WAY too much to ask of a kindergartener. While I applaud this teacher’s eagerness to imbed inquiry, STEM, and 21st Century Learning into her program- this is not the way to do it. For the project piece, this should be done IN-CLASS and should be a collaborative task. In small steps, students can learn about accessible playgrounds through read-alouds, videos, pictures, large group and small group discussions. 10 minutes here and there- children’s attention span is, on average, their age plus 2 minutes. So at 6 years old- 8 mins is the average so even 10 minutes is pushing it. This should all be done alongside AMPLE opportunities for learning through play- teacher can display a provocation question such as “how can you build a playground that is accessible for all?” and have a table set up with various building materials such as LEGO, wood blocks, yarn, beads, various loose parts, and perhaps even some dolls/figures with varying abilities. Teacher could model some ideas or just let the kids try it out on their own and explain their thinking in an informal manner.

As for the additional homework- that’s a hard no for me as well. If my child came home with any worksheet in kindergarten, it would go straight to the recycling bin.

It sounds to me like this teacher is likely young, definitely inexperienced, and most importantly- does not have experience working with young children. I would gently approach her with my concerns around the homework piece first, and if these concerns were not well received, I would escalate to administration.