Should public school parents be allowed to opt their child out of homework?

[Anonymous]

I came across the following website http://stophomework.com/ where a few parents have indicated that they have negotiated an agreement with their children's schools to not allow them to do homework. Is this good to allow parents this option? I have to admit, I hate homework. My 3rd grader gets piles of homework each night and I do feel like it impacts our time at home, and if I could I would love to be able to opt her out, but is this fair to other kids who don't get opted out? Obviously this wouldn't go over in a private school, but do you think public schools should allow families to do this?

[Anonymous]

My highschooler would have an A average if that happened. Tests are great, but h/w is forgotten, not done, not handed in, you name it.

[Anonymous]

My 3rd grader would have a D average if homework didn't count! I always check his homework and note careless errors and make him correct them and homework counts for 50% of his grade. At school he makes the same errors but no one makes him correct them so he gets a D at school but an A on homework which averages to a B or C. I think it is a weird grading system but I suppose the teacher has some reason for it.

[Anonymous]

where my kid goes, alot of the homework is graded. If the kid doesn't do it, the grades will suffer. Wouldn't this bother you?

[Anonymous]

Unless the homework assignments are always ungraded (in which case they are de facto optional), I don't see how an opt-out system could work. Kids in the same class would be graded on different criteria, in which case there is a lot of potential for unfairness. What about the kid who misses a couple of assignments but who has not officially opted out-- will their final grades be lowered when kids who don't do any homework receive no sanction? For kids who do homework, how much of the final grade should be determined by homework? What about if there is a particularly difficult test that a lot of kids do poorly on-- Is it fair that it carries more weight in the final grade for kids who don't get homework grades? I can imagine a million scenarios like these that would make some parents be up in arms.

I think a far more productive approach would be to have a school-wide initiative that examines the academic purpose of homework, its efficacy, the particular kinds of assignments that achieve the stated goals, and how much time spent on homework is developmentally appropriate at different ages. Create school-wide guidelines for teachers that take this information into account and expect teachers to comply. There will never be a complete consensus, but there can certainly be some thoughtful, reasonable recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:where my kid goes, alot of the homework is graded. If the kid doesn't do it, the grades will suffer. Wouldn't this bother you?

Parents can do the homework for the kid... that way his grades improve. I know this happens frequently in many schools, where grade pressure is intense.

[Anonymous]

9:50 I don't think that's true. Maybe too much parent help in certain projects, like the Science Fair, but parents can't exactly write like their children. Students don't start turning in typed work until they're in Middle School.

[Anonymous]

opting out = lazy parenting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:50 I don't think that's true. Maybe too much parent help in certain projects, like the Science Fair, but parents can't exactly write like their children. Students don't start turning in typed work until they're in Middle School.

The teacher told us at the open house not to help with homework and she can tell if it was done by the parent!

[Anonymous]

Nope.

Your child isn't that special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:9:50 I don't think that's true. Maybe too much parent help in certain projects, like the Science Fair, but parents can't exactly write like their children. Students don't start turning in typed work until they're in Middle School.

They can tell their child what the correct answer is, they can check the homework and make the child erase any math that isn't correct and have him do it again. If the homework is to put the spelling words in alphabetical order, they can put the words in alphabetical order first and the child can copy them. If the homework is to write a sentence for each vocabulary word, they can dictate the sentence to the child.

Stuff like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:9:50 I don't think that's true. Maybe too much parent help in certain projects, like the Science Fair, but parents can't exactly write like their children. Students don't start turning in typed work until they're in Middle School.

The teacher told us at the open house not to help with homework and she can tell if it was done by the parent!

Nah, she probably can't tell as long as it is written in your child's handwriting.

[Anonymous]

When you enroll in a school, you don't get an ala carte menu. Yes, I'll take the strong co-hort and excellent after school programing, but I'll skip the homework and we're taking a trip to Disney and Johnny is going to miss a few days of school.

If you don't like what the school is offering, find anothe one that works for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you enroll in a school, you don't get an ala carte menu. Yes, I'll take the strong co-hort and excellent after school programing, but I'll skip the homework and we're taking a trip to Disney and Johnny is going to miss a few days of school.

If you don't like what the school is offering, find anothe one that works for you.

I'd agree with that sentiment if you were talking about private school, where one has in theory a choice.

However, for public school, first of all attendance is compulsary by law. True, if you jump through some hoops you can get permission to homeschool, but the default option is that you send your child to some kind of school. Second, children are slated to attend the school their addresses is zoned for. Yes, there MIGHT be openings available to otehr schools, your kid could win the lottery et. but in general you go to the school you are told you attend.

So "finding another one that works for you" isn't all that realistic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 3rd grader would have a D average if homework didn't count! I always check his homework and note careless errors and make him correct them and homework counts for 50% of his grade. At school he makes the same errors but no one makes him correct them so he gets a D at school but an A on homework which averages to a B or C. I think it is a weird grading system but I suppose the teacher has some reason for it.

You're doing his homework for him by making him correct the answers before turning it in. Let him turn it in with mistakes and he'll learn better and won't do so poorly at school.