TouristTrap

What think you?

http://www.slate.com/id/2149593?GT1=8592

paddingtongreen

Agree. They learn much more from play and enjoy ir more.

Kate2112

A little homework (an hour or so a night) isn't a bad thing. A few hours at the weekend too. After school tutors and weekend classes may be taking it too far, unless you are failing a subject. As many parents expect their children to amuse themselves playing video games and watching TV rather than reading, taking part in sports or having hobbies (not Video gaming!) It is an excellent alternative to young minds vegetating.

LeedsGirl

Main problem is that homework doesn't take just an hour. Kids don't sit for an hour with getting up for snack, a break, sharpen their pencil, every excuse in the book so homework ends up taking 2-3 hours. Some of the homework in Elementary school is awful, fourth grade was the worst for us, nine o'clock at night and we are still doing homework with a daughter who was tired, cranky and in tears!!! Even the Principal of the school wrote an newspaper article about he struggled with his own kids and the amount of homework. Daughter is now in middle school, fifth grade and the homework has been pretty good so far.

franc11s

Scrap all bloody homework, especially in the young. Give them some life back.

Homework often is an extension of teachers inability to teach... what with :-

12-14 weeks holiday
teacher training days
snow days
"we need your school for polling station days"
"Magazine "sale" week - commissions"
8 classes a day, 35 mins each (just enough time to WRITE down the homework assignment and little else).
26 minutes for lunch

Some schools are bringing in block days allowwing kids to focus for an hour on one subject (4 subjects a day, instead of 8).

bring some COMMON sense to the school systems.... PLEASE

END OF RANT.....

gruffbrown

If I start on the amount of homework my 15 year old stepson gets, I won't stop, just to say it's F**ing ridiculous.

willmore

Your 15 year old step-son is still in elementary school?

gruffbrown

That was such a blonde question. Yes, that's why he has lots of homework.

willmore

I know - you taught me very well!

gruffbrown

I'll just skulk off and start a High School Homework thread then.........

TouristTrap

I have this theory. Kids over here are so out of control in the classrooms (as I've personally witnessed so many times), that the teachers have to send them home fill-in-the-blanks in order to teach them something or they'd not learn a thing.

*flame suit is on, so don't anyone dare*

willmore

Nah stay here and Ill send some karma instead!

gruffbrown

I don't use the stuff, since the free Toaster never showed up.

willmore

Well you know how long it takes to get through customs these days - it was probably taken apart looking for bombs and they cant figure out how to get it back together.

Ben

I think it depends on what you mean by homework. If you are talking about copying 'fill-in-the-blanks' from a book that takes forever and lots of math problems that take eons but teaches the child nothing then no, that is just rediculous. However, if you are talking about 10-15 minutes reading from the day they start school then yes, I agree with it.

I have no problems with children as young as four being given homework because if they get used to the idea of it, I do believe it doesn't come as much of a shock once they are in high school/college if they have always had the idea of homework. However, the homework literally should be no more than 10 minutes a couple of times a week upto middle school and then no more than 1/2hour until high school. Plus 10 minutes reading every night of the school week for the younger ones and then reading time should be increased in middle school and then high school.

this is how our school district does it and we believe it works. Also, because of the way high school is set up, it is rare that the kids bring the homework home if they learn to organize themselves (which the majority of them do) and just have reading and studying to do at home.