No, that's not common at all! If your student is in 3rd grade or higher, do they not have a required assignment book in which to record each day's assignments for each subject? I would definitely ask if the teacher has a Scholastic or SchoolNotes.com website, and ask if the school offers the Parent Internet Viewer, on which you can log in and see your student's grades. If not, I'd definitely bring it up to the administration. How can we parents help our children to be successful in school if we don't have a clue as to what to help with? I wish you the best of luck in getting this solved.