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Ever wonder what it's like to be a six-year-old today? Forget finger painting and dress-up. It's all work, work, work, and no play. At least that's how it is for Sophie Mullins, who took her concerns right to the top, addressing the plight of all first graders in a letter to Sen. Joe Manchin:
“All we do is work work work. I need a break. Can you please help?” wrote the girl from West Virginia whose parents jokingly suggested she direct her complaints to their congressman.
What little Sophie probably didn't expect was a phone call from the Senator himself while she was at Gauley River Elementary School.
“You’re working all the time, aren’t you?” said Manchin. “So what I’m doing is, see, I’m giving you a break right now. I wanted you to take a little bit of time off since you work so hard.”
Manchin then encouraged her to keep working hard at school to "get smarter so you can help us.”
Sophie admitted to TODAY Moms that her math homework, “was kind of too hard,” and sometimes made her sleepy. Plus, being a first grader is so much harder than kindergarten, since there is no nap time. (All in favour of mandated mid-afternoon naps, say Aye!)
“That’s the first time I got a call from my senator,” Sophie said, clearly tickled. She likes school yet is obviously feeling the strain.
“First grade is a huge transition from kindergarten, so the work is a little bit tougher and more difficult,” said Sophie’s principal, Christina Bailey. “There are high expectations for students across the nation.”
Obviously Sophie's letter makes us chuckle, but do you think there is some truth it? Are kids feeling the strain and pressure to succeed at at a much younger age?
Read our tips on how to end homework hell. One Yummy blogger has even written a manifesto on the subject...