It sucks.
As in, really, really sucks.
Just ask Connor. Or us, too, for that matter. Because we're the ones who have to help him. And he doesn't like it. Not one little bit.
Every week he gets five new sight words to learn. The goal is to help them obtain pre-reading skills - recognizing single words in print so that they can start to learn words in a sentence. Right now we have about forty sight words in his little storage box. He knows about 10 off the top of his head. He can sound out about 10 more with help. And the other 20 he just looks up at you and smiles. You know, hoping you will just tell him what it is and he can be done.
This part takes the longest. It can sometimes ruin the whole session, because if he doesn't cooperate, we stop where we are and start all over again. With all 40 words. Truth be told, the kid would rather be put in bed at 5 o'clock in the afternoon that finish them.
Next is a poem each week that you read together and do little activities with - things like circling big and small letters, counting words in sentences and finding the shortest or longest sentence. There's also activities with rhyming words or words that have similar "hunks and chunks" to get them to start recognizing that once they learn parts of certain words, it will open up a whole bunch of other words.
Last is reading. They track how many minutes you read with them each night, and do some kind of total at the end of the semester or the year. This is the hardest part, because we usually do story time right before bed. And with the whole I'd rather go to bed than do homework mindset, there are a lot of nights where he goes to bed with no story. We have to fit it in some other time.
I've actually started beginning our homework sessions with a book - his choice - because it seems to ease him into it a little bit better. Next we do the poem. And then we end with sight words. This is just opposite of the homework list that comes home every week. But it seems to help for Connor. At least we're finishing two out of three if he gives up on us during the sight words.
Homework takes anywhere from 30 minutes on a good day (very rare) to an hour (much more likely, when you're fighting with him for every word or activity).
Connor likes school. He's actually pretty bright. But he's picked up something from his little brothers. He only tries when it's something that he likes to do. Apparently with ALL of my children, it's about motivation. Give him an activity he likes, Connor is all for it. Give him sight words ... well, he'd rather just go to bed, thanks.
Sigh, good times. And we can't wait for next year. Homework for three boys, two in kindergarten and one in first grade.
