Hector Said:

Son who is 8 has really hard time learning to read.?

We Answered:

what home school curriculum are you using? you may want to check out the a beka homeschool curriculum. you say he's grade two, but you may want to back track and use kindergarten or first grade materials. play some word making games with him using word families (-op, bop, cop, hop, mop, pop, top; at, bat, cat, hat, pat, rat, sat, etc)

if you don't have some already, you may also want to get some Dr. Jean cd's. as for letter recognition, get him some playdough or some sand and play some letter building games, making the letter's sound as yall make the letter. also get the siblings involved. kids have an amazing ability to pick things up from other kids, even when it seems like they're not getting it from you

Cynthia Said:

What is with the amount of homework they give kids these days?

We Answered:

Children get TOO MUCH homework. If my children attended school, they would NOT do homework, per my orders. I would have a meeting with the principal, teacher(s), and whoever else necessary at the beginning of each year to inform them of that, and why I feel that way. I would get as many other parents as possible on board with me.
Fortunately for us, I homeschool my children.

Children already spend 7 or so hours a day in school. The mornings are a rush to get up, dressed, fed and out the door on time. The afternoons are often a rush to complete homework, get dinner served, take a bath and get in bed in time to do it all over again the next day. It leaves little time for children to just be children, for them to participate in extracurricular activities and forget quality family time. It is a sad reality.

I believe homework should ONLY be assigned when something was not completed at school, not as a routine. Exceptions would be special projects or a book report, and of course studying. If you feel your children are overwhelmed, I would consult with their teachers.

Lori Said:

What would Piaget and Vygotsky think about preschools that emphasize reading and math skills?

We Answered:

I think they would make a brainwash with the parents. If the kids wanna learn and the parents help them, that´s really ok, but if the parents demand that the kids learn what they can´t really understand, the kids are in a dangerous environment and you have to protect the kids against their own parents.