From a Fourth Grade Teacher
I received the following email from a fourth grade teacher in the Lincoln Consolidated School District near Ann Arbor, Michigan:
Last year we had the homework issue come up in an aggressive move from our principal to try and regulated homework across grade levels. It is so over the top!
The amount of homework he proposed was horrid! The teachers and many parents fought the battle to allow the teachers to assign what they believe to be appropriate homework per classroom, child, family, etc. It turned into a battle that we eventually won, with homework not being given by our administrators but by the teachers.
I do not believe in homework! It may surprise you how many teachers do not think homework is helping the achievement gap, but hurting it. I researched and discussed our homework issues with college professors who helped me gather data to support our approach to little or no homework. So I was so glad to see your book! I stayed up reading after a troublesome time with my own daughter and her homework, which lasted over 1 ½ hours, and she is in 2nd grade!
Thank you for the advice and the work you put into this book! I want you to know that educators are listening and are many times on the side of promoting family time verses busy work or homework! Family time is being pushed aside for homework and the children are the ones who are hurting because of it!
P.S. I must also add that not only was my administrator asking for this but many parents were too! I was amazed by that! So educating or helping parents be in the “know” about homework is so important! They need to know they can ask for less and discuss other types they think is right for their own children.
I want you to know also that I am just one of the MANY teachers who care and want less homework here at Lincoln Consolidated and at surrounding Michigan school districts. When I did my research last year I found that the teachers I spoke to followed the 10 minute rule. But I am still concerned, because many times what takes my child ten minutes, may take another child 30!
Many college professors at Eastern Michigan University, the University that puts out the most teachers in the U.S., are also advocates for less homework and more family time! When I told the professors at Eastern Michigan about this proposal, they were appalled! I had great support from them, other staff members here at Lincoln and from many parents!
These are the guidelines the principal was trying to institute:
1st and 2nd grade Monday-Friday
10 minutes Phonics, Sight words or reading worksheet
20 minutes Reading practice
10 minutes Practice worksheet or flash cards for math
40 minutes total
Plus 60 minute of homework on Saturday and Sunday
20 min. reading practice
20 min. social studies
20 min. science3rd grade Monday-Friday
15 minutes phonics, sight words or reading worksheet
30 minutes reading practice
15 minutes practice worksheet or flash cards for math
60 min. total
Plus 60 min. homework on Saturday and Sunday
20 min. reading practice
20 min. social studies
20 min. science4th and 5th grade Monday-Friday
20 min. reading assignments (Described as phonics, vocab. based
Worksheets)
40 min. reading practice
20 min. math worksheet practice
80 min. total
Plus 80 min. on the weekends
40 min. reading practice
20 min. social studies
20 min. science
I am the mother of three children. My oldest son is fifteen years old and was schooled publicly and privately in schools in Manhattan and Brooklyn. My other two children attended private pre-schools and public schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The sad truth is that both public and private (and Catholic schools too, although my children didn’t attend them, we know plenty of kids who do) are ALL assigning way too much homework. Each kind of institution has their own justification for it. For the private schools, the reason given, but never actually stated in writing, is that the children require all these science projects and other homework, so that the children will remain “competitive.” We were told that the children must have homework in order to “keep up with the Jones’ ” as it were. There is an elitist attitude about schooling in generally, in the private schools in New York City. The parents and administrators are working together on both a sub-conscious and very conscious level, to ensure that Johnny Jr. remains in the class to which these people either felt they were born into, deserve to be in or aspire to be in. Stanley Bosworth at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn, was the only Headmaster honest enough to admit that this was the driving force behind the work, the curriculum, and admissions. As we all know in New York, Stanley is long gone, so there is no one to just say flat out, “My purpose here is to train your children to be elitist. I am elitist.”
In the public schools, the main reason for loading on piles of homework at night, is overcrowded class size, inexperienced teachers that spend much of the day in classroom mangement instead of teaching and because many parents feel a disconnect from the school (the only connections being fundraisers and field trips) and so the homework provides a link to the school that the parents, teachers and administrators feel they wouldn’t have otherwise.
St. Anns’, PS 3 in the Village and many other schools, public and private, used to be “homework free!” That did begin to change during the 80s. Who changed it? Who demanded the changes? The parents and then the administrators. Who NEVER wanted more homework: THE CHILDREN! The parents, wrongly, assumed there was a connection between academic achievement and homework. Ususally thrown into this arguement is the need for children to develop “good study habits” or “discpline.” What parents don’t want to admit is that many families in the 80s and 90s were becoming two-wage earning families. Life was becoming much more complicated and it is easier to have someone outside yourself tell you how your evening should shape up, with their agenda, then you coming home from a long day at work, commute etc. and figuring out games to play, paints to get out (doesn’t that sound exhausting and exciting to begin painting at
8:00pm?), what books to read and what math puzzles to work on etc. The truth is many people WANT someone else to tell them what to do with their kid for a variety of reasons.
The public school parents, generally speaking, WANT homework for their children and did not defend me last year when I complained to my daughter’s kindergarten teachers, principal and the Board of Ed. that NINE homework assignments,(many with two or three parts to them so it was actually a total of 16 homework assignments in ONE WEEK), was absolutely OUTRAGEOUS and I for one was not going to make her do this! Why did our family get such a small, weak show of support? People are scared. They don’t know how this life is all going to turn out. They’re narcissitic. Many parents showed off these silly photocopied homework sheets to me as a sign of their child’s intelligence. What do I care how many books your kid has recorded on their reading log? I didn’t care, but other parents did care a lot. Many people are uncreative and do not know what to do with their kid anyway, so they are thankful that someone else is telling them how to relate to their child.
And it also boils down to:…CLASS. Better educated people tend to be in the Upper Middle Class and Upper Class. These people, of which I am one, expect and want different experiences for their children. They want music lessons and expect that children will be afforded plenty of time to practice. They want art and books to be part of the conversation and part of growing up. Reading takes time. so does making art and viewing art.
I am now in Hastings-on Hudson, where many people share my backround, values and CLASS. Their children are reading the same classics that I read as a child. You practically can’t move here unless someone in your family plays an instrument and almost every house has a piano. People care about nature and beauty.
So how does this affect homework assignments? In every way. The policy in most parts of Westchester is NO homework AT ALL for kindergarteners. And very little through the third grade. My daughter is assigned homework one night per week for example, and it takes her five minutes to complete. We NEVER have fights or crying over her homework, like I did with my oldest son. And it’s not because she’s a girl or personality differences. It’s because there simply ISN’t an issue!
My fourth grader has homework four nights per week. It takes him between 20 minutes and half an hour to complete. He does ALL of it on his own. He actually likes it.
My high schooler has suffered burn-out from NYC schools. He has homework four nights per week here and sometimes week-end homework. But after so much homework, for so many years in NYC, he struggles to do the work here and often gives me a problem. I put most of the blame squarely on the shoulders of the NYC school experience. He does the minimum on the assignments. Some might blame that on being a teen-ager, but I would disagree with that assessment. He’s burnt-out. And it could happen to your kid too…if you don’t speak up.
Advocate for your kid, even if it means that you risk alienation from friends and administrators. It’s worth it! My little ones practice the piano, viloin, play sports, hang out and LAUGH sometimes, because they have time to.
STOP THE HOMEWORK MADNESS! Stop it by advocating for your own child, today. One child at a time. Just say, “No” to the teachers and principals. Your children will love you for it.
November 3rd, 2006 at 12:38 pm
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Hi everyone. I’m a gr.6 11 year old girl and we have WAY too much homework!!! I hate homework!!! It butts into the stuff you want to do after school. After school should be time to do anything you want! Not sit and watch cars drive by on the highway while you’re doing stupid homework!!!! Like in my class we have something stupid called “P.O.D”. It stands for “Problem.Of.The.Day”. So we have to do one of these EVERY SINGLE DAY!! And it REALLY bugs me! But yeah my point is that homework is just plain dumb and theres WAYYY TOO MUCH!!!!
May 31st, 2007 at 10:42 pm
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I teach 4th grade and well…..no one really is honest about homework!! Many teachers do not grade it!!! Some parents will LIE and say..my son spent 5 hours on his homework!! The kid usually wants time with Mom and Dad and milks the nightly homework routine for all its worth!! Then you have the honest kids and parents that say that it usually takes me 20 to 30 minutes to complete it and they are fine with the amount. They usually leave out the fact that they check their child’s work over and over and they are wanting that 100% because THEIR child has never made a B! That is why I do not grade much of their work done at home. The students know this AND they still will do it. I tell them that it is like ball practice and the TEST and class participation is what I judge their progress by. You will have the kid that does not have anyone at home at night and gets to do it ALL by himself. This child usually does great—–because if you are doing your job as a teacher..the kids can complete the work with no outside help. (Exception: I do some assignments that require family involvement… I allow at least 2 weeks to complete…most students turn the project in within 48 hours!! Except the little learned helplessness CHILD that drives you crazy..because she drives her parents CRAZY with all her endless questions that she DOES know the answers to!!!!! And her parents hate any work at home because they have to deal with their child. Who by the way is usually an overall good student WHO has been babied by teachers in the past and wants everyone to tell them the answers. As I quicky read over this I hope it doesn’t sound “mean”. I am trying to decide what to do about homework this year. I try for a middle of the road approach but it’s really HARD. Parents that want homework want it every night M-Th/Fri and the ANTI homework parents want NONE……Not even a fun biome or soloar system project. I had a parent tell me last year that requiring her son to do a dumb silly project was stupid and SHE didn’t have time to do it. (She???) The kid earned a B…he put all the layers of the Earth the same size. He told me he knew they were not the same but he’d waited until the night before to start and left his science book at school. HE”D had 3 weeks!!!!!!!As a teacher I do not want to assign homework. I do want to assign some FUN projects that involve student choice and creativity. 99.3% of the kids really do enjoy the projects. Will I be judged as not preparing my students by not assigning HOMEWORK??? Well, I started out last year will trying the three nights a week and……it lasted until Halloween. I quit. I told them that i would assign it to to them when I couldn’t get it done right at school. I also stressed that a 7:30ish AM to a 3:30ish Pm school day was long enough if you worked hard when you were at school.. GUESS WHAT?? They worked harder I worked harder and we learned!!! We’ve just gotten our testing results in from last year and I can tell you that my students did great on their state tests and they didn’t have to do a bunch of homework. I guess by writing this I’ve solved my homework problem. I’ll do what I think is best for my class. Limited amounts of homework …sprinkled with some fun projects..and working hard during the day. P.S. I have a very intelligent child of my own….she’ll take 45 minutes to complete a 10 minute assignment!! Hmmmm…perhaps this is an underlying influence of my position!!!!!!!SMILE!!!
July 14th, 2007 at 12:17 am
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hey what do we doif we don’t have a fourth grade grade book?
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
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I pulled my two kids out of school, I have five total, two that did all the homework and graduated successfully although one took one extra year and the last three had a terrible time because of all the homework, I pulled the last three out and homeschooled them as I can control the homework thing. The main thing is what do I need to know and just tell them so they know, they do not need piles of homework to learn something.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
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I don’t know what the answer is. I have to be honest, those kids in the new york city private school system get into the best colleges, that’s the majority, not the minority, they have the very best college placements amongst anywhere. This is why it’s so impossible to get into them, I’ve been trying desperately to get my child into them. The fact is, I want him best equipped as possible and that doesn’t mean that I am not participating in his education, I am, I resent anyone saying my trying to send him to this type of school is not participating - you have no idea the schedule private school kids parents have, they’re at those schools ALL THE TIME and very involved. If I have to choose the best, it’s one of those programs. I have a friend in California whose child is in a no homework policy until 4th grade and she likes to boast of how her kid is in a gifted and talented program there (which parents push for, and it’s not based just on what the educator thinks) - and to be honest, he is a year older than my son and clearly not very bright, especially in contrast to his age group who are new york city private schoolers and public schoolers. So, if I have to choose for my kid, I would choose a nyc private school.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
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Do you know the name of the school in California with the no homework policy until 4th grade?
Thanks.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
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I don`t need this I need wortksheets.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
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i think that we shouldnt have NO more home work
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:34 pm
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I am a fourth grade teacher and am intrigued by the emotion that is being expressed about homework. I struggle with the “homework question” myself. I have two very distinct views on the matter.
First of all - I think homework is important especially longterm projects as it increases students’ ability to manage their time. In school their time is managed for them. It is important that students practice being “students” to ensure their ability to pursue educational opportunities in the future.
The issue with homework these days isn’t necessarily the students not having the time but the parents. Our society “WORKS” too much. Parents are getting home too late and kids are staying too late in afterschool care. That is where the interruption of “family time” occurs.
Children need to be enouraged to complete their homework on their own without their parents constant supervision - which is not the case in most situations these days. Tasks that children could complete inclass on their own become seemingly impossible when they are sitting next to their parents or guardians.
School is not like being at work for children. Much of their day is enjoyable and that is why most children after being out of school for so long want to go back. They miss lunch and recess with their friends. They miss the games and the social aspect that comes along with learning. I spend my classtime teaching both through presentation, hands-on experiements/activities, etc. My students often practice skills learned in class for homework which leaves me more time in the day to teach and for my students to learn new things.
On the other hand - I do not believe that homework should be repetitive. I do not understand why students need to complete 30 division problems when they can show you in five if they understand the concept. Therefore, I do not often send large practice assignments home. I do believe that is where the concept of homework can be lost.
I also am a big believer in “family time”, but what is “family time” defined as? Sitting in front of the T.V.? Watching a movie? Taking a walk? Why can’t “Family Time” also be working on Susie Q’s Socials Studies project on creating a travel brochure or on Johnny’s Biography project.
Homework has not been created to punish the child or the parents it is used to encourage and promote lifelong learning and study skills.
These are just my “current” thoughts on the matter.
March 26th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
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that story was ok but not that gud
April 7th, 2008 at 8:29 am
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