Monday nights are homework nights in this house. Daniel’s class has a letter of the week and on Monday, the dreaded piece of paper comes home. In addition to everything else we are juggling, we have to have Daniel think of things that start with that letter, find pictures, have him cut them out and then glue them on the sheet. And on Tuesdays, each child presents his or her homework. Are you tired? I know I am.
The first time the assignment came home, it was a surprise and I groaned because I was solo parenting while Jimmy was on a business trip and had to tackle “A” in addition to making dinner, eating, getting out clothes, teeth brushing, stories, etc. in about 90 minutes. I admit that I located, cut out and glued the pictures myself, making sure Daniel could identify them the next day in class. The next day I confessed to his teacher that I had done the assignment because I have flashbacks to my 6th grade science fair project and the beautiful display my mother created and hearing classmates AND their parents comment how I had obviously had help. I didn’t want to be “that mom” already.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve managed to hit our stride on Monday nights. Once we confirm that we have homework this week, we start asking Daniel to think of things that start with that letter. Then we find pictures and print them. Daniel cuts them out (and does a great job by the way; his skill with scissors has improved immensely since he started school; also our cutting skills are roughly equivalent) and writes his name on the paper (a skill which has also improved dramatically). I glue them on for now only because sometimes the pictures need to be trimmed to fit. It’s a team effort, but I truly feel the final result reflects Daniel.
I also never imagined we’d have homework in Pre-K. And I could write an entire other post on how I need a calendar to keep up with Daniel’s various activities and deadlines for school: field trips, buddies, parties, parent career month, weekly newsletters, behavior reports, etc. Oh my! I consider us doing well if we remember which uniform he is supposed to wear that day as well as whether he needs a full lunch or morning snack only because we paid for hot lunch. Does it only get worse from here?
Daniel is learning a lot, and that’s the important thing. I just wish school had come with a huge binder and calendar for me to keep up!
This week was the letter “G” 🙂
Yes, that lower right image is a picture of God. Appropriate, right?
Family Building With a Twist 