homework in kinder

Free Printable Kindergarten Worksheets Pdf

Are you looking for free printable worksheets for kindergarten ? Then you’ve come to the right place! Here, on Planes & Balloons, we offer a variety of kindergarten worksheets that help with language arts and math lesson plans – teaching letters and letter sounds, numbers, shapes, counting, phonics, and sight words, but also puzzles, fine motor activities and so much more!

Letter recognition, including tracing and writing the ABCs.

Worksheets to practice word problems, sorting, or size comparison.

Language arts

Great printables for expanding vocabulary, and reading and writing practice.

Reading, writing, and counting numbers 1-100.

Teach basic patterns including AB, ABB, ABC, and more!

Shape worksheets for teaching 2d and some 3d shapes in kindergarten.

Sight words

Fun exercises to practice sight words with your kids!

Letter sounds, CVC words, and other fun worksheets.

Addition & Subtraction

Simple addition and subtraction activities for kindergarten.

Kindergarten math worksheets for teaching ten frames.

Free printable activities like puzzles and I spy worksheets for fun!

Summer review After Kindergarten

A fantastic bundle full of summer learning for your rising first grader! 120 pages of fun math, reading, and writing activities for the long summer break.

Kindergarten printable packets

Enjoy bundles of worksheets in these printable packets for kindergarten. You will find multiple worksheets in one PDF download!

• Halloween kindergarten worksheets
• The first week of kindergarten worksheets
• Kindergarten review packet for springtime
• Five senses worksheets for kindergarten
• Spring kindergarten learning pack
• Summer worksheets for pre-k and kindergarten
• Fall worksheets for kindergarten
• Valentine’s Day worksheets bundle
• Fall worksheets for preschool and kindergarten
• Fun Christmas worksheets bundles
• Free winter activities for preschool and kindergarten
• Free Thanksgiving worksheet bundles

The Latest Kindergarten Worksheets

Summer Beginning Sounds Worksheets

Summer Letter Hunt

Summer Mini Book Free Printable

Counting Bugs Numbers 1-20 Worksheets

Bugs Alphabet Worksheets

Matching Shapes Worksheets For Kindergarten

Spring I Spy Free Printable

Winter Alphabet Tracing Worksheets

Kindergarten Sight Words

• Kindergarten Curriculum

Kindergarten Worksheets

Free Kindergarten Worksheets

Free Kindergarten Worksheets for all subjects! You'll love our free printable kindergarten math worksheets, sight word worksheets, phonics worksheets, science worksheets, writing worksheets, spelling worksheets because they are filled with hands-on fun!  Use our PDF printables, activities, and games to help you teach kindergarten at home or in the classroom.

Kindergarten Math Worksheets

Free Kindergarten Math worksheets and printables. Students work on addition, subtraction, numbers, number recognition, skip counting, comparing, graphing, ten frames, tally marks, number lines, shapes and more!

Kindergarten Addition Worksheets

Addition worksheets for kindergarten, addition color by number worksheets, kindergarten addition games, kindergarten addition drills worksheets, kindergarten subtraction worksheets, kindergarten skip counting worksheets, kindergarten shape worksheets, kindergarten make 10 worksheets, kindergarten number worksheets.

Free printable sight word lists, flashcards, worksheets, games, activity pages and more!  These free preschool and kindergarten sight word PDF printable are based on the Dolch 220 sight word list.

Kindergarten Sight Word Worksheets

Kindergarten sight word games, kindergarten sight word flashcards, kindergarten sight word playdough, kindergarten sight word printables.

Kindergarten Phonics Worksheets

Free printable kindergarten phonics activities, worksheets, handwriting pages, mini-books, and more!  Your students will learn over 30 word families with our free kindergarten reading printables. 

Kindergarten Alphabet Worksheets

Kindergarten Alphabet Worksheets and printables for kindergarten skills and standards. Your students will work on letter recognition, letter order, ASL, beginning letter sounds, phonics, handwriting, and more. 

Kindergarten Writing Worksheets

Learning how to write a sentence is an important skill to hit during the kindergarten year!  We've created fun and free kindergarten writing prompt exercises for learning capitalization, punctuation, strong sentences, and more! 

Kindergarten Writing Prompts

Kindergarten directed drawing prompt, kindergarten picture writing prompts, paragraph writing prompts, silly monster writing prompts.

Kindergarten Spelling Worksheets

Free kindergarten spelling worksheets, spelling lists, activities, and more. Your students can build their own spelling journal for simple writing references. 

Kindergarten Science Worksehets

Free printable kindergarten science worksheets for kindergarten. Students will learn insect life cycles, recycling & composting with our free science printables.

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  Kindergarten Worksheets

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• Kindergarten Math Worksheets

Building a Strong Mathematical Foundation: Empowering Children from the Start

Learning fundamental math in kindergarten is crucial. It builds confidence and prepares children for more advanced concepts. Our kindergarten math category includes worksheets for early stages and slightly more advanced levels. They cover numbers, counting, measurement, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, we offer free worksheets on addition, subtraction, fractions, place value, graphs, and patterns. These materials are designed to be both fun and educational. You can use all our free math worksheets online, except for the premium collection. They serve as valuable tools for parents and teachers.

Please share our free worksheets. Thank you!

Free Math Worksheets

Flexible Options: Download, Print, or Use Our Free Math Worksheets Online

• Printable Worksheets - Effortlessly Print from Your Web Browser
• PDF Worksheets - Easily Download and Access Files Anytime
• Interactive Digital Worksheets - Enjoy an Engaging Online Experience

Our math worksheets are designed to be convenient for educators and families. We offer three options to access our free worksheets. You can download the PDF file, print it from your browser, or use the online version of our kindergarten worksheets. These options allow you to save, print, or complete our worksheets directly on our website. By providing these flexible options, we aim to make learning math accessible, convenient, and engaging for teachers, parents, and kids.

Kindergarten Numbers Worksheets

• Color By Number Worksheet
• Numbers 1 to 5 Worksheet
• Numbers 6 to 10 Worksheet
• Coloring Numbers Worksheet
• Color by Code Worksheet
• Identifying Numbers Worksheet
• Number Match Worksheet
• Practice Writing Numbers Worksheet
• Preschool Numbers Worksheet
• Prime Numbers Worksheet
• Snail Number Match Worksheet
• Traceable Numbers Worksheet
• Count and Match Numbers Worksheet
• Number One Worksheet
• Number Two Worksheet
• Number Three Worksheet
• Number Four Worksheet
• Number Five Worksheet
• Number Six Worksheet
• Number Seven Worksheet
• Number Eight Worksheet
• Number Nine Worksheet
• Number Ten Worksheet
• Get More Worksheets

Kindergarten Addition Worksheets

• Animal Picture Addition Worksheet
• Color by Addition Worksheet
• Column Addition with Pictures Worksheet
• Spin the Wheel Addition Worksheet
• Flower Picture Addition Worksheet
• Easy Column Addition Worksheet
• Simple Word Problem Addition Worksheet
• Fruit Picture Addition Worksheet
• Column Addition Worksheet
• Olympics Math Worksheet
• Cats Picture Addition Worksheet
• Bug Picture Addition Worksheet
• Fact Family Worksheet
• Adding Pictures Worksheet
• Add and Match Picture Addition Worksheet

Kindergarten Subtraction Worksheets

• Basic Subtraction with Pictures Worksheet
• Column Subtraction with Birds Worksheet
• Subtraction Worksheet with Pictures
• Starfish Subtraction Worksheet
• Fruit Picture Subtraction Worksheet
• Animal Picture Subtraction Worksheet
• Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Dinosaur Column Subtraction Worksheet
• Simple Subtraction Word Problem Worksheet
• Dinosaur Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Ladybug Subtract and Match Worksheet
• Ice Cream Subtraction Worksheet

Kindergarten Shapes Worksheets

• Circle Worksheet
• Square Worksheet
• Rectangle Worksheet
• Triangle Worksheet
• Shapes Recognition Worksheet

Kindergarten Counting Worksheets

• Counting Baby Chicks Worksheet
• Counting Lesson Worksheet
• Counting Cats Worksheet
• Counting Dogs Worksheet
• Count and Color Worksheet
• Caterpillar Missing Number Worksheet
• Chicken Missing Numbers Worksheet
• Animal Counting Worksheet
• Space Counting Worksheet
• Spaceship Missing Numbers Worksheet
• Ten-Tastic Counting Worksheet
• Before and After Numbers Worksheet

Kindergarten More or Less Worksheets

• Picture Comparison Worksheet
• Comparing Numbers from 1 to 10 Worksheet
• More or Less Activity Worksheet
• Comparison Worksheet
• More or Less Number Worksheet
• Comparing Numbers Worksheet
• Butterflies More or Less Worksheet

Kindergarten Measurement Worksheets

• Measuring Height Worksheet
• Measuring Length with a Ruler Worksheet
• Weight Measurement Worksheet
• Weight Comparison Worksheet
• Animal Measurement Worksheet
• Inches Worksheet
• Heavier or Lighter Worksheet
• Capacity Worksheet
• Metric Measurement Worksheet
• Pound Measurement Worksheet

Kindergarten Patterns Worksheets

• Geometry Patterns Worksheet
• Animal Patterns Worksheet
• Number Patterns Worksheet

Kindergarten Making 10 Worksheets

• Adding to 10 Worksheet
• Color by Making 10 Worksheet
• Caterpillar Making 10 Game Worksheet
• Spin the Wheel Making 10 Worksheet
• Let's Make 10 Worksheet

Kindergarten Place Value Worksheets

• Apple Place Value Worksheet
• Tens and Ones Worksheet
• Egg Place Value Worksheet

Kindergarten Graphs Worksheets

• Farm Animals Bar Graph Worksheet
• Dinosaur Bar Graph Worksheet
• Flower Bar Graph Worksheet
• Fish Bar Graph Worksheet
• Seashell Bar Graph Worksheet
• Animal Coordinates Worksheet
• Insect Coordinates Worksheet
• Line Graph Worksheet

Kindergarten Fractions Worksheets

• Equal Parts Worksheet Printable
• Matching Halves of Shapes Worksheet
• Draw the Other Half of Shapes Worksheet
• Halves Worksheet
• Fractions Worksheet

Kindergarten Time Worksheets

• Telling Time Worksheet
• Matching Clocks Worksheet
• Cut-and-Paste Time Worksheet

Main Categories of Kindergarten Worksheets

• Kindergarten English Worksheets
• Learning About Our World
• Kindergarten Holiday Worksheets
• Kindergarten Seasons Worksheets

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How To Create Kindergarten Homework That Parents And Kids Will Love

Kindergarten homework is not developmentally appropriate.  There I said it.  Five-year-olds are not meant to sit down to do paper and pencil tasks about reading and writing.  Somewhere along the way, someone who was most definitely not a kindergarten teacher decided that five and six-year-olds MUST read by the end of kindergarten. 

This created unrealistic expectations of teachers to somehow overcome brain science and teach students how to read.  Teachers began assigning sight word homework in addition to leveled readers and math worksheets.  Suddenly, kindergarten kids have as much homework as older elementary students.  Yet, there are no studies to support the notion that homework in kindergarten helps kids to achieve more. 

Some teachers have stopped assigning homework altogether but others are required to assign kindergarten homework.  Read on to find developmentally appropriate ways to assign kindergarten homework that parents will love.

Teachers Under Pressure

The pressure put on teachers to have all kindergarten students meet the same high academic standards at the same time is completely unrealistic.  Then that pressure was transferred to teachers who decided that in order to achieve this goal, they needed to share the responsibility with parents.  Then parents decided that they need  kindergarten homework to help them to achieve this goal.

This notion isn't all bad.   Sharing learning responsibilities with families is a productive way to help students achieve and giving parents activities and skills to practice at home is certainly helpful.   The problem is that we've lost sight of what we know is natural child development.   

So what can teachers do to help their young students to practice skills at home but still allow them to be kids?  We can start by giving students a variety of homework options rather than requirements.  In distance learning or remote learning situations, teachers are under even more pressure!  Check out this page for some distance learning types for Kindergarten teachers. 

Keep Homework Fun!

Kids work hard all day (or for half the day) at school.  They don't need to go home to sit with worksheets and pencils to continue to practice sight words (which the latest brain research doesn't support anyway, but that's a blog post for another day). 

In school, we know that all kids have different learning styles so we need to remember this when assigning homework.   Sending the same worksheet with each student is not differentiating.  You can differentiate homework by giving students options and allowing families to choose the activities that are the best fit for their students.

Keep “assignments” fun and engaging with a variety of ways to practice important foundational skills.  Think about how you design engaging centers and apply that to homework.  Practice writing letters and numbers in sand, finger paint or shaving cream!  Create math problems with toys or breakfast cereal.  Play games with dice to develop number sense and social skills like taking turns.  There are so many fun possibilities!

Give Families Homework Options!

Think about your academic goals for the week or the month.  Then create a list of 15 – 20 choices full of skills you want your students to practice.  This can be a list, a chart, or even a calendar!  You can send this list home to give families options and give kids some choice in their assignments. 

You can choose to include only academic tasks but I like to include some more developmentally appropriate skills that are often overlooked.  Skills like memorizing phone numbers and addresses are important things kids do not often do anymore.  You can add life skills like practice playing games (winning and losing with grace), tying shoes, helping to fold laundry and more.

I try to limit paper-pencil options.  However, when I do include them, I try to keep them open-ended.  For example, instead of practicing writing letters with a pencil, encourage students to write letters in sand or pudding.  If you want kids to practice writing, give them fun writing prompts or open-ended options.  For math practice, instead of doing a page of addition problems, have students tell and solve their own addition story problems using their favorite toys.  There are a lot of easy, no extra materials needed ways to practice these skills that won't stress kindergarten kids or parents.

Need to know more about assigning Kindergarten Homework?

How Do You Find the Time to Revamp Homework?

Time is one of the biggest challenges any teacher faces.  Finding time to rework your kindergarten homework assignments is difficult.  I can help!  Sign up for my e-mail list here and I will send you a completely free, editable homework menu to try in your classroom!  If you don't have time to create your own, I have monthly homework menus in my TPT store.  You can check them out here. 

I am hopeful that the pendulum is swinging back to more developmentally appropriate practices in kindergarten.  I'm happy to see that many districts across the country are returning to play-based learning in kindergarten.  This gives me hope!  In the meantime, let's try some new homework options for our youngest students.  What other suggestions do you have for homework in kindergarten?  I'd love to hear them!

One Comment

Your first statement in the last paragraph says it all! I have been making some noise about developmentally appropriate practices for years. We are beginning our school year with testing, testing, testing! I will be teaching students face to face and online at the same time. I have no idea where to start so I decided to do some research and found your site. I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Please keep up the good work!!

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Miss Kindergarten

Kindergarten Teacher Blog

Kindergarten Homework Packets Quarter One

Back to School

Also available in the following bundles

More about this resource

Do you need weekly kindergarten homework that is… ♥  EASY TO ASSEMBLE? ♥ FUN FOR YOUR STUDENTS? ♥ CORRELATED TO THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS?

Well, here it is!! This homework is SUPER easy to assemble…just print out one page double sided and your homework for the week is DONE!

This homework packet includes weekly homework for your entire kindergarten year! Each week can be printed onto 1 page (front to back) so not only is it easy to assemble, but it also saves paper! If you need larger print for your students, full page HW is included as well!

Find the  Kindergarten Weekly Homework Year Long Bundle here!

What’s included?

• Meaningful practice pages This homework pack contains 8 WEEKS of meaningful kindergarten homework for your first quarter of school. {D’Nealian Print also included!}
• Half page and full page options Each week can be printed onto 1 page (front to back) for 4 day’s worth of homework. Not only is it easy to assemble, but it also saves paper! If you’d rather send a FULL PAGE of homework instead, that option is also included.
• Editable options This homework is also EDITABLE! Included in this download, you will find a PowerPoint file that makes it easy to CUSTOMIZE this homework for your students/classroom! *You will need access to Microsoft PowerPoint in order to edit this file*
• Standards based skills All of the skills that are covered are standards based and cover what your students are learning throughout the first quarter of school. The skills can be completed by your students independently (or with minimal parental help)! There is also a parent letter that you can send home to help the parents in your class understand how the homework works. At the top of each page is a checklist to remind your students to read each night and practice their sight words!

The skills that are covered in the first quarter are: ♥ Math • Trace and write numbers to 10 • Count and color • Identifying shapes • Oral Counting • Trace and draw shapes • Missing numbers • Number identification

♥ Literacy • Writing their name • Trace and write letters • Letter identification • Rhyming words • Sight words • Syllable counting • Trace and write sentences • Drawing a picture to match the sentence • Writing uppercase and lowercase letters • Beginning sounds

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Homework Ideas For Kindergarten

Homework is a tricky topic in most schools, especially in the younger grades. Homework in kindergarten is sometimes completely forbidden by the school, left up to the teacher, or required for all students. In my experience, homework for kindergarten students can be beneficial. It can reinforce the skills learned in the classroom and get parents involved in the learning process. However, it must be developmentally appropriate for our youngest learners. 

In order for homework to be perfect for kindergarten, it must be short enough to maintain students’ attention.

Pages and pages of written work will frustrate kids, and busy parents do not want to complete more school work for hours each evening. Short, meaningful assignments will keep kids and parents engaged. They will also be more likely to positively influence learning. 

In addition to the amount of time assignments take, the content of the assignments is also important to consider for kindergarten students. Research has shown again and again that reading with a parent (and independently) for 15-20 minutes daily is extremely beneficial to young learners. So reading together is probably the most important part! 

Assignments should also reinforce basic skills with targeted practice. It is not the time for learning completely new concepts. Additionally, assignments with oral components are perfect for kindergarten students. As they interact and talk with their caregivers, they are learning important communication skills. They are also cementing their understanding of the concepts they’ve been learning at school. 

So- short, meaningful, targeted homework that involves parents seems to be the perfect recipe for kindergarten.

That’s a lot to think about when making assignments. If you don’t have the time to plan and prepare assignments that fit your needs for homework- my Kindergarten Homework Packets might be the answer! 

This bundle includes homework packets for the entire year . They are editable, but can also be printed and used immediately. The homework packets are set up to go home every three weeks. You choose three books to send home with each packet, and your students will have everything they need for meaningful homework. 

Sight words as well as Common Core standards for reading, writing, math, science, and social studies are all addressed throughout the year. Activities include written and oral activities that are perfect for school-home connections. Your students will enjoy their homework, and you can rest assured that it is appropriate and engaging. 

What are your thoughts on homework in kindergarten? Let me know in the comments!

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Kindergarten Homework: Is It Appropriate?

• April 11, 2015

Homework has become somewhat of a hot topic lately. I’ve read articles about schools adopting no-homework policies. I’ve seen research on the ineffectiveness of homework. I’ve found infographics on the absence of homework in other successful nations.

All of this has made me question whether or not my students should have homework. I’m a reading specialist, so I don’t assign homework in my current position. But as a Kindergarten teacher, I did give out a very brief weekly homework packet. Was it a waste of my time? Did I damage my students’ learning or home lives? Should Kindergarteners have homework at all?

I believe that Kindergarteners  can benefit from a very small, purposeful amount of simple homework. No, I don’t mean 5 meaningless worksheets a night. No, I don’t mean elaborate projects that their parents end up doing. But I do feel that a very small amount of Kindergarten homework can be valuable, particularly when the homework is reading . And here’s why:

• Homework is an opportunity for parents to show kids that they value education.  When a parent (or other family member) sits down with a child to work on homework, that adult figure is telling the child, “Hey, this is important. This is something I value.”
• Homework can give parents an idea of what students are working on in class.  Kindergarten was a long time ago for many parents! Kindergarten expectations have also changed greatly over the years. By assigning meaningful homework that is relevant to what is going on in class, we can give parents a window into their children’s daily lives and learning.
• Homework can provide students with additional practice and repetition.  I don’t know about you, but my Kinders sure need a lot of repetition to master concepts! Having my students spend 5-10 minutes practicing something outside of school is an opportunity to get in some of that extra practice.
• Homework can send kids the message that learning needn’t be restricted to school.  When you assign kids meaningful homework that encourages them to interact with their families and home environment, this sends the message that learning happens  everywhere – not just at school. Here’s an example of a simple homework task that sends this message:  “Find 4 things in your house that start with the letter g. Draw them on this paper.”

What Appropriate Kindergarten Homework Looks Like

Okay, so what kind of homework is appropriate for Kindergarten? Here are some suggestions for designing positive homework experiences:

• Emphasize reading.  It’s so valuable for kids to spend time reading with their parents. Maybe for homework you request that parents read with their children for 10 minutes a night – and that’s it!
• Give assignments that are SUPER brief!  Kindergarteners’ attention spans are short. So their homework should be short, too! If I send home a task, I try for something that can be completed in about 5-10 minutes. If you do send home a small weekly homework packet, make sure to educate parents about the importance of doing some each night (rather than all of it on Thursday night!). Check in periodically with students and parents to make sure that the homework isn’t taking too long. (And don’t feel like you “have to” give homework every day…many kids have a long day at school already.)
• Provide tasks that are meaningful.  An assignment like “Find 4 things in your house that start with the letter g. Draw them on this paper” is more fun and engaging than a worksheet on the letter g! When possible, involve family members in completing the homework. Games and scavenger hunts can get everyone in the family involved!
• Assign tasks at the right difficulty level. Why assign homework at all if it’s way too easy or way too hard? It may take a little time, but giving students slightly different homework can help maximize its effectiveness.
• Create a “homework bag” to provide necessary materials. If you think that students may not have pencils or crayons at home, why not send a few home with the homework? Also, reading with an adult makes for a wonderful homework assignment, but make sure to send home books. Many families do not have access to books in the home.

Challenges of Assigning Kindergarten Homework

In theory, the suggestions above can be relatively easy to implement. But it’s never quite that easy, is it? Here are some of the challenges that I (and my colleagues) have encountered when assigning homework to our students:

• Not all students have parent or family support to complete homework. I believe strongly in educating parents during Open House and other school events about the importance of devoting home time to learning. However, some parents are still not able to help students with homework for a variety of reasons (language barrier, time, education, etc.).
• Finding or creating differentiated homework assignments is very time consuming.   I always have a huge range of abilities in my classroom, and I want to provide homework assignments at my students’ individual levels. I don’t want students to become frustrated by the homework, or completely bored by it. But differentiating homework takes a TON of time!
• Keeping up with missing assignments can be challenging.  Kids don’t always turn in their homework. I can’t tell you how many times I inquired about a missing homework assignment, only to find out that it had been in the child’s backpack for a week! Kids also don’t always do their homework. Trying to track down missing assignments can take up a lot of time.

Conclusions

In spite of these challenges, I still believe that a small amount of homework or time spent reading with parents can be very valuable for Kindergarteners. Because I know firsthand how time-consuming it can be to find the right homework for students, I’ve created a Leveled Literacy Homework series that you can use with your Kindergarten (or 1st grade) students.

The idea behind the series is to give you materials that are engaging and meaningful (like family games), can be used to differentiate your homework assignments, and are ideal for students who either do or do not have family help with completing their homework.

All activities (except for simple worksheets) come with parent instructions in English and Spanish. They also have links to optional videos that parents can choose to watch to learn how to read with their child or play the literacy games together. To learn more about the series, click on the image below.

What do you like to use for homework in your Kindergarten classroom?

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Good information

…i love the information😘😘

Can you specify the age of the child i can apply these techniques upon??

Hi Diana, this article is mostly about 5-6 year old children.

[…] specialist (and former kindergarten teacher) Alison at Learning at the Primary Pond advocates for a small amount of meaningful homework in elementary school, even for kindergarteners, […]

Being the mum of a kindergartener, single mother infact, that works full time shift work and 2 hrs away from any family or friends, I genuinely disagree with homework at this age. I have enough to juggle let alone adding an hour into an already stretched out day, where my son has been at school and then oosh all day, to argue about him not wanting to do homework and IF he sits long enough to attempt the homework.. it strains our relationship. There is no one else around to help with homework, there is always copious amounts of homework …  Read more »

All great points you bring up – thanks for sharing!

We’ll Said. I found the reasoning above to be so thin and void of true reasons for having a 5-year old do homework. They’ll have so many more years to learn homework and the value of education. We send our kids to school for 8 hours a day, I’m sure they’ll understand someday that we as parents value education. I don’t need to do a silly exercise with them to get that point across.

I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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Homework in Preschool and Kindergarten

Homework from vanessa on Vimeo .

Preschool Homework

To do or not to do, that is the question! The topic of homework for young children is one that is fiercely debated in the field of early childhood education. Many parents and administrators are all for it, many teachers are against it.

Some schools mandate homework for Pre-K because they think it’s going to close the achievement gap, others do it because they think parents “expect it” and still others assign homework because it’s what they’ve always done. There’s a little something here for everyone, no matter what your situation.

Different types of homework has been shown to benefit different populations. The type of program you work in may also dictate the type of homework you send home, if any.

Parents and Homework

My goal for homework in my own classroom is to support and encourage parents as partners in their child’s education. It is my responsibility as the teacher to teach the required skills, but it is the parent’s job to help support me in my efforts. In other words, “It takes a village…” Some parents need more help and encouragement than others, it is also my job to offer that help and encouragement to those who need it.

Reading Aloud to Children as Homework

If you’re interested in reading more on this topic I encourage you to check out the online book study I hosted for The Read-Aloud Handbook .

Meaningful Homework Activities for Parents to Do With Children

The book Just Right Homework Activities for Pre-K offers many meaningful activities that parents can do at home with their children. It includes detailed instructions for parents for each activity as well as blackline masters.

Structured Homework

When working with Title 1 and programs that serve at-risk populations it may be necessary to provide parent training through educational sessions. All parents want to help their children, but not all parents know how to do so.

I created the video at the top of this page to show to parents at our “Homework Help” educational session.

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With just one click of a button in ESGI , you can quickly generate parent letters for each child in your class along with corresponding flash cards, specifically aligned to each child’s individual needs.

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In the beginning, some components of a structured homework program might include:

• First Name Identification & Writing Practice
• Number Identification and Counting
• Color Recognition- for those that need it
• Shape Recognition-for those that need it
• Letter Recognition
• Books for parents to read aloud to their child (See my take-home book program )

As young children mature and their needs change some changes to the homework may be necessary, such as:

• Last Name Identification & Writing Practice
• Sight Words (for those who are ready)
• Number identification, 20 and up
• Rhyming and other phonemic awareness skills
• Letter sounds

Of course, differentiation for students performing above or below grade level expectations should always be taken into consideration when assigning homework.

How Do I Get Started Setting Up a Homework Program?

Step 1 : Prepare your materials. Prepare the following materials to give to each child.

• Name Card and Letter Tiles : Prepare a name card for every student using ABC Print Arrow font (see resources section) then print on cardstock and laminate. You could also use a sentence strip and a permanent to create name cards. You can use letter tiles from Wal-Mart or Staples or you can cut a matching sentence strip apart between the letters to make the name puzzle.

• Number Flash Cards: You can use a simple font to type the numbers into a document in Word, print, laminate, cut, hole punch, and put on rings. The rings are highly recommended so the cards don’t become lost. You can also find free, printable number flash cards on-line.

• Letter Flash Cards: The letter flash cards at left were made in Word using the ABC Print font, just print, laminate, cut, hole punch, and put on rings. Don’t forget to make one set of upper and one set of lowercase. The rings are highly recommended so the cards don’t become lost.

• Color Flash Cards: The color flash cards pictured above were made by placing color stickers on paper. You can also find free, printable color flash cards on-line. The rings are highly recommended so the cards don’t become lost.
• Shape Flash Cards: You can also find free, printable shape flash cards on-line. Just print, laminate, cut, hole punch, and put on rings.

Step 2: Next, you will need to create a system to communicate what activities you expect your students to do each night. One of the most effective ways to do this is by creating a monthly “Homework Calendar.”

You can download free calendars online that you can customize to meet your needs. In each space on the calendar indicate which activities you want parents to focus on each night, this helps parents from becoming overwhelmed. At the bottom of each space on the calendar there is a place for parents to sign indicating they have helped their child complete the assigned tasks. You can mark each space with a stamp or sticker to indicate your acknowledgement of homework completion. The homework calendars are kept in our  BEAR books and carried back and forth by the child each day in his or her backpack.

If this method is too much for you then you may prefer the simpler Reading Log method .

Step 3: To implement a successful Pre-K Homework Program in your classroom you must meet with all the parents to explain your program. Do not expect your program to be successful without this critical component. Have an informational meeting or “Parent Night” and send home flyers to invite the parents. Make sure to include this event in your weekly newsletter as well.

When having parent education sessions such as this it is best to have some sort of prior arrangements made for the students and siblings to be outside of the classroom in an alternate location so the parents can focus on the information that is being presented.

• After parents have arrived and you have welcomed them and thanked them for attending, show them the homework video (see top of page).
• Next, use your document camera to show them the actual materials they will be receiving. Model how to use the materials and how to do each activity they were shown in the video.
• Show them a sample homework calendar and what to do with it.
• Explain your system for sending materials home in detail, for example will materials be sent home in a bag or a folder?
• Make sure parents thoroughly understand the purpose and expectations for your homework program as well as your system.
• Allow parents to ask questions and thank them again for attending.

You could also create a video like the one at the top of this page to show to parents.

Additional Information:

• Homework should last no more than 5-10 minutes total each night including the book that parents read to their child.
• Worksheets should never be sent home as homework. This sends the message to parents that worksheets are an acceptable form of “work” and it is a good teaching practice when the exact opposite is true.
• Homework at this age should be fun and children should enjoy doing it. Advise parents that if their child does not seem to enjoy homework time they should make an appointment to see you so you can help them determine what is wrong and how to make it fun.
• Emphasize that reading to their children every day is the single most important thing they can do as parents. It is also highly recommended that you show the parents one of the following short video clips about the importance of reading to their children:

How to Help Your Child Read (English) How to Read Out Loud to Your Preschooler (English) Como ayudar a tu hijo leer (Spanish)

Homework Links

• Homework Tip Sheet
• Name homework explanation
• Ways to Help Your Child Learn the Alphabet at Home
• Supporting Math Skills at Home

More Teaching Tips from Pre-K Pages

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Home » Kindergarten Homework – First Quarter

Kindergarten Homework – First Quarter

• Back to School , Management , Family Involvement

Are you ready to start your year with organized and efficient homework for your kindergarten students?  We have you covered with a free kindergarten homework week!  Tired of pulling things together at the last minute and feel like it’s boring and not meaningful?  Simply Kinder has you covered with our Kindergarten Homework with Weekly Family Games!   Keep reading and learn how to get your first week free.

THIS ACTIVITY WORKS WELL WITH

Here is information all about our First Quarter Kindergarten Homework .  Included in this set is 8 weeks of homework and it’s EDITABLE if you open it in Adobe. It comes in traditional print and D’Nealian.  Easily pull each week’s homework, print, and put into your student’s folders.

Each week comes with a cover page that has a reading log and some sort of daily skills practice. This is great because it helps the family to work with some of these skills that we don’t really teach but are important for the kids to know.  The skills will progress over the year to include phone numbers, initials, etc, but this first unit includes:

Each week also has two pages of academic review.  This can easily be copied back to back to save paper.  It is separated into days (Monday through Thursday but you can change them if you use the editable version) and each day has three skills to review.  These skills also scaffold throughout the quarter; for example, we start with simple sounds and towards the end of the quarter the students start working with CVC words.  Academic concepts this quarter include:

• tracing & drawing shapes
• identifying shapes in the environment
• rhyming words
• identifying the number of objects
• writing lowercase letters
• differentiating upper and lowercase letters
• reading letter names/sounds
• identifying and writing initial sounds
• writing simple CVC words
• number of sounds in words (phoneme segmentation)
• counting objects and writing the number
• writing numbers to 10
• writing missing numbers

And the best part is the family games.  Each week comes with a print-and-play game.  These are usually two pages.  The students (or family) will color the pieces, cut them out, and play the game.  Each game comes with directions and a label.  Slide these games into a baggie or envelop with the label on the outside to build up a bank of games for the students to play all year!  Your parents will RAVE about this component to the homework!  Fourth quarter’s games include:

• Pencil ABC Match (part 1)
• Pencil ABC Match (Part 2)
• Star Number Puzzles
• Initial Sound Apple Sorts
• Delicious Apple Rhymes
• Environmental Shape Sorting Mat Game
• 1-10 Number Puzzles
• I Can Read Tic-Tac-Toe

Enter your email below and I will send you one week of First Quarter Kindergarten Homework  sent right to your inbox now.  And if you already love it and want to save big on the full year set, click here to get take advantage of our half-off homework deal today!

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To read more about our homework AND see what is included in the other quarters, click here .

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Is There A "Right Way" To Help My Kid With Their Homework?

Most kids need to learn to do homework in the same way they learn to swim or, even better, do their own laundry.

How much should we help our kids with their homework? I barely remember getting any help from my own parents as a kid. Maybe they were busy, or maybe I rarely asked for help. And my son doesn’t, either. But we find ourselves micromanaging him to make sure he takes his time and does a good job. And I worry that it may actually be to his detriment. Is this diluting his sense of independence and accountability? Will it make him over-reliant on us? And will it skew his teacher’s view of how well he’s doing when he’s allowed to work independently?

Before I had kids, I did my final internship as a school psychologist in an outrageously wealthy school district. The parenting was beyond intensive, I felt. The kids, spoiled and neutered of their own confidence or competence for getting by without parental intrusion. Mothers in $200 yoga pants showed up at all hours in the school offices to micromanage (or sometimes, just because they were bored). One day on my commute, I heard the psychologist Madeline Levine being interviewed on the radio. Levine’s work (her books include The Price of Privilege : How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids ) focuses on children and teens in communities like this one, who, she believes, are so over-protected that they launch into the world not knowing how to recover from minor setbacks or, say, do their own laundry. A mother called in to ask Levine a question: If she noticed that her third-grader left her completed homework at home, should she bring it to school for her so her child didn’t get a poor grade, or let them learn from their mistake by dealing with the natural consequences?

As you can imagine, Levine gently chastised the version of this mother who would take time out of her own day to haul a forgotten homework assignment into the school office on behalf of her poor child — and I chastised along with her. Now, 10 years and two kids later, I know better. Though Levine’s work is richer than this one anecdote, this mother’s question (and yours) aren’t as simple as experts want us to believe.

Homework stress is born of a culture that takes parental oversight as a given. It takes work to buck these trends.

This conundrum gets at one of the central themes of our current parenting culture: oversight and the conditions that encourage it. We want our kids to roam the streets in packs like we used to, to have unsupervised play dates, to learn how to make a simple quesadilla. We want them, most importantly, to feel confident and capable. But the structures of our modern society, and the habits we’ve picked up watching the parents around us, virtually and IRL, complicate the free-choice scenario that psychologists like Levine lay out. There don’t seem to be any other kids out there to roam with, we feel that other parents expect us to monitor their children, we don’t hear about parents letting their kids work the burners anymore. As we’re all probably tired of hearing, on average, parents today spend much more time with their children than our parents did with us. The kind of independence your parents gave you with homework was probably equal parts ambient cultural-parenting expectations, and logistics. When a child falls in the forest, and their parents are constantly checking on them because that’s what parents do these days, will they learn to pick themselves back up?

Culture influences the logistics of our parenting lives. If your children go to a school where most of the students come from households where parents work multiple jobs, or where families are transient, it’s unlikely that homework will be designed for much parental intervention; it just wouldn’t be fair or appropriate. For this reason, many schools leave big, labor-intensive projects to be done during the school day, and assign homework as remedial practice, something they might encourage, but would never expect parents to oversee. Other schools, because of the level of financial and educational resources available to their families, assume an enormous amount of parental involvement in homework, and plan accordingly. Parents of even young children may find themselves staring down a 10-part assignment, complete with researching and gathering specimens and writing, tasks that even the most precocious elementary-schooler would not be able to do on their own.

What parents need to do to support their children with homework isn’t some objective parenting rule: it’s impacted by the assumptions, often unspoken, of the spaces we live in. You can be the parent who pushes back against this — and I encourage you to try it — but it’s not just an individual problem. Homework stress is born of a culture that takes parental oversight as a given. It takes work to buck these trends. Some explicit boundaries — that your partner, if you have one, should also agree to — might be necessary. We help for 10 minutes a night and after that we write a note that this is really too much to be expecting from home. Or we get really clear on what our kid can do on their own and what they need us for, and ask them to come and get us for our parts.

If your kiddo is really struggling with the content of the homework — remembering how to subtract with borrowing, for example — I would certainly do some re-teaching if needed (and if you also happen to remember how to do that). But I would want their teacher to be very clear on what they can do on their own and what they need a lot of hand-holding on. If you write the essay for them, or re-teach the whole math lesson several times, the person who needs to keep track of what they’ve learned and how well will be getting false information. Some families make a plan with the teacher that they will circle problems that were done with parent help to communicate just that.

Homework is, mostly, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many researchers, totally pointless, so your kid doing a half-assed job on it might mean less than you think it does.

All of that aside, there’s the issue of what to do when your values of independence and autonomy seem to be conflicting with your values of hard work and thoughtful effort. Maybe the homework is reasonable and your kid can generally manage it, but it’s meaningful to you to have them give a bit more. Just like my child’s pediatrician counseled early on not to get too hung up on what he was eating every day, but to think about diet as a longer-term project, I would encourage you to zoom up to the bigger picture of your child’s work ethic. Often we parents forget that our kids are spending hours upon hours each day, out of our sight, tirelessly completing tasks assigned to them by adults, often with little satisfaction. If your kid is doing this, but slacking a bit on the homework, that’s quite different from a kid who is constantly turning in careless work. Homework is, mostly, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many researchers, totally pointless, so your kid doing a half-assed job on it might mean less than you think it does.

If you want to be involved in a healthy way, the best time you can spend with your child and homework is on building what we psych nerds call executive functioning skills . These are the softer skills behind the content learning that goes in to every completed worksheet or term paper — how to set-up spaces for doing work that promote your sustained focus, how to break down long-term assignments into smaller parts so you don’t get slammed the night before something is due, how to slow down when the task requires more care and check your work when you’re done. Some unicorn kids just get all of this intuitively, and hats off to them. But most kids, especially but not only the neurodivergent ones, need to learn to do homework in the same way they learn to swim or, even better, do their own laundry.

Honing executive function is great because it will help them in endless situations, and, ideally, it shifts the onus from you to them. If your kid has a multi-step project like a book report, for example, you can sit them down as soon as it’s assigned, draw a little calendar of the days until it’s due, and help them do some “ backwards planning ” by asking, “What will this look like when it’s done? What steps will go into making it that way? What materials will you need? How long do you think each step will take and what day will you do them on?" Or, maybe you work with them to develop a homework checklist that lives in their designated homework space, and reminds them to check their own work.

The first time (or two), you may have to sit and model these things completely, but the idea is that you gradually release the responsibility to your kid. The hope is that at some point you can just say, “Did you make your calendar with all the parts?” and they will know what you mean. This stuff not only teaches them skills they can use their whole life, but also, by design, it gets you out of the picture.

Because, as you have predicted, they will one day be an independent and accountable adult, treating their own stains and knowing somewhere in the back of their 5G-implanted minds that you did the best you could.

The Good Enough Parent is an advice column for parents who are sick of parenting advice. Let Sarah answer your questions about the messy realities of parenting! Send her your questions via this anonymous form or by emailing her at [email protected].

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What School Subjects Do You Need in High School?

The subjects you study in high school should allow you to graduate, but you’ll also want classes that will prepare you for college and for life as an adult.

• Subjects Offered in High School
• Subjects Needed to Graduate
• Subjects for College Preparation

Picking high school courses is an exciting process. Core high school subjects like math, science, and language arts are required, but a range of others can be selected. Finally being given more of a choice in what a student studies can be freeing, but also may feel overwhelming, confusing, or stressful.

What courses are best? There's no one right path. First, consider what is needed to graduate. Then, take a look at your options.

Parents and teens can work together to choose school subjects that not only engage their interests but also have their future plans and goals in mind.

For example, students who want to go to college may be required to take more years of a foreign language or other classes required by the schools they are interested in. A student who is interested in pursuing a career in construction may want to take an industrial arts class.

Read on to learn more about selecting courses in high school.

Parents / Nusha Ashjaee 

What School Subjects Are Offered in High School?

Most high schools offer the same basic school subjects: Math, language arts, foreign language, science, social studies, health, and physical education (PE).

However, the exact courses may vary dramatically from school to school. Different high schools—even within the same district—often have different course offerings or special programs. If possible, choose the local high school that provides the programs and classes that best suit your needs and passions.

Below is a list of the most common school subjects. However, individual schools may offer a range of specialized classes, such as mindfulness or engineering.

High School Subjects

• Literature or Language Arts
• Speech and Debate
• Writing or Composition
• Trigonometry or Calculus
• Biology (typically has advanced class options)
• Chemistry (typically has advanced class options)
• Earth or Space Sciences
• Physics (typically has advanced class options)
• US Government
• World History
• Foreign Language, such as Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and German
• Physical Education and Health
• Arts, such as Music, Photography, Drawing, or Ceramics
• Computer Applications, Graphic Design, or Web Design
• Cooking and other life skills
• Physical Education
• Trade field studies such as Auto Mechanics, Woodworking, or Nursing
• Personal Finance

School Subjects You Need to Graduate

Ideally, teens should start high school with a basic plan of the classes they will need to take to graduate. Every state has different requirements for obtaining a high school diploma, and each school varies greatly in what it offers to give kids a chance to fulfill them. Different schools also vary in the number of classes students take each year.

The school's guidance department can help students understand the graduation requirements and how their coursework aligns with them.

English language arts

Studying the English language and literature is an important part of high school for every student, regardless of their post-school plans. In addition to studying important pieces of literature, English classes teach teens about writing, reading, and speaking.

Most states require four years of English or language arts classes. Colleges require four years of English for admission. The main English classes in high school include:

Mathematics

In high school, students dig into several different types of math . Algebra and geometry are required at most high schools, and students may choose to take advanced math classes if they are offered.

Most states require three or four years of math coursework in high school. The main math classes in high school include:

Basic life sciences (biology) and physical sciences (chemistry and physics) are required at most high schools. These classes often include lab components that allow students to perform hands-on experiments.

Most states require two to three years of science coursework in high school. These may include:

• Biology (typically has advanced class options)
• Chemistry (typically has advanced class options)
• Earth or Space sciences

Social studies and history

Understanding the past and how the world works is important for young adults. In high school, students will study history and government and learn about how social studies affects their lives.

Most states require three to four years of social studies coursework in high school, including:

Foreign languages

Learning a second language is important in today's global world. While many high schools offer foreign language courses, only 11 states require students to take a foreign language course.  

High school students can fill these requirements by learning the basics of at least one foreign language. They may also be able to choose to take advanced classes to learn more.

Common languages offered in high school include:

• Mandarin Chinese

Other possible language offerings include Russian, Latin, American Sign Language, Arabic, and German.

Physical education and health

Physical education and health classes can teach high schoolers how to care for their bodies' fitness, health, and nutritional needs. These courses often touch on the following:

• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Making healthy choices about drugs, alcohol, and nicotine.

Many states require at least one unit of PE and health to graduate. Other states offer these subjects as electives.

School Subjects for College Preparation

Students planning to go to college should consider how colleges will look at their courses during the application process. Grade point average (GPA) is important, but coursework should also demonstrate academic rigor.

When planning, it can be helpful to balance standard high school courses with some that are more challenging. Additionally, students can do this—and even get a head start on college—by taking advanced placement (AP) or college-level classes.

AP classes are more rigorous courses that teach subjects at an introductory college level. Some of the most common AP courses that are available include:

• Calculus AB
• English Literature
• African American Studies

Students who take AP classes have the option to take an AP test in the spring. If they get a certain score, they can get credit for the course at many colleges.

College credit courses

Many high schools offer opportunities to gain college credit through various programs. Your child's academic advisor, teachers, or counseling department can inform them about such offerings.

These may be online or in-person classes through programs offered by colleges and universities, and a professor or a high school teacher may teach them. Dual-credit programs allow students to fulfill their high school requirements while obtaining some college credits free of charge.

School Subject Electives

In addition to the basic classes, there are usually plenty of opportunities to take electives in various areas of study. These can not only broaden a student's academic knowledge but also teach them valuable life skills and inspire their career aspirations .

In some cases, a student may be given the freedom to choose one class from a select group of options required in the school's curriculum. In others, a student may have room in their schedule to choose to study something simply based on their interests and goals.

Examples of elective classes may include:

• Arts, such as music, photography, fashion design, painting, theater, dance, or ceramics
• Computer applications, graphic design, or web design
• Student government
• Forensic science
• Physical education
• Sports medicine
• Trade field studies such as auto mechanics, welding, or nursing
• Personal finance or business

Students on a vocational track may be able to gain some hands-on learning in fields such as metalworks and woodworking. Many schools even offer the opportunity to gain certificates or licenses that will help them in their future careers .

Key Takeaways

Choosing high school classes requires planning both as a student enters school and throughout their high school experience. The right classes are challenging and engaging but not unrealistically rigorous or overwhelming.

An ideal schedule can help a student succeed, enjoy learning, and have a good academic experience while preparing them for their future plans , whatever they may be. Have your teen set up a meeting with their school counselor if they need any help.

The association between neighbourhoods and educational achievement, a systematic review and meta-analysis . J Hous Built Environ . 2016.

50-state comparison . Education Commission of the States . 2019.

High school classes required for college admission . National Association for College Admission Counseling . n.d.

The national K-16 foreign language enrollment survey report . American Councils for International Education . 2017.

Program summary report . College Board. 2019.

Related Articles

There’s a litter of new cat cafes in South Philly

As soon as he saw Kinder on his first day of work, Jordan Griffenberg knew that she would come home with him.

Such things can happen when you’re a lounge attendant at a cat café, a hangout where people pay to visit adoptable cats .

It’s a dream job for Griffenberg, 23, who works at Get a Gato , one of two cat cafés to open in South Philadelphia last month.

Get a Gato — located catty-corner from John’s Water Ice at Seventh and Christian Streets — serves Colombiansnacks and espresso drinks alongside a cat-theme retail store. The cat room is behind a door and picture window, per health department rules. Owner Jackie Starker also owns Amelie’s Bark Shop , a nearby pet boutique.

The other newcomer is Whiskers Cat Cafe Philly, at 15th Street and Snyder Avenue, which is more adoption center than cafe, while offering free coffee, tea, cocoa, and water to customers who sit among the 20 cats snoozing and playing in its living room setting. There’s also a kitten room in the back.

Get a Gato and Whiskers, both nonprofits, have joined other local cat cafés, such as Le Cat Cafe in Brewerytown (operated by Green Street Rescue), Cat Nook Cafe in Norwood, the Black Cat Cafe in Devon, MeWow Cafe in Doylestown, and PURRsonal Space Cat Lounge in Palmyra. Le Cat opened in 2016, followed shortly by Kawaii Kitty Cafe in Queen Village. Kawaii closed during the pandemic.

Get a Gato is affiliated with Fishtails Animal Rescue , Whiskers with the Cat Collaborative and PURR Philly. The groups quarantine and treat the cats before they arrive at the cafés.

You won’t hear any catty comments about the competition. Philadelphia reportedly has the highest percentage of cat owners in the United States. It also has a huge stray problem, with an estimated 400,000 street cats. “The more cat cafés, the better,” Starker said.

All kittens aside, Get a Gato is a regulation coffee shop. You can get a latte and stock up on cat-theme gifts such as mugs, cards, T-shirts, and totes. The counter’s case is stocked with Colombian food such as empanadas and almojábanas from Cafe Tinto in Feltonville, and churro apple cake from Vanilya Bakery in South Philadelphia. (The menu is a tribute to Starker’s grandmother, born in Bogotá.)

Starker, who owns two cats (Don Draper and Gourdie), opened Amelie’s on East Passyunk Avenue nine years ago. Amelie, her Shih Tzu-poodle mix, turns 17 this week.

Several years ago after a trip to Japan, where cat cafés are especially popular, she decided to open one of her own. She chose Fishtails as the cafe’s partner after fostering about 30 cats through them.

While brainstorming names, Starker’s father, Jeff, playfully tossed out Get a Gato. Jackie Starker batted it around a little bit and decided to go for it.

Architect/designer Jason Lempieri of RethinkTANK used the abundant sunlight from the Seventh Street side to create a bright, modern cafe as well as a source of sunbeams for the cats in the back room. You’ll notice whimsical touches, such as the cat-head handles on the pumps for nitro cold brew, chai, and kombucha; the chair backs fashioned to look like cats; and the restroom mirror with the words “You’re purrrfect” in neon. Local artist Martha Rich created the logo and artwork.

There’s a $4 application fee and a $100 adoption fee. The cats come fully vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and microchipped.

Get a Gato, 638 Christian St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147. Cafe hours: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Lounge: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; it’s $15 (tax-deductible) for a 50-minute visit, ages 5 and up. Reservations are recommended through the website.

Whiskers Cat Cafe Philly

Lina and Timothy Phillips are behind this plant- and toy-filled corner storefront, across from the site that was Melrose Diner before it was razed last year. She worked at a nail salon and he was working at a pharmacy.

Their foray into the café life started innocently enough. They were feeding a stray outside of their house in Chester. “After a few days, the cat brought a girlfriend and then we ended up with 16 cats during wintertime,” Lina Phillips said. They reached out to the Cat Collaborative to trap and neuter them.

The Phillipses became rescuers. “We’d get home from work every night, and just go out, feeding and trapping cats,” she said. One night, they bagged a raccoon and quickly released it.

Earlier this year, they decided to surprise their daughter, who is 11 and enjoys going to cat cafés on weekends, that they were opening one of their own. But where? “A lot of people rejected us for our application,” Lina Phillips said. “They didn’t want us to have animals in their property, which is sad, but then we found this place and convinced the landlord that we’re going to do good here and not damage the property.” They spent months improving the onetime cell-phone shop.

Whiskers now has 20 cats, ages 6 months to 3 years, and five kittens. Lina Phillips said kittens must be adopted in twos if the prospective client does not already have a cat. Those who have a cat may only adopt one kitten.

Adoption fees, proceeds of which go to PURR Philly, are $100 for adult cats and $150 for kittens. (In effect, the kittens are buy one, get one.) Included is spaying or neutering, rabies vaccine and other shots, worming, testing for feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC), and microchipping.

Whiskers Cat Cafe Philly, 1440 Snyder Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19145. Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily; $12 for a 30-minute visit, $17 for one hour.

This article has been updated to note that Le Cat Cafe was Philadelphia’s first cat cafe.

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