HW has no benefit in elementary school
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Anonymous
The issue I have with something like a sheet of math facts is that kids who know their facts, don’t need it and kids who don’t know their facts often practice them wrong, thus leading to incorrect learning. Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. And, too often, kids don’t have perfect practice. If parents want their kids to do work at home, I am ok with them having their kids do something. As long as it is not worksheet after worksheet - these simply teach kids that learning is tedious and boring. And, the worksheets are usually math-related which is doubly bad since we want kids to like learning mathematics - too many think it is boring already. Some kids actually ask for some kind of homework. Best thing to do, IMO, is to READ with your child and TALK about what you’re reading. Ask questions. Discuss alternate endings. What I am really against is teachers assigning mandatory homework that impinges on family life. If a teacher wants to have parents fill out a reading log or something very simple to help kids get in the habit of keeping track of it - that is ok by me. But, don’t make kids write something about everything they read, because then kids do not look forward to reading. This happened to my son. He still, today, does not read for enjoyment (and he is in his 30’s). There are so many things parents can do with their kids to help them learn that are much more beneficial than the homework they bring home. Give them time to do these things. |
Anonymous
+100000 Kids should be outside running around after school. Not cramming in busy work because some knucklehead parents think their kids need piles of worksheets to get ahead. You don't need to assign worksheets to Kindergarteners to ensure good study habits in older grades. That is ridiculous. The ONLY thing it could accomplish is driving out the joy of school. |
Anonymous
So says the math phobic or reading centric parent. Reading is something they could benefit for sure because teachers don't have time to read with every child. But math sheets don't need to be exclusively done in school either. And the idea of that kids can only do math in games or hands on activity is so foreign to me. Maybe that is how you introduce new concept. But math cannot stay on that level. My son brought back a math minute sheets from home in K. He finished about half during class after one minute. He was very eager to finish the other problems and asked me to time him. He has never been more excited about homework than that time. Guess how many times we got homework like that, exactly once. Luckily my son picks up math facts really well and did not need extra practice. I can just imagine many many more kids would benefit from homework that targets that. How hard it is for parents to spend a few minutes checking elementary school math home work any way. Way easier than making the valentine mail box or Thanksgiving turkey or 100 school day t shirts for sure. |
Anonymous
I disagree with much you have written, but one thing I want to address is homework at the MS level. Yes, kids have homework at MS. And, some of the research shows some value in that HW. But, to think that doing homework at the ES level prepares kids for HW at the MS level is just not true. MS is different. Kids learn that right away when they start switching classes every hour or two. Learning that HW is expected at the MS level is something they can transition to. As for the grading of HW, I am vehemently against that. Checking it over for errors - absolutely. But grading? No. The teacher has no earthly way of knowing who did the homework. A grade a student receives should reflect his/her achievement in learning the content. Since homework is done at home, who knows if that homework demonstrates STUDENT learning or PARENT learning. So, the grade could actually be grading what the parent knows. I realize this is more about what teachers do than what parents do, but it is something that parents should advocate for, IMO. |
Anonymous
He has 2 reading and writing assignments a week in two different languages - immersion school that takes him about 30-40 minutes each to do. I think it is appropriate for 3rd grade. That's about it for homework at our school although there is a nightly 40 minute reading, 20 minutes each language, that we don't bother doing. There use to be more homework in earlier grades but no longer probably due to complaints from parents. He brings home worksheets (similar to homework assignments in previous grades) fully completed from school. |
Anonymous
I am the pp you respond to. I have never made my son read the number of minutes every day either. He is in 1st grade and reads about 2-3 grades above. I don't feel like we need to change much. His other homeowork takes 2-5 minutes depending on how much he did at after care. That is it. I think this is totally appropriate amount of assignment. But I think it is good that he has the structure of having homework. I also like to see homework coming home. Because it is really the only way for me to figure out what they are doing in school and how he is doing in school. |
Anonymous
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Kids are in school here much longer than in Europe for example. That 5 minutes of homework should fit inside the school day in grades up to 1.
Worksheet packages teach them how to draw lines from one character to another and they do it in pre-school, pre-k, and K. So tired of those worksheets, they teach nothing after awhile. I feel like all that homework, worksheets and learning of ABC's starts very early here. Great start (or not) and then just slows down by middle school when kids fall behind their European peers. My friend's child in pre-school was sent home with Venn diagram few years ago which she did for him (Apple tree CH). Did the teachers not know what they printed out or did they want the kid to color the circles? I sent my child back to school with about 50% worksheets done that he did at school. Didn't spend much family time on them. He was in aftercare til 6 so we didn't really have any free time left at night. He is in 3rd grade and it's only now that I think he needs to start taking homework seriously and not just do it, but do it well. We have done what seems right for our family and not strictly what the teacher send home up to now. They haven't kicked us out of the school yet. Now that he is a big boy (9), I dare to push him more and expect more from him. He had his fun and a lot of it from pre-s to 2nd grade. For each their own. |
Anonymous
I think you have hit the nail on the head as to why parents want kids to have homework. It helps keep them informed. And, because of this, teachers need to be extremely mindful of the homework they send home as it sends a message to parents about what they consider important. I have been a poster on this thread who is against homework at the ES level. But, if teachers are going to give it, they need to really consider what is appropriate, what is important, and what the purpose is of homework. |
Anonymous
I would be completely fine if DS did not have any homework at all. While I like the homework DS gets now, most/all the homework he got in earlier grades were IMO a complete waste of time. Happy our school got rid of it. Also, I don't think "structure of having homework" in elementary school translates into middle school and beyond. DS does his homework as soon as he gets home from school the day it is assigned without prompting to get it out of the way. |
Anonymous
| It really depending on many factors. We have our child in weekend language schools and if we don't have him do homework, he is not going to retain anything. So in a way, his weekend language school is almost structured as a college course. The elementary school curriculum is so slow I can see many kids don't need homework at all until about 3rd grade. But every kid can probably benefit some what from reading, handwriting practice and math facts. |
Anonymous
-1000 why can't kids do both. Go to the playground for 30-45 minutes after school, come home, have a snack and 20 minutes of homework. Why is it all or nothing? Balance is important. |
Anonymous
There is nothing wrong with reinforcing what is known. If they know it, they can do it in a few minutes and its no big deal. If you tell them you don't have to do it, it sends a strong message about school. We work ahead so by the week my child knows his spelling words. So, should I say, hey, don't do the assignment because you know all the words? Of course not. It is to reinforce and we can the worksheets provide more support in many other areas. Its not just about the actual task. Anything to do with writing improves writing, even math facts that they already know. It also gives them a sense of accomplishment if they can do the worksheet in full correctly quickly. |
Anonymous
Ugh. Please go to a different school. I'd prefer my child not be tortured with busy work ... there's a whole lifetime for that! |
Anonymous
Right, schools cannot provide everything, which is why they should butt out and let family time be family time. |
Anonymous
Lol. Close. Last debate tournament had a is texting evil topic. One of the teams stood up there and kept yelling "Texting is death!!!" (Because of car crashes caused by texting). And this time around, there is a the US should be required to protect extraterrestrial microbial life on other planets topic (I mean, wtf?). Watching middle schoolers debate is mostly about trying to keep a straight face when your child says something like, "my opponent says that that X causes teenage pregnancy. But judge, why is teenage pregnancy a bad thing? After all, the world needs new babies." |