Reddit mentions of Raising Human Beings: Creating a Collaborative Partnership with Your Child

> is there something wrong with giving a five year old homework?

Some people think so. I'm in that group... Studies show homework has no positive effect in the elementary grades; but it does have the effects of being a source of grief, turning fun activities (like reading) into work, and is a thing that takes time away from more beneficial childhood pursuits (play, exploration, exercise).

Whether young kids get homework, and whether they get a lot or a little, varies a lot depending on your location and the zeitgeist. There are times and places where kids are loaded to the gills with homework (usually when here's a cultural surge of "oh no, our kids are falling behind!") and times and places where it fades out (often in rebellion after years of people wondering why their 3rd grader is spending 90 minutes a night with his nose in worksheets). I grew up in a time when it was on the wane; no kids in my day were assigned homework before 2nd grade. It feels like lately the pendulum is swinging the other way - Kindergarteners in particular are expected to do a lot more hard academics (and a lot more sitting still) and I don't think that is productive or healthy.

That said, what you describe is (for now) very minor and is mostly something you want to be encouraging anyway (reading)... so not something I personally would find worth complaining about unless it was causing some kind of issue (eg. the assigned reading is uninteresting or far below/above the appropriate reading level).

> I am going to talk to him about it tonight when he's relaxed.

That's exactly what you should have suggested to him to begin with. You got halfway there with your suggestion to go in and talk to the teacher about it, and he was clearly willing to follow along because he felt you were doing something to address his concerns. If you had simply indicated you were willing to discuss this with him and his teacher at a later time, and gone in with him to talk to the teacher and set up said meeting, he probably would have been pretty willing to stick out another day/week.

>Could it be that his kindergarten is in another school? Could it be that he doen't feel challenged

These are questions for him, not us. The biggest mistake adults make is assuming they, or other adults, have all the answers. Our assumptions are worthless - the only person who knows your son's perspective on the situation is your son. And the more you show him you're interested in understanding it and solving whatever is getting in his way, the more inclined he will be to work with you on it. (Edit: You might check out Raising Human Beings as it covers this in detail.)

What you did today was a huge step in the opposite direction so you may have to work hard to get yourself out of that hole.