NYT--Homework Revolt

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Did anyone else catch this article in the Times today?

 

In Homework Revolt, School Districts Cut Back

[Impish]

One of the things I loved about hsing is no more homework. Losing out on family time for it was just wrong. I'd write notes telling the teacher that the hw wasn't done b/c of family commitments, and find out my kid still was punished.

 

Blech.

[Heatherwith4]

I think reducing homework is a great idea. Kids don't have time to be kids as it is.

[pqr]

A child that does not do his homework is not only losing out in a learning experience but also indirectly holding others back . A skill that was to be mastered through homework but which was not, because a child did not do his homework, must now be mastered during classtime. This requires the attention of the teacher and thereby lessens the time available to help others.

 

With the exception of a family emergency there is no excuse for not doing one's homework.

 

For many kids it is not family time that is lost when doing homework but video and TV time. This is a win-win.

Edited June 16, 2011 by pqr

[Impish]

A child that does not do his homework is not only losing out in a learning experience but also indirectly holding others back . A skill that was to be mastered through homework but which was not because a child did not do his homework must now be mastered during classtime, requiring the attention of the teacher and thereby lessening the time available to help others.

 

With the exception of a family emergency there is no excuse for not doing one's homework.

 

For many kids it is not family time that is lost when doing homework but video and TV time. This is a win-win.

When family outings have to be cancelled b/c a child has hours of homework to do, its not a win-win.

 

When all there is time for after supper is homework until bed, its not a win-win.

 

There is no reason, imo, that a child in grade 3 needs hours of homework assigned a night. If the classroom is so incompetant a set up that sheets are assigned every night b/c they aren't even touched in the class, there's something very wrong.

 

Kids need downtime. They need time with their families. I can't imagine how many adults would be howling if they were expected to do their work at home, every night, until they fell into bed. Not work uncompleted during the day, but handed to them as they left, for them to do on their own time, not at work. If its unreasonable to expect of an adult, why is it reasonable to expect of a child?

 

Parents should be able to say, "We went to Grandma's this wknd. Homework was not done." and have it left at that. I hear far too many stories of families not being able to go on family outings, spend time together, b/c of the overwhelming homework issues.

 

One of the many reasons I don't intend to have a child in the school system again. I remember being stunned that in about the same time homework took, being able to get the entire day's assignments done.

 

If things are being accomplished in a classroom, there's no need for seperate assignments specifically tagged as homework. I'm not talking incomplete stuff that the child didn't get done, I'm talking folders with work that wasn't even intended to be looked at in class, but specifically for home.

 

Its an infringement upon the family, imo.

[mcconnellboys]

I tend to think that a lot of time gets wasted in school and then homework gets thrown at the kids as a way to make up for all the work that didn't get done in class (while they were watching Finding Nemo for the third time in the same week, etc.) If they're going to be left to learn on their own, anyway, they might as well be at home....

 

I also saw before I took my oldest out of school, while he was just in first grade, that his teacher was very poor at planning ahead and would let things go until they had to be completed (for a whole school presentation, for instance) and then she'd dump it on us by sending it home for him to finish all of a huge project (for his age - like writing an entire "book") in a single night. Well, but what if we had something else to do that night? We never knew when something was going to get dumped on us.... And I've heard of this from others in our school community, too. Again, it's simpler to homeschool and be able to plan your projects and complete them around the rest of your life than to have constant fireballs thrown out you to put out.

[stripe]

A child that does not do his homework is not only losing out in a learning experience but also indirectly holding others back . A skill that was to be mastered through homework but which was not, because a child did not do his homework, must now be mastered during classtime. This requires the attention of the teacher and thereby lessens the time available to help others.

If the point of homework is to quickly reenforce what was taught in class OR to provide an opportunity for an extended project (science experiment, research paper, ...), that's fine with me and I agree with you.

 

If the point is to fill a child's free time with busy work (=unimportant things whose only purpose is being time consuming) because we fundamentally don't think children can or will spend time on anything of value, that's not fine with me, and that is, I fear, what most homework is these days. I also think truckloads of busy work leads children to think of learning as drudgery.

 

Why on earth is there so much, anyway? Why are children in school all day long, supplemented with multiple hours of homework, yet appear so undereducated?

[Mommy22alyns]

I tend to think that a lot of time gets wasted in school and then homework gets thrown at the kids as a way to make up for all the work that didn't get done in class (while they were watching Finding Nemo for the third time in the same week, etc.) If they're going to be left to learn on their own, anyway, they might as well be at home....

 

 

 

:iagree: I actually found myself agreeing with the article. I don't think young elementary school kids need homework.

[ChristineW]

I don't see why a child in the primary grades (K-2) should have any homework beyond the spelling list, a reading log and a smidgen of optional math reinforcement (no more than an hour per week).

 

Homework should gradually be increased as they get older so that they are prepared for college (where the optimal homework ratio is 3 hours of study for each hour spent in class) but kids should be allowed to have a life outside of studying.

[Rivka]

Research clearly shows that there is little or no benefit to homework in elementary school. (The often-cited rule of thumb of "ten minutes per night per grade" has absolutely no foundation in evidence.) Homework in high school is beneficial up to a point, but researchers have found no benefit to more than about two hours of study per night.

[mcconnellboys]

If you are serious, I guess that you are assuming that the work sent home is meaningful and perhaps further cements topics already studied in class. I would agree with you if most of the homework I'd seen was thoughtful and promoted learning.

 

I just haven't seen/heard of the homework assignments for classes in my area being that relevant. Before my older son entered high school, friends who were at one local public high school here talked about how all their homework each night consisted of writing up pages and pages and PAGES of definitions. Nothing else. No questions regarding their interpretation of the facts they were learning; no discussion questions; nothing but copying definitions.

 

I could hardly believe that such mind-jarringly boring assignments would be made. Then I enrolled my son in a couple of high school level courses through our local state university. Guess what his weekly homework consisted of? Writing pages and pages and PAGES of definitions. What on earth? It was absolutely ridiculous!

 

When did this become the standard way to cement learning? Ugh! I would refuse such thoughtless and meaningless homework if I were a teen, too! He was already enrolled, so we did persevere through those classes, but he did not take any more through that program.

 

And when that same son was still in first grade, the teacher would not only dump huge projects on us last minute, without any prior warning, because she hadn't managed to get the work done at school, but she would also regularly send home hours of math work if she got behind in that. What she was actually doing in class I don't know.... I would not bat an eye at 5-10 minutes of homework in reading, spelling, writing, and even math for a first grader - but dumping two hours of math work plus other work on us in one night wasn't cool at all when we had other things to do as a family. And from what I've heard over the years here, too many teachers do such things on a regular basis.

 

I expect schedules to clash and emergencies to come up occasionally, but what I saw and what I've heard from others over the years regarding homework in my own community makes me agree with placing limits on it. I would go further and require that it be thoughtful, too, rather than just busy work....

[Surfside Academy]

I tend to think that a lot of time gets wasted in school and then homework gets thrown at the kids as a way to make up for all the work that didn't get done in class (while they were watching Finding Nemo for the third time in the same week, etc.) If they're going to be left to learn on their own, anyway, they might as well be at home...

 

:iagree: So much time is spent prepping for the all-important standardized tests that they feel they have to make up the work somewhere. I'm always amazed when friends tell me they could never homeschool but then complain how much time they spend working with their kids on homework. :confused:

[TracieT]

Kids here are in school over 7 hours a day (not counting travel time to and from school). Seriously their days are longer than my husband's work day with the added homework. That's just insane.

 

Exactly.

My friends complain about their kindergarteners having 1-2 hours of homework a night and 3-4 hours for grades above that. If they get home by 4:00 and have 4 hours of homework, they are doing NOTHING else.

[justamouse]

the year I pulled my oldest out (7th grade), we were up till 11 pm every night with him having four hours of homework and he would cry, every night (from sheer exhaustion). Then get up at 5:30 am to get on the bus and do it all over again.

 

It's so wrong it's should be outlawed. It's like we need child labor laws, but for school and homework.

[Elizabeth in WA]

Homework is a major reason I came back to homeschooling after having put my kids in school and pursued my own graduate education. If I was going to be teaching the kids myself anyway, I wanted to (1) do it during the daytime, not the evening after a long day and (2) choose the curricula myself, not be forced to teach someone else's materials that I frequently disliked or argued with in the process of "helping" (reteaching) the kids with their homework.

[mcconnellboys]

Yeah, I just would not do that, either. That's crazy. If so much time weren't wasted out of every single school day, there would be time for all that work to be done at school, as well as recess/break, and a lunch period long enough to actually chew and swallow the food....

[Halcyon]

the year I pulled my oldest out (7th grade), we were up till 11 pm every night with him having four hours of homework and he would cry, every night (from sheer exhaustion). Then get up at 5:30 am to get on the bus and do it all over again.

 

It's so wrong it's should be outlawed. It's like we need child labor laws, but for school and homework.

 

Wow. That is horrible.:grouphug:

[mcconnellboys]

And they seldom get recess at school, either, then experts wonder why on earth obesity is such a problem; why kids have no muscle tone, etc. Perhaps we should make them do push-ups simultaneously while doing their homework....

[pqr]

When I was in school homework consisted of:

 

1. Essay writing (this could not be done in class as there simply was not time to write a 10 or 20 pg essay or research paper)

2. Memorization (again one did not remember 50 - 100 lines of Shakespeare in class)

3. Reading ("100 pages of Twain by Monday" is not something that could be done in class)

4. Reinforcement exercises. (50 math problems could not be done in class)

5. Class prep (“Read the section on the Civil War and we will discuss it in Monday.†The kid who did not do the reading could not, as easily, follow the lesson and inevitably fell behind)

 

None of the above could be done in class.

 

Funny I had plenty of time to play sports, play with friends, engage in family activities, read for pleasure and even watch some TV. It was not that hard.

 

NOTE the article in the paper discusses homework reductions for kids all the way up to 8th grade.

 

It is little wonder that children have seemingly lost the ability to read extensive pieces or write in comprehendible English. If homework is simply used as a time filler rather than as a vital component of one’s education then the child necessarily loses.

[m0mmaBuck]

When DS was in PS, he would finish his classwork before the rest of the kids so the teacher would give him more of the same work to do in class....and then give him more of the same as homework to do at home. When I asked why he couldn't just do his homework in class while the other kids were finishing their classroom work, the teacher told me it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the class for DS to not have homework. Yet somehow in her mind it was fair for him to have to do twice as much of the same level of work because he was advanced?

Edited June 16, 2011 by m0mmaBuck

[justamouse]

When I was in school homework consisted of:

 

1. Essay writing (this could not be done in class as there simply was not time to write a 10 or 20 pg essay or research paper)

2. Memorization (again one did not remember 50 - 100 lines of Shakespeare in class)

3. Reading ("100 pages of Twain by Monday" is not something that could be done in class)

4. Reinforcement exercises. (50 math problems could not be done in class)

5. Class prep (“Read the section on the Civil War and we will discuss it in Monday.†The kid who did not do the reading could not, as easily, follow the lesson and inevitably fell behind)

 

None of the above could be done in class.

 

Funny I had plenty of time to play sports, play with friends, engage in family activities, read for pleasure and even watch some TV. It was not that hard.

 

NOTE the article in the paper discusses homework reductions for kids all the way up to 8th grade.

 

It is little wonder that children have seemingly lost the ability to read extensive pieces or write in comprehendible English. If homework is simply used as a time filler rather than as a vital component of one’s education then the child necessarily loses.

Then why are you homeschooling?

[twoforjoy]

Exactly.

My friends complain about their kindergarteners having 1-2 hours of homework a night and 3-4 hours for grades above that. If they get home by 4:00 and have 4 hours of homework, they are doing NOTHING else.

 

My son was coming home from a full day of kindergarten with 30-60 minutes of homework each night, and he's a really fast worker. His friend who was in 1st grade at the same school routinely had 2 hours of homework.

 

That is simply ridiculous. If a school can't manage to teach lessons and practice/reinforce them in 6-7 hours of instructional time at the elementary-school level, then either they are trying to teach too much, they are using extremely inefficient and ineffective methods, or they are wasting tons of time during the day.

 

I found that DS's homework fell into one of two categories: busy work that was basically a waste of time but something he had to do, and projects that were far too complicated and time-consuming for a kindergarten child to do on his or her own, and so basically involved the parent taking charge of the project and the child helping out a bit. From talking with my friends, that seems to be the case with most homework assigned in elementary school, especially early elementary school. It's either busy work that seems to serve no real purpose other than making sure homework was assigned, or projects that are just too large, complicated, or difficult for the child to take charge of and so end up being things that the parent ends up doing the bulk of the work on.

[twoforjoy]

When I was in school homework consisted of:

 

1. Essay writing (this could not be done in class as there simply was not time to write a 10 or 20 pg essay or research paper)

2. Memorization (again one did not remember 50 - 100 lines of Shakespeare in class)

3. Reading ("100 pages of Twain by Monday" is not something that could be done in class)

4. Reinforcement exercises. (50 math problems could not be done in class)

5. Class prep (“Read the section on the Civil War and we will discuss it in Monday.†The kid who did not do the reading could not, as easily, follow the lesson and inevitably fell behind)[/font][/color]

 

In elementary school?

[Impish]

When I was in school homework consisted of:

 

1. Essay writing (this could not be done in class as there simply was not time to write a 10 or 20 pg essay or research paper)

2. Memorization (again one did not remember 50 - 100 lines of Shakespeare in class)

3. Reading ("100 pages of Twain by Monday" is not something that could be done in class)

4. Reinforcement exercises. (50 math problems could not be done in class)

5. Class prep (“Read the section on the Civil War and we will discuss it in Monday.†The kid who did not do the reading could not, as easily, follow the lesson and inevitably fell behind)

 

None of the above could be done in class.

 

Funny I had plenty of time to play sports, play with friends, engage in family activities, read for pleasure and even watch some TV. It was not that hard.

 

NOTE the article in the paper discusses homework reductions for kids all the way up to 8th grade.

 

It is little wonder that children have seemingly lost the ability to read extensive pieces or write in comprehendible English. If homework is simply used as a time filler rather than as a vital component of one’s education then the child necessarily loses.

The homework you remember, and the reality of what children are now facing are completely different. I know there was a big difference in what I had and what my children were facing. And, I sure as heck wasn't facing it in gr 1 and up. Homework started around gr 5? 6? with research assignments, or 'if you didn't finish' or simple spelling word study. Not something that was hrs long to do. 50 math questions for a gr 1 is unreasonable, imo.

 

I firmly believe that if schools used their time effectively, homework wouldn't be the huge issue it has become for so many families. Homework should not be the sole focus of a child's evening.

 

But, I guess that's one of the many reasons I hs.

[twoforjoy]

When DS was in PS, he would finish his classwork before the rest of the kids so the teacher would give him more of the same work to do in class....and then give him more of the same as homework to do at home. When I asked why he couldn't just do his homework in class while the other kids were finishing their classroom work, the teacher told me it would be fair to the rest of the class for DS to not have homework. Yet somehow in her mind it was fair for him to have to do twice as much of the same level of work because he was advanced?

 

This happened to my DS in preschool. Yes, his preschool assigned homework, as a way to prepare them for kindergarten. :001_rolleyes:

 

He would work fast, and he'd get extra worksheets. And, the students brought home the same worksheets they did in school to redo as homework, so he'd get those extra worksheets added to his homework. So, he basically ended up getting twice as much homework as his classmates. It was just ridiculous.

[pqr]

Then why are you homeschooling?

 

Well many reasons, social, educational etc. My point was that even if I were to think about putting my kids in a PS which I am NOT, this would make me less likely to do so.

 

There is also the fact that outside a few private schools I do not think that the education I received is available in a PS.

[Word Nerd]

When DS was in PS, he would finish his classwork before the rest of the kids so the teacher would give him more of the same work to do in class....and then give him more of the same as homework to do at home. When I asked why he couldn't just do his homework in class while the other kids were finishing their classroom work, the teacher told me it would be fair to the rest of the class for DS to not have homework. Yet somehow in her mind it was fair for him to have to do twice as much of the same level of work because he was advanced?

 

How ridiculous! This would seem to mean the school assigned homework for the sake of assigning homework.

[pqr]

The homework you remember, and the reality of what children are now facing are completely different.

 

...which is only one of many reasons that I homeschool.

 

I have a real issue with homework that is given simply to fill time, but if it is part of the educational process then I fully support it.

 

While I do not clearly remember iit I am told that I had homework in the early grades and that it was primarily practicing my reading or going over letters and math with my parents.

 

Homework was frequently family time.

[m0mmaBuck]

How ridiculous! This would seem to mean the school assigned homework for the sake of assigning homework.

 

By second grade, it certainly seemed that way.

 

 

 

I am all for homework in middle school and high school as I believe that research projects, reading, memorization, advanced math practice, and so on, take more time that what is allowed in a 50 minutes class period. But in elementary school, unless it is some special project, homework is overkill.

[pqr]

In elementary school?

No, but the article does not simply speak to elementary school. This was when I was in 6th or 7th grade.

 

Nevertheless I did have homework in elementary school.

[lovelaughs_times_three]

It's so wrong it's should be outlawed. It's like we need child labor laws, but for school and homework.

 

Wow! Good point!

[justamouse]

No, but the article does not simply speak to elementary school. This was when I was in 6th or 7th grade.

 

Nevertheless I did have homework in elementary school.

 

I remember having decent homework, too. Not much before 5-6th grades, and after was reading 100 pages of a book but that would be due the next week, not the next day. A term paper would be given at the beginning of a marking period and it would be a third of our grade or something-it wasn't stupid work-time filler stuff.

 

I honestly think that like someone else said, people think quantity = quality=rigor. So let's heap on the work so it looks like we're doing a bang up job here.

 

Pffft. The system is so broken it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

[pqr]

Pffft. The system is so broken it needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

 

 

....and that is why I homeschool!

[justamouse]

....and that is why I homeschool!

 

We agree.

 

I'm looking outside the window, waiting for the snow. :D (summer here)

[Ester Maria]

Back in the times before the Great Flood, when I was a child, homework was basically non-existent before middle school and purely symbolic - if averaged, it would probably be 15-20 minutes daily for an average child in the early years, up to maybe 30 minutes by late elementary? Now, for sure, a procrastinating sloooow child is capable of turning those 30 minutes into several hours, and I have no doubts that at least some children did make it into a longer exercise, just like I have no doubts there were those that genuinely needed more time; but ideally, and that was how the homework was designed, it was something to do in a rather small concentrated chunk and it usually consisted of some kind of a math retention sheet and some kind of a small written Italian exercise, or a reading to prepare - you know, the kind of things that were considered a waste of time if done in the class, but that were still important in the big picture. Basically the purpose of homework was retention and contribution to the fostering of work ethics, responsibility towards one's work, etc.

 

In middle and high school homework time expanded, but with time there was actually less formal homework and more simple need to allow for some time to study. In that age homework usually consisted of a chunk of Latin translation, a few math problems for the sake of routine, some writing and assigned reading for literature / philosophy, averaging probably about 5-7 hours weekly in middle school and double as much in high school (it was mostly due to assigned reading): overall, we are talking about an average of one to two hours daily (rarely more than that and only in high school if so) if you knew how to be efficient and use that time wisely (and I did) and had no exceptional struggles with any subject. Imagine your typical average-to-bright diligent child, those were the parameters.

 

Now, it was not really the school's responsibility if you preferred to laze around, not concentrate, drag things and have 4-5 hours take what was supposed to be done in 2, was it? Or if you studied on and off, some days yes and some days no (many people did so), then of course that in the yes days it would be that much. And then again, we all cut on homework now and then and it was not such a cardinal sin, unless you repeatedly got caught. Professors were more concerned about you knowing things than having checked off homework box. I liked that. :)

 

I do not recall having spent inordinate amounts of time on homework in childhood. I was maybe brighter than most, but it also seemed to me that class time was used efficiently, so homework was only a mild preparation or reinforcement of that, not the time when you essentially have to reteach yourself the class or have your parents do so.

[Sputterduck]

When I was in school homework consisted of:

 

1. Essay writing (this could not be done in class as there simply was not time to write a 10 or 20 pg essay or research paper)

2. Memorization (again one did not remember 50 - 100 lines of Shakespeare in class)

3. Reading ("100 pages of Twain by Monday" is not something that could be done in class)

4. Reinforcement exercises. (50 math problems could not be done in class)

5. Class prep (“Read the section on the Civil War and we will discuss it in Monday.” The kid who did not do the reading could not, as easily, follow the lesson and inevitably fell behind)

 

None of the above could be done in class.

 

Funny I had plenty of time to play sports, play with friends, engage in family activities, read for pleasure and even watch some TV. It was not that hard.

 

NOTE the article in the paper discusses homework reductions for kids all the way up to 8th grade.

 

It is little wonder that children have seemingly lost the ability to read extensive pieces or write in comprehendible English. If homework is simply used as a time filler rather than as a vital component of one’s education then the child necessarily loses.

 

When I was in school we had homework every night, every weekend, every summer, and every holiday. I even had a physics class where we had a big project in groups of 5 or 6 that took the entire time we had off for Christmas. Because it was a group project, you could not leave to visit family because you needed to do it with other students. Normally, I spent those weeks out of town with family. Too bad. We had physics to do. I spent my entire childhood going through stacks of homework.

 

The thing is, school was a huge, huge, huge waste of time. I could have learned as much as I did in only a couple of hours a day if it was done efficiently. Wait for this. Wait for that. Do something you understood 3 years ago 50 more times. Sit for 1/2 hour while the teacher answers questions from others on a topic that's been covered 4 times in the last 2 years. Then sit there for 20 minutes doing it over and over again. Then go home and do it for another 30 minutes. But don't worry. We'll do it again in 2 months and then review it next year. Again.

 

I teach my child fine without filling up his evenings. He is years ahead of the local school. Years. With zero extra evening work.

 

My schedule was like this in school:

6:00 get to school and finish homework and help friends with theirs

7:30 start school

11:30 lunchtime go to homework room and try to get ahead on things with friends

3:30 Sit with friends and get started on work

5:00 parents come to pick me up

5:15 homework

6:00 dinner

6:30 homework

9:00 or 10:00 go to sleep

 

Every weekend was homework. Every summer they gave us a list to accomplish before the next year. Every holiday had books to read and larger projects to do.

 

I did that for Years. I am in a way thankful that I was sent to public school for high school. There was still a ton because I took honors and AP courses, but it was lessened enough for me to do a sport. Even so, if I wasn't participating in my sport, I was doing homework. Still on weekends and holidays we had work. At least we did have our summers off! I'd never had that before. It was amazing.

 

Honestly, senior year of high school I completely broke. Ask my mom. She still talks about it. Somehow I manage to teach my son far more with very little time spent.

Edited June 16, 2011 by Sputterduck

[Bootsie]

I would get upset when the teacher assigned homework for my kids AND for me. My children would bring homework home that would be "play the following math game with both of your parents for fifteen minutes tonight." I often wondered what would happen if I sent some "chores" to school for my child AND I had the stipulation that the teacher help with the chores.

[twoforjoy]

I would get upset when the teacher assigned homework for my kids AND for me. My children would bring homework home that would be "play the following math game with both of your parents for fifteen minutes tonight." I often wondered what would happen if I sent some "chores" to school for my child AND I had the stipulation that the teacher help with the chores.

 

Okay, this is a bit of a tangent, but this is something that drives me crazy. I feel like we've taken the very good and true idea that parents need to be involved in their kids' education to somehow mean that parents are supposed to be co-teachers of the academic subjects their children are learning in school. Sorry, but I do not agree. As a homeschooling parent, I've decided to take on the responsibility of teaching my child academic subjects. But, if I had my child in school, I'd believe it was 100% the school's responsibility to teach my child the academic subjects covered in the school's curriculum, and not that it was my job to somehow co-teach this material or even to reinforce the teaching at home.

 

I see the involvement of a parent with a child in school consisting of having a positive attitude toward education, encouraging the child to work hard, providing an enriching environment, supplementing the child's school education in whatever way the parent sees fit, and probably also teaching study/organizational skills like preparing for a test and establishing good work habits. I do not think schools should expect parents to re-teach what was taught in school that day, and yet that does seem to be the expectation more and more. I know that if my child was in school, I'd be pretty annoyed if I was expected to spend part of the few hours we had together as a family after school teaching them stuff that should have been adequately taught in the classroom.

[....]

My son was coming home from a full day of kindergarten with 30-60 minutes of homework each night, and he's a really fast worker. His friend who was in 1st grade at the same school routinely had 2 hours of homework.

 

That is simply ridiculous. If a school can't manage to teach lessons and practice/reinforce them in 6-7 hours of instructional time at the elementary-school level, then either they are trying to teach too much, they are using extremely inefficient and ineffective methods, or they are wasting tons of time during the day.

 

I found that DS's homework fell into one of two categories: busy work that was basically a waste of time but something he had to do, and projects that were far too complicated and time-consuming for a kindergarten child to do on his or her own, and so basically involved the parent taking charge of the project and the child helping out a bit. From talking with my friends, that seems to be the case with most homework assigned in elementary school, especially early elementary school. It's either busy work that seems to serve no real purpose other than making sure homework was assigned, or projects that are just too large, complicated, or difficult for the child to take charge of and so end up being things that the parent ends up doing the bulk of the work on.

 

This was our short-lived public school experience, too. Running out to Hobby Lobby at 7pm for a 100 pack of sticker horsies and posterboard...or worksheets ...or the endless permission slips, fundraisers, etc... It really was ridiculous. My daughter was NOT getting any downtime and she would spend about an hour every day screaming and kicking the wall in her bedroom. It was horrible and stupid.

 

Edited to say: my neighbor called up our principal and asked, "What the heck are you guys doing up there for 7 hours?" Lol.

[lapsetmom]

The elementary teachers here have had full inclusion forced on them. They can make little progress. They rely on homeowrk b/c the disruptions in class don't allow much classwork to get done and because the in class explanations have to be aimed at the children who have significant delays.

 

I am a public school teacher, and I am noticing that it seems that kids have less and less self-control, sense of responsibility, and time management. I have many behavior issues, and I think it appears worse because many of the parents who truly care about their children and their education are now homeschooling. Most homework in my class is work that is incomplete after class time is wasted by students who would rather socialize, play with pencils, and stare into space. I am then lucky if those students even complete their homework. I am trying to think of a way to completely eliminate homework without eliminating classwork altogether. Homework can be just as frustrating for the teachers. Just to give another perspective!

[MBM]

I don't mind meaningful assignments, but our schools assigned way too many *fun* assignments which were more or less a giant PITA that involved hours of busywork. For example, this year one of my son's writing assignments was to make a giant menu. If the teacher saw pencil marks, the student was graded down. Why??? What does that have to do with writing? This was in eighth grade for crying out loud. Teach them to write already. Good grief.

 

Otherwise, I don't mind homework. Worksheets that help review material, actual writing assignments (mostly in history for us), and reading can be helpful, but the endless dioramas, posters and other crappola are just busywork that help little with mastery of a subject.

 

As for free time and time with family, all of my kids have had time for that every day. Most of my son's classmates spend hours on screentime each day. We usually watch an hour or so of TV as well. A few well-chosen assignments shouldn't be too difficult to squeeze in.

Edited June 16, 2011 by MBM

[....]

I am a public school teacher, and I am noticing that it seems that kids have less and less self-control, sense of responsibility, and time management.

 

Several of my friends from college became teachers and boy, do they have some stories! :glare: The worst ones come from middle school, tho. One of my friends is a middle school teacher and she said they get really physical at that point. One of the kids didn't like what she said, so he grabbed her glasses and threw them across the room. Talk about loss of self-control. Craziness.

 

OK, now I veered off the topic. :tongue_smilie: As usual.

[WishboneDawn]

nm

Edited June 16, 2011 by WishboneDawn

[Lady Florida.]

 

The thing is, school was a huge, huge, huge waste of time. I could have learned as much as I did in only a couple of hours a day if it was done efficiently. Wait for this. Wait for that. Do something you understood 3 years ago 50 more times.

 

One of the first light bulb moments my son had eventually made him decide he doesn't want to try school, involved the bolded. He was about 8, and we had switched to a different math program. As I was going through the book, I turned pages and made a quick comment that "We can skip that part since you already know it. Good thing we homeschool, because we can do that." He responded with an incredulous, "You mean in school you can't skip what you already know?"

 

Much of the school day is a waste of time. And I say this as someone who taught in public school for 15 years. Homework is often an even bigger waste of time. I don't think no homework should be the answer. I understand assigning the occasional project, essay, or reading of a novel. But so much homework is just busywork. Totally unnecessary imo.

[twoforjoy]

So it's about letting the state parent our kids and determine what they're exposed to? They not only get to do that during school hours but homeworks allows them to extend that control right into private homes.

 

Not buying that.

 

Right. I do wonder how much of that is the motivation behind things like more and more homework, longer schools days, extended school years. The idea seems to basically be that schools/the government think that parents cannot be trusted to provide an educational, enriching environment for their children--all parents do is sit their kids in front of the TV and stuff them with junk food, right?--so they need to make sure that they have more and more control over how children spend their time. I don't think that's the role of the schools, at all.

[cathmom]

I'd be fine with all of that homework if the kids were home by lunchtime. I'd sign my kids up for school tomorrow if that were the case.

 

That's my issue too! we briefly considered enrolling our twins in kindergarten because of their speech issues (to give them more motivation to speak correctly), but I just don't want them gone 7+ hours a day every day!!!! I actually considered going and staying with my mom for a few months to enroll them in her town's K which is still half-day (3 hours, I think).

[Dmmetler]

What I am starting to see is kids having to drop back on activities they like because they're getting too much homework. My DD has danced with the same three little girls for three years now. This coming year, all three of the moms have voiced concerns because the girls are at a level where they'd normally separate off classical ballet from the combo, general "dance" class, and begin focusing in on ballet, tap, jazz, and so on-and they're concerned because they've heard that homework is much more intense. These girls are 6-7 years old! Can't they cover 1st or 2nd grade content between 8:00-3:00?

 

I could understand it if the parents were afterschooling-but this is just trying to finish what the schools send home. And these kids are in three different schools, so it's not even one crazy school or teacher!

[WishboneDawn]

Right. I do wonder how much of that is the motivation behind things like more and more homework, longer schools days, extended school years. The idea seems to basically be that schools/the government think that parents cannot be trusted to provide an educational, enriching environment for their children--all parents do is sit their kids in front of the TV and stuff them with junk food, right?--so they need to make sure that they have more and more control over how children spend their time. I don't think that's the role of the schools, at all.

 

Darn. I took out that comment thinking maybe I was being too snarky. Guess not. :D

[TracieT]

That's my issue too! we briefly considered enrolling our twins in kindergarten because of their speech issues (to give them more motivation to speak correctly), but I just don't want them gone 7+ hours a day every day!!!! I actually considered going and staying with my mom for a few months to enroll them in her town's K which is still half-day (3 hours, I think).

 

That's why I sent my oldest to preschool, because of speech.

I know being in a classroom all day with other kids would help his speech, but it would be learning a lot of words he shouldn't know! My boys (4 and 5) play with neighborhood kids. Just two days ago I had to scold a six year old because my 4 year old said something about a bed and the 6 year old started screaming "That's disgusting! I'm not going to bed with you! I'm not having sex with you!" Those are the kinds of words the neighborhood kindergarteners are teaching my preschoolers. :glare:

[mcconnellboys]

I completely agree with such homework as you mention! Reading, longer writing and memorization, and math problems certainly need to be completed. (I don't think schools hand out much memorization work any more, by the way.) Of course that is reasonable, but a couple of hours of frustrating new math for lower elementary children, sent home to parents who don't get it either, is just dumb. And the horrid busy work that comprises so much of homework today, rather than thoughtful assignments, is also just dumb.

 

My son never really wrote a lengthy research paper in the three years he was in what was considered a "good" private high school here. When he did write papers, they rarely got read or graded. Teachers don't want to grade lengthy writing assignments on their own time any more. Even math teachers grade "for completion." Do you know what that means? They scan the page and if it looks like you did the problems - right or wrong - they give you 100 (or some percentage based on how much effort they think you put forth)! Can you believe it? This was typical for all my son's math and science classes. And I'm told it's standard practice in all the public high schools here, too....

 

Even my younger son's math tutor who he goes to for algebra will NOT grade his work and tell him when he gets something wrong. They are taught never to tell a child they are wrong. How on earth does a child learn to do the problems correctly???? If you're working 50-60 math problems a night and getting half of them wrong and you never learn to do them properly, what's the point? The first year my son worked with her, we were double checking all his work at home. This past year, we lapsed with that. I've already obtained a teacher's copy of the book for next year, so that we can have solutions to help him with problems where we need to.... And I'm going to be doing reinforcement of topics using VideoText to check his understanding of what he's already done with her.

 

The "new teacher" is a very frustrating breed of creature, born largely of union pressures to decrease what is expected of those in this profession.... Homework has been a casualty of those changes....