Why are parents now expected to help with all their kids' homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here you go posters who despise homework. Maybe this will spread to other districts:


http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/grade-smarter-not-harder-baltimore-co-public-schools-revises-grading-system

Baltimore is a shit hole. They just want to pass students as quickly as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

But does that 'working harder' result in better outcomes? Work smarter, not harder. In some cases that looks identical, in others it does not.

Well, it does on the PISA test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

Yes, they're all competing, but mostly for jobs they will hate (just like their schoolwork) and that will probably be automated before too long anyway. Noone really wins that way.

Another way is to prepare children to be independent, adaptable and creative thinkers who work well with others but don't simply follow the herd, and who will be equipped to find their niche and confidently use their unique strengths to create a better world for themselves and for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

Yes, they're all competing, but mostly for jobs they will hate (just like their schoolwork) and that will probably be automated before too long anyway. Noone really wins that way.

Another way is to prepare children to be independent, adaptable and creative thinkers who work well with others but don't simply follow the herd, and who will be equipped to find their niche and confidently use their unique strengths to create a better world for themselves and for others.

I think this is true.

[Anonymous]

oh man, I will fail 3rd grade. Isn't that when fractions and geometry starts? or anything other +, -, x and division. oh man. I'm surprised no one has started a program of evening classes for adults to refresh our memory and skills of math.
What if you don't know English, how am I going to help my kids? I didn't grow up with parents helping me in English. In fact they were busy working just to avoid falling into the welfare system.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry your kid had bad music and art teachers. That's not the norm, though -- most kids love those classes. Your one bad teacher means we should eliminate the classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

Yes, they're all competing, but mostly for jobs they will hate (just like their schoolwork) and that will probably be automated before too long anyway. Noone really wins that way.

Another way is to prepare children to be independent, adaptable and creative thinkers who work well with others but don't simply follow the herd, and who will be equipped to find their niche and confidently use their unique strengths to create a better world for themselves and for others.

90% of adults work in jobs they probably don't love.

Doing HW and working hard doesn't mean those kids don't know how to work independently, be adaptable and be creative thinkers. A project which requires creative thinking can also be HW.

I teach my kids to work hard, be creative, think for themselves. These are not all mutually exclusive. I teach my kids to not be afraid of working hard, and that might include doing HW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here you go posters who despise homework. Maybe this will spread to other districts:


http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/grade-smarter-not-harder-baltimore-co-public-schools-revises-grading-system

Baltimore is a shit hole. They just want to pass students as quickly as possible.

This is a new Baltimore COUNTY policy. I'm surprised it wasn't a Balt. City policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

Yes, they're all competing, but mostly for jobs they will hate (just like their schoolwork) and that will probably be automated before too long anyway. Noone really wins that way.

Another way is to prepare children to be independent, adaptable and creative thinkers who work well with others but don't simply follow the herd, and who will be equipped to find their niche and confidently use their unique strengths to create a better world for themselves and for others.

90% of adults work in jobs they probably don't love.

Doing HW and working hard doesn't mean those kids don't know how to work independently, be adaptable and be creative thinkers. A project which requires creative thinking can also be HW.

I teach my kids to work hard, be creative, think for themselves. These are not all mutually exclusive. I teach my kids to not be afraid of working hard, and that might include doing HW.

That's pretty sad, and it seems sad to me to prepare children for more of the same.

Being an independent thinker, IMHO, means learning to judge for yourself whether a homework assignment is worth doing to get you closer to a larger goal, or whether it's just busy work that is not benefitting anyone. And if the latter, saying no thanks. Essentially, the way another poster on this thread said s/he encourages their kids to view homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I NEVER do my kids' homework! I tell everyone involved that homework is my kids' responsibility. I will answer questions or explain things but beyond that my kids are on their own. DH and I have PhD so clearly we finished and passed elementary school. It's their turn now!

Yes, I sometimes wonder if it's the less educated people who help with homework more - but it's a misguided effort.

I can smell the smug and arrogance. Could you be any more obnoxious?

No kidding. I don't even have a college degree so I guess I'm pretty dumb. But even I knew that my role was to help my kids - answer questions, explain things. If there were questions that they were clearly totally lost on or that I couldn't help them with I had my kids put question marks next to them so the teacher would know that they were struggling.

The point is that THEY learn the material. Teacher doesn't care what I know.

I posted the original reply. I don't think less educated people help with homework more! There are plenty of college educated parents who do their children's homework at my children's school. I have seen their projects! I do not see the point of doing this. It teaches them they can't do it on their own. I want my kids to know it is ok to fail, as long as you learn what you did wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My K child never had homework last year.

That said, I absolutely had homework as a kid in the DMV from 1st on up. By about mid first grade, your child should be able to read most of the instructions. That said, helping a child with homework is something you need to be prepared for from now until they graduate. This was always the norm around here, and I never knew anyone whose parents made excuses not to.

By about 9th grade the math curriculum will have surpassed my current math capabilities. I went to RM and took B/C Calc my senior year. That was some 25 years ago. I haven't used it since. No way will I be able to help my HS Senior with that homework. I also took AP Chem--couldn't calculate a mole today if my life depended on it. That thermal dynamics I learned in AP physics--nope, can't help you there either. I could read an english or history essay for substance and grammar though.

My parents did not help me with my homework in HS. If I didn't understand a concept, it was my responsibility to let the teacher know and schedule time to review the material with them. If that meant missing lunch, that's what I did or if I had to miss PE to sit through the class lecture again, then I did. But counting on mom and dad to explain those concepts was not an option.

This is interesting, if inadvertent, commentary on the usefulness (or lack thereof) of a lot of what we learned (or rather briefly memorized in many cases) in school.

Actually, I think she learned a lot - she learned how to get her work done independently and without mommy and daddy.

[Anonymous]

In Texas:
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/texas-teacher-creates-no-homework-policy-class-210403860--abc-news-parenting.html#

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Homework sucks! They go to school for 7 hours. Isn't that enough to learn something. High school homework is ridiculous and my kids barely sleep.

kids in other countries work harder. Your kid will be competing with these kids for jobs.

Yes, they're all competing, but mostly for jobs they will hate (just like their schoolwork) and that will probably be automated before too long anyway. Noone really wins that way.

Another way is to prepare children to be independent, adaptable and creative thinkers who work well with others but don't simply follow the herd, and who will be equipped to find their niche and confidently use their unique strengths to create a better world for themselves and for others.

90% of adults work in jobs they probably don't love.

Doing HW and working hard doesn't mean those kids don't know how to work independently, be adaptable and be creative thinkers. A project which requires creative thinking can also be HW.

I teach my kids to work hard, be creative, think for themselves. These are not all mutually exclusive. I teach my kids to not be afraid of working hard, and that might include doing HW.

That's pretty sad, and it seems sad to me to prepare children for more of the same.

Being an independent thinker, IMHO, means learning to judge for yourself whether a homework assignment is worth doing to get you closer to a larger goal, or whether it's just busy work that is not benefitting anyone. And if the latter, saying no thanks. Essentially, the way another poster on this thread said s/he encourages their kids to view homework.

I think you need to prepare your children for real life, and that includes the fact that the majority of people don't *LOVE* what they do. I don't hate what I do, but I don't exactly love it. It's not my passion. Very few people get to do what they love and earn a good living from it.

If you don't prepare your kids for this reality, they will be hugely disappointed. I tell my kids that real life is hard and to live the way we do is expensive. I *never* discourage them from chasing their dreams, but I let them know the realities of life. If they are happy to chase their dream, but not be able to afford a certain way of living, then I won't discourage them. But, they should know what real life is like, and then make their decisions. Otherwise, I've failed as a parent to prepare them for real life. Obviously, you teach them this not at the age of 5, but certainly, as they get older.

For early ES, doing 5 or 10min. of HW is not going to kill them. I think if a parent expects it to be perfect, then yes, that's probably not the way to do it. But, instilling the importance of learning and school is something that can be re-enforced by letting them know that HW is important.

[Anonymous]

But, instilling the importance of learning and school is something that can be re-enforced by letting them know that HW is important.

You absolutely don't need HW in early elementary to accomplish that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But, instilling the importance of learning and school is something that can be re-enforced by letting them know that HW is important.

You absolutely don't need HW in early elementary to accomplish that.

OK, but having a few min. of HW can accomplish it, too. But, if you tell your kid you don't have to do the HW if it was assigned, then what message are you sending about the importance of school?