I may be missing the mark, but I think that school structures should be designed in such a way as to see to it that everything is completed during the school day. While I am all for parental investment into the academic lives of their children, I think that homework can be producing the opposite that it was originally intended.
We now have a generation of workaholic, stressed out, burnt out people. Those who have no idea how to disconnect from work when they are at home or anywhere else for that matter. I know, I was one of them and always have to battle the temptation to "just tackle one more thing." As a parent, sadly at times instead of spending those few hours when I arrive home until the kids are in bed, I am doing my "homework".
Could one contributing factor to this problem be that we are training kids to take work home with them from the time they are 5 and 6 years old?
While I know it is far to simplistic to view deep issues of burnout or stress leave and pin them all on the shoulders of one doing homework as a child, I also know that habits formed during our formative years are not easy to break.
When it comes to homework, there just has to be a better way because I think when a child returns home from school after a full day, they should be able to just be a kid and explore their own interests for the few hours they have before heading off to bed.
Rant Over…
…Until Next Year 
J,
As both a parent of a student (in French Immersion which generally means triple the homework of English program students) and a teacher, I identify with what you’re saying.
As a teacher, there’s nothing like the frustration of sending activities home that are designed to teach in a way parents are unfamiliar with- conflict often arises because parents think things should be learned the way they were taught, despite the fact that research has shown us that the old way is really only effective for a select population of learners.
On the flip side, one of the problems facing schools is that children arrive at school these days far less prepared to learn than they ever have. A huge population of students arrive at school never having been exposed to basic letter sounds, number concepts and daily routines, not to mention critical learning foundations like respecting leaders, manners and the ability to take responsibility for actions.
The problem this creates is that teachers are spending more time than ever teaching basic behaviour lessons through discipline incidents during time that could be used to teach academic concepts, which means that even though our school year is amongst the longest in developed countries in the world we have less time on task than other countries (like Japan and China, for instance) where respect for learning and education is a culturally held value of the utmost importance, even though their school years are shorter than ours.
I empathize with parents who HAVE prepared their children with these basics because they often are stuck in classes where the students who HAVEN’T been prepared at home eat into the time for learning of all students.
Unfortunately, schools have less and less scope and authority to deal with these kinds of behaviour issues, which means the problem stays in their laps, and to meet the outcomes set out in curriculum the work has to get done somewhere, and that’s increasingly at home, DESPITE research showing that more homework has little, if anything, to do with improved learning.
I know you hate comment posts that could be blog entries, but this is one topic that I feel really strongly about as well. I can’t say that I have the answers, but I can tell you that I see the issue from both sides.
Depending on your school district, many parents are simply doing less of the homework so long as their students demonstrate that they understand the concepts the homework addresses during class and on tests and assignments.
If your curriculum is outcome based, then if your kids can show they can meet those outcomes, even if they don’t do as much homework as asked, then their evaluation should reflect their either satisfactory or better than satisfactory learning.
All of that said, the best homework I always felt parents could do with their kids was to eat supper with them, listen to them talk about their day and tell them about yours and play games that teach number (UNO, cribbage, SkipBo), letter (scrabble, boggle) and word skills (scrabble, Upwords, cranium, pictionary). Those are things that sharpen the mind and hone skills you need in every subject you study, and it also teaches kids fair play, respect for guidelines and how to relate to others.
Whew… There’s a rant right back at ya..
My son is in grade 12. School is a full time job during the day and a part time job during the evening. His comments of late are sad to hear from a young man, “I can’t see a bright future if this is what it’s going to be like.” Most young people at this age are also expected to work ($$) and they also have to get so many hours of community work in order to graduate. It’s no wonder when they have time they spend every possible moment glued to a computer or a game – trying to drown out the resounding clangs of reality. It’s sad.
Wow Jay
I have never approached the whole idea of homework from that mindset before. It really is a fresh perspective for me. Teaching kids from an early age that it is ok to be constantly bringing your work home with you each night instead of spending that time building relationships or creating things.
How do you approach this with Tref’s teachers?
I agree. That’s why I love homeschooling. Our children/students spend much less time waiting (for the teacher, for other students, for the bus, for the ride home, etc.) and more time is allocated to learning. The “school day” is finished much more quickly, and your child has more time to explore other activities. Also, your child has much more creative options for learning with regard to environments and curriculum. I realize that homeschooling wouldn’t be possible for every family, but it is going great for a growing number of families here in the United States. I too had so much homework when I attended public school and remember feeling as if I had no time. Best of luck in that regard.
I agree with you, I find it very sad to go to a parent teacher conference and find out that my kids will be expected to do 1 to 2 hours a week of homework. Most of you might think that 1 to 2 hours a week on not a lot but let me explain that my daughters are only 4 years old and just started kindergarden!!! When did kindergarden become so strict? They have a perfectionist as a teacher that tells us “this is the school board standard and this is mine! I expect all of my kids to reach my standards!” What does that say for either the low school board standard or the over achieving teacher’s standards!
I say let kids be kids they will have enough responsibilities when they get older.
As a parent of 4 children who is very familiar with homeschooling, public schooling, and private schooling I would agree with you Pastor Jason on ONE thing only “…habits formed during our formative years are not easy to break”.In order for our children to do well in our culture they will need to learn self discipline very well. They will need to learn how to apply themselves to a task, and not give up when the going gets rough. Good study habits well learned at very early age will carry our children well through university and their professional careers.That being said I also agree in balance. So I see nothing at all wrong with starting our children out early with one hour of homework A NIGHT, NOT one to two hours A WEEK. It’s a tough life, suck it up, and prepare for it early.
You have clearly hit a hot spot, judging by people’s input. Wow. I too have thoughts in this regard, but mostly appreciate that you are not just a pastor, but a Dad, dealing with some of the similar frustrations we deal with, too. Thanks for the rant, and food for thought.
I’m a teacher and have taught in 4 different Countries and served in a variety of schools. Homework is a pain if life at school is a pain.