Well it has taken me quite some time, and i'm still not completely done, but i feel much more educated about the issue of homework than i did before. I read two books. The Case Against Homework by sara bennet and Nancy kalisch. I also read, well almost, the homework myth by alphie kohn. Both were very interesting.
The case against homework
The book by bennet is much more user friendly. it is basically a how to guide to reduce or stop homework overload. it had a section detailing the research that has been done on homework, a section that seeks to inform parents on what homework has the most value and what is just busy work. What follows is a section on how to write notes or otherwise communicate with the teacher in order to reduce the amount of homework for your child. the last section of the book explains how to organize other parents to lobby for a more lasting change in policy for homework in your district. It is filled with real life examples from many different parents, including the authors who followed this strategy in their east coast private school.
the homework myth
The homework myth is a little more scholarly. It looks at homework from many different angles. Much of the same research is cited in both books. Kohn looks at teacher prep, misconceptions about learning, current trends within education and how those effect homework. Not sure whats at the end seeing as I haven't made it there yet. This book was harder to read, I got bogged down when he just wouldn't stop talking about the many and varied reasons its difficult to research the benefits of homework.
What I think...
I will be very hesistant to assign homework. I think that reading is probably the most valuable homework but I never enjoyed reading something that I HAD to read. I also see that one of my darling kids feels the same way.
I had no idea that the research on homework showed that there was no benefit for elementary kids. Are you kidding me. According to Kohn that old 'ten minutes per grade level' was just invented by Harris Cooper, a homework researcher. Apparently Cooper did a metanalysis of like 140 studies on homework and decided that 10 minutes was a good rule of thumb but that the research didn't actually address that issue. In fact the research showed only a small correlation between homework and achievement in high school. Of course i didn't go and check Kohn's work. I have no interest in pouring over data and reading a research report. I'll just take his word.
I got the feeling while reading these books that people think kids should have homework and lots of it because they'll just watch tv if they don't. its like people don't trust parents to raise their own kids. I have strong feelings about this but for now I'll just say, so what if they do. Its not the schools job to raise the kids but the parents. I'm a bit tired of everyone dumping more and more parental responsibilities onto the school.
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8 comments:
I just wrote a paper on this very thing for Mrs. Carter. Here's my very (un)educated opinion. It's true that research shows that homework has no academic benefit for elementary school kids. Benefits are greatest for high school students. Interestingly enough, on average, elementary school students have more homework than those in high school. In fact, the older you are (until you hit college) the less homework you probably are assigned. I know that in my Jr. and Sr. years of high school my nephews in first and second grade were doing far more homework than I was.
Back to the idea that homework in elementary school having no academic benefits though, some professionals are aware of this and still continue to assign bucket loads of work to their young students. Why? To build study skills and create good habits. After all, students will need the skills to sit down and complete assignments or study for tests when they get into high school and college, so why not start young.
I personally think that's a bunch of baloney. Why assign homework when it's not helping students? I will agree with you, the best homework is probably to read or be read to, or just to spend quality time playing or doing something with your family. Kids don't seem to get much of that these days.
Good for you doing the research. I personally remember just getting confused when I did homework. I wasn't practicing math, etc. the way I was taught in the classroom because I couldn't transfer from one day of teaching to doing the homework--at least not in elementary.
I agree with you.
And hopefully you will get a job in a district that doesn't require homework.
At Hearthwood, it was a school policy to have at least weekly homework, starting with the kindergarten students!
See my comment on your last post.
camera talk again...
I think I am going to go with smugmug.com but it sound like the same idea. The business account will cost a good chunk but as soon as I can, i'll do it. They can even put a watermark over the pictures which I think sounds very professional. I'll email you with my Picasa Web album information and you can see some of the things I've done so far.
I don't have your email address. what is it?
I think I discussed this at length on one of your posts before, but this is an important topic to me these days. If we did all of Trinity's assigned homework packet on time, it would take about 45 minutes per day. That is so ridiculous for kindergarten!! It just boggles my mind - especially when they are there for a full day already, unlike many schools with half-day K programs.
Since we are in a lesser achieving school than our suburban counterparts I think there is a concern that the kids are not getting enough help through parental involvement like reading together. So the school encourages the teachers to pile on homework for the kids to do. Problem is, I would imagine it is only those families where the parents are already willing and able to work with their kids that homework is getting done anyway.
What they have unintentionally done, at least in our family, is to set up my child to HATE homework and for us to be in daily battles over it - rather than encourage a love of learning, which should really be the goal at just a young age.
Oh boy do i hear you on this subject! You don't know me, i'm sort of a "drive by" blog reader--following favorites of favorites, that sort of thing--but i've always wondered about the homework issue! My youngest was a learning disabled student all through school (recently graduated high school) and i still remember one of his earliest mainstream teachers saying "parents expect me to assign homework"--like it was a way to keep the kids busy in the evening. Homework was the perfect avenue to show me how much i appreciated his special ed teachers...i'm a pretty patient person, but homework could set up a pretty ugly situation with my son... ;-)
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