Kids don’t need homework every night. Today they go to school and take their school work home. Are we preparing them to be the employees that can’t leave their work at work?
Teachers will tell you that homework reinforces learning and encourages good study habits. But a lot of that homework is busy work, and kids and parents catch on. You begin to wonder what goes on during those six hours at school — aren’t they learning these things there?
My third child had the homework figured out. In first grade, he had math worksheets where he had to do the problems to complete a coloring page that revealed a picture. At the bottom of the page was a key, every answer that was a 3 was supposed to be colored blue, every 2, colored red, and so on. He did the math, and then he handed it over to his little brother to color it in. So, yea, I guess he learned how to work the system.
When I went to school we didn’t have “homework” until 7th grade. We had to write a few reports in elementary school, but we didn’t have homework every night. We didn’t carry backpacks stuffed with books; we didn’t have homework contracts that our parents had to sign so they could enforce it at home.
We left our books at school in our desks.
In the 1960s, I came home from elementary school, changed my clothes (we had to wear dresses to school) and went out to “play” — I put on my “play clothes.” I ran around outside with my friends, making up games or playing ball.
Later, when I got books and homework, I thought I was pretty grown-up. And I took it seriously and did my work.
My first two kids went through public school. I was fully involved with all the parent responsibilities and I knew the rules for homework. Twenty minutes in kindergarten, adding more minutes each year. By the time they got home from school and sports, there was always a crunch to get the homework done. Many times it was just busy work.
When my fourth child started 5th grade, I became fed-up with some of the silly homework his teacher was sending home. (Please write an essay on how you figured out that 7 x 6 = 42.) I pulled him out and homeschooled him along with his older brother who was in 7th grade. It was my first year of homeschool.
I found out that we could cover more work in less time. Instead of six hours of school and three to four hours of homework, my kids did it all in four to six hours. My homeschooled kids loved to read, they begged to have days to read a book. And they read many more books than those in public school. And today they have college degrees.
This is what I’ve noticed. My 5th and last child is 17 and has started college. He loves his classes. He loves his homework and even reads the textbook for anthropology. He enjoys his homework. He likes the structure, he is confident in class and speaks up.
Please, no more homework.
