Homework? How much do your kids get?
By mommyboo
@mommyboo (13174)
United States
September 1, 2015 9:40pm CST
The school year just started and once again, I see parents are faced with varying amounts of this crap, from none (which I like) to HOURS (which I feel is completely inappropriate). I have an 11 year old 6th grader, and occasionally she gets a little something that takes oh.... all of ten minutes.
My take on this? Schools should not assign homework. I think this is a great idea and would be thrilled if every school everywhere went with this concept. I also do not feel it is ever appropriate to ASSIGN homework, beyond reading books for pleasure, studying for tests, and in some cases, planning/projects.
The only reason I feel it is appropriate is if it's leftover work - things that were assigned as classwork at the beginning of the day where students were given ample time to complete reasonably. If they didn't, then it makes sense that it should be taken home and completed, but this would again be a relatively small amount and never take more than 10 minutes per grade level, total. It should also only be work that the student can accomplish WITHOUT help from an adult, as it is supposed to be practice of a concept already learned and mostly mastered.
Kids are people too, just like adults. How many adults want to be assigned work to take home from work and then have to spend valuable time doing it - off the clock, without being paid - and then risk getting in trouble if it is not finished and done correctly? Hmmm. I don't think I'd see a very big show of hands from adults in favor of this. Just figured maybe I'd show you what it looks like from your kids' point of view.
3 people like this
2 responses
@phyrre (2317)
• United States
2 Sep 15
Yes, but kids aren't adults and school isn't work. And while adults may not like it, there are plenty of adults that do take home their work or work outside their official hours because it's necessary. My father does it quite often. My husband just got a new position, and he's built himself a whole study guide to go over and a binder so that he can learn the things he needs to know to do his job. This is all on his own time, of course.
I like homework. I liked it, for the most part, as a kid, though by high school I was very much over it (except for a few things). I love the sense of accomplishment when it's done or when I realize that I know something. My daughter loves homework. She actually gets mad when the school doesn't send her homework, and I have to find other things for her to do because she demands homework every day.
I mean, I try to look at it from both sides. With the standards and what teachers are expected to teach, they only have so much time in classes to teach it. Homework is intended as practice to go over concepts that students need to know that they've gone over.
I live in an area where there are two schools: one that has really low ratings and one that has really high ratings. And this in a state that's already in the lower 50 as far as education in the States. I would be very concerned if they decided to just stop sending homework, but, like you said, I also expect the homework to be a reasonable amount (NOT hours for middle school students) and something that the students should be able to complete themselves, for the most part.
1 person likes this
@Shampasaid (76)
• New Delhi, India
2 Sep 15
I am a mother and can understand your opinion very well. I am also against this homework practice and especially when it pressurises the parents or other guardians for hours and hours. Teachers must try to arrange such classes where they can guide their students well and then give homework based on their guidance. This will make the students do their homework with a minimum guidance from the parents but again it should not be very burdensome and very time consuming.
