Amen! (Mostly... although, most of my learning in high school was done at home, because my parents actually taught me the things my teachers failed to teach.) http://www.familycircle.com/teen/school/homework/the-case-against-homework/
In talking to the moms I know that have kids in school, I understand that in the classroom they typically spend about 10 mins turning in the previous nights homework, another 30 or so teaching new material or taking tests, the next 5 assigning that nights work and the last 5 letting students ask questions, go to restroom, etc. So if they cut out homework all together, that would give them another 15 minutes of teaching time.... but still is a bit short. Most of the moms seem to agree that they think it would work better if there were fewer classes with longer class times, as that would help alleviate the need for homework and the students could focus more without having to switch gears so quickly bouncing from subject to subject. I, for one, always hated homework. I also hated school in general, but that's not quite the topic.
My son had homework. It started out at the beginning of the year as one worksheet, which I was okay with. Seriously, even in favor of as it gets parents involved in their child's education. But, by Christmas break it was an hour of homework a night! By the time my son got home, at a snack, did homework, ate dinner, took a bath...He had 1-2 hours of free time a day! At FIVE YEARS OLD. That's not okay.
Some homework is rather pointless. I wouldn't say it all was though. In grade 8 I had 5 hours of homework every night. It stunk because the teacher had me outlining my history book in great detail. I didn't learn anything about history from it, but I did get very good at outlining. I did give homework when I worked in the public school system as a speech therapist for kids from preschool through 6th grade. I gave about 5 minutes worth of homework once or twice a week that had to be signed by a parent. I didn't require it though. I just rewarded the kids who returned with completed homework (i.e. extra sticker toward a prize). With speech, parent involvement makes a big difference so I always gave homework to help carryover the skills they learned to their everyday life. I also realized that some lives were busy and this little bit of homework might not be a high priority to some families.
I try not to give homework if I can help it. If they didn't finish something, they should take it home and finish, but I don't always insist unless we're seriously behind for the year. If they take their stuff home to study for a quiz or a test, I think that's enough.
I was talking to my mom about this today (PS teacher for 10 yrs and adult ed teacher for 25 yrs). She said she gave hw because the state mandated it (AR in the 80's). Each teacher at the 7+ grade level had to assign 30-60 min per night... with 6 subjects and one study hall period, that was at least 3 hrs. Insane!
I was just reading a post on facebook about a freshman high schooler who has had 5 hours of homework each night. He is in all AP classes, and his mom was questioning whether or not we should expect our high schoolers (especially those just entering) to be doing college-level work. The comments were all over the place--some saying let kids be kids, and some telling her to make him stick it out to prepare him for the real world. She says the work isn't too hard for him--just so much of it. My son didn't have much homework in K, but had at least an hour in 1st grade.
Today my 8th grade girl wasn't feeling very well, so she didn't finish all of every assignment. She VOLUNTEERED to take work home, and while working on getting that together at the end of the day, she asked if she should take another subject home too! (No, you have enough already - like 3 subjects already.) :shock: My two 9th graders, OTOH, ... didn't.
I did very poorly in school because of a lack of doing homework, yet I consistently scored very high on tests if the material had been given in class, and on standardized testing. So yeah, I definitely agree that homework is useless. Heck, I only went to high school for one semester then dropped out and got my GED with near perfect scores and no extra 'teaching' time required. It wasn't that I couldn't do the homework, it was because I had a hard enough time focusing on 'stupid'(at the time) topics being forced down my throat all day without having to go home and cram more of it. That being said, I've learned more outside of school than I ever did in it, which is somewhat contradictory to my point above
This is one of the MANY reasons I love to homeschool. I hated how much "busy work" the kids brought home, that took away from MY time with them! The teacher got all day, and then we felt like she took away their nights! In Elementary school, homework should be spelling words and reading each night. If they need help with something they are falling behind on, then that too. A few friends have been posting on facebook that their 4th and 5th graders are doing 3 hours of homework or more each night! Gosh, we homeschool for that long total! I love that we have our family time in the evenings again, where we continue to learn, just not through worksheets! There's more to life than schoolwork lessons! And being homeschooled my kids are right on track with their peers, but with NO homework at night!! Whew!
Both my kids are back in public school. DD is in 10th grade & DS is in 9th. The homework load in incredible. DS gets home about 3PM, has a snack, visits with me/family for a little while and then starts homework about 330/4PM. An hour aside for dinner/dishes/shower and back to homework. He is up doing HW until anywhere between 11PM and 2AM. He is awake at 6AM (sometimes he works on HW after he gets ready for the bus and/or while waiting (in my car) for the bus. This is including what he does in study hall. He is not on a college prep/honors track. DD has two classes less than DS and an extra "study hall" but she is often up until between 9PM and 11PM doing homework. That is with her IEP accommodations. The classes are longer blocks than the typical high school day but both kids have told me that they don't get a lot of class time to work on the assignments. I have spoken to other kids and parents and have heard the same thing so I know it is not "just my kids" with this issue. I've heard parents talk about their kids getting hives, vomiting, migraines, and other things from the stress. Why? For busy work. Ugh!! Thankfully, neither of my children is in sports or they'd never sleep!!
Haven't read the article yet, but if my Ds16 was in public school he would be a drop out risk. I just cannot imagine why everyone buys into the idea of the need for that kind of homework. What can you possibly be learning other than to either A) hate school or B) not function in any other setting than an academic one?
I babysit a couple of after school kids for about 45 minutes after they get off the bus, and we usually do homework together. The oldest is 10 and he had 100 math problems to do (you know, those dumb facts sheets that are monotonous), a time worksheet, and a word problem worksheet. It took us the whole 30 minutes to do, and I said "Is that it for all of your subjects?" and he said, "No, that was just math...." Oh. My. Lord. And he knew all of it, he wasn't struggling, and the facts sheets were sooooooo boring to him. The work load on little kids is rediculoius, and almost completely pointless. I'm not disagreeing with homework, I DO think it has a place. However, there is WAY too much!! "Ok kids, here is your assignment, I'm going to give you 35 minutes of a 50 minute class to finish it, ask me questions, and go over it with your peers. If you don't finish it within this time period then it is homework." We had a 20 mintue "class" in school called Seminar. That was a time where you worked on homework. It was there to justify that they DID give you time in school for work, and it just didn't all get sent hom with us. Bunch of Bull.
I didn't read the whole article, but I'll comment anyway. I DO think a lot of homework is worthless, but not for all students. It really depends on how the child learns. If they can't learn the material in class, homework is necessary. The mistake teachers make is trying to make things fair by assigning homework to all students, even the ones that don't need it. There is also a grading structure that forces students to "earn" their grades through sheer work. Seeing as the whole point of school is to learn what you need to, it seems wrong to punish the quick learners by making them to go through the monotonous work that other students need. I feel most teachers miss the goal of learning in the pursuit of forcing students to work hard for their grades. (There are some teachers that can thank their lucky stars my children are not in their classes!! ) Now, I don't think there is a doubt that kids have waaaaay too much homework now days. I think it is almost a crime to have a child in class for 7 hours a day, and then have to do a pile of homework at home. The day needs to be re-structured so they can complete most, if not all their work at school.
Absolutely agree! I was one of those kids that did benefit from homework. I just lounged away in class, daydreaming or occasionally answering a question that caught my fancy, but it was when I came home and read over the material that I really soaked up whatever it was that I was supposed to have learned that day in class. When my kids were in PS, homework was a way for me to know what was going on in class, what they were learning and I helped them with their weak areas, giving mini lessons. Unfortunately, there are quite a few parents I know who will actually just tell their kids the answers to the homework questions etc....just so the kid can get a good grade for turning in that perfect work...without ever understanding the whole thing!
I'm the same way. I can listen to lectures all day long and fail the test. I have to take good notes, write papers, read, and re-read the text to really absorb anything. My favorite classes were those that required essays or had some sort of big project.
I am the exact opposite as far as what kind of assignments I like. I like algebra and grammar- assignments with only one right way to do it and only one right answer. I hated essays and papers and projects. I always felt that my reasoning would be faulty or that I would never come up with a good enough project or I would start of with a grand idea for a project only to realize that its was too "out there" to realistically complete.
