Regular math and science homework improves learning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I mean, my parents did the same thing 50 years ago. This is not exactly new. Public schools are meant to provide a baseline of an education. Things improve in MS and HS when kids can choose Honors or AP/IB but ES is pretty baseline. Parents have been using enrichment to keep kids involved and tutoring to support struggling kids for ages. This is not a new phenominan across the MC and UMC communities. The education gap exists because lower income families either don't have a history of participating in education, ie the family has a long history of kids dropping out of school, or they don't have the money to provide enrichment or tutoring.

My MC parents picked a good school when they bought their house, and my brothers and I (and my DH and his brothers) grew up in the Golden Age of public education, the late 70s and 80s, when phonics was taught, academic standards were rigorous, and when kids learned in public school. No need for outside enrichment to get an excellent public education.

Education reform swept in and changed so much in public and private education. Not for the better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I actually get better results. Unless it happens to be a tippy top exclusive private.

My friend's daughter goes to a top private school in London and her daughter was getting spelling homework in our equivalent of 1st grade and probably before. A list of 10 words to memorize and spell properly. Every day or other day - I can't remember but I was impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I mean, my parents did the same thing 50 years ago. This is not exactly new. Public schools are meant to provide a baseline of an education. Things improve in MS and HS when kids can choose Honors or AP/IB but ES is pretty baseline. Parents have been using enrichment to keep kids involved and tutoring to support struggling kids for ages. This is not a new phenominan across the MC and UMC communities. The education gap exists because lower income families either don't have a history of participating in education, ie the family has a long history of kids dropping out of school, or they don't have the money to provide enrichment or tutoring.

My MC parents picked a good school when they bought their house, and my brothers and I (and my DH and his brothers) grew up in the Golden Age of public education, the late 70s and 80s, when phonics was taught, academic standards were rigorous, and when kids learned in public school. No need for outside enrichment to get an excellent public education.

Education reform swept in and changed so much in public and private education. Not for the better.

We went through school in the 1970's-1990's, so the same time period. My older siblings needed lots of enrichment, their top tier public schools could not meet their needs. My younger brother and I needed tutoring due to learning disabilities. My parents suplemented as needed. Most of the kids I know of who ended up at top universities participated in sort of enrichment. I am aware that plenty of folks did not and did just fine but I was familiar with different opportunities for my son because I saw what my parents did.

And the same holds for today. Plenty of kids at my sons school did zero enrichment and tutoring, their parents were fine with what the kids are getting from their FCPS school. We enrich in math because DS loves math and is really good at it. He has a good number of classmates who are in Algebra 1 H in 7th grade without any enrichment.

It really comes down to parent involvement and parents willingness to keep their kid on track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I mean, my parents did the same thing 50 years ago. This is not exactly new. Public schools are meant to provide a baseline of an education. Things improve in MS and HS when kids can choose Honors or AP/IB but ES is pretty baseline. Parents have been using enrichment to keep kids involved and tutoring to support struggling kids for ages. This is not a new phenominan across the MC and UMC communities. The education gap exists because lower income families either don't have a history of participating in education, ie the family has a long history of kids dropping out of school, or they don't have the money to provide enrichment or tutoring.

My MC parents picked a good school when they bought their house, and my brothers and I (and my DH and his brothers) grew up in the Golden Age of public education, the late 70s and 80s, when phonics was taught, academic standards were rigorous, and when kids learned in public school. No need for outside enrichment to get an excellent public education.

Education reform swept in and changed so much in public and private education. Not for the better.

“Education reform” meant: trashing phonics, implementing disastrous reading methods such as whole language, and the notorious “common core,” which the authors of have admitted they created to “diminish white privilege.”

The latest attach on American public education is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: the innocent-sounding “ diversity, inclusion, and equity.”

Except, “equity” brands homework as “racist because the results are racially inequitable.”

So-called “equity grading” sounds nice, but it means restricting top grades for capable students, while simultaneously eliminating the “F” (no matter how poor the performance, or no performance), and elevating those grades to Ds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I mean, my parents did the same thing 50 years ago. This is not exactly new. Public schools are meant to provide a baseline of an education. Things improve in MS and HS when kids can choose Honors or AP/IB but ES is pretty baseline. Parents have been using enrichment to keep kids involved and tutoring to support struggling kids for ages. This is not a new phenominan across the MC and UMC communities. The education gap exists because lower income families either don't have a history of participating in education, ie the family has a long history of kids dropping out of school, or they don't have the money to provide enrichment or tutoring.

My MC parents picked a good school when they bought their house, and my brothers and I (and my DH and his brothers) grew up in the Golden Age of public education, the late 70s and 80s, when phonics was taught, academic standards were rigorous, and when kids learned in public school. No need for outside enrichment to get an excellent public education.

Education reform swept in and changed so much in public and private education. Not for the better.

“Education reform” meant: trashing phonics, implementing disastrous reading methods such as whole language, and the notorious “common core,” which the authors of have admitted they created to “diminish white privilege.”

The latest attach on American public education is a wolf in sheep’s clothing: the innocent-sounding “ diversity, inclusion, and equity.”

Except, “equity” brands homework as “racist because the results are racially inequitable.”

So-called “equity grading” sounds nice, but it means restricting top grades for capable students, while simultaneously eliminating the “F” (no matter how poor the performance, or no performance), and elevating those grades to Ds.

This has gotten so out of control, I can only conclude:

- I am opposed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as they are currently implemented in the USA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And this is why we assigned work at home and then decided to send DS for enrichment. If the schools won't do it, we will.

The unfortunate reality, and one that makes things less equitable but is the result of all of the equity cheerleaders’ decisions.

It really is a great time to lean in on the enrichment. Kids will be light years ahead of their peers who relied solely on public education.

It's like the best kept secret in public school world. Public school + outside enrichment costs far, far less than a private school with slightly better academics, and you get the same results.

I actually get better results. Unless it happens to be a tippy top exclusive private.

My friend's daughter goes to a top private school in London and her daughter was getting spelling homework in our equivalent of 1st grade and probably before. A list of 10 words to memorize and spell properly. Every day or other day - I can't remember but I was impressed.

Our local catholic school in DC does weekly spelling tests starting in 1st grade. 20 words each week.

[Anonymous]

Hold your horses everyone- did you read the article? We aren't talking about elementary students in this research study.

1. Students studied were second year of secondary school, so around age 13-14
2. This is not sweeping results that 5-6 yr olds need nightly homework!
3. This does communicate that math/science homework can be beneficial on a daily basis at that age range, 13-14 and likely above.
4. From the article: "Short-duration homework tasks, lasting up to 15 minutes, were shown to be just as effective as longer assignments. This suggests that regular, concise homework can promote learning without overwhelming students with excessive work."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hold your horses everyone- did you read the article? We aren't talking about elementary students in this research study.

1. Students studied were second year of secondary school, so around age 13-14
2. This is not sweeping results that 5-6 yr olds need nightly homework!
3. This does communicate that math/science homework can be beneficial on a daily basis at that age range, 13-14 and likely above.
4. From the article: "Short-duration homework tasks, lasting up to 15 minutes, were shown to be just as effective as longer assignments. This suggests that regular, concise homework can promote learning without overwhelming students with excessive work."

I can tell you how much daily math homework my DC had last year as a 13-14 year old: None. He studied the day before each test, a bit. And no science homework at all, or studying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hold your horses everyone- did you read the article? We aren't talking about elementary students in this research study.

1. Students studied were second year of secondary school, so around age 13-14
2. This is not sweeping results that 5-6 yr olds need nightly homework!
3. This does communicate that math/science homework can be beneficial on a daily basis at that age range, 13-14 and likely above.
4. From the article: "Short-duration homework tasks, lasting up to 15 minutes, were shown to be just as effective as longer assignments. This suggests that regular, concise homework can promote learning without overwhelming students with excessive work."

I don't believe anyone called out 5-6 year olds in this thread specifically, but I may be wrong. However, at what grade would you be willing to accept that additional practice outside of school (some call it homework) helps? First grade, second grade, third grade, fourth? Or not until a study comes out for a specific grade? The fact is, whether school is giving it or parents are supplementing on their own, those kids getting the additional practice outside of school are being helped by it, including MC/UMC kids (e.g., all those taking their kids to Mathnesium because their kids love math and/or need extra help in math).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hold your horses everyone- did you read the article? We aren't talking about elementary students in this research study.

1. Students studied were second year of secondary school, so around age 13-14
2. This is not sweeping results that 5-6 yr olds need nightly homework!
3. This does communicate that math/science homework can be beneficial on a daily basis at that age range, 13-14 and likely above.
4. From the article: "Short-duration homework tasks, lasting up to 15 minutes, were shown to be just as effective as longer assignments. This suggests that regular, concise homework can promote learning without overwhelming students with excessive work."

I am thrilled that our private, while not loading my 3rd grader up with homework, wants her to review her spelling words and math facts every night. It doesn't take long and prepares her regularly.

With my current middle schooler I see the lack of the kind of brief nightly practice from 4th through 6th hurt her ability to rapidly solve more complex algebra problems correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is beyond obvious. I've always scratched my head at all these parents who have touted the research saying homework doesn't matter for their high SES kids. Really??!!! How does that make sense in any world we live in? Homework offers additional practice as well as the opportunity for parents to see where their kid's weaknesses are.

100 percent!

[Anonymous]

In my district, before HS, regular math and FL homework are the only ones regarded as defensible. Every other subject, even music and reading, it’s discouraged to give homework more than once or twice a week. Weekend homework is really frowned upon. Plus, homework is capped at 10% of the report card grade and marked either 100% for being submitted (even if incomplete) or 50% if missing.

It’s largely parent demand. Travel sports is more important than literacy.

[Anonymous]

Homework is inequitable and doesn’t belong in schools.

[Anonymous]

Only privileged white and Asian students benefit though. That is why homework is inherently inequitable.

You cannot have a system which unfairly helps those who already benefit from unearned white and Asian privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only privileged white and Asian students benefit though. That is why homework is inherently inequitable.

You cannot have a system which unfairly helps those who already benefit from unearned white and Asian privilege.

Except that those same “privileged” kids are the one whose parents will arrange outside educational supplements or buy their kids workbooks, so it is the poor / disadvantaged who really suffer when homework is dropped. Oh the irony.