Hello Teacher Irene,

As the weeks go by since the first day of school in September, I’ve seen many changes within the class which took many of us some time to get accustomed to, such as the Home School Communication Book and the Chinese Workbook given out to the students. With the growing number of daily homework assignments amounting each day, the Red composition notebooks are beginning to overflow with worksheets. The inner pages are rumpled and torn which gives the appearance that it has been run over by a truck.

I definitely feel that continuing this method of homework distribution will eventually become slovenly and prone to mishaps. There is absolutely no need to carry old homework sheets back and forth from home daily (there are parents who commute far and the added weight is not at all desirable). Furthermore, one blue bin will not be enough to hold all 33 notebooks by January 2006.

As a senior parent and former Head Parent in Love class, I suggest that we revisit the process of utilizing homework folders once again, where children would receive their daily assignments from you.

There are multiple benefits to this former process:

1. Old work can be kept home
2. Worksheets are kept securely together

(i.e. – I had Mikayla do her Columbus Beginning/Middle/Ending assignment in her notebook because she left it at her grandmother’s house. Grandma later contacted me regarding the ‘extra’ sheet after the homework assignment was done. I decided to modify the assignment because she technically completed her homework and wanted to keep her interest upbeat.)

3. In the past, monthly tuition was given and paid using the student’s folder. It provides an added security that the checks are not exposed nor misplaced. Now we are stuffing these payments in the open slot of the ‘homework center’ without a centralized collection point. Because I used to work for Fidelity Investments, checks should never be left unsecured or unattended due to fraud and theft.
4. For certain parents, it provides an added PRIVACY for those who do not want to disclose their household income. Families granted free lunches meet a specific earning criteria and the school’s tuition bill discloses their financial status. Please keep in mind that these parents will NOT approach you on this matter as it will be appear unseemly and awkward on their part. I strongly suggest that you take action ASAP.
5. Checking homework will certainly will be much more efficient for you.
6. There will be less effort/manpower required having the assistants staple each sheet and paste your instructions on a daily basis. You can cut down the level of work by consolidating all of these manual processes. Simply staple the instructions and the sheets together. This will free up the assistants’ time and you can have them concentrate on other classroom tasks.
7. Communication between the parent and teacher has typically transacted through these folders.

I hope these points clarify what I foresee to be an ineffective, messy, and bulky process. Currently, we have to detach these sheets and re-attach them to the notebook so our children can do the work neatly and properly. As of now, some of the pieces have fallen out and I don’t see any benefit of taping them back to cart old work around.

Speaking of older work, your earlier assignments (the 5 senses) specified that the drawings are to be drawn neatly and compiled in a “All About Me” book. Is the project abandoned?

Again, I am also suggesting that you provide detailed instructions for these homework assignments. Regarding to Bullet #2, I would not have proceeded with the 10/12 homework if a sheet was clearly indicated. Instead, it said - “…and have your child draw/write about what happened in beginning, middle and end of story.”

Also, it would be beneficial if you could include what parents can do to substantiate the support during homework time. For example, Teacher Luisa asked parents to enforce rhyming with certain sounds and have children write using phonetic rules.

Most importantly, I would like to see a higher focus regarding character education on good manners, practicing virtues, and moral training. In the previous classes, teachers have accentuated these principles and it should continue with this class as well. Children should be encouraged to say their greetings and salutations to everyone daily. Teacher Kitty and Teacher Colleen did an excellent job of having the children to respect their elders and everyone by setting good examples. According to the Parent Handbook, courtesy and respect are standards of the school and I full expect this to be emphasized and reinforced at all times.

Please reconsider having homework folders concerning efficient distribution, monetary security, communication, as well as privacy issues which is now a sensitive component thanks to the Patriot Act.

Regards,
Linda Mah
(Mikayla’s Mom)