Clare's Dad

I’m not the only person in the family who’s been working harder lately.  Clare, who last year in first grade became accustomed to homework she could knock off in two minutes, is a bit, um, let’s call it overwhelmed with second grade homework.

It isn’t that she can’t do the work.  Setting her mind to it, she can do everything correctly by herself.  She doesn’t even need me to read instructions to her anymore.  But she still wants me to help.  She likes me to be on the ready so she can question everything she’s done.  She also complains endlessly about the amount of homework she’s getting this year.  But it really isn’t that much more.

It’s probably a matter of confidence.  Maybe Clare just needs to be reassured every day that she’s smart and can handle second grade.  I suppose it’s also possible that her second grade teacher isn’t as nurturing and reassuring as her Kindergarten and first grade teachers were.  Every kid needs a few tough teachers along the way though―and come to think of it my first tough teacher was in second grade too.  (Maybe sometime I’ll tell you how my Dad got me in trouble with her once and I had to polish church pews instead of getting recess.)

I hope the homework problem will improve.  There has to be a point where she accepts it or gets more confident in her ability to handle it, right?  Last week, Clare complained about her homework for so long that it took four hours to do it.  And it was only four pages of second grade spelling.  I think we’re slowly improving though.  Yesterday’s homework breakdown only lasted about twenty minutes.

Have anyone else’s kids had a sudden problem with handling homework?  Is it just because of the start of a new school year?  Or might it be all downhill from here until I let her drop out in third grade?