No homework for my kids. No school for mine. For whom do such approaches really work?
I read an interesting blog by a parent on her resistance to homework. In “Starlighting Mama,” writer Heather Shumaker explains why her household bans homework. In a nutshell, her kids have better things to do. Things that are more fun and probably more educational.
So, every year, Shumaker sends a letter to the school that is generally accepted by her son’s teacher.
Here is part of her letter:
My son gets home around 4 p.m. He gets into pajamas around 8 p.m. In those short four hours, he:
Has an after-school snack, talks and unwinds from his day, plays/ pursues his own interests, goes outside and climbs in tree forts, giggles with his brother, does family chores, practices piano, has a family supper, reads his own book and listens to a bedtime story
These are all more important uses of his time, or any young child’s time. My view is homework interrupts home learning. Homework tends to give school /learning a bad name and when given too young, kids learn to resent it instead of value it. Kids don’t need to “practice” the routine of homework. That can come much later, in middle school.
The only type of “homework” I value at this age is reading at home. In our family we already do this every day. When homework does become important, I view it as the child’s responsibility. We will take an interest in what our kids learn in school, but not tell them to do it. No parent signatures signing off on assignments, etc. I also don’t believe in the practice of adding 10 minutes a day per grade, or any arbitrary amount of time. Learning doesn’t work by filling a quota of minutes. I realize this is not the prevailing view in education right now, and perhaps flies in the face of the school’s policies or your own ideas. Can we talk? I’d like to find something that’s comfortable for everyone and make sure your goals are supported as well as ours.”
First, we can all agree that Shumaker’s children are going to do fine in school and life. I doubt many educators would worry about children who have access to the natural world every day and who live amidst books and music. An assistant principal in Gwinnett once described these students to me as “teacher proof.” He said they flourish under most any circumstances because their daily lives provide rich learning experiences.
But I do have concerns about parents opting out of all homework.
Some kids do not go home to log jumping and piano playing or parents attuned to their emotional, intellectual and physical development. They don’t go home to shelves full of beloved classics and the best of new children’s literature. Without assigned school reading, those kids may not read at home, in part because there are no books around their houses. Their parents aren’t terrible people; they are just overwhelmed with the challenges of keeping their kids fed and housed.
These students could end up sitting next to the Shumaker boys who get a pass every day on the homework. How does that affect the class culture? Do kids see different expectations for one another? Do we cast school as a cafeteria where you get to pick and choose your activities? (For the record, I am not a fan of homework for young kids and have no problem with a class-wide or school-wide limit on how much is assigned.)
In a related vein, I was reading a New York Times profile of the Thiel fellows, the wunderkinds who receive grants from billionaire Peter A. Thiel to drop out of college and pursue their dreams. One of them was Laura Deming. I was struck by her father’s comments about education and about what he and his wife were willing to do for their daughter’s sake.
According to the story:
Ms. Deming is clearly brilliant. When she was 12, her family moved to San Francisco from New Zealand so she could work with Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular biologist who studies aging. When Ms. Deming was 14, the family moved again, this time to the Boston area, so she could study at M.I.T.
“Families of Olympic-caliber athletes make these kinds of sacrifices all the time,” says Tabitha Deming, Laura’s mother. ”When we lived nearby in Boston, we were lucky to see her once a month. She never came home for weekends.”
John Deming, Laura’s father, graduated from Brandeis University at the age of 35 but says he disdains formal education at every level. His daughter was home-schooled.
“I can’t think of a worse environment than school if you want your kids to learn how to make decisions, manage risk and take responsibility for their choices,” Mr. Deming, an investor, wrote in an e-mail. “Rather than sending them to school, turn your kids loose on the world. Introduce them to the rigors of reality, the most important of which is earning your own way.” He added, “I detest American so-called ‘education.’ ”
Again, I have no concerns about the education of a young genius whose parents have the wherewithal to shift continents to optimize her learning opportunities.
But it is one thing to “turn your child loose on the world” in the rarefied regions where the Demings clearly live and another to loose a child in a world where mom works two jobs, where intellectual curiosity is not nurtured and where reality can be both bleak and dangerous.
Interesting stuff. What do you think?
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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91 comments Add your comment
bootney farnsworth
September 20th, 2012
12:13 pm
one word answers: homeschool. Charter. Montessori.
if you don’t wish to be in the system, fine.
but if you’re gonna choose to be in the system, work within the system.
what always concerns me about these concepts are:
-mom and dad aren’t always the best judges of how much a child is learning.
-sounds like a potential starter kit for sociopaths.
mountain man
September 20th, 2012
12:20 pm
Schumaker’s son is the one that, when he gets out in the business world, his boss will tell him to finish a report at home, and he will say “I’m sorry but my home time is too precious, and I don’t do work after hours”. Bye-bye.
Hillbilly D
September 20th, 2012
12:30 pm
Bootney pretty much has it right, either play by the rules or start/find another game.
mountain man
September 20th, 2012
12:32 pm
I agree with Bootney – if you don’t like the local pubilc school system – then go another route. IF I was a teacher, I would give homework, and if it were not completed, I would give a zero. Now you understand why I have never been nor will ever be a teacher.
claytondawg
September 20th, 2012
12:33 pm
Typical goofy parent attitude in the 21st century in that it’s all about them and nothing else. If it doesn’t suit the parent or kid, then “I don’t want it.” So, I concur with bootney above. Parents, you have a choice: choose this system of education or that system of education. Once you make that choice, it’s YOUR responsibility to work within those guidelines.
Atlanta Mom
September 20th, 2012
12:35 pm
Really? That child is going to learn how to write his letter and learn his arithmetic facts during the school day? Me thinks not.
mathmom
September 20th, 2012
12:35 pm
One unaddressed issue in this article about homework is the inherent disadvantage for students whose parents do not know how to read very well (or at all) or work math problems or …
Students are often stymied by their assignments, and when parents/guardians/siblings cannot help them through the trouble spots, the students often give up. Over the course of a school year, those students fall further and further behind while students who can turn to family members for help are usually able to keep up or excel.
Atlanta Mom
September 20th, 2012
12:36 pm
Will this mom be negotiating what homework is important when he gets to college?
Edmond Heatley no longer too be head of Berkeley Schools
September 20th, 2012
12:41 pm
BERKELEY — The final candidate chosen to run the city’s schools backed out Monday after parents and teachers criticized his publicly stated views against same-sex marriage.
Edmond Heatley, who recently announced his resignation as superintendent of the Clayton County Public Schools near Atlanta, emailed a letter Monday to Berkeley school board President John Selawsky saying he was withdrawing his candidacy, Selawsky said Tuesday.
“It was clear there was going to be a lot of explaining to do, and there were going to be a lot of difficulties coming in,” said Selawsky, referring to the uproar over Heatley’s 2008 resolution he authored while superintendent of the Chino Valley Unified School District in Southern California urging his school board to take a stand against same-sex marriage, which it did so unanimously.
The resolution was circulated at a school board meeting in Berkeley on Sept. 12 and parents spoke against it.
In the memo, Heatley said “the ideal learning environment for children is within a nurturing home governed jointly by a mother and a father as primary educators of their children.”
Selawsky said the revelation of Heatley’s views on same-sex marriage made the “odds of a successful superintendency slimmer and slimmer. All of us realized that.”
Selawsky said it would have been helpful if the board knew of the memo before it began talking seriously to Heatley about the job. The board hired a headhunting firm and has paid it a $30,000 flat fee to find candidates…”
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_21573916/view-same-sex-marriage-sinks-berkeley-schools-superintendent
Ole Guy
September 20th, 2012
12:42 pm
Once again, we see the slow but gradual infusion of passive education…my kid don’t have time for homework, but if he wanders about life, eyes wide open, he will learn all he has to know about the world. Apparently, the author of this fine memo (I’m not too sure if she can…nor should…claim, in good conscience, the title MOM), as many who seem to agree, do not mid if their kids grow up “fat, dumb and stupid”…perfect candidates for a role in Animal House.
At the earliest of ages, these kids need to develop a sense of “connective tissue” between the (supposedly) rigors of school life, and the “demands” of their teachers, and life away from the classroom. Homework is the ONLY way to achieve this. Homework need not require hours and hours of burning the midnight oil…although burning that oil is precisely what will be required if the kid is to be at all prepared for the nasty ole world. Homework simply provides a tool by which the kid assimilates that sense of accountability; follow-through.
It simply amazes me that, on one hand, no one seems to oppose the arguement that kids…probably more so than at any time in human history, need to be prepared for a very complex…and, in many way, unforgiving…world, yet there are those (presumably) sane folks who have the guts to even suggest such passive means of educating these kids will suffice.
Then again, this will, in a very short time, provide extra funding for the good folks at the State Dept who will be working overtime issuing work visas to them thar feriners who will be far more capable of performing the jobs of the 21st century. At the same time, the good folks at the Dept of Labor will be kept busy finding the low-level jobs for then-adults who won’t have the qualifications to dig ditches. But hey, let’s viiew the bright side…unemployment checks will abound while those of us who have somehow managed to get ahead will have the opportunity to share the wealth with the kids whose parents saw no need in doing homework
Sleep well!
Atlanta Mom
September 20th, 2012
12:42 pm
“First, we can all agree that Shumaker’s children are going to do fine in school and life”
I can’t agree with that statement at all. A child who doesn’t have to follow the rules for the first 12 years of his life, is going to find it difficult to adjust to the real world, whenever his mother determines it’s time.
Gail
September 20th, 2012
12:54 pm
I too did not think that homework in the early grades served much purpose, but my kids did it anyway. Some people commenting need to re-read her letter. She did not say her children would never do homework. She just means elementary school.
“Kids don’t need to “practice” the routine of homework. That can come much later, in middle school.”
Classroom Teacher
September 20th, 2012
1:02 pm
By middle school, it’s too late. He’s learned that he doesn’t have to do homework and his mom isn’t going to make him. I pity the teachers who will have this child in middle school,
momtoktb
September 20th, 2012
1:04 pm
I can totally understand where this parent is coming from, although I don’t think it’s helpful to “opt out” beyond maybe third grade. Kids do need to learn how to complete assignments, write essays, study, etc. And by the later half of middle school, my experience has been that the kids are developmentally ready to handle such challenges.
I will say that my entire family is exhausted from the homework routine forced upon us. At my 10 year-old’s Curriculum night, I went from class to class where EACH teacher (none with school -aged kids, btw) explained that they gave homework each school night but don’t worry, it is only 30-45 minutes’ worth. Well, that adds up to about 2 1/2 hours per night, then add in special issues with a particular kids’ learning abilities – now we’re at 3 hours. Then add in other children’s homework help needs, scouts, church, sports, dinner, family time, even showers – notice PLAYTIME is not even listed! Since the kids get home from school about 4, it is well past their ideal healthy bedtime before all the hoops are jumped through. And no, dropping physical activity, community activities, family time and spiritual development to replace with more homework time is not appropriate. Or is that what the school system is gunning for?
I consider it my responsibility to find enrichment opportunities to develop my child’s mind, body and soul consistently with my family’s values. I do not appreciate the schools’ attempt to overtake my role in my children’s development by dictating my family’s schedule every night.
CTPAT
September 20th, 2012
1:08 pm
I think it’s wrong to teach your children a lesson that even if you’re expected to do something, you don’t have to do it simply because it isn’t worthwhile. A better conversation would be with the school itself about having meaningful homework. I sometimes think my kids get assignments simply because homework is expected and that they would, in fact, learn more through hands-on or outdoor play or experiences. Growing up, we only had homework in elementary school every so often (other than reading each night). Now, they have it every day starting in kindergarten.
John Konop
September 20th, 2012
1:11 pm
Play is very important part of education. Like most things this is not a black and white issue, it falls into the grey area. That is why a balance approach usually works best.
…….. Within the past 20 years, there has been a considerable amount of research, conducted mostly on preschool children, on the relationship between play and problem solving. More specifically, researchers have looked at the impact of either object play or fantasy play on children’s ability to solve either single-solution or multiple-solution problems. The typical research design has been to (1) allow children to engage in free play with materials that they would later use to solve single-solution problems or (2) examine the relationship between make-believe play and children’s ability to deal with multiple-solution problems (Rubin, Fein, & Vandenberg, 1983)…….
….. Sylva (1977) divided the preschoolers into three groups. The first were allowed to play freely with the problem-solving materials prior to engaging in the task A second group watched as the experimenter solved the problem before they were asked to do it. Finally, a third group, the control, was given neither the play experience nor the opportunity to observe the problem being solved.
It was found that the children who either played with the materials in advance or watched an adult solve the problem became more successful problem solvers than those in the control group. More interesting was the finding that the play group appeared to be more highly motivated to solve the problem and worked at it more persistently than did the observation group, whose members either solved the problem immediately or simply gave up…….
http://www.education.com/reference/article/play-creativity-problem-solving/?page=2
HP
September 20th, 2012
1:18 pm
I think SOMETIMES we may get a bit too much homework, BUT we do it because it is expected, and he has to learn to follow the rules. Honestly, it is through sitting down with my son during homework that I see where he is doing well and what he needs help in. It is also teaching him a valuable lesson in time management – stop dawdling and wasting time, and get your work done, and then you have time to watch your TV shows or work on a Legos project. This woman sounds like SHE didn’t want to get caught up in the homework grind, to save time for her yoga lessons, a manicure, trying new recipes or yapping on her cell phone, than what her kids will get out of not doing homework.
Mom to Many
September 20th, 2012
1:20 pm
From Ms. Shumaker’s blog:
“For seven hours they’ve had to focus on the academic sides of their brains with grown-ups telling them what to do. When school’s out, it should be OUT. Kids need time to get other needs met.
What do kids need? Time outside. Time with family. Time goofing around and picking their nose. Time pursuing their own interests. Time doing family chores. And an early bed. There you have it: Play, family time and sleep. ”
I agree. One of her boys is in 3rd grade. I have two sons currently in elementary school. They’ve spent from 8am to 3 pm at school, and when they get home, they want to RUN WILD. They get 20 minutes of daily recess during that 7 hour span, and get P.E. with a coach every 2-3 weeks as a “special.” The last thing they want to do is sit there and do homework. I allow them to put it off as long as we can once they arrive home. They play outside with friends, ride bikes, or they play with Legos if they aren’t playing outside. They read nightly — and would do that regardless of whether I had to sign a ridiculous reading log to prove myself the proper type of parent.
Atlanta Mom
September 20th, 2012
1:22 pm
Mr Konop,
That all sounds good, if that’s what the kids are doing, playing. But how many kids are coming home sitting in front of the TV or computer screen?
jarvis
September 20th, 2012
1:24 pm
My response:
Dear Mrs. Shumaker,
Thank you for the note. Unfortunately in this circumstance your opinion on what is a good use of your son’s time is completely irrelevant. Your child will complete the assignments like his classmates or he will be forced ranked below his peers for not putting in the same effort that they have.
Perhaps he will have a more understanding 3rd Grade teacher next year when he repeats it.
Sincerely,
jarvis
bubba
September 20th, 2012
1:33 pm
Maureen, you missed the boat with your comment. Atlanta Mom does a good job of what everyone is saying. These are likely to be some messed up kids when they are on their own in the real world.
“First, we can all agree that Shumaker’s children are going to do fine in school and life”
Tired
September 20th, 2012
1:34 pm
This just seems like a straight-up case of “my kid is too special to follow the rules.” And I’m disappointed in the teachers for giving in. Surely there’s a compromise of “it’s wonderful and valuable that he has these experiences at home, but we’re reinforcing lessons and he needs to do his homework.”
Maybe I missed it, but was there a mention of how old her child is?
jarvis
September 20th, 2012
1:39 pm
Reading does not equate to education. Literacy is its own statistic for a reason.
“My child reads three grade levels above…..”
Yippeeee!!!! That’s terrific for him. That will differentiate him in life. 99% of American adults can read. How about teaching Johnny some math.
jarvis
September 20th, 2012
1:40 pm
@Tired, I got the 3rd grade from a quote in the comments from this freak show’s blog.
Truth in Moderation
September 20th, 2012
1:56 pm
When one home schools, homework loses its meaning. The goal of a home educator is to educate her children, and to support and encourage their UNIQUE talents, by WHATEVER means. Some skills such as grammar and foreign language are best mastered with daily written and oral drill work. This is the type of work traditionally sent home as “home work”. I often use this type of “workbook practice” to make sure my kids get enough repetition to get the information into their long term memory. This is often necessary for math skill mastery. However, I only give this type of work when appropriate and necessary. I have the flexibility to put it off if we have more pressing hands-on or social learning to do. Students resent “busy work”, but will become engaged in meaningful learning. It is also important for students to learn to work independently. However, if they get stuck, or need to ask a question, It is good that the home school parent is available. This doesn’t always happen with traditional public school homework. I do think it is very important for students to have time each day to pursue their own interests and to build family relationships. This is much easier to accomplish with home school.
catlady
September 20th, 2012
2:02 pm
One of my very successful colleagues (5th grade) tells the kids/parents at the beginning of the year: If you cannot do your homework one night, just have your parent write a note as to why you could not, and you will not be penalized. Most parents, after writing the note a few times, are too embarrased to continue doing it. The ones who have no homework done and no note work at recess (not a great thing, but the parents are the bad guys here.)
catlady
September 20th, 2012
2:03 pm
And of course he saves the notes for conference time.
Shar
September 20th, 2012
2:04 pm
When I was PTA president, we had two parents who owned and ran a neighborhood bar. Since their son (second marriage and children for him, so this time he knew exactly how to “perfectly parent”) was born they’d taken him to the bar with them at night, keeping him up until closing and then letting him sleep until noon or so in the care of a non-English speaking nanny. When time came for kindergarten, the parents came to school to explain, much as Ms. Shumaker, that since they knew how to perfectly parent their priorities and time management were much more important than were the k teacher’s. Therefore, the teacher needed to understand that the boy would not be arriving until noon or so, and that the teaching day needed to be rearranged to put the “important” material, as well as some “fun stuff”, after noon so that he could participate.
No, Ms. Downey, this substitution of the parents’ priorities and beliefs for the school’s didn’t lead that poor boy to do “fine in school and life”, regardless of how convinced those parents were that their way was best and that the school had to accommodate their tailored approach.
Bootney is right. If you choose to participate in public school, you are obligated not to force some poor teacher to change lesson plans, schedules or requirements for your little angel and your personal hobby horse. If a student has too much aggregate homework, something that happened frequently when my kids were in school, it is your job as a parent to intervene at the teacher or the principal level when coordination between teachers fails. If the curriculum runs off the rails, it is similarly your right and responsibility to provide your child with your point of view and go see the teacher if necessary. However, expecting a teacher to prepare 30+ different lesson plans to accomodate 30+ different parental beliefs is ludicrous.
If you don’t want your child to follow the rules and meet the classroom expectations, find rules and expectations you can support, either at another school or through home schooling.
Ms. Shumaker is way out of line.
Maureen Downey
September 20th, 2012
2:07 pm
@bubba, Still disagree. Will try and find study that found kids raised to question things and challenge end up in better jobs. I also have to say that many of these kids will never work in the conventional corporate jobs of today. Many more will work independently and remotely so the criteria for success may be far different. I have already seen that some of my older kids’ most obstreperous friends do quite well because they are self-employed and interact with their clients online.
Maureen
long time educator
September 20th, 2012
2:11 pm
I am not a bit surprised. This mom represents the group of parents to whom the rules don’t apply. Their number is growing and this is another good reason for smart teachers to get out now. The inmates are running the asylum.
decaturparent
September 20th, 2012
2:16 pm
The one thing I have asked of teachers is a little more flexibility on how the homework gets done. For instance, our third grader is required to practice multiplication facts every week day for 5 minutes and to read for 20 minutes. He also has a separate homework assignment three nights a week from a menu of tasks that seem pretty diverse and worthwhile. He gets to pick which one he does each night.
The only thing I asked of the teacher is if he could essentially “batch” work with the math facts and reading. For instance, instead of just five minutes of multiplication facts each night, could he do 30 minutes in one or two batches for the week. Also, some nights our son will read for hours because he is completely intrigued by a book. Other nights, with two older siblings, things can get nutty and before we know it, bedtime is upon us and there’s no time to read. If he read for a hour or two the day before, I don’t feel bad about skipping reading every now and then. Through the week, he gets much more than the minimum amount of reading/math facts, but he does it in batches rather than a smidgen here and there. This approach works well for his particular learning style because he tends to get very absorbed with a task once he starts it, and quitting after just a few minutes makes it harder for him to really learn it.
His teacher has been fine with this. He gets a lot of latitude though because he’s a really good student. I guess I could have not even told her about it, but I figured it was best to be honest so she knows what’s going on.
Jarvis, how do you feel about a parent with this approach? Again, overall, he’s doing more work than is required, but he’s changing the sequencing of it to something that is more effective for the way he learns. Would you be willing to work with this if you were a teacher?
Tired
September 20th, 2012
2:16 pm
“…study that found kids raised to question things and challenge end up in better jobs.”
But can’t you question and challenge and still do your homework?
Justin Staub
September 20th, 2012
2:17 pm
I don’t know if questioning whether or not to do homework is the right approach. I’m a teacher, and I strongly value students practicing concepts or completing assignments outside school IF THE ASSIGNMENTS ARE VALUABLE! If the homework is given to establish a routine, then what’s the point? What’s being taught there is Pavlovian behavior modification. Guess what I’ve found? Students will do the preparation if it is valuable and makes sense with a valuable program at school.
I don’t give much homework. When I do, it is ungraded. The expectation is the homework will help you for class, and I explain how. If students chose not to do it, they will be hurt by that choice.
Sometimes large assignments require outside work. These large assignments are graded, so I cannot say I do not grade homework. I guess more appropriately, I only grade final assignments. If students choose to not complete a preparation or practice for the next day, fine. If they can get by without it, fine. If they need additional help from me, the first thing I will make them do is complete the work assigned, if it is essential to their understanding.
Homework for homework sake (for behavior modification) is silly and unacceptable.
NONPC
September 20th, 2012
2:19 pm
I never had homework in elementary school ( in MASSACHUSETTS). I managed to do most of my middle school/HS homework in school, and rarely took anything home (in Georgia).
I have a BS in Electrical Engineering, a BS in Computer Science, and an AS in Biology.
The smart kids don’t need much homework, and the less-smart kids will resent all of their free time being eaten up by homework. Elementary kids need some down time.
Maureen Downey
September 20th, 2012
2:22 pm
@Tired, You can. I subscribe to the theory — borne out by experience – that you will be asked to do many things in life by employers that are tedious, annoying and sometimes plain useless. You can question and protest, but, ultimately, you may have to comply if your boss insists.
Even if you own your business, clients may ask you to do idiotic tasks.
That is what I tell my kids whenever they start to complain about homework or projects that they deem irrelevant or mindless.
Maureen
iTeach
September 20th, 2012
2:27 pm
As an educator, I stopped giving homework. No one does it. Then, when you give zeroes, there is hell to pay from parents and ADMINISTRATORS about the failing grades.
They all use the same talking points: “A zero is too difficult to recover from”.
Now, I know what you’re thinking… “Then do the work!” But, you have moms like this one who refuse to support you, and so there you have it. Look around, MOST schools have policies to deal with this. They include:
1.) If a kid fails to turn in an assignment, you can’t give them lower than a 50 (which is less mathematically damaging than a zero) or,
2.) You can’t give homework.
Either way, teachers, the Enemy of America, are powerless (again). So after two decades in the classroom, I find it’s just easy not to every bother fighting another losing battle.
BehindEnemyLines
September 20th, 2012
2:27 pm
Sorry, we can’t agree on the point you tried to stipulate. Maybe there’s some other common ground we could find? That the child has a clueless meddling neo-hippie mom perhaps? That we’ve just spotted a woman who has a tenuous grip on reality at best, and seems determined to pass that along to her child?
I’m trying here.
Entitlement Society
September 20th, 2012
2:31 pm
Wrong, Ms. Downey. We ALL don’t agree “that Shumaker’s children are going to do fine in school and life.” This mother needs to either fully support the public school in which her child is enrolled or home school her child if she doesn’t agree with the teaching methods employed. A teacher plans for the entire class, not student by student. We’re talking elementary school anyway and FOUR hours of afterschool time. Surely the mother could stand to learn a little time management skill and fit in enough time for the small slot that elementary homework would take in the 4-hour window. This child is not going to make it in the real world.
SBinF
September 20th, 2012
2:43 pm
Sound like prime candidates for homeschooling. More indulgent parents who think their kids should be treated differently from everyone else. I wonder if she plans to follow her kids throughout life with such a request:
“Excuse me supervisor, I do not think my son should have to work late, or take work home with him, ever. He has better things to do.”
What a joke…
SBinF
September 20th, 2012
2:46 pm
I work as an educator, and had a similar crazy request from a parent. She sends an email to my principal (not even to me!) requesting:
“Please allow my child to take the test at a later date. He is not prepared.”
She sends this email the day of of the test. I provide a study guide one week before the test. Upon questioning the child, he said simply that he “forgot” to study. Do you think he received extra time to prepare?
I don’t think so….
Been there, seen that
September 20th, 2012
2:53 pm
@Entitlement at 2:31: Maureen is correct. These children do just dandy. Only their teachers suffer. At my top private, I met such parents all the time. The worst were college professors.
We had a med school prof who withdrew his kid every year to go with him to a medical conference in some developing country. He said she’d learn more three weeks in Uganda than in school. His daughter is a surgeon now, and I bet as arrogant as her daddy.
But successful.
Gerald
September 20th, 2012
2:55 pm
I certainly agree with the point that if one is to attend a school, or a class within the school, one has to be prepared to cope with the rules. Having said that, most of the homework I experienced in the dark ages of the 1950’s was useless if you already understood the material, useless if you didn’t understand the material, and for the most part “busy work”. Whether it was exercises in plane geometry or attempting to decipher the allegory of “The rime of the ancient mariner”, I can not say that it was ever useful in my subsequent life – but I obeyed the rules and did it. Was I better prepared for life as a consequence? I doubt it.
When my son attended public schools through the 8th grade, it was clear that most of the homework was a combination of busy work (posters, environmental slogans, etc.) and in conferences with teachers, it was also clear that most were going through the motions with the brighter students in order to attempt to diagnose the problems that mid-tier students were having with the material. I remember one conference when I asked the teacher to explain the relevance of math homework (memorizing the attributes of geometric shapes) and she readily admitted that she had no idea. That is when we decided that Private Schools would be a superior alternative.
The issue of homework (and the amount of same) is whether it is useful in learning something of importance or just one more example of “going through the motions” to satisfy administators. When we saw that in our case it was the latter, we obeyed the rules and then found a better solution.
Fred ™
September 20th, 2012
2:56 pm
I liked the article but *something* was just wrong with the situation and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I like parents exercising their rights as parents and reminding a damn school just who exactly IS the parent……… but something was still wrong. Then I read the first three comments.
Bootney, mountain man and Hillbilly nailed it. Thanks guys for clarifying the confusion in my tiny little mind.
No homework for my kids. No school for mine. For whom do such approaches really work? | Get Schooled | Buffy Hamilton's Unquiet Commonplace "Book" | Scoop.it
September 20th, 2012
2:58 pm
[...] I read an interesting blog by a parent on her resistance to homework. In Starlighting Mama, writer Heather Shumaker explains why her household bans homework. [...]
A reader
September 20th, 2012
3:00 pm
Homework for children in grand k-2 is in reality training for the parents. It is to get the parents involved in the education of their children by checking if they have homework and checking that the homework is done. When my daughter was in these grades, home consisted of 1-2 worksheets and reading. It is also important to note that in k-5 most children are taught by 1-2 teachers for the entire day so the team of teachers know exactly how much homework is assigned each night.
Middle school is a whole different ball game. Suddenly there are 6 teachers each working independently and each assigning 30-60 minutes of homework each night. Your child will fall behind if they do not do the homework. And if your child has no discipline of doing homework then they will fight it each night.
I have to agree the Ms. Shumaker is not only way out of line, she is setting her children up to be miserable in middle school and high school.
catlady
September 20th, 2012
3:08 pm
I don’t mind someone who is being the PARENT. Just let me be the TEACHER. There are probably many parenting things this parent does that I don’t agree with. Just as (gasp) there may be some things I do that she doesn’t agree with.
Just A Teacher
September 20th, 2012
3:31 pm
Since I teach high school, I can’t really speak for elementary school teachers, but I’d like to say that I don’t assign a lot of homework, but when I do, the students have two options: either they do it or receive a zero for the assignment. If this lady wants her child to fail his classes, that’s her choice. He can always repeat the class at a time that is more convenient for him and his mother. Summer school comes to mind.
bootney farnsworth
September 20th, 2012
3:45 pm
there are some people who have the gift of teaching, and maybe she’s one. I would never homeschool, since it’s not in my skill set to be a teacher to my own kids. remember teaching kids to drive…?
I’m a big believer in pushing the rules hard if they don’t make sense, but at the end of the day every function has crap work associated with it. discuss it until it makes sense, then do it.
what I’m bothered by is the apparent unwillingness to even discuss this up front with the teacher. it you mean it, and believe it, stand for it. don’t do the passive aggressive crap and hope you don’t get caught.
for the kids sake I hope hes the next Bill Gates – real life sorta frowns when you excuse yourself from the actions required of everyone else.
wonder if she tries this approach with the IRS?
FJ
September 20th, 2012
3:55 pm
@ Mom to Many – loved your post and could have written it myself. We made the switch to private this year and our new school tries to stay within a 10 min. per grade window of homework each night, which I think is reasonable, but the biggest difference is that I no longer see multiple pages of worksheets (which were CRCT prep sheets for at least half the year). The homework is more meaningful and requires much deeper thought – essay questions, word problems, etc. and amazingly the complaints about doing it have stopped. Funny how that works.
Elizabeth
September 20th, 2012
3:55 pm
Well, I was in elementary school in Massachussetts, and I had homework. I had to read, practice my handwriting, do math and learn math facts, study spelling, and I don’t remember what else. And I came home and played outside, ate dinner, did my homework and was in bed by 7:30 every night. Not doing it was not an option. What did I learn? Other than academics, I learned that work does not end when you leave school ( or your job). I had plenty of time to do these things because I did not watch TV during the week, and we did not have electronics to take our time. Recreation was reading or playing board games. I did the same for my child. My mother ( who was a teacher) made it clear that school work came first. She helped us with our work WHILE SHE WAS GRADING PAPERS AND PLANNING LESSONS– home activities for which teachers still do not get paid.
If the child does not have to have homework, then neither do I. No more lesson planning, paper grading, parent contacts, etc., etc., etc., at home for me. I have a family and a life too. I will come in at 8 and leave at 4. Of course, grades will not get done in a timely manner, and lessons will be handouts or written work because I won’t have time during the day to plan meaningful lessons and grade things. Your child can either do the work or take the failing grade.
Lee
September 20th, 2012
4:11 pm
We’ve blogged the homework issues many times in the past. When my daughters were young, the impression I got was that most of the homework was a) busywork because the teacher felt obligated to “send something” home, or b) a way to get the school work done that should have been completed during the day, but wasn’t because the teacher was too busy dealing with [take your pick] the sugar’d up ADD/ADHD demon bouncing off the walls, the future felon, the SPED kid who just soiled his diaper, or the ESOL kid who can’t speak a lick of English.
Either way, I don’t remember having the amount of homework that my daughters did.
Tony
September 20th, 2012
4:15 pm
Homework is important in many ways and when used properly by teachers. Telling a child he doesn’t have to comply is certainly going to create hardships later in life. By the same token, that does not mean that schools (mine included) should burden children with inordinate amounts of irrelevant, repetitive junk. Reading is one of the best, especially for younger children. A couple of math problems, too.
Homework? What homework??
September 20th, 2012
4:58 pm
“NONPC
September 20th, 2012 2:19 pm
I never had homework in elementary school ( in MASSACHUSETTS).”
LOL me too – I thought my elementary school was the only one! Weren’t the 70’s grand?
In all seriousness, though, I do have some mixed feelings about never having had any homework as a kid. On the one hand, maybe it would have been useful to get some assignments starting in the fourth or fifth grade.
Then again, if my elementary school had assigned homework I wouldn’t have had the time to play French horn, sing in all-city chorus, play kickball with the kids in the neighborhood, attend CCD (Catholic Sunday school – it was on Tuesdays), start a pretty serious bug collection, watch lots of TV (MASH reruns were a personal favorite), and read the entire school library by the time I finished sixth grade.
I have a Ph.D., so I did develop a lifelong love of learning…but to be honest, I still don’t like following directions.
On the bright side, however, I am known for my ability to create innovative methodologies and an ability to problem-solve, and I am tapped as a ‘fixer’ at my current job when problems arise on complex projects.
I feel a little bit ambivalent about not having any homework as a kid, though. It’s a mixed bag. Maybe homework would have helped tame me.
SEE
September 20th, 2012
5:06 pm
I am a teacher who never gives homework. My students test scores are not any worse than my fellow, homework-giving teachers. Why is that?
mountain man
September 20th, 2012
5:45 pm
“I am a teacher who never gives homework. My students test scores are not any worse than my fellow, homework-giving teachers. Why is that?”
Probably because you can give any grade you want (ever heard of grade inflation?) Real question is did your students LEARN as much as your fellow teachers.
Students need PRACTICE. YOu cannot learn your multiplication tables just in class. Of course, Ms. Schumacher would say HER son doesn’t need to know multiplication – he has a calculator.
dubious
September 20th, 2012
5:50 pm
Much of the homework my kids received in elementary school was pure busy work. When my oldest started school, the assignments were often so basic I would have her younger sister do them for her. The little one enjoyed playing school, the older one got play time, and the teacher never noticed that her homework was being completed by a 3 year old.
Old timer
September 20th, 2012
5:56 pm
As a social studies teacher…primarily, I gave little homework. But I sent home a schedule of lessons covered, quiz dates, test dates, and due dates for projects. Many of my better students found reading the lessons, doing the vocabulary, etc increased tests and quiz grades.most project assignments checked out by parents…even if mostly done in class were just better. I found homework hotlines extremely helpful…without Telly anything specific you “HAD” to do. I also found if I went to the local library and put together a reading list to support….say WWII…..those who did some of the reading really learned a lot more.
The Deal
September 20th, 2012
5:56 pm
Obviously there is a reasonable middle ground here. Worksheets to master a skill not completely mastered in class – fine. Things that can’t be done during school and are fun for the kid anyway like bug and leaf collections – fine. Mindless busy work – not fine. More than 20 minutes for lower elementary and more than 30 for upper elementary – not fine. I don’t blindly accept things the way they are, nor do I blindly reject authority and inconveniences for my kids.
Old timer
September 20th, 2012
5:58 pm
Mountain man, .correct..math and spelling must be practiced. My kids always had some kind of math, one did it quickly and one not. I also had one that needed to practice spelling. If they are in band, which mine were…practice every night….though as one said, sometimes that got bunched up…depending….
mountain man
September 20th, 2012
5:58 pm
“When my oldest started school, the assignments were often so basic I would have her younger sister do them for her.”
THAT should teach her to complete assignments! And gave her the benefit of the practice! Maybe her sister can do her reports for her boss when she gets a job!
mountain man
September 20th, 2012
6:00 pm
From what I have seen on these blogs, teachers should have assigned more homework in the proper use of you’re and your (and there, their, and they’re). And some more practice in spelling would help, too.
3schoolkids
September 20th, 2012
6:21 pm
Funny, I don’t remember much homework during elementary school but I do remember my siblings and I getting fun “puzzlebooks” from my Aunt who is a nun and knew most of my Catholic school teachers. We thought it was fun so it didn’t feel like work and when it came time to do real homework in later years it didn’t seem like an obligation. It was what we did to get to the next level.
That was before standardized testing though. My oldest children did not have “real” homework until 4th grade. Between 4th and 5th grade the homework load was heavy to prepare them for middle school and 5th grade ITBS, which largely determined their class placement in middle school. If her son is self-motivated he will be fine. If he is not, she may have a huge struggle on her hands.
My younger homeschooler doesn’t do homework, per se, just fun “puzzlebooks”. Today’s reading was the Sunday funnies (the age appropriate ones-great for helping teach social skills) and for our fractions lesson we baked (and divided and ate) oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
iTeach
September 20th, 2012
7:11 pm
Aw, mountain man… people don’t need to learn to how spell. They have speel checkers for that.
[see what I did there?
]
Wilbur
September 20th, 2012
7:19 pm
Wow. In an early grade, this mom’s attitude is perfectly reasonable. No wonder people who care about their kids are leaving the system in droves. Some of the reasoning on the comments are about what is best for the child but a lot of the comments are selfish, mean and petty.
Listen folks, it’s not like the public school is doing such a great job anyway. If a child in early elementary is getting what he needs to learn who are you to demand that he do your mindless homework. As for the people who suggest that his mom’s desire to make time for play for a seven year old will make him somehow unemployable, you are just beyond ridiculous. I bet that kid is your kid’s boss in twenty years.
John Konop
September 20th, 2012
7:26 pm
Atlantamom,
I agree, that is why I said balance…….being a parent not easy……
incredulous
September 20th, 2012
7:35 pm
Since when does conforming lead to learning? Those of you that predict failure for those students who don’t follow the “herd”, sound similar to some religions that guarantee an eternal lake of fire for those who dare disagree.
long time educator
September 20th, 2012
7:46 pm
I never graded homework, but allowed students to use it to complete pop quizzes given randomly at the beginning of class. If the kid really didn’t need the extra practice, he probably passed the quiz without using the homework. But for those who needed the practice, it helped them pass the class. For those who needed the practice, but chose not to do it, their lack of preparation showed up in quiz grades. That seemed fair to me.
irisheyes
September 20th, 2012
7:49 pm
My students have math and spelling every week. I give it on Monday, and they return it on Friday. Whether they do it all Monday, all Thursday, or a little bit each day is entirely up to them (and their parents). I have kids, and I know that some nights with Girl Scouts, football practice, and a late meeting at work, it’s a miracle if everyone gets fed, so I don’t make something due the next day. The math is a continual review of skills, so nothing gets forgotten. The spelling is a list of activities, and parents can choose which ones they want to do.
I compare homework to sports practice. You can’t just show up for the game without practicing. Homework is the practice so that you’re ready for the game. Should it be 2 hours a night? Definitely not, but I don’t think asking for 30 minutes of a child’s time to reinforce what we’ve done in class is asking for too much.
Lady GaGa
September 20th, 2012
7:54 pm
This is the problem in public education; sorry parents who refuse to follow the rules and teach their kids they don’t have to follow the rules. Go private or homeschool. Geez!
catlady
September 20th, 2012
8:14 pm
My school doesn’t assign much homework. Teachers largely gave up on it when someone at the central office decided that kids below 6th grade could only have 20 minutes total per night. She was tired from doing her grandkids’ homework for them. I think the limit is 30 minutes total per night for middle school
For the most part, in the two college towns my kids grew up in, they had relatively little homework. That doesn’t mean they didn’t do schoolwork at home, though. They practiced/studied a great deal at home so they could do well in the classroom. Almost totally self-determined.
I have assigned homework such as “Find out how you got your name” to my students, but nothing except ways to get them to engage with their parents. I gave up on getting anything overtly academic years ago. Sometimes you have to sneak in learning.
Fred ™
September 20th, 2012
8:25 pm
I think you gave up on teaching long ago catlady. I read your comments and I mostly try not to comment, but just damn. If you hate it so much why do you do it?
Really amazed
September 20th, 2012
8:31 pm
Why even bother sending your child to public school if your not going to adhere to what is being implemented. I just talked to a high school teacher in a Cherokee county school this afternoon. She was telling me about parents threating to sue if their child couldn’t get to re-take a test. What is the point of learning if you get re-do’s all of the time. She told me all the parent has to do is threaten and they will get whatever they want. No wonder why colleges have caught on to this. Good luck to those children that continue on to college. Wonder which colleges are going to allow re-dos, or for that matter a boss (employer) that will allow redos!! Project that you have to complete at home, well just try to tell your boss or your professor that you couldn’t do it at home because outside nature was calling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bootney farnsworth
September 20th, 2012
8:47 pm
lets try an analogy most might relate to:
Mike Vick. society says you don’t drown Rover.
Mike Vicks says those rules and standards aren’t for him – he’s Mike Vick, just ask his mother.
Mike Vick gets away with drowning Rover as long as he plays well and keeps a low profile.
Mike Vick stops playing well and begins acting like he’s above it all.
–by his own admission VIck didn’t study his playbook (RE: homework) enough
Mike Vick does time in Federal Prison and misses the best years of his career.
long time educator
September 20th, 2012
9:31 pm
Fred,
I disagree that catlady hates teaching. I read this blog often and see her as a veteran who loves kids and teaching, has learned not to expect much from parents and shakes her head at the stupidity of the decisionmakers at the top.
CY 2.0
September 20th, 2012
9:38 pm
We need to stop trying to make education “one size fits all.” The real problem is that people think that things have to be the same in order to be fair. The fact is that students need different things. Some need more basic practice while others need more enrichment. Some will need to work outside of school while others may not need to do as much. As the trained professional, I should be free to work with parents to make sure their student is getting what he/she needs rather than something that is too much, too little, too difficult, or too simple for him/her. If we change the culture and the way of thinking, then this sort of thing will not be a problem.
Truth in Moderation
September 20th, 2012
10:57 pm
1960 I’ll follow the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq7DGPYzAvg&feature=endscreen
2012 I’ll follow you on twitter.
tjatl
September 21st, 2012
12:16 am
Wow. Do these people also think that their children should not have chores or clean up after themselves or perform community service?
There are plenty of tasks that build character that do not provide instant gratification. While I’m all for having time for free play, kids need to learn that they will be required to do tasks throughout their lives that do not necessarily fit their (or their parents’) definition of “enriching”.
I just finished filling out (by hand) 77 separate waybills for product shipments to a major retail chain for a product I manufacture. I have 3 kids, 2 college degrees and no time to spare, but it has to be done and I’m not “above” it.
And no, I don’t think homework is in the category of “busy work” unless it is onerous. Homework is “reinforcement”, and in its best incarnation it serves to expand the student’s ability to research, make connections between data items and to practice competent articulation.
I will be skewered for this, but I think many of the homework opponents over-schedule their children with after school activities.
Majormalfunction
September 21st, 2012
1:26 am
I see it with my own eyes on an almost daily basis the progression of (enter name of huge SUV here) with parents shuttling their kids to an endless menagerie of after-school functions. I know several families personally where the kids have a full afternoon and sometimes evening of activities most nights of the week, then um … homework?? Ut oh! They aren’t doing so well with their grades, call the teacher, call up a tutor! Break out the ritalin! Danger, Will Robinson! By the way, mountain man, I agree with you on the teaching of “to” vs “too”, and please don’t forget “alot” vs “a lot”. (I saw some of those typos on signs carried by striking teachers in Chicago the other day on the news *cough*) I would have been given an “F” for one of those oopsies when I went to school many decades ago. Seriously though, homework should not be given “just because”, and it should not consume the entire amount of waking after-school hours of the kids. The best teachers I had were the few who gave homework that made me go “hmm” and think about life, the universe, everything. Then there was the 9th grade English teacher who gave 45 minutes to an hour of homework most days of the week “just because”… 9th grade took forever hahaha.
Sandy Springs Parent
September 21st, 2012
1:35 am
I went to school in upstate NY , I went to Catholic School from 1-6. I know that we never had Homework in 1-5. We may have had a little bit in 6th grade, but not much. Then I went to public School. I was basically a year ahead when I arrived. We were given a period called Study Hall/Library once a day after lunch. Somedays it was in the Cafe other days in the Library. We had this full class period during Middle School and High School. We also had PE at least 2-3 days a week that we alternated with either a computer lab or library. This was in the 70’s. Now this was in a Union State, this times also gave teachers time to grade tests and homework too. You were able to basically get 90% or more of your homework done in Study Hall / Library Period. I was stunned that my children do not receive a study hall period in their schedule. At least on the 4X4 alot of teachers give the students the last 15 minutes to do thier homework, or when they finish the class assignment or lab.
My Children have gone back and forth between Public and Catholic Schools here. I have found that the homework in the Public schools has been ridiculous bunch of copied worked sheets. Busy work starting in Kindergarten. Why would a 5 year old baby need Homework ?, I didn’t even go to Kindergartern, let alone any Pre-k and I have a Master’s in Engineering. My oldest daughter was in Public until mid 3rd grade. She stayed at Afterschool they spent the first hour doing the homework before they let the kids go out to play. But I always thought these copied sheets were unneeded and were the stuff they didn’t get to do to the unruly kids. My daughter’s school had 17 in K in 2000 and was great. But by 2003 we were up to 28 kids and a completely different demographic had moved in with a line change.
At Catholic School the Homework was not as bad and what we got was relevant. We did not have any stupid cereal box projects, that seem to be dejour in public school. In Catholic School we did a project to dress up as someone would from your county of origin, make some food from your family country of origin, and explain how your family came to this country. Then there was a big presentation, all parents and Grandparents were invited and heard the children in 6th grade I believe make their presentation and try the food. Lots of Irish, German and Columbian food.
I have found that the Home work varies immensely from school to school in the same District. My youngest was bullied in Cobb County, so I got a transfer for her to the next school. Her best friend stayed at the old school. The old school did poster board project after another, alot of expense. We transfered to the higher income school, we only had one or two poster board projects, less expense.
I am completely against Homework in Elementary School. You can assign 1 project per semester, poster board, but no shoe box or cereal boxes. Cereal Box projects should be outlawed they look like crap, they are a cluster F., they don’t show any imagination or ability to think. People in the real world do not make presentations using cereal boxes or shoe boxes. Maybe we don’t eat cereal in my house, so then we are wasting $4, to buy this stupid box, to do a project. Then I have to save shoe boxes to do shoe box projects. I rather save money and buy my shoes at Marshals or TJ Maxx without the complete box. Just let us use a poster board, let the kids be creative. I don’t know how many elementary projects I, I person with a design degree have had to do because my child with ADHD is to fustrated to do.
That is another problem with Homework, the ADD and ADHD medication only lasts between 6-8hrs then it wears off. It is next to impossible to get a kid with ADD or ADHD to do Homework as there medication wears off. I have had them scream, pull out their hair, throw things, hit me, because you, their teacher don’t realize what the come down is off the Concerta, or other ADHD drugs. I keep my kids medicated so your day is better, but you make my life living hell with homework. What a kid with ADHD really needs to do is come home and run around. Tonoight mine went to Honors Chorus, did the dishes, went to Martial Arts classes for 3 hours, then made her class a cookie cake, made her sister a cookie cake, took a shower. Then she went to look to see if she had homework. Then she told me I don’t think I do. She probably lied to me. I am not willing to fight with her at this point. She went to bed.
She has a 504 plan and not one of the teachers bothered to call me about it yet. I asked every teacher about it at Open House last week. I was told this isn’t to review your child, we were told to talk about us, what we like, what we are about. ( Some of the teachers openly admitted that they were doing what was told and they thought this was stupid.) The next day, I got a call from the so called 504 cooridator, she said why were you announcing at the open house that your daughter has a 504 plan. I said I was asking the teachers why no one sent up a meeting with me. She said your renewal yearly meeting isn’t until December. I said well that is Stupid. I said that is when I first got it in place last year. It would be stupid to wait 1/2 a year to discuss it with her current teachers. What a complete Moron that called me. Then she said well I can’t meet next week I will be out of town on Training how about the next week, and she throws out a date and time, I said Ok. But send me and e-mail because I am driving and can not write it down. Did she do it no. I think she said the 26th, I didn’t even catch her name. I was driving and I clearly told her that.
Sorry to run on. But reading what some of you so called teacher’s post really piss me off. I am one of the volunteers. I am one of the ones who buy your supplies. I give you seperate gift cards for gifts in addition to what my child buys you, if I feel you are a good teacher. 80% Get one of these. I no longer give to the group gift in Public School, because I was a room mother and know how few give. I don’t think it is fair that everyones name should go on the gift card when only a few really give. Like I said, my daughter made a cookie cake for tomarrow, and I bought 6 boxes of tissues, since all the teachers were already begging for more tissues at Open House last night.
I will vote no on Charter schools. But I would vote yes, for straight up vouchers for a minimum of $8,000 ( the real cost, what the state is willing to give the Charter Schools) for everyone with no income limit). That and a change in the state constitution to remove the limit completely on the number of school districts, is the only thing besides raising taxes having 2-3 legitimate parties in each race ( or non-parisan races) to save education in this state).
homeschooler
September 21st, 2012
8:32 am
@ Sandy Springs…I enjoyed your post and agree with almost everything you said but I don’t agree with the writer of this letter to the teacher.
I think homework in the early years (K-3rd or 4th) is unnecessary, but, that’s why I chose to home school. This mother who wrote this letter is self-centered and definitely one of the “I’ll do it my way and shouldn’t have to follow the rules” types. She can’t have her cake and eat it too. This reminds me of the people who take their child to day care and bitch and complain about how they change the diapers, feed the child, nap time etc.. They want every thing a certain way. Sorry, if your desires and opinions are that specific then do it your damn self! Not everyone does things your way. Your way may not be the best way. It might be best for your child but you are choosing to put your child in with the masses so you must DEAL with what is deemed best for the masses! That was your choice. This letter just ticked me off.
Pride and Joy
September 21st, 2012
11:07 am
Her kids get home at 4 p.m. and are in bed by 8. She has a sane family schedule. but….most moms work. I get off at 6 and get gets from afater care and have to do what she does in two hours and it doesn’t get done. To get in bed by eight it is rush rush rush with no family time.
Aftercare ignores homework or does it incorrectly with my children.
Teachers are cluess when they give an hour a day or more of homework per kid. I have more than one kid. That’s two or more hours and no time for dinner or family or even a bath. If we get homework done, life at home is robbed. Schools have six hours a day — if they can’t teach in six hours a day they need to choose another profession.
Pride and Joy
September 21st, 2012
6:17 pm
this is the inflexibility i run into — homework assigned on mondy and due on friday — we both work and have almost no time withour kids — i begged for homework to be assigned on friday so that when I am OFF of work on the weekends i can do it with my child — and four teachers flat out refused — what’s up with that ? MOST parents work full time. If you think doing homework WITH my child is important than give it to us two days earlier so that we can do it with our children when they are awake.
JW
September 21st, 2012
10:53 pm
1. Why people insist that it — education, working, whatever — must be done they way it was for them? The world and the avenues open for learning about it are far different than just 10 years ago, much les 20 to 30 years ago.
2. Have any of you read the reams and reams of research on homework? Obviously not or you’d know that most of it shows that homework is an ineffective tool for learning prior to about middle school age. For nice summaries of said research, pick up Sara Bennett’s book, _The Case Against Homework_.
Concerned Teacher
September 21st, 2012
11:40 pm
Parents need to realize that public education is just that, public. Private school runs over $10,000 (at least) per child. Your $3000 in property taxes does not afford all three of your children a private school education. Teachers do what is in the best interest of the students and use homework to reinforce what is done in class. No teacher gives homework because they just love to grade more papers (on their own time). Parents, you chose to have more than one child, and if that means more work for you at home, that is not my problem. Let your children do work, learn life lessons, and become good students, workers, and people. Stop making excuses for being lazy and raising lazy children.
HoneyFern School
September 22nd, 2012
9:16 am
The resistance to this idea is amazing to me. There is a knee-jerk reaction to squeeze everyone into the same box, and a simmering resentment of this letter writer for defending her kid’s childhood.
Just because her kid doesn’t do homework in elementary school does not doom him to a slacker life. This is a fallacious extrapolation. Just because a kid does hours of homework doesn’t mean they will be successful.
There has to be a balance for children, just as there has to be a balance for adults.
Pride and Joy
September 22nd, 2012
5:40 pm
Concerned teacher, you are really bad at math and at understanding how public schools are funded. You wrote “Your $3000 in property taxes does not afford all three of your children a private school education. ”
Here’s what you refuse to understand — we don’t pay just $3,000 a year for the property taxes — we pay $5,000 EVERY year, not just the years our children are in school AND most public school money comes from State and federal money — that money comes from MY pocket too. $3,000 a year for every year my kid was in school WOULD be a bargain but that doesn’t even begin to account for all the taxes I’ve paid for and will continue to pay for for my children’s education. APS gets 14K per student per year. My kids’ private school costs much much less and has a 1 to 5 teacher to student ratio.
Public schools are some of the priciest schools in the world. I pay for public schools every year I pay federal AND state income taxes and every year I pay for a mortgage or rent a home — yes renters pay for property taxes too — they’re just bundled.
I pay for my kids’ private school ONLY when they are in school, not every year I earn a living. I have paid for public schools for as long as I’ve had a job and will continue to pay for public schools as long as I have a job, pay for a home or rent a home. Your “only $3,000 a year cost for public schools is a joke and you know it — or you’re sadly ignorant.
HS Math Teacher
September 23rd, 2012
5:47 pm
If a lecture over math goes throughout the period (usually at the beginning of a new unit of instruction), the students certainly benefit by independent work at home. Over 20+ years, I’ve found that some kids need the extra practice, while others don’t. Why make all of them do it? I give a few recommended problems for those who think they need the extra work, and go over the problems at the first of class the next day. However, there is no substitute for independent practice, and my students get plenty of it in class.
A good portion of my students either work after school on a family farm, or in local stores. Others are involved in athletics, and don’t get home until around 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.
another comment
September 24th, 2012
1:47 am
@ HS Math Teacher if a child does not need the extra Math practice they should not be penalized 15% of the grade for turning in the extra practice if they can ace the class.
I was a TA, taking a full load of Engineering and Business classes in College. Along with teaching and grading two classes. One graduate Accounting Professor gave the most ridiculous and confusing homework everyday. It would take hours to do. I did not have time to do it. But he went through it problem by problem every class at the beginning. I listened, copied it down, got it and turned it, in. I got high A’s on all of the exams, so I got an A. in the class. I set next to these Lt.’s from the Corp of Engineer’s that were receiveing their full pay, plus tuition, plus per diem to take 12 hours of classes and had their wives to take care of everything else. They lived in a luxury subdivision in town not in student housing. They would complain to me that I did this. I told them I did not have 2-3 hours every day to mess with this ridiculous homework. The professor knew students would copy and turn in. The Corp. of Engineer guys were really pissed at me when they only got B’s on the tests and only ended up with a B in the course. I told then it was all a game, you just needed to learn to play it, boys.
Jayne L.
October 9th, 2012
12:23 pm
In our school district they did the flipped classroom. So kids come home with a 1-5 page double sided print out for most subjects. Like: life cycle of a butterfly. Kid reads it and answers no more than 5 practice questions on each it seems. For math, get a page with a math rule and example on top: like shows a division problem being solved and gives a brief explanation. Then the kid does 3-4 practice problems and that’s it. In science, read about a process. Then the next day at school they do what would typically be the ‘homework’ like write a report, solve a ton of division problems in groups and alone,etc… Basically they call it flipped because instead of spending time teaching the kids have to read and learn the concept and then do homework in classroom.
Atlanta Mom–yes, I expect the teacher to teach my child his letters and arithmetic facts. My kids all learned with me doing nothing at home. When my son comes to me and says he needs help with ninth grade math, I say, I’m don’t do homework anymore.
Also to whoever said let teacher give you a zero. Haha…I turned in blank TESTS all the time in highschool and college because I didn’t study and the teachers ALWAYS came to me and said something like what’s up? me: I was too tired to study and couldn’t remember. them: okay why don’t you retake it or give a speech instead. I think with homework most teachers count it as extra credit stuff because my oldest son is borderline IQ and fails pretty much every test but makes the high honor role every grade period due to turning in homework that I help heavily on to point of just telling him answers and they rave that ‘he is always attentive and answers questions in class, usually not correctly but he tries’.
Jayne L.
October 9th, 2012
12:37 pm
Pride and Joy–
honestly I’d say what’s up with that is that teachers, who I’m not, I don’t even know any personally, but from what I see or hear in all those strikes and such, probably are grading those papers over the weekend. Teaching sounds like a really tough job to me and no way you are grading 25 sets of homework, more due to teaching multiple subjects in younger grades, during your 2, 15 minute teacher breaks.
Jayne L.
October 9th, 2012
12:40 pm
Pride and Joy (again),
I feel you. I often don’t get home until 7:30 then need dinner and occassionally quick shower and off to bed. That’s why I just refuse helping with homework. The down side is that sometimes my kids, in grades 1-5, are so terrified of not doing the right thing/teacher wrath, that they are sobbing and crying over not being able to finish homework: in which case I just did it for them.