Stop Homework

Please write about whatever’s on your mind in the Comments.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
– Mahatma Gandhi

After four years and 530 posts, I’ve decided its time to retire the Stop Homework blog and turn the homework advocacy over to you, my readers. You should be able to find whatever sample materials you need in The Case Against Homework and/or the posts, especially those in Moms (and Dads) on a Mission, Students Speak Out, Teachers Speak Out, and Success Stories.

I can’t thank you enough for your support. I’ve enjoyed your emails, comments, stories, and guest blogs and I’ve learned so much from you. I want to particularly thank the small family foundation that provided such generous support and allowed me the freedom both to run this blog and advise untold numbers of parents, teachers, and school administrators on ways to advocate for policy changes.

Stop Homework will remain up on the web as a resource and, more importantly, as a place for you to communicate with each other. Starting tomorrow, there will be a new entry, Open Discussion, where you can do just that.

I hope you have a homework-free summer!

p.s. In case you’re wondering what I’m going to do. I’ve decided to return to one of my other passions, criminal justice.

Be sure to read yesterday’s post before reading today’s, which is Part 2.

The Toronto Homework Policy After Two Years:
One Parent’s Perspective
Part 2
by northTOmom

Before I attempt to answer the question, “why two years later am I complaining about my children’s homework?” I should note that many parents I’ve spoken to have indeed noticed a decrease in their children’s homework. But my experience—and that of other French immersion parents I’ve consulted—has been that teachers continue to assign homework inconsistent with the new policy.

Grade 4 – French Immersion
On curriculum night in September 2008, the Grade 4 teacher warned parents to expect a difficult year. She explained that the nature of “mid-immersion”—its compression compared to immersion programs starting in Kindergarten—made it necessary to work the children particularly hard. (There was scant mention of the new homework policy, no hint that the program might have to be adjusted in order to comply with it.)

She was not kidding. On a nightly basis, students were expected to review

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Today’s guest blogger, northTOmom is a freelance writer and blogger from Toronto, and the mother of ten-year-old twin girls. In today’s piece, part 1 of 2, she discusses the “family friendly” homework policy instituted in Toronto 2 years ago.

The Toronto Homework Policy After Two Years:
One Parent’s Perspective
Part 1
by northTOmom

On a recent Saturday morning, my 10-year-old daughter emerged from the basement on the verge of tears: “The temple’s collapsed,” she announced. Though it sounded dire, she was speaking not of an actual building, but of the model of an ancient Greek temple she and a classmate had constructed out of cardboard the previous week. They had piled on the white paint, and the structure had simply buckled under the weight. Later that day I glanced out the window to see my two daughters turning cartwheels on the back lawn while my husband diligently sawed wooden cylinders into pillars for the new temple. It was a brilliant spring day, and soon my husband would finish his task and call my reluctant daughter in out of the sunshine to start rebuilding the temple. What is wrong with this picture?

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Today’s post is a continuation of yesterday’s, where Angie, a future PTO president in Utah wrote about how she brought the issue of reading logs to the attention of her board of trustees. Below she writes about the proposals she suggested to the Board of Trustees.

How I Brought the Issue of Reading Logs to the Attention of our Board of Trustees
Part 2
by Angie, incoming PTO president, Utah

VI. My proposal:
a. Focus our efforts on educating parents as to the importance of modeling being a reader themselves, talking about their own books with excitement and enthusiasm, and inviting their children to read with them.

I. Parent education could take place at Back to School Night, the weekly newsletter, parent /teacher conferences, etc.

a. At this point the Vice Principal said, “I love it!”

b. One BOT member said, “I would love to hold book club discussions in the library during the lunch period for kids who are interested like we used to do.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s writer, Angie, lives in Utah with her husband and four children. In the Fall, she will be the PTO president at the charter school her children attend. Below, Angie gives a step-by-step accounting of how she raised the issue of reading logs with her Board of Trustees.

How I Brought the Issue of Reading Logs to the Attention of our Board of Trustees
Part 1
by Angie, incoming PTO president, Utah

As next year’s PTO (Parent/Teacher Organization) president, I recently had the opportunity to attend a planning meeting with our Board of Trustees, the PTO presidency, and school administration to plan for next year. The members of our Board of Trustees each have children at the school, work untold hours and receive no compensation. I love our school and feel so blessed to have my children there. The practice of the Reading Log, consequently, has baffled me as it does not seem to fit with the culture or philosophy of the school. I have stated my opinion in the yearly surveys, but the

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In yesterday’s post, I wrote that guidelines issued by the New York State Board of Education provide that when a school requires summer homework, it must comply with a set of rules. But from what I can tell, schools don’t comply with those rules and continue their summer homework assignments as they have in the past.

If your children have received summer homework assignments, or are about to, why not nip the problem in the bud?

Here’s what you can do:

Read the rest of this entry »

(Even if you’re not a New Yorker, please read today’s post. I suspect that many other states have similar guidelines.)

Yesterday, I suggested finding out your school, district, or state guidelines on summer homework. A few months ago, I followed the very steps I suggested yesterday for my own state (New York) and I discovered that in May, 2009, the New York State Board of Education sent a memorandum to all District Superintendents, all Principals, and all Chairs of the English Language Arts Departments throughout the state. Titled, “Guidance on Locally Required Summer Reading Assignments,” the memo set forth guidance and suggestions for developing acceptable required summer reading assignments.

Here’s what the guidelines state:

Where a district/school chooses to require a summer reading assignment, it must comply with the following:

* If books are to be used as part of a mandatory assignment, a school district must ensure that they are reasonably available to all students at no cost. Although a school district may indicate that books may be purchased, students cannot be required to purchase any books.

* Class grades should reflect work done under a teacher’s direction and supervision. There must be sufficient opportunity for students to obtain teacher guidance and instruction before completing a graded assignment.

There are several other requirements including that if students are unable to reach teachers by phone, by email, or in person, then students should be permitted to complete the assignment upon returning to school.

You can read the guidelines here.

Tomorrow: How to get schools to follow the guidelines.