Colin has started first grade! Yesterday was day one. Along with all the excitement of a new school year came a stack of paperwork for Moms and Dads to fill out. After signing and reading for over an hour i was pleased to pack it all up and have him return it to his teacher. Little did i know more was on its way home today (day two). Those poor trees ;) After another 40 mins of reading i began to realize just how serious first grade is. There is a syllabus for goodness sake. That's what college classes send you home with. A ton of rules (all which Colin needs) and a daily schedule that's busier than mine.
First grade as i remember was full of crayons and chalk board work. Reading and math were also daily activities. These are also the focus in Colin's class, however, he also has nightly homework and weekly testing. I recall some testing but do not remember ever having nightly homework. Times are changing and rightfully so when, according to Chris Hedges article, (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081110_america_the_illiterate/ ) 42 million Americans, 20% of whom are high school graduates, are illiterate. If nightly homework for my first grader will ensure a better future in literacy i'm game. Maybe if there had been homework when i was in first grade those statistics would be different. Just a thought.
