Why do parents think it's ok to toss out homework? What do teachers think of this?

[Anonymous]

For me, busy work or not, homework in the younger grades teaches our son responsibility, follow-through and meeting expectations. I truly don't care about the homework itself, it is the skills that go along with doing the homework that I care about. If you are going to be a productive member of the workforce, especially in the corporate world, you have to do a ton of busy work in the early years to rise through the ranks.

I am a Sr. Manager in a Fortune 500 and I have seen a number of really bright recent grads struggle because they don't want to do the work assigned to them because it isn't "meaningful". As a result their performance reviews are bad and they earn a reputation of not being a team player. Some drop out of the workforce all together, others move on and face the same problems at another company, and the remaining figure out the problem is them and work really hard to restore their reputation. My job as a parent is to give my son the skills he needs to pursue whatever career he wants in the future, and that includes learning how to do busy work without a chip on his shoulder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well teacher, you will not need to give our child a zero because we send them to an school where they don't assign meaningless drivel. Further, there is no homework in the early years.

But when will you stop wiping their ass? What if their college professor assigns them "meaningless drivel?" What then?

In college and grad school (and life in general) figuring out what to do and what to skip is actually an essential skill. Blind rule following is not the path to success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh I didn't know you could get into an Ivy League without knowing math or English. Then again I guess you can pay your kids way through anything.

Check the research - there is no evidence that homework in the early grades helps learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, busy work or not, homework in the younger grades teaches our son responsibility, follow-through and meeting expectations. I truly don't care about the homework itself, it is the skills that go along with doing the homework that I care about. If you are going to be a productive member of the workforce, especially in the corporate world, you have to do a ton of busy work in the early years to rise through the ranks.

I am a Sr. Manager in a Fortune 500 and I have seen a number of really bright recent grads struggle because they don't want to do the work assigned to them because it isn't "meaningful". As a result their performance reviews are bad and they earn a reputation of not being a team player. Some drop out of the workforce all together, others move on and face the same problems at another company, and the remaining figure out the problem is them and work really hard to restore their reputation. My job as a parent is to give my son the skills he needs to pursue whatever career he wants in the future, and that includes learning how to do busy work without a chip on his shoulder.

Maybe they aren'y succeeding because testing and meaningless worksheets have failed to help them develop the critical thinking skills and character to know what they actually need to do.

[Anonymous]

My preK kid leaves the house at 8am and doesn't get home until 6pm. There is nothing in the homework packets we get that teaches him concepts or skills that he doesn't already know. He's exhausted and the homework is not educationally useful to us. There is no benefit in doing it.

[Anonymous]

PreK homework? Wow!
Wonder if this is because some parents want it. Reading DCUM, I get the impression that kids are never allowed to play. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well teacher, you will not need to give our child a zero because we send them to an school where they don't assign meaningless drivel. Further, there is no homework in the early years.

But when will you stop wiping their ass? What if their college professor assigns them "meaningless drivel?" What then?

Then that will get reflected in their college professor's end of course evaluation, which in these days of low-paid assistant professorships does not bode well for job security for the teacher.
The same cannot be said for lousy/lazy teachers who teach little and assign garbage homework but can't be fired. I don't know where you went to college but in all my college and grad school years, I only had one professor assign ridiculous homework, and the reason was that he was kept on the school's payroll to satisfy the demands of his superstar faculty wife as part of her employment contract.
Don't get me wrong: there are tons of wonderful teachers out there who assign meaningful, useful homework. But a Thanksgiving word search in 7th grade? Give me a f******* break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I don't think anything about it. I give the student a zero. Life is all about choices.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well teacher, you will not need to give our child a zero because we send them to an school where they don't assign meaningless drivel. Further, there is no homework in the early years.

But when will you stop wiping their ass? What if their college professor assigns them "meaningless drivel?" What then?

The parent calls the dean and gets his kids grades adjusted to an "A" without the kid doing any work. At least that's what happens in the Ivy League.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For me, busy work or not, homework in the younger grades teaches our son responsibility, follow-through and meeting expectations. I truly don't care about the homework itself, it is the skills that go along with doing the homework that I care about. If you are going to be a productive member of the workforce, especially in the corporate world, you have to do a ton of busy work in the early years to rise through the ranks.

I am a Sr. Manager in a Fortune 500 and I have seen a number of really bright recent grads struggle because they don't want to do the work assigned to them because it isn't "meaningful". As a result their performance reviews are bad and they earn a reputation of not being a team player. Some drop out of the workforce all together, others move on and face the same problems at another company, and the remaining figure out the problem is them and work really hard to restore their reputation. My job as a parent is to give my son the skills he needs to pursue whatever career he wants in the future, and that includes learning how to do busy work without a chip on his shoulder.

Maybe they aren'y succeeding because testing and meaningless worksheets have failed to help them develop the critical thinking skills and character to know what they actually need to do.

I don't think so because the timing doesn't work out. They all have masters so they are in their mid twenties and I think that is before the testing era. That said, I was born in the early 70s and I remember doing a ton of worksheets-with grease pens no less!

[Anonymous]

More likely, they were raised with parents who criticized any meaningless homework or worksheets. Sometimes, we have to be bored. Fact.

[Anonymous]

Our elementary school now has no homework for 2nd grade and below. My younger kids like school and read better than my older Ds did at their age. I read more with the younger kids. We spent a lot of time doing work sheets with my older disgraphic, ADHD son. He is now a great reader, but I think the early homework actually set him back academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I don't think anything about it. I give the student a zero. Life is all about choices.

+1.

Parent and teacher here. I agree completely. If a kid doesn't want to do their homework for whatever reason, then don't do it. I don't give homework for homework sake. I give it to allow a student to practice concepts learned in class. If you know the concepts, great. On the test you'll demonstrate mastery of the material and your grade will reflect your knowledge. If you fail the test though and mom wants a conference, the first place I look is to see if you've turned in your homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For me, busy work or not, homework in the younger grades teaches our son responsibility, follow-through and meeting expectations. I truly don't care about the homework itself, it is the skills that go along with doing the homework that I care about. If you are going to be a productive member of the workforce, especially in the corporate world, you have to do a ton of busy work in the early years to rise through the ranks.

I am a Sr. Manager in a Fortune 500 and I have seen a number of really bright recent grads struggle because they don't want to do the work assigned to them because it isn't "meaningful". As a result their performance reviews are bad and they earn a reputation of not being a team player. Some drop out of the workforce all together, others move on and face the same problems at another company, and the remaining figure out the problem is them and work really hard to restore their reputation. My job as a parent is to give my son the skills he needs to pursue whatever career he wants in the future, and that includes learning how to do busy work without a chip on his shoulder.

I was going to post the same thing. I have had some insane conversations with 20-somethings who patiently explain to me why they don't want to be assigned to a specific project (because it's not something they are interested in or that furthers their career goals). I am dumbfounded that anyone would think it is OK to say that to their boss....and then I read these threads. For several of these people, their career with our organization peters out pretty quickly because they end up on a corrective action plan and are then shown the door. I fired three 20-somethings last year, all for basically refusing to the jobs we hired them to do and that they were otherwise capable of doing, but for their attitudes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well teacher, you will not need to give our child a zero because we send them to an school where they don't assign meaningless drivel. Further, there is no homework in the early years.

But when will you stop wiping their ass? What if their college professor assigns them "meaningless drivel?" What then?

In college and grad school (and life in general) figuring out what to do and what to skip is actually an essential skill. Blind rule following is not the path to success.

I am giggling about the idea of telling my college professor, or my boss, "I didn't do the work you assigned me because it was meaningless drivel."