her mood immediately changes for the worse and it seems as if I am torturing her. You don't even want to know about the project she imposed upon herself a couple weeks ago! (But, I'm going to tell you anyway.) She has a list of spelling activities from which to choose. What did she choose the night before it was due?? To find letters in magazines, cut them out, and use the letters to spell ALL 25 SPELLING WORDS ON HER LIST!! Do you know how many individual letters are in 25 different words? Despite my warnings that it was not a good idea, she stuck to her guns. Over 2 hours, many tears, and some yelling later - she finished it. Oy!
The youngest is in first grade, so, let's face it, her home work is not difficult. However, this seemingly sweet and cuddly six year old is actually quite sly. For her, homework becomes a reason to need mommy's undivided attention. She apparently needs help with anything and everything. She can't think of sentences to write with her spelling words, she simply MUST have mom do her addition flashcards with her and she drags out every answer. Without my step by step guidance, she hems and haws and plays around. What should take her ten minutes takes her twenty or more. Getting her to complete her homework requires either my undivided attention or WWIII.
Then, there's the piano that I always forget to make them practice. It seems they are incapable of remembering this on their own. When I remind them, though, they sigh and act as if I have requested some monumental task. And, heaven forbid I ask them to clean up anything. This results in immediate whining, arguing, and mood swings from them and, therefore, from me.
Then there is MY homework like dishes, laundry, cleaning, making dinner, and making sure everyone gets to all their appointments, practices, and lessons. I do have a part time job now. I'm usually pretty good about leaving that at the office (because I really don't have a choice), but once in a while there is something that needs my attention "after hours." Finally, there's this blog which I adore, but it require an enormous amount of my time and attention (kind of like my six year old).
When I graduated from college, I thought I was finished with homework, but I was wrong. Even though I'm finished with school, I still have homework - lots of it - and it is exasperating!
***************************************************************
This post is part of Finish The Sentence Friday. FTSF is hosted by some wonderful blogging ladies. Please give them a visit and check out all the other blogs that participate as well!
Janine at Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic
No comments:
Post a Comment