No more blocks, dress-up areas, show and tell time, naps, or recess for kindergarteners in an East New York Charter School says The New York Times (In Kindergarten Playtime, a New Meaning for “Play”) (subscription required). While the mission of the school is to close the achievement gap, the children who attend this school miss out on the most important work of childhood–play. Instead, the children go to school from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and, for much of the day, their teachers drill them in phonics, punctuation and arithmetic. Even the teachers think there’s something wrong: “If it were my own child,” said one of the teachers, “I would want more time for play.”
Stop Homework 
I was researching opinions from parents, educators and anyone else about how much homework a kindergarten student should have.
Currently, my 6 year old son attends school 30 hours per week (full day kindergarten) and then receives an additional 1 hour of homework each night. He has a full time job at 6.
Other parents we know have children that attend kindergarten either a full week with half days or three full days per week. Their kid’s homework may total a half hour per week.
My child once thought homework was fun and he enjoyed doing it. Now, he resists, cries and rushes through it to “just get it done”. After all, he just spent the better part of his day in school.
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