Reply to Homework vs No Homework

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[quote=Anonymous]Assign meaningful homework.  If it’s something that will actually help them learn and remember content/skills I support it.  Homework is good for them to practice skills so that they can master them.  If they need to practice spelling, grammar, etc., that’s fine.  Doing research and writing is good. Studying material for a test is important.

I don’t appreciate:

busy work given just so my child has homework

art projects that aren’t for art class and are a pain in the neck while providing negligible educational benefit (dioramas, etc.)

“fun” activities designed to engage parents - again they tend to have negligible educational value but be unnecessarily time consuming, not to mention the homework should be for the child and not the parent.  Parents may not be willing/able to devote the time that particular evening or they may have already planned something more meaningful and possibly even more educational that your activity is disrupting.

I refuse to require a daily minimum of reading time.  While I agree that daily reading practice while learning to read is important to master the skill, and that reading assigned content for a specific purpose is beneficial (read a book and write a book report/essay, read the next chapter to prepare for a class discussion tomorrow, etc.), I think the only thing daily required reading accomplishes is to turn an intrinsically enjoyable activity into a chore. I can think of no faster way to get somebody to hate something, than to tell them they have to do it. It’s like Tom Sawyer’s whitewashed fence in reverse. Imagine being told you had to eat chocolate cake (or whatever your favorite treat might be) every day. The first day would be fantastic, and you’d probably enjoy it for a week or so, but then it would start to get old quickly. How long would it be before you loathed that cake?

I would ask that you keep in mind the total homework load and not make it excessive.  The general guideline I’ve heard is 10 min/grade level, and a nightly average of about 40 minutes sounds about right.  (That’s not 40 minutes for reading, 40 minutes for math, 40 minutes for science, and 40 minutes for social studies, but 40 minutes total). I understand, of course, that a special project may occasionally require extra time, and that’s fine. I’d ask though, that you don’t assign kids homework over holidays and breaks.  Their time off is for them and their families, not extra time for homework.

Please grade the homework, don’t just check for completion.  If there are errors, mark them all.  Otherwise, the students are practicing and solidifying bad habits, completely unaware they’re doing something wrong.

If my child is having a problem, or is being a problem, let me know.  I will want to help in either case, but I can’t do anything if I don’t know what’s going on. [/quote]

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