Generally speaking, homework is going to increase from kindergarten to first grade. Kindergarten is, in many ways, considered to be preparation for academic work; first grade is academic work. Kindergarten is often governed by different laws than first grade and the rest of elementary school, and curriculum for first grade and kindergarten tend to differ greatly as well.

The fact of the matter is that homework does not only increase from kindergarten to first grade. While different schools have different policies, and while not all educators are in agreement about the actual amount of increase, homework will gradually increase throughout the school years, from as little as a few minutes or no homework each week in kindergarten to as much as one and a half to two hours per night in the final years of high school.

One of the big reasons for homework increasing from kindergarten to first grade is that, generally by the middle of the year, first graders are reading. They are now able to read the directions on a worksheet, for example. They can be given homework assignments that include reading books. First graders no longer require those verbal instructions from either teachers or parents to be able to do their homework.

Fortunately, the increase in homework from kindergarten to first grade generally happens a bit gradually. Most of the time, first grade teachers help students to develop those homework habits by introducing homework slowly, and over a period of time, so that the students aren’t overwhelmed from the very start of first grade. Likewise, many kindergarten teachers will begin to add more and more homework as the end of the year approaches, hoping to better prepare their students for the homework load in first grade.

The final thing that has to be factored into the increase in homework from kindergarten to first grade is the particular teacher and the particular school. Some schools have policies that indicate that a greater amount of homework should be assigned than other schools. On the other hand, some teachers may be more aggressive in assigning homework than others. This is probably the biggest factor in deciding how fast homework increases from kindergarten to first grade, and is also the one that is often the most difficult to know ahead of time.

Posted in School Issues

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