In a video that has been widely shared on social media, Cayley, a mother of three in Arizona (USA), said that her son received a 15-20 page thick stack of papers, printed on both sides of the paper, on his first day of kindergarten.

This pile of papers included all the homework for August, but when she saw her son looking stressed, the mother decided to send a lighthearted email to the teacher.

She began the video with an explanation: "I sent my child's teacher a cute little email saying, 'Sorry, but based on the level of mental and physical stress my child experiences when doing homework, my family has decided not to continue this.

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Ms. Cayley shared about emailing the teacher to ask for homework exemption for her child. Photo: TikTok screenshot.

The mother added that the incident that prompted her to send the email was when she and her son sat down to do homework on August 26, after the boy fell behind on his deadline. Despite trying to patiently sit with him to do at least 1-2 pages of homework, both mother and son became stressed and eventually burst into tears.

"It was an emotional evening. I felt guilty taking my child to school. He didn't want to go. For the past two weeks, he told me that he didn't like school and didn't want to go there anymore, which broke my heart as a mother, because he was only 5 years old. At this age, the only thing he needed to worry about was studying and eating snacks."

The video has garnered more than 250,000 views and more than 1,600 comments, many of which were sympathetic to Cayley and her son's situation.

“I’m a preschool teacher here – it’s normal for kids to not like school for the first few weeks or even months,” one user commented. “It’s a big change, especially for kids who haven’t been to preschool before or been away from their parents. Be patient, mom. They’ll love it when they start making friends,” she added.

“On homework, I agree with my mother,” he added. “I never assign homework unless parents ask for it, and always state that it is optional. Instead, I advise parents to read to their children every day, that is their only ‘homework’.”

Another teacher commented: "I am a para-teacher, and homework is so outdated and unnecessary now! Most teachers in my area have stopped giving homework, but some still keep it. But you did the right thing!" Other parents shared similar concerns.

"My child is given too much homework. It's even graded, starting in first grade in public school. The pressure on kids these days is overwhelming," one mother wrote.

“We just attended a kindergarten orientation, and my child’s teacher said she wouldn’t be assigning homework, and advised parents to just read with their child. I thought to myself, ‘That’s good, because we’re not going to do that,’” another parent shared.

However, according to The Mirror , there are also some people who point out the importance of homework. One individual commented: "Homework teaches children many things, about planning, organization, discipline, responsibility, hard work and many other things."

One teacher said: "Parents can excuse their children from homework, but it will affect their grades." Another said: "I understand children can feel overwhelmed. But standards are getting higher and if things aren't reinforced at home, our children can fall behind. Teachers don't like that either."

According to the Independent (UK), Ms. Cayley recently updated the situation and said that the teacher had listened to her feedback and had now reduced the homework to one page and added more interactive activities.

“I told the teacher that I was willing to meet and work with her for her child’s benefit. And you should be too. If you see something inappropriate at your child’s school, try talking to the teacher in a polite and gentle way,” the mother suggested.

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