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Should public school parents be allowed to opt their child out of homework?
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Anonymous
Nah, tried that route last year but he didn't learn not to make careless errors. Theonly thing that helps him not make careless errors is knowing that someone will force him to do them over. At least at home I can make him do them over. At school, I wish his teacher would make him do his work over but she just accepts the mistakes as the best he can do. |
Anonymous
If you live in DC then you have an assigned public school that has an elaborate process for setting up its program. That process has an imense amount of public input from voters, LSRTs, PTA, etc. Once that process is set up, one doesn't have the right to pick and choose what they want to abide by. Uniforms, homework, attendence, all of it is part of being a member of the community. If you think your situation is special, then work within the system to change it, or else work to get your child an exception through official means. But mostly, work on the front end to change it, or take your child to another school with a program that works for you. |
Anonymous
Let me guess - you're just going to be shocked when he goes to college and flunks out. Unbelievable. |
Anonymous
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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. Attendance at PUBLC school is not compulsory - attendance at a school is. You have to send your kid to school, and the state has graciously provided a free option for you. If you don't like the way it is managed, you are welcome to use another option. |
Anonymous
Hey, as long as homework is being assigned, I'm going to do everything I can to be sure my child does it correctly. I can't stand there and watch him do it incorrectly, and just let him hand it in, when I know he understands the material perfectly well, he's just making careless math and spelling errors. |
Anonymous
We are quite poor. We can't afford a private school or transportation to get the kids there. We can't afford for one parent to stay home and homeschool our children. So, de facto, public school IS compulsory... the particular one zoned for my neighborhood is that one our children have to attend. I can't just "find a different school" that has homework policies I approve of. THis idea that I can just decide what type of policies I want, and then can find a school that has those policies, is really supercool for rich people, or even middle class people, but not for the general population -- we are stuck with what we've got. |
Anonymous
23:39 again. I didn't make the other comments, but I do agree with them. My aunt did this for my 3 nephews who attended private school, and they never learned good, self-motivated work habits. Two flunked out of college the first year (lived on campus), the other one never bothered to go. None of them can hold a decent job. Homework sucks, and I'm not a fan of it in general, but sometimes it's better in the long run to let the consequences do the teaching. |
Anonymous
The kid is in second grade. I thought I was supposed to check his homework, isn't that what parent involvement means? So, I'm checking his homework. He's supposed to write a sentence using the word, "search". He writes, "I have to search the lost cat." He left out the word, "for" in the sentence. You don't think a parent should tell him he's missing a word, go back and put it in? |
Anonymous
Check that he does it, but don't correct it. There is a difference. It will mean more to him if he reviews the paper with the teacher's corrections on it rather than whatever lesson he may learn with your correcting it first. He will feel a truer sense of pride in his grade if he does the work 100% on his own, rather than if you fix a couple of things here or there. He's going to understand, sooner than you think, that his grade isn't really 100% his, that it's yours, too. And, finally, the teacher will have a much more accurate picture of his abilities (both strengths and weaknesses) if she sees "his" work, not yours. |
Anonymous
Where did you get the idea that I do the work for him? I don't correct his errors for him. I note them and have HIM correct them. The teacher doesn't do that. She just marks the errors, gives him his letter grade, and moves on. She NEVER makes kids improve or redo the work. Believe me, she is well aware his strengths and weaknesses at school. Again, it isn't MY work, it is his. Corrected, but his work. |
Anonymous
If you are participating in homework other than to make sure he does it, it's partially your work. Rationalize all you want, but it is. What the teacher is doing is what's best for him, marking errors. What you are doing doesn't help him, and may even hurt in the long run if you continue to do this. |
Anonymous
So you are sayign that because you are "quite poor," and do not have other options available to you, you should be permitted to customize the curriculum at your local public school to one "that has homework policies [you] approve of?" Sorry, no. |
Anonymous
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So, I'm checking his homework. He's supposed to write a sentence using the word, "search". He writes, "I have to search the lost cat." He left out the word, "for" in the sentence. You don't think a parent should tell him he's missing a word, go back and put it in?
Oh, good grief. Are you kidding me? On graded work? No, absolutely not. First of all, you first claimed that you corrected "math and spelling errors" - but this isn't "just" math and spelling, is it? Leaving that aside (and I disagree with your apparent belief that math and spelling are trivial and can be ignored), his assignment was to write a sentence with the word search in it. You're focusing on whether he knows what search means - but that's only a small part of the assignment. He has to construct a sentence, using proper grammar, capitalization, parts of speech, and yes, spelling. His grade is determined by how well he constructs the sentence. He apparently doesn't do it very well, and you don't like seeing the Ds, so you do part of it for him. Don't pretend otherwise. I know you claim that he's just careless, but being careful is part of the learning process as well. You're doing that part for him. To be clear, if you had a standing rule that after he finishes his homework, HE has to proofread it, that's fine. But looking at it and telling him, "You left out a word" is doing it for him, even if you don't tell him the word. I'd also feel (a little) differently about it if it was ungraded, but I firmly believe that graded work should exclusively reflect the student's ability. You, and he, are cheating. On the bright side, though, he can look forward to you calling his college professors and arguing about his grades. |
Anonymous
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It's interesting that you say you'd feel differently about a parent checking her student's work if it weren't graded.
I don't give a flying crap about the grade. I care that my child learn to do the work correctly. I happen to this it is ridiculous that homework in the early years is graded for achievement. Grade it for effort, sure, fine. But homework is assigned (in the early elementary years) for PRACTICE. If I see my child making errors on homework -- careless errors-- leaving out letters, sounds, words... words that he can spell, just doesn't write, if I see my child making errors that he CAN fix, just doesn't -- I will tell him he has made a mistake, and require him to do it again until it is correct. He gets no computer time, no TV time, and no time to play with his friends, until his homework is done, and done correctly. Now, if I see my child making errors on his homework that reflect that he actually doesn't understand the concept, then I don't require him to do it over... I reteach the concept so that he can do it correctly, and I let his teacher know that he can't do the work. From my discussions with his teacher, she WANTS us to check our children's homework for accuracy. She says the point of homework is to practice what has been learned in class and to get better at it. She can't always give individual feedback in school to each child, but parents can. That's why I think it is so silly that she then grades the assignment (on a 100 point scale.) |
Anonymous
| One complaint I have about homework is that it interferes with the additional work we need to do at home. Everyday Math is garbage so that means about 30-60 minute of night of "homeschooling" in math for my daughter. |