Abolish Summer Homework
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:
1. Call your school’s principal. If you’re in a state with guidelines like New York’s, ask your principal whether your school will be following the guidelines. If s/he’s unaware of them, offer to send a copy. Tell the principal what the guidelines say. It’s pretty difficult for a school not to follow the guidelines once a parent’s asked about them. After all, the guidelines were issued in response to litigation, and non-compliance leaves the school open to wrath, scrutiny, lawsuits. Get several of your friends to call the school principal as well. There’s power in numbers.
2. If you discovered that your school doesn’t have any rules about summer homework, open up a discussion on the topic now. If you wait until your child brings home an assignment it’s too late. (Of course, you don’t have to make your child do the assignment. And how many children, especially those in elementary school, would actually do an assignment if they didn’t have parental help? Let the school see what happens when parents resist.)
3. Get together with a few of your friends and ask the principal or department head for a meeting. Tell them how summer assignments affect your family. Read a little about the problems with assigned reading so that you can make strong arguments:
- * An article on summer reading in USA Today, cites a recent study by Richard Allington, a researcher and author of many books on literacy. Allington and colleagues selected students in 17 high-poverty elementary schools in Florida and, for three consecutive years, gave each child 12 books, from a list the students provided, on the last day of school. No assignment came along with the books–no reading log, no essay, not even an order to read them. Three years later, researchers found that those students who received books had “significantly higher” reading scores and read more on their own each summer than the 478 who didn’t get books. (I’m sure that any school that gave students books from a list of their own choosing would see the same results–students who like to read more and, as a result, students with better comprehension, better written and analytical skills and yes, even higher standardized test scores.)
* This op-ed by my co-author and me published in The New York Times four years ago. I think it’s still relevant.
* An article on reading books you like from The New York Times.
Given the pressures most students face during the school year from high-stakes testing, homework, and extracurricular activities, summer should be seen as a time to explore passions, get outside, read for pleasure, hang out with friends, work a summer job (if one can be found), become a little more independent, etc. These are where students learn to problem solve, be responsible, make good use of their time, in short the kinds of learning experiences most students don’t have time for during the school year. And these life skills are ones that will serve them well in the future, undoubtedly more than most of what they learn in school.
In sum, gather a few of your friends and talk to the people who assign homework at your school. Explain why summer homework doesn’t work in your family and why you’re opposed to it. And let me know what happens.
I have contacted teachers, the high school principal and the superintendents and all I have done was made them more insistent on summer homework. I have contacted other parents and they either don’t care or believe summer homework is a good thing because they think it keeps their kids busy. I sent out about 20 emails in the beginning of the year and received one reply – the parent said she disagreed with me and asked me to never email her again. I just can’t believe the lack of response I have gotten from both parents and educators.
June 2nd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
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It feels like they’re all asleep doesn’t it and you’re the only one awake? That’s the way I feel too in even talking about this topic of homework. We don’t have summer homework, but parents are very hesitant to say that homework should be banned. They just think it’s a part of school..and that kids need to be innoculated to it slowly so that they can do it in middle school and high school.
To keep my sense of humor I always recall Amanda Cockshutt’s recommendation to teachers….start wearing Depends now, because some day you’re going to have to wear them and you need to get used to it.
June 4th, 2010 at 8:00 am
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Not directly related but always relevant.
“Common standards ensure that every child across the country is getting the best possible education, no matter where a child lives or what their [sic] background is. The common standards will provide an accessible roadmap for schools, teachers, parents and students, with clear and realistic goals.”
– Gov. Roy Romer, Senior Advisor, The College Board
Press Release CoreStandards.org
June 2, 2010
Ick. Education is trying to become like McDonald’s. Ubiquitous, always the same, lacking in substance, and boring. At least a Big Mac tastes good. Can’t say the same for these so called ” Standards.”
And shouldn’t it be “or what HIS (or her) background is?” Looks like this “expert” could use a little standards himself.
Read more. With introduction by Susan Ohanian, our favorite education critic.
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=688
June 5th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
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I feel for you Erica. In our case, we are very afraid to speak up because of retaliation from administrators, the district, teachers, etc. It is a reality. The teachers have a union. The children need a union. No teacher would put in the hours my high schooler puts in, 730 AM til midnight, EVERY night, including long weekends. Our family’s lives are governed by homework. It is abusive. Child labor laws are kinder to our children.
If anyone is in the South Miami area, let’s get our heads together.
June 5th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
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Pajamas, thank you for writing this. Teachers, if you are reading, please take pajamas’ plea seriously. The kids are afraid of you, afraid of retaliation. What kind of environment are you creating for them? Be there protectors, not their tormentors. If you feel you are between a rock and a hard place, be sympathetic, not vindictive. You have no right to take out your frustration on innocent children.
Our high schoolchildren put 18 hour work days and must continue working on weekends and holidays. We are now seeing drastic increases in summer homework too so that our children always have the homework cloud hanging over their heads. Is it small wonder so many are dropping out of college after the first year, suffering from depression and anxiety?
This is child abuse. Pure and simple. When we are finally able to call it what it is, we may start taking the first steps to remedy it.
June 6th, 2010 at 9:35 am
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Correction; Our high school children put in 18 hour work days…
June 6th, 2010 at 9:35 am
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Ah, another correction. Wish I catch these BEFORE I post :(.
Be THEIR protectors (not THERE). I know better. I swear it was a typo!
June 6th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
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@Homework Blues: “Their” is somewhat accepted by younger writing professionals as an adequate, if informal, ambiguous pronoun. His or her is very cumbersome, and new pronouns are extremely difficult to invent, so I wouldn’t be surprised if in a hundred years “their” is considered the norm. It happens all the time in other languages. Still, the circumstances you mentioned usually call for a more traditional pronoun.
The only homework I ever had in the school year was IB English reading in high school. We’d only have to read one book in the whole summer, all of us had signed up for IB and were ostensibly interested in literature, and almost nobody bothered with it anyway. Why waste a very limited summer doing what you can manage in the first weekend of September? I don’t even slightly buy the argument that it keeps students busy. Most I knew needed two months of free time just to recuperate!
June 6th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
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Loads of summer homework was assigned again this summer in every single class including electives such as weight training, piano, dance, etc. This is the only high school in the county that is requiring it. There is no policy. Official course book says English honors and AP classes “may require reading.” This I can understand. Very poorly run program. At least several parents signed up to be on summer homework planning committee but were never contacted + 10 school board members contacted and no response = conspiracy to keep summer homework going. School Let’s raise the high school’s test scores by making the parents home school their children for the summer while the teachers have off! If they don’t want the children to lose it over the summer then change the school calendar and make the teachers give up their summers, too.
June 7th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
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I hate summer homework. It’s pointless.
August 3rd, 2010 at 2:11 pm
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In our school, english assignments over the summer consist of reading and fully comprehending three books, packets, and vocabulary sheets. We all know the vocabulary sheets won’t teach us at all and will be forgotten after the test. Why don’t teachers teach us in class aurally, the way we learned how to speak. Giving us homework won’t take place of our natural, deep learning for shallow, quick cramming.
August 21st, 2010 at 9:56 am
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At my school summer reading is required for AP/Honors English. Not only that, but my senior year I’ve had 2 essays to write over the summer. As if it isn’t enough working on visiting colleges, volunteering, work, and completing requirements to apply for scholarships to fund college. It is just a big fat cloud hanging over every student’s head and most of the time isn’t completed until the last week of summer or until the school year begins anyway. Half of the books required to read for the 9th, 10th, and 11th grade years have failed to be presented and discussed during the school year, and the teachers act like it’s so important to read the books when they don’t even go over them in the school year. No wonder so many kids don’t even bother reading them! They don’t realize that we are teens, we are going through hormones and have many things we have to take care of so our future can be positive, reading books that aren’t even interesting can just be a waste of time. If they want to require reading at all it should be books of a student’s choice, I agree reading is good for all students, but let them explore things they find interesting.
August 31st, 2010 at 1:39 pm
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my son hates summer homework.From 2nd grade he had summer homework. he is a very smart child about to be 13 but i see that when he is doing summer homework he is very depressed.i told him not to do it and he ended up going outside more.school starts september 7th and i just know that the school isnt going to do anything.
September 6th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
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Wow, I find it hard to believe that elementary schools are giving summer homework. My children attend one of the highest scoring schools (not that it means much) in CA and there has not been any summer work.
As a teacher, I would never give summer work. I have taught AP Chemistry were it is almost expected, but I did away with it. Most of the work is of poor quality as it gets done the last few days of summer. I would give guidelines of expectations of things they should know entering the class, so those that want to prepare over the summer can.
Around our area it seems that the biggest problem with homework is the middle schools. The teachers apparently think that hitting the kids with tons of homework will prepare them for high school. My homework in high school is usually minimal, but there are some days it may take longer. My longest assignments would never be more than 1/2 hour for almost all the kids and many assignments the students can get done (or nearly done) in class. But there is also a large number that choose not to take advantage of the time in class, so they have longer homework.
Yes, its up to the teachers to control homework amounts, but the students also need to use class time wisely. If they have 10 minutes in each period for 6 period to work on things that is a full hour, if they choose not to, that is an extra hour of homework they may have.
September 30th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
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Homework is a crime against humanity, and accurately fits international law’s definition of slavery. Evidence on life threatening mentally breaking homework overload has been ignored in media and politics and excluded from public awareness for 30 years. From a survivor in 80s Britain.
http://www.scottishautismnetwork.org.uk/FacultiesNotGifts.doc
http://www.facebook.com/topic.phpuid=277574176772&topic=14631
October 5th, 2010 at 7:19 am
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the end of school is now 3 months away. I would like to bring up the topic of summer homework before it is assigned. Last summer my youngest child (a rising first grader) had to complete 50!!! pages of math in the stupidest book I have ever seen. It was not even anything that he had been exposed to in K. Same 50 pages in another book for my 3rd grader and my older children had to write essays, read books and complete 20 pages of very complicated math. If summer homework is going to be assigned- The school should mail it home 2 weeks before the start of the school year. It is pointless to A) either do it all in June or b) cram it in at the end of the summer, making the fleeting days of summer covered by a black cloud. Summer homework travelled with us on vacation, summer camp etc. and ended being finished with a tutor in a frenzy in the 48 hours before school started. I am disgusted and dont want a repeat of last summer. Any ideas???
ps. now we are getting HW emailed home on snowdays. even for first graders.
February 28th, 2011 at 10:23 pm
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Hi mom:
You won’t like my ideas…just giving you a heads up on that.
If a bully sent one of your kids an e-mail saying..”bring me 2 bucks on the first day of school….or else” What would you do?
To me there is no difference between what the school is doing and what that bully is doing. These things are coming into YOUR home. It’s not your children’s house….it’s your house and you are the adult to whom the school is sending stuff.
Some would argue (but I wouldn’t buy it) that the school is allowed to expect that homework will be done during the school year. The summer is not part of the school year. Do not bring the work into your home…your children are too young to organize their own time, and it shouldn’t be an expectation that you do it for them.
Just say no thank you.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:18 am
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Homework is sooo hard and difficult for my kids that it’s driving evryone insane. If the board of education are giving kids homework that is harder than what I had in a Catholic school, then they better understand it when they arrive home, so they can finish quicker. They have spelling test, handwriting, and really hard math that their own teacher doesn’t understand. By the time he finishes, it’s time to go to bed. He doesn’t want to go to school in the morning, he cries. School is scary to him. It is mentally destroying him. He use to be a happy child, now he is withdrawn,serious, and his self-esteem is going so low, because he can’t understand his homework. I will not allow this to go on. It should be the parents decision if they should do homework. If you want to have more children graduate from high school, and not drop out, you have to start a whole new make-over in schools. You have to make it less intimidating for the child and more fun to where he can’t wait to get to school. School is a scary place for the child because the school work is soo hard, they don’t understand it. Some teachers don’t understand it. I can’t help him, because I don’t understand it. It’s not the same math I did in grade school. Looks more like hard, crazy, chemistry. Where do they get this stuff? Millions feel the same way I do, and if there is anyone who will protest” NO MORE HOMEWORK” or ‘HOMEWORK IS DISTROYING MY CHILD MENTALLY”, I will march with you. These are our kids, not theirs. They don’t know what goes on at home. Teacher’s don’t want to teach, so they give it to the children to deal with at home. Then this will be our choice.
March 4th, 2011 at 12:02 am
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WHO IS BEHIND THIS!!! THIS IS A FORM OF CHILD ABUSE!!! ITENTIONALLY EFLICKTING EMOTIONAL DESTRESS!!!! THE HOMEWORK/CLASSWORK DOES NOT FIT THE GRADE….WE WILL MARCH!!! NO WONDER TEENS WANT TO DROP OUT BY THE TIME THEIR IN JUNIOR HIGH. THEY HAVE HAD ENOUGH!
WE NEED SOMEONE WITH COMPASION AND BRAINS TO OVER-HAUL THE WAY THE SCHOOL IS OPERATED!! NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND! LOOK HOW MANY ARE LEFT BEHIND!! WE NEED CHANGE!!!! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DESTROY MY FAMILY!!!!
March 4th, 2011 at 12:19 am
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Stop Homework FOREVER BECAUSE IT IS PATHETIC AND TERRIBLE HOMEWORK SHOULD NEVER BE USED. so everyone lets stop homework forever to make the world be at peace
May 15th, 2011 at 9:12 pm
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my son hates summer homework.From 2nd grade he had summer homework. he is a very smart child about to be 13 but i see that when he is doing summer homework he is very depressed.i told him not to do it and he ended up going outside more.school starts september 7th and i just know that the school isnt going to do anything.
June 13th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
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My son is going into 7th grade next September, and I find that he is spending 1-2 hours EVERY DAY on summer homework. He complains that it’s not summer anymore with this load over his head, and I can’t fathom what will come next in the actual school year!
July 3rd, 2011 at 2:05 pm
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Parent, I bet you’ve discovered this by now, but this was only the beginning of what is the hellhole of 7th grade. Good luck.
October 9th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
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Grr……silly teachers. They think they can assign
loads of tests just because it’s the last term of the
year. And to celebrate my last term in primary school like this, no way!! :(
October 24th, 2011 at 4:24 am
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good idea i should of thought of that a while ago i am in grade 7 i go to p.e mc gibbon st public school sarnia ont and i am rebecca and the past years of grade school i been getting homework every day and i am sick and tired of my teachers giving me homework even though i do and lots of work at school and i have no energy doing home work every day after school i want NO MORE HOMEWORK I THINK IT SCHOOL BE BAINED FOR ALL THE SCHOOLS IN ONT
November 22nd, 2011 at 1:24 pm
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i hate ho0mework
December 12th, 2011 at 11:29 am
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how can i stop homework
December 12th, 2011 at 11:29 am
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i like cheese and i hate homework
December 14th, 2011 at 11:47 am
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