Stop Homework

Dear Sara,

I teach first grade and give homework only for math and reading and occasionally science and social studies. I give it because the district says we have to. The kids have been there for 6 hours. Why do they need more work when they get home? When I get home I want to relax, make dinner, enjoy my family and exercise but instead I have to help, organize and reteach things….that is ridiculous….i am very stressed and I think it is unfair…..

How can we change things here in Miami?

Signed,

A frustrated teacher

I know lots of schools use packaged, mandatory reading programs. Here’s a great opinion piece from the Los Angeles Times by a children’s librarian explaining the problems with those types of programs. (Thanks to this parent who alerted me to the piece.)

Reading shouldn’t be a numbers game
Applying numerical ratings to books does nothing to help kids read better.
By Regina Powers
Los Angeles Times

School has started. I can tell because frazzled parents drag their embarrassed children up to the reference desk at my library to ask, “Where are the fifth-grade books? We need a 5.6 level that’s worth at least 7 points.”

I avoid frustrating both parties with an explanation of how the Dewey decimal system works, and ask the child, “What do you like to read?” The response from both adult and child is all too often a blank expression.

Although I am elated that many families are visiting my public library more frequently because schools send them, I am disturbed at how infrequently parents and teachers are allowing young readers to choose what to read.

Read the rest of this entry »

I really liked this comment posted by a teacher in response to my blog entry, Middle School Teacher Says There’s Plenty of Time For Homework.

As both a parent and a teacher, what bothers me most is the middle school teacher’s claim that parents who schedule after school activities are saying “athletic achievement and ‘well-roundedness’ are more important than school.”

It is a sad state of affairs when ‘well-roundedness’ and education have become mutually exclusive concepts.

Our society needs to recognize that more goes into raising a healthy, productive member of society than memorizing math facts or completing reading logs. Do we want a longer school day that offers every conceivable enrichment activity a child might be interested in? Or are we willing to allow families to make those choices on their own, based on their children’s needs and interests. If we claim that we are, we must support this by allowing enough “free time” after school for pursuing these enrichment activities without sacrificing sleep for homework.
Read the rest of this entry »

According to seattlepi.com, a Seattle middle school science teacher has been suspended for two weeks without pay for refusing to administer the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). The teacher, Carl Chew, who has been teaching for about eight years, said he has seen kids struggle through the test with few positive results to show for the time and effort expended.

You can read the rest of the story here and read his statement here.

The other day I received thiis letter from a middle school teacher in England:

Dear Sara

I have been a teacher for the past thirty years and I completely agree with you about homework. I often feel like a lone voice in the staff room. My brother’s two children (ages 9 and 12) have been completely turned off school - and the main reason is the ridiculous amount of mind-numbingly pointless tasks set for homework. Last week, my niece had to make a model of a seed (wait for it) out of cake! Their father said and I quote: “It is ruining our lives!” Every Sunday they have to devote to homework when they should be out on their bikes or practising the piano etc. I would even go so far as to say that it is a form of child abuse! As a teacher I cannot keep thinking of “useful” things to set my pupils day in and day out just to conform to the school “homework policy”. Then I have to mark it as well as all the other work they do in class. It also wastes a huge amount chasing pupils up, interrogating them when they come up with excuses etc. It fact it has a detrimental effect on staff pupil relationships. Let’s get rid of it altogether! Staff will be happier, pupils will be far happier and less stressed out and will come to school much fresher and eager to learn.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) in England, a union which represents 160,000 teachers, will debate a motion at its annual conference next week calling for an end to homework for elementary school children and cutting back the amount for teenagers. According to The Telegraph, “The move comes amid growing fears that children are being increasingly stressed by too much work too young. Pupils in England are the most tested in the western world and it is claimed that exposure to academic study - coupled with a reduction in play - may harm children’s long-term development.” Read the article here.

Last March, I provided a link to the blog of a high school math teacher near Santa Cruz, California. The teacher, Dan Meyer, explained why he doesn’t assign homework. I dropped back in on his blog entry recently, and discovered that there were close to 80 comments, all worth reading. Read “Why I Don’t Assign Homework” here.

The other day I received the following email from a teacher in a private school in Toronto, Canada.

Teachers: She’s really looking for advice and support from you, so please help her out by posting a comment.

Dear Sara,
As a veteran English teacher, I totally concur with your views about homework. I do not assign daily homework, only longer term projects in which there is student choice and which serve as extensions to the curriculum - endeavors designed to take them out of the classroom and apply skills and knowledge.

So here’s the problem. Parents in our school are demanding more homework. Our principal is leaning on us to assign more homework, according to the ridiculous formula of 10 minutes per grade level, i.e. grade 8 should be doing 80 minutes per night. It’s like these kids have to be putting in a set amount of time chained to their desks. By the way, our school runs from 8:45 to 4:10 - a very long day.

I refuse to assign hateful content questions and word lists to fill this arbitrary homework quota.

Monday on our curriculum night, when I do my spiel before the parents, I am ready to try to educate them on the homework issue. Any ideas?