Homework

[stealth2]

As I recall, guidelines suggest no more than 10 minutes/grade level. So 10 for 1st, 20 for 2nd, etc.

IMO, a lot also depends on what the homework entails. How much is "read for X minutes"? How much is reinforcing math facts? How much is "busy work" (color each state in a different color vs "color in the 13 original colonies" or "color the states fighting for the North one color and those fighting for the South a different color")? To *me* - reading shouldn't even factor in as homework - it should be a regular thing parents/children are doing. Reinforcing math facts? One could talk to the teacher about alternate ways to do so (studying simple addition? 1 + 1 = 2 can be done together in the kitchen. As can fractions.) Geography can be done via looking at a globe (am I the only one who still owns one?) and then looking up information in an atlas. History? Look it up. Together. Discuss. Science? Easy to reinforce what's done in class at home - cooking, fun (and age appropriate) experiments at home, studying plants and wildlife in the yard or park. And so on and so forth.

Not all kids have parents who involve themselves, and for them, homework is important. And the school can't really say "Oh, Johnny doesn't have to do it, but Jimmy does." So the parents need to talk to the teacher(s) to sort something out. As an example, when my kids were young, there was a problem with regards to getting w/e homework done when they were at their other parent's. Their teachers were willing to accomodate by allowing an extra day (sometimes a few if it was a project-type thing). When my youngest was in HS and we were going to a sports recruiting tournament (ETA *), which included several days away from school, she got her teachers/admins to buy in on providing the work she'd miss (against general policy) with the agreement that her work would be handed in the day she returned. (yes, by HS, both kids were expected to deal with these issues on their own.) Most teachers are willing to work with students/parents, to reach a mutually acceptable resolution. But telling the teacher "I/my parents don't approve of homework" likely won't cut it.

(*) recruiting for college, to be specific. That trip did actually land her several offers, so...

 

[ecmst12]

Kids who have uninvolved parents are going to have MORE trouble completing homework. Those are the ones that make it most important to have the vast majority of teaching/learning going on IN CLASS vs at home.

 

[ajkroy]

Public high school teacher here, and I am going to be the dissenting voice, I guess. You would be surprised at how little time-on-learning we have to complete our curriculum during school hours. Mandatory testing, school meetings, teacher development days, school delays due to weather, student absenteeism, mandatory fire and ALICE drills...and then I have to use every classroom management tool I have in my little bag of tricks to compete with cellphones all day long. All of this happens in a top-rated school in MA, one of the best states for education. And we are nowhere CLOSE to competitive to many other countries academically.

As a union member, I am looked at like I am crazy because I propose about once a year that both our school day and school year be extended. There is no reason for so much time off during the summer and we would be able to teach so much more.

We churn out adults who are barely educated in this country. It is my opinion that we not worry so much if the kids are 'stressed' by homework and start equipping them to compete on an international scale.

 

[quincy]

Public high school teacher here, and I am going to be the dissenting voice, I guess. You would be surprised at how little time-on-learning we have to complete our curriculum during school hours. Mandatory testing, school meetings, teacher development days, school delays due to weather, student absenteeism, mandatory fire and ALICE drills...and then I have to use every classroom management tool I have in my little bag of tricks to compete with cellphones all day long. All of this happens in a top-rated school in MA, one of the best states for education. And we are nowhere CLOSE to competitive to many other countries academically.

As a union member, I am looked at like I am crazy because I propose about once a year that both our school day and school year be extended. There is no reason for so much time off during the summer and we would be able to teach so much more.

We churn out adults who are barely educated in this country. It is my opinion that we not worry so much if the kids are 'stressed' by homework and start equipping them to compete on an international scale.

One of the problems we see in Michigan schools is that teachers are forced by their districts to teach to the state mandated testings, because funding for the schools has been tied to test performance.

Extended school years have been proposed in Michigan but I don't think this addresses the problem, which is essentially one of money - money to pay for the best teachers and money to pay for the best school equipment.

 

[stealth2]

ajkroy - don't feel that you're the sole dissenting voice. I think that there is a lot of value to homework - reinforcing ideas/facts taught in class (especially in the lower grades) and helping teach independent research/learning and problem solving in higher ones. Also, discipline and study habits across the board. All important out in the real world, IMO, whether going on to higher education or straight into the working world. and a game plan to achieve the same goal of mastery. (Of course, those kinds of plans tend to make homework much easier to complete anyway. LOL)

 

[ecmst12]

If there's not enough time in the day to teach the important stuff because of testing and other crap that takes up time for no benefits, that's not an argument in favor of homework, it's an argument against all the other crap.

 

[quincy]

If there's not enough time in the day to teach the important stuff because of testing and other crap that takes up time for no benefits, that's not an argument in favor of homework, it's an argument against all the other crap.

^^^like^^^

 

[Ohiogal]

As I recall, guidelines suggest no more than 10 minutes/grade level. So 10 for 1st, 20 for 2nd, etc.

IMO, a lot also depends on what the homework entails. How much is "read for X minutes"? How much is reinforcing math facts? How much is "busy work" (color each state in a different color vs "color in the 13 original colonies" or "color the states fighting for the North one color and those fighting for the South a different color")? To *me* - reading shouldn't even factor in as homework - it should be a regular thing parents/children are doing. Reinforcing math facts? One could talk to the teacher about alternate ways to do so (studying simple addition? 1 + 1 = 2 can be done together in the kitchen. As can fractions.) Geography can be done via looking at a globe (am I the only one who still owns one?) and then looking up information in an atlas. History? Look it up. Together. Discuss. Science? Easy to reinforce what's done in class at home - cooking, fun (and age appropriate) experiments at home, studying plants and wildlife in the yard or park. And so on and so forth.

Not all kids have parents who involve themselves, and for them, homework is important. And the school can't really say "Oh, Johnny doesn't have to do it, but Jimmy does." So the parents need to talk to the teacher(s) to sort something out. As an example, when my kids were young, there was a problem with regards to getting w/e homework done when they were at their other parent's. Their teachers were willing to accomodate by allowing an extra day (sometimes a few if it was a project-type thing). When my youngest was in HS and we were going to a sports recruiting tournament (ETA *), which included several days away from school, she got her teachers/admins to buy in on providing the work she'd miss (against general policy) with the agreement that her work would be handed in the day she returned. (yes, by HS, both kids were expected to deal with these issues on their own.) Most teachers are willing to work with students/parents, to reach a mutually acceptable resolution. But telling the teacher "I/my parents don't approve of homework" likely won't cut it.

(*) recruiting for college, to be specific. That trip did actually land her several offers, so...

Totally concur. My son is bored so he is currently in the living room dissecting an old hard drive I had. He has removed most of the pieces and is breaking it down. He doesn't realize he is learning. He has asked questions about the various parts and will be looking them up on his phone tomorrow. He was also bored this week (no phone and no computer currently for him) and made dinner from scratch TWO nights in a row. He is 10. I refuse to tell him he is learning and these activities are educational but quite frankly, they are more educational than the homework he was assigned and did quite quickly.

 

[Ohiogal]

Public high school teacher here, and I am going to be the dissenting voice, I guess. You would be surprised at how little time-on-learning we have to complete our curriculum during school hours. Mandatory testing, school meetings, teacher development days, school delays due to weather, student absenteeism, mandatory fire and ALICE drills...and then I have to use every classroom management tool I have in my little bag of tricks to compete with cellphones all day long. All of this happens in a top-rated school in MA, one of the best states for education. And we are nowhere CLOSE to competitive to many other countries academically.

As a union member, I am looked at like I am crazy because I propose about once a year that both our school day and school year be extended. There is no reason for so much time off during the summer and we would be able to teach so much more.

We churn out adults who are barely educated in this country. It is my opinion that we not worry so much if the kids are 'stressed' by homework and start equipping them to compete on an international scale.

I agree with you that the school day and year should be extended. Or rearranged at least so the breaks are spread out and not in large chunks. A couple weeks off every few months is all that is necessary.