I'm sorry but I do not understand why the teacher should apologize? The pattern of erase and do-over is the primary reason the use of pencil is so prevalent in those grades, is it not? And storming off to admin over something like this seems quite counter productive. Apparently neither mother nor child have understood the purpose of this homework, so a do-over is clearly necessary. It might very well be that the instructions by the teacher were unclear. At the very least they left no lasting impression on the child. Speaking to the teacher and asking for clarification is the right move.

@PeterE, Well I disagree. If the parent or the student do not understand, it is a fail. FIVE years-old. This is a child in kinder, not even first grade. I did not suggest storming off anywhere. I suggested she ask the teacher and if she was not satisfied, go to Admin.

@PeterE You seem the only one who is reacting rationally.

@Willow Question: I also agree this was inappropriate, but, do you think it's worth pursuing (assuming this is the first time something like this has happened and the teacher hasn't really had any issues in the past)? I mean, we have no idea why the teacher did this. If the OP feels something must be done, it's probably better to approach the teacher and ask why first (and reasonably) instead of ...

... coming in hot right out of the gate, especially if the ultimate lesson you're trying to teach is "everyone makes mistakes" (in which case wouldn't you rather teach: find out what happened and be reasonable before taking action, instead of: become "shocked" and angrily confront everybody who makes a mistake?) Especially if the teacher has been great up to this point. I'm not saying the teacher may not ultimately deserve a reprimand; who knows, I'm just saying a reasonable approach is usually a better start, esp. in the context of "everybody makes mistakes".

@JasonC Willow explicitly states that the first action should be to talk with the teacher. I have the feeling there is a little misunderstanding here. There is no "coming in hot" from what I can see.

@PeterE: This is the first time I hear that "erase and do-over" is "prevalent in those grades". It certainly isn't around here, and from a pedagogic perspective I find several things wrong with this approach. Erasing work is demoralizing, denies the pupil a sense of achievement, and denies both teacher and pupil the ability to "go back" and point out improvements, both on the subject and in form.

@DevSolar: I seem to remember a lot of erasing of pencil in my early school years. Admittedly not entire homeworks, that seems odd to me too.

sorry I missed all of this...

I think that a five year-old should not be getting that much homework, and that the teacher herself did not print neatly or clearly. We can pick nits with her because according to the OP, the reason for erasing was messy work.