I have been warned that certain private schools have a knack for putting both the parents and kids to work! And I am experiencing it for the first time this school year. Kindergarten for Nicholas wasn’t too bad only because there’s at most 2 pieces of homework paper a day along with some light reading assignments to be done except under special circumstances of course: Speech Contest, Spelling Contest, etc., but 1st grade seems to be a whole ‘nother ballgame it seems at Nicholas’ school.

Actually, I think this just takes some getting used to but I am already dreading the day when both kids have homework to bring home! Now is that a terrible thing for a parent to say? I guess what I’m getting at is… for the amount of money we pay for private schooling, doesn’t that entitle us parents to have some kickbacks in effort? Perhaps this is just bad thinking on my part to assume this, but I feel like I’m doing double shift work duty as full-time employee plus part-time teacher at nights (both in school and in music). Well, I guess I’m bound to complain regardless of circumstance so to be fair I will admit that I am equally impressed by the kind of progress I’ve seen in both kids as well.

Here’s an example of Nicholas’ homework week:

2 pages of math facts for homework each day (usually completed in extended care). Math test on Friday.

1 phonics sheet for review (to be completed front-and-back)

5 complete spelling sentences written up each day for the words of the day with subject circled and verbs underlined. Spelling test on Friday.

4-5 pages of almost full page reading assignments in preparation for book report(done in class) and test on Thursdays.

Memorize vocabulary words given out on Mondays and their definitions for vocabulary test on Wednesdays. So far, there’s been only 4 for the week so that’s good.

Memorize Poem selection for the week to recite in front of class on Friday. Students are graded on Posture, Volume, Poise, Clarity, and Presence (Eye Contact with Audience).

Other Misc. Tests based on various subjects learned in class (e.g. Geography, Science, etc) on Thursdays which varies from week to week.

There’s book reports and practice compositions they do in class that isn’t required for homework until next year, but this gave me a glimpse at what else to expect when he enters 2nd/3rd grade.