Reader in the Houzzz…

This week, Ella’s teacher started sending homework home. So far, I’m relieved by the homework load. Ella receives a reader and a list of sight words that we work on the entire week. Some of my friends have Kindergarteners who already have a lot of homework. Gross. In my experience and professional opinion, homework serves a very limited beneficial purpose. It’s a great tool to teach time management and organization. Not a problem if you’re working on a longer term project, however, if you’re just doing worksheets, etc for the sake of keeping them “busy”, or just to send homework because it’s expected – fail. First off, the child could spend and hour doing math problems completely wrong. Now you’ve just drilled an improper way of performing the task in their head through rote learning, they’re completely wrong, and now need to basically have their brain retrained. Second, after eight hours in school, give them a break. Third, being able to play, spend time with family and participate in activities after school makes for a well-rounded child. [steps off of soapbox]

Apparently, when Ella’s teacher presented the homework a few weeks ago, explaining the homework bag, the contents and the expectation, Ella had a negative reaction to the idea of homework. Her teacher had to laugh that Ella was already put-off at the idea of homework (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree).

The first homework bag arrived. Ella wasn’t as scarred as she presumed she would be. Her teacher picked a book about weather specifically for Ella because she’s noticed how interested in the daily weather Ella is, and Ella is starting at the second reading level A, rather than AA because of her mad skillz.

The first read-through on Monday was a little shaky. By Thursday evening, the day before the book was due back, she was a solid little reader! So exciting.

I took a video of Ella’s second time reading the book. Spring Weather goes down as the first book Ella ever read by herself! Reading is a life-changer.

I would say Kindergarten sits well with Ella. In fact, when I was talking about how Ella would be in second grade when Lily started Kindergarten, Ella burst into tears. She wants to stay in Kindergarten. We’ll work on her aspirations, but for now, I’m glad she loves school.

A dramatic reading of Spring Weather, as read by Samuel L. Jackson  Ella.