Homework…I have a few views on this subject. I think that homework can be a valuable tool for students to practice concepts that they may need a little extra work on, but I also think that some teachers get a bit carried away with how much they pile on. Thankfully so far this year my kids haven’t had an abundance of homework more than a couple of nights, but I know that some kids aren’t so fortunate and in past years it has been a bit much. I have heard that some teachers are cutting back on homework for this reason and because they feel that what needs to be taught can be done in class without addition work. I applaud the thinking that these teachers have.
While I am ok with assigning homework, I think that some teachers need to stop and remember that even small assignments when given for each subject can add up to hours of homework for a kid. That being said, aren’t we trying to raise not just academically successful children, but socially as well? Isn’t it important for them to be well rounded and learn other life skills such as working as a team or volunteering or holding a part time job maybe? Many of these children have practices or games directly after school and then have to go home, eat dinner, shower, and possibly do chores at home as well as find time for what is sometimes hours of homework. My children are very actively involved in extra-curricular activities. Both of my children play sports and my daughter does dance. We live about 15 minutes from the school and they have a morning bus time of 6:30 so they are up around 5:30 each morning. Three days a week my daughter has her dance classes on top of her sports and so she does not see our house from 6:30 in the morning until about 9:15 at night. That is when she eats dinner, showers, and does homework. She has one study hall this year and is very good about using any free time to get homework done, but there were nights last year that she was still up at midnight finishing up homework before being able to go to bed only to get back up at 5:30. She is a great student and understood the concepts so the homework was mostly just time consuming on many occasions.
Honestly though, I have a much bigger concern on this topic than any of what I just stated. I got thinking about this the other day when my son came home asking me to help him on his math homework. I have a bachelor’s degree in education and got an A+ in college statistics and I believe it was my daughter’s third or fourth grade year that I first had to google how to do her math homework. I barely cracked a book all through high school and college when it came to math and here I was sitting in front of my computer feeling defeated after my nine year old asked for help on her homework. I remember it very clearly…..compatible numbers. What the heck is compatible numbers? This was nothing I had ever even heard of and was no doubt one of the new common core concepts. After googling and finding that it is a similar concept to rounding but with what I considered to be much less rules involved, I was able to help my daughter with her homework. And so the cycle of common core (which in case it isn’t clear I am not a fan of) began. My thoughts are that the reason I always loved and succeeded at math is because it made sense. The answer was right or wrong and there was no gray area. There are so many steps being added to some things that I used to find simple that I think it makes it more confusing to the kids that got it. I’m all about showing different ways for a child who is having trouble understanding, but why do kids who get the concept need to go through 80 extra steps to reach the same answer? My point in all of this, what happens when the child has a parent at home that can barely spell their own name? I’m not trying to sound mean or put anyone down here, but the reality remains that some people have more academic knowledge than others. It breaks my heart to think of the child that goes home not understanding the work and has nobody there who is able to help them. It breaks my heart equally as much for the parent who wants so badly to be able to help, but is just not capable. Then there are the parents who might be able to help, but couldn’t care less.
I think that classwork makes so much more sense than homework for these reasons. Why not teach the lesson and have the kids do the “home” work in class instead. This way if they have questions, they can work together to figure out the answers or raise their hand and ask the teacher to clarify for them. This provides less stress and more sleep time to the kids who have a lot going on after school as well. If homework is still needed for grades or just to drive home a point, maybe give a lesson for the week. This way the kids who have things going on can spread out the work on nights that are less congested. I certainly don’t have all the answers and I know it is hard for teachers that have to meet certain curriculum requirements, but it just seems that there are better ways in some cases than exhausting and frustrating both kids and parents.