I need help :arghh: I sat down with my daughter yesterday to do her homework and ended up crying. The whole thing was so freakin' frusterating. She wasn't paying attention AT ALL...I seriously almost lost mind. I need ideas my friends, we are only in Kindergarten here and homework should result in both of us crying:arghh:
homework...
- Thread starter fallon
- Start date
well we sat at the kitchen table and I turned off the TV in the livingroom so she couldn't even hear it. Logan was napping and the house was quite as could be. I have to missing something...lol I felt like the worst parent ever by the time it was all over
Ya I have nothing. I'm sorry it was so frustrating. When I'm trying to explain something or teach something to DD and I feel myself getting frusrated and she's not listening. I tell her I feel like your not listening. Then I stop whatever we we're working on and come back to it later. Sometimes it works sometimes she still doesn't pay attention. As much as I hate rewarding something you should be doing anyway....what if there was a reward for finishing the homework?
sorry I never finished the post I was typing lol. I meant to say hopefully someone with experience will be able to help.
Maybe a small reward is good. Something like when you finish your homework you can have a sticker. That way its nothing big but just something little.
Maybe a small reward is good. Something like when you finish your homework you can have a sticker. That way its nothing big but just something little.
Former K teacher here, and BTDT with both my kids. WHEN are you trying to do the homework? Is your DD tired or hungry at that time? Through trial and error, I've found that it's best for my kids to do homework shortly after getting home after having a snack. However, some kids need time to blow off steam after school, and may do better with homework after dinner. I tried that with my kids, but it didn't work. It was very hard to reign them in to settle down to do homework after letting them loose. LOL!
Also, what type of homework? What subject? Perhaps the teacher is expecting too much. There shouldn't be tears involved, <I>especially</I> in Kindergarten. Perhaps that particular subject/activity is difficult for your DD for whatever reason. Don't push the issue too much or it could turn your DD off to school. Talk with the teacher to see is he/she has any suggestions or if a different assignment or approach would be more suitable.
Also, what type of homework? What subject? Perhaps the teacher is expecting too much. There shouldn't be tears involved, <I>especially</I> in Kindergarten. Perhaps that particular subject/activity is difficult for your DD for whatever reason. Don't push the issue too much or it could turn your DD off to school. Talk with the teacher to see is he/she has any suggestions or if a different assignment or approach would be more suitable.
It helps to know that a lot of kids are the same at this age. What are you teaching her that's so frustrating, actually? That might point to why the two of you are getting so frustrated. I used to be a kindergarten teacher, maybe I can help.
Try out fun ways of learning that don't involve sitting in one place, and going over what she's picked up at school.
If it's word recognition, take a few cards and write a word on each card. Pick common words that have a single beginning sound like door, window, ball, bed etc. Don't use words like "cat" which they can confuse with the "k" sound. Stick these cards at the appropriate places around the house - the "door" card on the door, the "window" card on the window, and so on. Leave them for a week, and keep pointing out the cards and identifying the words through the week.
At the end of the week, remove the cards, and write down the words on a sheet of paper. Asker her to match the cards with the names in the list. The trick with kids of kindergarten age is to mix learning with playing. Learning shouldn't seem like a chore, and it certainly shouldn't seem frustrating.
If it's number recognition that's frustrating, use the same card trick - place a number of these on the floor with a single number on each card. Play a game of Twister with a twist - ask her to keep her hand on the "7" card, foot on the "4" card and so on.
You could also try the bucket game. Line up 10 food buckets, and number them from 1 to 10. Collect 55 items from around the house - regular stuff, pencils, spoons, plastic bowls, her toys, whatever. if you can find 55 pieces of the same thing, like spoons, even better. Ask her to place the required numbers of items in each bucket. By the time she gets to 10, there should be no items left. Add one more bucket for "zero" - this is a nice time to teach her that the value of zero is "none" so she can't put anything in that bucket.
I hope this helped. If you need more such learning games, let me know. I'd be glad to help.
And please, don't feel like the "worst parent." We've all been there LOL. Just keep in mind, learning HAS TO BE FUN! And at this age, they can find fun in the simplest of things, which makes it easier.
Try out fun ways of learning that don't involve sitting in one place, and going over what she's picked up at school.
If it's word recognition, take a few cards and write a word on each card. Pick common words that have a single beginning sound like door, window, ball, bed etc. Don't use words like "cat" which they can confuse with the "k" sound. Stick these cards at the appropriate places around the house - the "door" card on the door, the "window" card on the window, and so on. Leave them for a week, and keep pointing out the cards and identifying the words through the week.
At the end of the week, remove the cards, and write down the words on a sheet of paper. Asker her to match the cards with the names in the list. The trick with kids of kindergarten age is to mix learning with playing. Learning shouldn't seem like a chore, and it certainly shouldn't seem frustrating.
If it's number recognition that's frustrating, use the same card trick - place a number of these on the floor with a single number on each card. Play a game of Twister with a twist - ask her to keep her hand on the "7" card, foot on the "4" card and so on.
You could also try the bucket game. Line up 10 food buckets, and number them from 1 to 10. Collect 55 items from around the house - regular stuff, pencils, spoons, plastic bowls, her toys, whatever. if you can find 55 pieces of the same thing, like spoons, even better. Ask her to place the required numbers of items in each bucket. By the time she gets to 10, there should be no items left. Add one more bucket for "zero" - this is a nice time to teach her that the value of zero is "none" so she can't put anything in that bucket.
I hope this helped. If you need more such learning games, let me know. I'd be glad to help.
And please, don't feel like the "worst parent." We've all been there LOL. Just keep in mind, learning HAS TO BE FUN! And at this age, they can find fun in the simplest of things, which makes it easier.
You're welcome,Kaytee. Maybe you can begin using them when your little girl starts kindergarten.
Maybe you can begin using them when your little girl starts kindergarten.
My littlest one had difficulty as well. It was confusing to her because she couldn't get straight her b and d's and her 3's and E'd. So upper and lower cases were confusing her. I found a way to work that.
So it depends on the type of work you are trying to explain. I will be happy to tell you what worked for my little one if you tell me what it is you are working with her on. You can pm me. As she gets older you will have to learn different techniques. It's perfectly normal at her age to have the confusion from her brain to her hand or her brain to come out of her mouth. But there are ways to make them understand. Just depends on what it is. I'll be happy to help you if you want.
So it depends on the type of work you are trying to explain. I will be happy to tell you what worked for my little one if you tell me what it is you are working with her on. You can pm me. As she gets older you will have to learn different techniques. It's perfectly normal at her age to have the confusion from her brain to her hand or her brain to come out of her mouth. But there are ways to make them understand. Just depends on what it is. I'll be happy to help you if you want.
thank you so much ladies...it's reading homework, the worst part is they are words she knew in preschool. Is, It, In, no, go, so, mom, and dad. When she actually decided to do the work she knew every word. The problem came when it was time to do the homework. She got stuck on is and was ready to throw in the towel...guessing words that didn't at all fit. She knows all her letter sounds but won't use them when it's time. The only guess I have is that having problems with the words gets her more attention from the teacher, and time with another nice lady who helps with letters and sounds. My frustration comes in when I know she know all of these things after preschool and pre-k. we worked on letters, sounds and reading, as well as numbers all summer also. I am at a loss as to why my daughter is slipping behind in K when it's all things she had already learned
OH!!! My most favorite thing to do... Since there are some previous teachers on here... perhaps someone could make some suggestions for me as well! My daughter, who's 9, makes A/B Honor Roll... every report card since she started school. However, I'm waiting to see what her grade for "Work Ethics" is this go round because last report card she had a 63. She does indeed do her homework every single day, the problem is that it is miraculously getting lost or she forgets to turn it in. WHATS UP WITH THAT???
My oldest son is a completely different animal! He's in 2nd grade this year. We have almost ALWAYS struggled with homework. He would get so frustrated in Kindergarten if/when he didn't do something right. Lucky for me... his pre-k teacher was also his K teacher, so she was already aware of his struggles and kept me informed and helped out as much as she could. Of course, Pre-K and K are more like starter classes, right?! Well, I knew I would be buying a home soon, so I went ahead and changed them into that school district when school started back up after the summer. They had already known it would be that way. My daughter took to it rather well, but my son just flat out would not adjust. When he started there, his class was reviewing the phonograms that they learned the year before in Kindergarten. Well, guess what?! The school he was at before doesn't even begin to teach phonograms until 1st grade. Getting him to school was a chore because he now feared being there because he didn't know what they were doing. Doing homework was a chore because I'm not only having to Relearn these basic principles because they are all very different today than when I was in school, but I'm also having to keep him FOCUSED. We had lots and lots of teary nights. Long story short, after FAILING every single subject on his first report card, I realized something else was wrong. He was in fact diagnosed with ADHD and OCD. It took me a while to accept this fact because I do believe that doctors over diagnose these things. After allowing him to struggle a little longer, I finally agreed to put him on the lowest possible dose medication there was for ADHD. I stand here today and say he has made a DRAMATIC comeback. He's now making all passing grades. He is still struggling with a C in Reading Comprehension, but has A's and B's in all other subjects.
My youngest son will start Kindergarten this August. He seems to like school but doesn't like it when he has to come home and "color" his homework because he didn't do it in class. Suggestions?
My kids get off of the bus, have a snack while watching tv for about 20 minutes, then it's homework time. This seems to work best. We tried after dinner too, and that just didn't work. Once they were out of that school frame of mind there just wasn't any going back to it without a fight.
My oldest son is a completely different animal! He's in 2nd grade this year. We have almost ALWAYS struggled with homework. He would get so frustrated in Kindergarten if/when he didn't do something right. Lucky for me... his pre-k teacher was also his K teacher, so she was already aware of his struggles and kept me informed and helped out as much as she could. Of course, Pre-K and K are more like starter classes, right?! Well, I knew I would be buying a home soon, so I went ahead and changed them into that school district when school started back up after the summer. They had already known it would be that way. My daughter took to it rather well, but my son just flat out would not adjust. When he started there, his class was reviewing the phonograms that they learned the year before in Kindergarten. Well, guess what?! The school he was at before doesn't even begin to teach phonograms until 1st grade. Getting him to school was a chore because he now feared being there because he didn't know what they were doing. Doing homework was a chore because I'm not only having to Relearn these basic principles because they are all very different today than when I was in school, but I'm also having to keep him FOCUSED. We had lots and lots of teary nights. Long story short, after FAILING every single subject on his first report card, I realized something else was wrong. He was in fact diagnosed with ADHD and OCD. It took me a while to accept this fact because I do believe that doctors over diagnose these things. After allowing him to struggle a little longer, I finally agreed to put him on the lowest possible dose medication there was for ADHD. I stand here today and say he has made a DRAMATIC comeback. He's now making all passing grades. He is still struggling with a C in Reading Comprehension, but has A's and B's in all other subjects.
My youngest son will start Kindergarten this August. He seems to like school but doesn't like it when he has to come home and "color" his homework because he didn't do it in class. Suggestions?
My kids get off of the bus, have a snack while watching tv for about 20 minutes, then it's homework time. This seems to work best. We tried after dinner too, and that just didn't work. Once they were out of that school frame of mind there just wasn't any going back to it without a fight.
Fallon,
Last year my son's teacher sent home "sight cards" that had their spelling words on them. Try making some with her words. They are used EXACTLY like flash cards. Any time my son would miss one of them, I would have him write that word 5x as well. This has really helped him learn to spell them and recognize what they look like and attach the sound of the word and the sight of the word together.
Last year my son's teacher sent home "sight cards" that had their spelling words on them. Try making some with her words. They are used EXACTLY like flash cards. Any time my son would miss one of them, I would have him write that word 5x as well. This has really helped him learn to spell them and recognize what they look like and attach the sound of the word and the sight of the word together.
I have a kick butt site for you!!!
This is our districts page but I love it.
Go www.leeschools.net
Go under "for students"
Click under "study aids"
You will find lists of words and you can pace them at different times...like 30 seconds up to 2 seconds. There are many lists and the lists get harder.
There are also several other things on there. We use this all the time. I hope you like it. It's awesome to teach kids everything from reading, math, phonograms.
This is our districts page but I love it.
Go www.leeschools.net
Go under "for students"
Click under "study aids"
You will find lists of words and you can pace them at different times...like 30 seconds up to 2 seconds. There are many lists and the lists get harder.
There are also several other things on there. We use this all the time. I hope you like it. It's awesome to teach kids everything from reading, math, phonograms.
I have a couple of suggestions. I agree with the comments about down time after school with something to eat and a few minutes to regroup. TV should be a reward for after all homework is completed and not a minute before. Where the homework is done is a key factor, but here is what I have learned over the years. I used to insist that the kids sat at the kitchen table and did their work. What I found was that this was too much like their school environment and it just made them fidgety and irritable and uncooperative. Believe it or not, I found that allowing them to lay on the floor or the bed with me in my bedroom was more effective. They were able to relax, I got to put my feet up for an hour or so and relax, while helping them when they needed it.
At least with my children, providing them a slightly less structured environment than that at school for doing their homework in, seemed to relax them enough to get the job done. Before this, I had the most awful homework battles and even considered hiring a college student to be the homework person, till I realized that even that had limited potential because it was just too much like school.
At least with my children, providing them a slightly less structured environment than that at school for doing their homework in, seemed to relax them enough to get the job done. Before this, I had the most awful homework battles and even considered hiring a college student to be the homework person, till I realized that even that had limited potential because it was just too much like school.
Well, thanks ladies... I'll definitely check out that sight. I wish our district has something like that! Maybe I'll send a letter to the school board and make such a suggestion!
I have two daughters. My oldest went through K as if it was a joke. She was so far above the level of what was expected that it was a breeze and I had to give her additional stuff to keep her motivated and interested.
Along comes her little sister....a completely different story....We are struggling in the same way that you discussed in your original post. She has a difficult time w/ stuff that I consider "easy" or believe that she should already know.
I originally made them do HW the moment they walked in the door. It wasn't working for the little one so now I send them outside for at least a 1/2 hr so they can blow off steam. Then I give them a small snack and we talk about what her HW is. I try to come up w/ some sort of silly 5-10 min game that covers the same ideas before we even approach the actual HW. For instance, if it is reading, we play the flashcard game. The cards contain the words she needs to know for the passage. If she gets them right they go in the right pile, if wrong they go in the wrong pile which she will revisit again and again until all cards are in the right pile. We time it to see how quickly she can do it and if she can beat her time. If its math, we might play hopscotch. Once we are done w/ the fun stuff we then turn to the HW and it seems to go much smoother since we just reviewed the concepts that she needs to understand.
Do this take more time? Yes. Is it more enjoyable for everyone? Absolutely! Try to make it fun. K is just the beginning of a long stretch of school years.
Along comes her little sister....a completely different story....We are struggling in the same way that you discussed in your original post. She has a difficult time w/ stuff that I consider "easy" or believe that she should already know.
I originally made them do HW the moment they walked in the door. It wasn't working for the little one so now I send them outside for at least a 1/2 hr so they can blow off steam. Then I give them a small snack and we talk about what her HW is. I try to come up w/ some sort of silly 5-10 min game that covers the same ideas before we even approach the actual HW. For instance, if it is reading, we play the flashcard game. The cards contain the words she needs to know for the passage. If she gets them right they go in the right pile, if wrong they go in the wrong pile which she will revisit again and again until all cards are in the right pile. We time it to see how quickly she can do it and if she can beat her time. If its math, we might play hopscotch. Once we are done w/ the fun stuff we then turn to the HW and it seems to go much smoother since we just reviewed the concepts that she needs to understand.
Do this take more time? Yes. Is it more enjoyable for everyone? Absolutely! Try to make it fun. K is just the beginning of a long stretch of school years.