Most Waldorf Schools do not ask their students to do any homework at all in Kindergarten and the early Grades. When my children come home from school they can play outside, climb a tree, read a book. My heart breaks when I see the crazy amounts of homework my friends children (who are in our local public school) have to complete every night. It has, quite literally, damaged their week-day family time. I am so thankful that our family does not have these same struggles but I am also a little angry (yes, I know… ‘angry’ is a strong word) that my friend’s family does. Especially in light of this excellent article from the New York Times by PEGGY ORENSTEIN that suggests that homework is a total wast of time.
KINDERGARTEN CRAM
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Blessings and magic,
Donni
3 Responses
My daughter is in a separate school board (ie. Catholic school here in Ontario, Canada) and I couldn’t believe it when she came home with homework!! I didn’tt feel it at was necessary AND it was causing a negative rhythm to our evening routine – because a) she didn’t want to do it being tired at the end of her school day and b) she just waned to ‘play’ like most 4 year old children! I couldn’t blame her so I sent a note to her teachers explaining she wouldn’t be doing any homework unless she wanted to do it…they were very understanding (thankfully!). http://carriescatchallcachepot.blogspot.ca/2012/11/my-senior-kindergartner.html
This year with her being in SK things are much better but I am not looking forward to my son starting school in September! I will be on maternity leave for the majority of the school year so I will have no hesitations in keeping him (and my daughter) home on days I feel they need it! As I learn more and more about Waldorf education and homeschooling I really wish it was an option for our family! For now, I am doing my best to incorporate many of its principles and values into our lifestyle. I really enjoy your blog, and thank you for providing the above article.
Hi Carrie, thanks for your input. I think it’s inspirational that you realized the power you have to just NO. I love that you said ‘no homework’ to your daughter’s teacher and I LOVE that she said ‘OK’. And, I also think that giving our young children a day or two at home when we know they need it is such a loving thing to do. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings and magic,
Donni
Wow, that’s crazy! We homeschool our 5 year old, and I’ve heard friends say their kids get homework from school. I am totally baffled, what do they do all day, that they then need to come home and do more work? Is every day just a waste and the real work is done at home in the evenings? I love that your kids get to climb trees and play after school and not do homework!