Her face told me everything. I’d totally crushed her. She looked devastated. “I thought it was good, mom.” “Oh, baby, I’m sorry,” I said, reaching for her. “I was thinking like a grown-up editor, not a mom. Can we start over?” I knew better. Sigh. When looking at your child’s writing assignments from school don’t […]
homework
Why I Dislike Homework and How the Research Backs Me Up
Do your kids spend hours a night doing homework? Mine do. And I hate it– maybe even more than they do. Seriously, I’d much rather that my kids get much needed down-time to: play, nap, read, run, swing, dance, twirl, build, create, draw, invent, or design. Yet I sit inside with them, trying to pretend […]
Pressure to Read – What To Do If Your Child is Behind in Reading
Are you worried that your child is behind in reading? You thought everything was fine and then the teacher tells you it’s not fine? And, that if you don’t do something . . . he will repeat the grade, he will require summer school, he will be in serious trouble . . . ? This […]
Finishing Summer Writing Homework (GROAN)
My fifth grader is supposed to be keeping a journal over the summer –that will be 1) graded and 2) used as an assessment. (Groan.) Summer Writing Intervention AJ does not want to write and it shows in her work. I can barely get a paragraph out of her. (But, at least she writes with lots […]