I believe homework gives and teaches the student responsiblity but too much homework can damage this. When a child is in the younger grades (K-2) they should have a very minimal amount of homework. They need to take something home every now and then to let parents know they are learning and to start instilling responsibility. Once the child gets into the middle lower grades (3-4), the homework should pick up a little. Having one worksheet with a few problems on it for review each day again instills responsibility and keeps the parents informed. My little boy is in 3rd grade right now and has a spelling worksheet each night to work on, his word of the day, and spelling words. This amount is perfect. It takes him about 30-40 mins a night to complete the homework. It is preparing him for future study habits. Every once in awhile he'll have another worksheet or some other homework assignment but it is not overwhelming. The 3rd grade teachers do a wonderful job on the amount of homework they assign. Then in the upper elementary gradess (5-6) the homework should increase even more to help prepare the students for 7-12 grades. If students go without homework in elementary school, they are going to have a very hard time learning study habits and responsibility in the upper grades. But once the student reaches high school, the homework should not be so overwhelming that it stresses the students out. Having a few problems a night in each class is great review, but having 50-60 problems a night in each class will only create problems for the student and the family.

When Teri had us act like we were in a school in Mexico and she began teaching in Spanish, my head began to spin. It really made me open my eyes up to all those children who start any school here in America. They must feel completely lost and helpless, just like I felt. It is great that we offer ELL classes here in O'Neill to help accommodate these students, so they don't feel completely helpless. The parents of ELL students want their children to learn the English language and have a better education then they had. These families still value their culture and beliefs whole heartedly but want to better their lives and their children's lives by being here. We should be taking advantage of this in the earlier grades by having our children learn a second language. It is so much easier to learn a second language when a child is young than when he/she is older and what better way to learn it with an ELL student in the class. Not only can our English speaking children help ELL children learn our language, but the ELL children can help the English speaking children learn their language.

In class tonight I really enjoyed both topics. On the topic of inclusion in the classroom, I enjoyed listening to Kathy and her examples of inclusion. One thing I learned tonight from that topic was that parents can refuse to abide by the IEP recommendations and send their child somewhere else by paying for it themselves. I always thought the parents had to abide by that districts IEP recommendations. Now that I think about it, it does make sense that parents truely have the final say. In the situation she presented it sounds like a really tough situation for the little boy. All the hard work that the public teachers did for all those years to get the little boy to where he was, is now withering away. My personal opinion is that this poor little boy is now being treated like a caged animal, unable to do anything or learn anything. He is not being treated like a human being with interactions and true social contacts. It is a very sad situation that the parents refused to listen to the trained specialized teachers who knew how this boy could flourish. My heart goes out to him.

As for the topic of homeschooling, I learned tonight that not all 50 states had the same regulations. As I look at the numbers, the 10 states that do not have any regulations with the parents not being required to notify the state just floor me. I wonder what states those are and think about all those children that are falling through societies cracks. Who are their parents, are they truely homeschooled or just forgotten? I think if we (the United States) are going to allow homeschooling, then each family that practices this must report to the state, take the same standardized tests, use state approved curriculum, and be inspected by state officials. Otherwise, a drug user with children might not ever send their children to school and tell other neighbors that their children are being homeschooled. How will a state know the truth unless the family is held accountable. There must be some follow up. There are probably some really good homeschooling experiences out there but I also feel there are bad ones too. In order to wipe out the bad ones, the states must form together laws that hold the family accountable. Maybe, social services could get involved too by helping out state officials and making home visits to make sure the children are being educated and the home environment is a safe and healthy place.