An angry Florida blogger has criticized her son’s school for giving her third grader an excessive amount of homework.
Cassi Nelson posted a sad photo of her son on Facebook. The toddler is upset and trying to hold back tears as he tries to finish his homework in the kitchen.
The concerned mother said her little one, named Phoenix, was given “four pages” of homework after only completing “his second day of grade 1.”
In the touching post, which has garnered more than 21,000 comments, the furious mother explained: ‘He now doesn’t get home from school until 4pm and then he has to sit still for an hour or more to get more work done.
“I had to clean up the kitchen so he could concentrate. His little legs kept bouncing up and down. He was full of energy – he just wanted to play.”
An angry Florida blogger has slammed her son’s school for giving her first-grader a huge amount of homework
Cassi continued candidly in his post: ‘Then he broke my heart when he looked up at me with his big, tear-filled eyes and asked, “Mom, when you were little, did you get distracted a lot too?!”
The photo shows mother Cassi Nelson, who took the photo of her first grade child
“Yes, dear baby, Mommy thought so too.”
‘I don’t understand how people expect little kids to sit in school all day, and then come home and sit and do EVEN MORE work…
‘It has been proven time and time again that homework is actually not necessary and actually does children more harm than good…’
She added: ‘If this little guy’s face doesn’t confirm that for you, I don’t know what will.
‘If we [can] do something in this cancel culture, can we please cancel so much unnecessary homework? Especially for the younger kids.
“It breaks their spirit and robs them of the little fun and time they have with their families when they come home after a long day at school.”
The post was shared more than 95,000 times and received 477 positive comments.
The post was shared more than 95,000 times and received 477 positive comments
Many parents placed strong emphasis on the mother.
Someone wrote: ‘He shouldn’t have any homework [in] first class, and if he does, it must be very, very little. This is annoying.’
A second person commented: ‘Poor little man. Children below a certain level should not be given homework! Little children have a hard time sitting still for long, let alone [be] expect you to do hours of homework – for what???
“They are LITTLE CHILDREN! Let them eat candy, play, laugh and do all the other fun things when they get home. You are only a child once. They don’t want to lose that. Let them embrace their inner creativity, imagination, recipes, etc.”
A third person added: ‘This breaks my spirit. Our schools are a huge scam. You are absolutely right Cassi. Homework is ridiculous.
“Children up to the age of 10 learn primarily through real-life situations and play scenarios. It’s just awful. I wish all public schools would adopt a Montessori approach as a matter of course.”
A fourth person wrote: ‘I know girl. It breaks my heart. I don’t agree with most of the homework assignments. Kids have been in school for 8 hours.
“If they don’t get it done in that time, they save it for the next day. All they’re teaching kids is that as adults, they have to take work home and it’s ‘okay.’ I disagree.”
A fifth person commented: ‘Yeah, that’s not okay for first grade. Poor guy – these kids aren’t meant to be in school all day and all night.
“How can homeschooled kids do everything they need to learn in four to five hours, and then we send our kids to school, and seven hours is not enough? It’s crazy.”
Some parents explained that when they saw their own child being just as sad, they switched to ‘homeschooling’
Some parents explained that because they saw their child was just as sad, they switched to homeschooling.
Someone wrote: ‘This is so sad. This is one of the many reasons I am going to homeschool. Kids don’t have to sit still and concentrate all day, in school and outside. It’s ridiculous that anything was sent home.’
A second person noted, “One of the many reasons we homeschool.”
A third person adds: “That’s why I just started homeschooling.”
Several teachers joined the conversation and gave their professional opinion.
Someone wrote: ‘I don’t give my students homework to take home. Eight hours a day is enough to keep little minds occupied. They need and deserve a break.’
A second person added: ‘As a grade 2 teacher, I don’t believe in giving homework.
‘I do send home a reading log and ask them to read for an hour throughout the month, but I understand that they are just kids and they need to be kids!
‘Poor baby!! I remember when I was in first grade, [and] I would come home with two to three hours of homework and I had dance. I literally didn’t have a minute to be a kid and just play. That’s why I don’t send the busy work home.’
Cassi has decided to homeschool both of her children – Valkyrie and Phoenix. She shared an update about her homeschooling journey on Facebook
Cassi has decided to homeschool her two children – Valkyrie and Phoenix.
She shared an update about her homeschooling adventure on Facebook, saying, “Not every child fits into the ‘normal’ box for traditional school AND THAT’S OKAY!!
‘It is up to us as parents to come up with another learning path that suits them better.
‘Just as there is not one job for everyone, there is not one way of studying for every child.
‘Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to take this leap of faith. You weren’t lying when you said it wasn’t hard!
“And I am more grateful to you than I can ever say. You have guided me in all the right directions for our little ones.”
According to the National Education Associationit is recommended that teachers adopt a ’10-minute rule’, meaning that students should not do more than 10 minutes of homework each evening, depending on their grade level.