Community Chat

[MickD]

@Mellie32 - Yay....you are a teacher!!! Bless your heart!  I live in SoCal and my son is in public school.  He's 16.  When he was in elementary and middle school he had so much homework....sometimes 2 hours a night!  I finally said something to his teachers, and they said doing homework for more than an hour a night is just counterproductive for most kids.  So, we focused on the subjects he was struggling with and that was that!  Now that he is in high school he has no homework unless it is to study for a test or for a project.  He is happy and productive.....I am happy and drink less wine!

[ECBG]

I'd let the top students "opt out" of homework by achieving an "A" in practical application in class.

I would also call the parents of the students having trouble once a week and disscuss strengths and weaknesses of the student; the parent may need help also.

I did teach. Juniors and seniors, thirty-six years.

[phoenixbrd]

Nick's mom.....it is called differentiation and, yes, it is important to address each child's needs.

[Shorty2U]

I think homework is great for all children. I would not pick and choose. Id give the same homework to all. Maybe I'm living in the old days, but Isn't that what teachers do? Give the same work to all the children in their class?

My grandkids have homework but its mostly all on a computer (unless they have like an art project). Since they get electronic tablets from the school to take home all year, they also have longer to do that homework than the old days when it was due the next day. Also, if they are out sick, there is no one that brings their homework to them. So they cant get out of it, they must do it via their electronic tablets while at home sick. Another words all of their homework is on the website ahead of time.

[deedledeedeedle]

That's a conundrum, @Mellie32.

Homework does help "gel" the concepts for those who get it, but like you say, what about the struggling kids with little or no parental support? 

I swear, there really should be an application required to have children!

I have a friend whose children have 3 hours of homework every night. I think that is absolutely ridiculous. They have to get going on it the minute they get home from school. No play time or even TV or reading time. That is just wrong, IMO. Both parents work full time then they go home to homework, too, but they know that's what they signed up for :-)

dee

[september]

I have kind of mixed feelings.  In the younger grades, my kids had homework, and they had no problem doing it...even seemed to like it although it was often too easy for them.

But....it did teach them something.  Most of us are going to have tasks we have to do throughout our lives, that are boring and repetitive. We don't always get to do things that challenge us every minute of every day.

Sometimes, we just have to do things that are "boring and repetitive".  We just need to learn to accept that sometimes we're not going to be finding a cure for a dsease that affects millions of people....but our houses still need to be cleaned, we need to fix meals, and do routine, repetitive tasks. 

[Mellie32]

Homework pros ---

It's an extension of what we've learned in class --- more practice.

It teaches responsibility -- do your homework, put it back in your bag, bring it to school

Cons --

Some kids have already mastered the concepts on the homework

Some kids don't have anyone helping them at home when they don't  understand

The kids who need it the most usually are the ones who don't do it --- and they're punished because they have dumb parents.  

So I want them to have more practice.  I want the kids who have mastered it to have more of a challenge.  I want them to learn responsiblity.   Is there a way to accomplish all of this without assigning homework?  Maybe it should just be a few days a week instead of all 5?  

[hennypenny]

I never had homework until high school. 

My kids were not fortunate enough to attend the same school, so they suffered many hours at the kitchen table.

We allowed them to work at their own pace and offered assistance if they were "stuck".

Mellie, I think that after all of your years of teaching you are starting to see the merits of homework, or the lack of them.

Society has changed drastically. In most families both parents work long hours. Then they try to cram extra curricular activites into the day. It is way too much.

I think kids need down time to decompress. NO TV, No cell phones, No coaches. NO computers. Time to be creative, to play, to read, to relax.

Kids today, cannot conflict resolve, cannot free think, cannot explore.

My feeling is that if you want to give homework, try to find things where the kids think they are having an adventure, creating ideas, and philosophies. 

What I found with our kids assignments was that there was always a "right" answer. Maybe try for homework where the child expresses his or herself.

The kids who grasp math won't need too much reinforcement, those who don't won't get it anyway .

Where reading is concerned, try to find material that is different and stimulating.

I didn't mean to spout a sermon, but I have had such strong feelings on the subject that I was eager to vent.

[wilma]

@Mellie32

I am not a parent, but I am a teacher.  I think homework is valuable. It reinforces skills and teaches work ethic and  responsibilty. I think the amount and type of homework is related to the subject and age of the students. I don't see anything wrong with daily math practice or reading homework. You may want to have 2 or 3 different homework assignments based on student needs. Ex. One assignment for some students could be a worksheet to practice math facts; another could be applying those math facts in some situation. I know that is a lot of work for you to do up front, but once you have it planned you can reuse/tweak it next year.  

I totally understand your frustration with the fact that those students who need the extra practice are the ones who don't always do it. I don't have any solutions. I call, email, and conference as needed, but sometimes nothing changes. We can only do so much. I can tell you are a concerned and dedicated teacher. 

I have taught everything from 1st to 8th grade and have 30 years of experience. Most of my experience is in 5th - 8th grades so I commend you for teaching the little ones. I determined fairly quickly that I prefer teaching older students. 

I teach Science to Grades 7 & 8, and I don't give a lot of traditional daily homework. Sometimes they do a prep activity at home for our upcoming unit. They need to prepare for a quiz or test at home, but we also review and play games at school to study.  Some need to finish writing their conclusions from a lab experiment at home. I assign short and long term projects that we begin at school and then complete at home. I give students lots of choices in their assignments which really helps motivation and differentiation based on their needs and abilities. 

I hope you enjoy the remainder of your vacation. Have a great year with your first graders! 

[scotttie]

---

@Mellie32 wrote:

Homework --- I assign it every night (even Fridays).  It's usually a page of math and a page of reading.  However, if I was to look back and reflect on WHY I'm assigning that homework, I'd have to say that it's to help reinforce the lessons we learned in school that day.  But the problem is that the kids who don't need that reinforcement (they have already "got it") are the ones who do the homework and bring it back.  The ones who DO need the reinforcement are almost always the kids whose parents aren't around much, don't care as much -- and those kids usually don't bring their homework back or it's very hit and miss.  

So my question to myself is --- is it worth it?  Should I be giving "busy work" to the kids who already get it?  Should I be sending home work to parents who don't care anyway?  Is it really making any difference at all?  I honestly can't say it is.  How can it be helping when the same kids who are behind stay behind -- no one is helping them at home.  And the ones who already have it don't really need it and it just creates busywork for the kids and parents.

So --- most of you are parents --- how do you feel about homework?

---

I haven't read the other responses but the first thing I thought was it IS helping the kids whose parents care enough to get it done.  Perhaps it IS making a difference to those kids.  You have no way of knowing how much it has helped them IN class.  The only way to know if you are making a difference with the kids who DO the work is to stop doing it and see if they fall behind.  I don't think you want to do that.  I hope you have parent volunteers to come in and help with the strugglers.  I used to volunteer at my kids' school