Pedagogical nonsense!

I confess. I've been to the principal's office. Although I don't recall my first trip there, my aunt described it in full detail.

When I was little, my mother was taking college classes (for her teaching degree). I attended many classes with her, and evidently got along well with the adults. By 5, my grandmother and great-grandmother had already taught me to read, so I went directly into first grade.

Remember "dittos"? Those worksheets copied in the blue ink that smelled funny? They were usually busywork, something to keep the class occupied when the teacher needed to deal with a struggling student, or a discipline issue. Rarely was there any real learning value. Although they aren't in the smelly blue ink anymore, they are still used for the same purposes, that much hasn't changed.

According to my aunt, one day in first grade, I'd had enough of dittos. I marched up to the teacher's desk and slapped the page down saying, "This is pedagogical nonsense, and I'm not going to do it."

That kind of thing doesn't go over terribly well. I spent the afternoon cooling my heels in the principal's office.

I still have an aversion to busywork. My time is valuable, and my child's time is too. I want to spend the time necessary to cover concepts, and the practice needed to be competent, but not to waste time re-doing things in areas the child is already comfortable.

Decide what level of competence you expect for this child, in this area, at this time, remembering that most things will be used and reviewed as you go along. Don't kill the joy of learning by endless drill in any subject... No dittos!