Wyoming Elementary School Eliminates Homework
I just learned from the principal of Grant Elementary School in Glenrock, Wyoming, that her school is implementing a no homework practice. The school came to that decision after examining homework and having discussions with Kim Bevill of Brain Basics, who provided them with materials about homework. Kim, a dynamo, teaches social studies and psychology in a Colorado high school, owns and operate Gray Matters (whose goal is to “re-ignite learning in every classroom using brain-compatible curriculum to further academic achievement”), hosts a yearly conference entitled Brain Basics, and, most importantly, is a passionate advocate against homework. I have enjoyed many conversations with Kim this year.
Here’s the principal’s letter to the parents explaining the new policy:
Dear Parents,
Over the years we have seen that with the increased pressure in meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), homework has also increased. This increase may have come in response to the call for higher expectations, comparisons of American student performance with the children from European and Asian countries, and the pressures created with state testing programs such as PAWS.
With that being said, the research is unable to produce evidence that homework improves student performance. The research is telling us that if we want to improve attitudes, mental and physical health and academic performance, we as parents need to promote the following 5 things:
• Children need to play outside for at least an hour after the school day. They should be at the point where they are almost sweating.
• Dinner with your family every night or at least 4 times a week. This is shown to decrease eating disorders in females, decrease smoking and drug abuse rates in males and recent research suggests it teaches life-long good eating habits — more fruits and vegetables.
• Early to bed. Research suggests that children need 10 – 12 hours of sleep a day to be ready to learn.
• Limited television, video games and computer time, especially an hour before bed time.
• Reading time every evening. This is a great time for the whole family to sit and read together.
At Grant this semester we are trying something new. Homework will only consist of work students did not finish during the school day. However, if a child is bringing homework home on a regular basis then we will have a parent meeting to see why the child is not getting the material done during school. At semester our staff will review how our students are doing with these new guidelines.
We are going to ask that parents help us promote reading at home. Our school wide reading program, “Splish Splash,” will be a great way to encourage reading and will provide monthly reading incentives. Our children are making great gains in the area of reading. A key component to making these gains is the work that parents and children do at home. We do thank you for your help.
We would love to hear from you on your thoughts about homework as we explore some new guidelines. Again, thanks for everything you do to help our children, staff and school be a great place for learning.
Sincerely,
Christine Hendricks, Principal
Grant Elementary Teachers and Staff
This is a great post! My daughter’s school (in Victoria, Australia) has given homework since the kids were in prep — my daughter was four in that grade. I love encouraging her to read, but the homework was really not worth doing. I love the principal’s letter to the parents — how refreshing to see someone prepared to go out on a limb, and probably against the grain of what most people believe. Let’s hope lots of other schools follow suit. I found you through stumbling, and I’m really glad I did.
September 24th, 2007 at 5:43 am
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Absolutely perfect!!! I am a stay at home Mum.…. and I have done two years of homework with my daughter. I am home, I would hate to see the strain cramming in ALL activities on a working Mum. The child also suffers at home with these deadlines and work they already do day in day out. Seriously, my daughter loves school…she is bright…loves learning…but over time, homework is always a rush…and something that just makes her negative and bored, and she knows how to do it all. The amount of learning crammed into a day AT SCHOOL SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT.
I would absolutely love for this to be introduced at her school.
September 24th, 2007 at 6:23 am
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I agree with Emma but.…
I teach English and at the moment we are dealing with creative writing. During the lesson I teach the process and technique of writing as a homework they have to practise what they have (should have) learnt in the lesson. I’m sure a maths teacher would argue the same way, homework is the time when students practise what they should have learnt. Homework does have an important place in the learning experience provided that it is modelled to fulfill the needs of the educational theme.
Simply setting homework to cover what was not taught or because ‘it is expected’ is wrong and in that regard I agree with the school.
The knee jerk reaction is to say that the school decided to abandon homework to give the teachers an easier life, less stuff to mark for example. I don’t agree with that but I do think that homework is important as it can force students to learn how to self-learn such as finding the information they need, discovering new ways of doing a task and being creative in approaching a task.
Homework is good when it is properly guided, when it is set without thought it is bad but to not give homework at all is the worst.
Kind regards,
Milander
September 24th, 2007 at 6:55 am
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I’m tempted to MOVE to Wyoming after reading this! What a smart and forward thinking school. Children are in school for 7 hours a day and many schools are eliminating recess. You can’t tell me that teacher aren’t able to teach all that needs to be taught in 7 hours! When my kids arrive home after school, they are tired and cranky. They need time to play, ride their bikes, etc. Trying to cram another 1 – 2 hours worth of schooling into their evenings causes nothing but stress for the entire family. We have no time to socialize and hang out. I can’t even imagine how it would be if both parents work! I completely agree with this school, family dinner, reading time, playing.…all will make for a better student the following day.
September 24th, 2007 at 8:24 am
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Milander,
It is true that children need time to practice what the teacher teaches. Children should still have assignments but they should be given time at school to work on the assignment, where they can ask the teacher for help, work with other students and if they don’t finish at school they have to finish it at home.
I hated homework and this it what I usually did. So much time is wasted in our schools and I found so much time to work on assignments during class and rarely ended up with homework.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:33 am
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Milander, I think that the knee jerk reaction is actually that the school did their homework and considered the available research. This is about returning family life to the realm of the family and refocusing teacher time on teaching rather than managing and administering homework.
I have heard a number of teachers say to me recently that they are more comfortable having students perform their work in the classroom (be it math, writing…) because they are there to observe and guide. Students can practice what they have learned in school, there is plently of time for that.
I am so encouraged by the approach that this school is taking. I hope that others will pay attention.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
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Milander,
I think you might be missing the age group that is being addressed in this school. This is an elementary school — from Kindergarten to grade 6 (ages 5 to 12 here in the States). I doubt that many elementary school children are doing excessive amounts of creative writing or partial differential maths equations, so they certainly shouldn’t be bringing much, if any, homework home.
Kids in this age group *should* be doing exactly what the school suggests: playing outside, eating dinner with the family, reading, and getting enough sleep.
Cheers,
Dan Yocum
a certified, albeit non-practicing, physics teacher
September 24th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
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I am a teacher in high and middle school in the US. Personally speaking I like what this school in Wyoming did. The article does not say it eliminated studying, just homework. The time would be well spent as suggested. I would go one step further. I would extend this to the upper grades (high school and middle school).
I also think there should be some time for recess in the upper grades. Yes, a little down time where the pupils can get outside and have some recreation with their peers. After burning off some of that energy, they will be able to concentrate better on the studies in class.
I believe classes for these children should be 50 minutes long and there should be a minimum of five classes a day. In addition to the five classes there should be time for lunch and recess.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
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[…] Grant Elementary School in Glenrock, Wyoming appears to be one of those brave schools. They have a “no homework policy.” […]
September 27th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
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[…] Grant Elementary School in Glenrock, Wyoming appears to be one of those brave schools. They have a “no homework policy.” […]
September 27th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
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Finally, somebody has figured it out!
Homework is useless. It was intended to be a time to practice what was learned during the day, and turned into the primary component of most grading scales.
My friends and I spent most of our class time doodling in notebooks, reading magazines, and generally ignoring the instructor. The only time I EVER did any homework was when I was told I could do it or fail the class.
I aced EVERY test, even the secondary “We think you cheated, take this surprise, significantly more difficult test to prove your innocence because we can’t prove that you did” tests I got on a regular basis. Yet my instructors refused to give me the grades I rightfully earned because it wasn’t fair to the other students who had done 10 times the work but scored 10 to 20 points lower on the tests. The “A’s” were reserved for the hard working nimrods, who wound up flunking out of the advance placement courses, while my like-minded friends and I received “C’s” and “D’s” because 2/3rds of the score was always based on “I won’t flunk you as long as you work hard” homework assignments.
Enough is enough — It’s high time EVERY school got on board with the no-homework philosophy.
September 30th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
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Much of this is what Maria Montessori taught in her schools. The Montessori method is very similar and we love our Montessori school. My children learn during school hours, have art, Spanish and PE once a week and NEVER have homework other than to read. They play when they get home. And we eat together at least 5 nights a week plus breakfast 5 mornings a week.
If it can’t be taught in a 7 hour day, something needs to change. Throw out the way testing is done and stop stressing young children so much. Very few adults would go to work for 7 hours a day and then come home and do another 2 hours of work and then go to bed! But it is what many schools ask of children under 10!! Crazy.
I am proud of this school because they are taking a huge risk in todays educational culture. BEST OF LUCK!!!
October 6th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
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I, a student myself , agree with the “no homework policy” because it is way to much, and useless, a waste of paper, and time. and there is this kid, in my grade who is pretty smart aces all of the tests, but he dosent do his homework, and chances r, he’s gonna flunk the one class that weighs homework more than tests !!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is horrid, right??!?!?!?
October 7th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
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I am sorry but I don’t agree with this policy. While homework “can” be useless in some cases, it is needed for many reasons.
1) It helps strengthen the students understanding of the lessons taught in class.
2) It helps get the parents involved in the teaching of their children.
3) It also helps keep the parents informed on what is being taught in class.
I do agree that the amount of homework could be curbed. One suggestion might be getting the students teachers to coordinate when they will be sending homework home so students won’t be overwhelmed.
October 9th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
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Now if only they had done that when I was in highschool. :(
October 21st, 2007 at 9:52 pm
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Hello,
My name is Christine N. Wayman. I have been doing some research on the “No Homework Policy” for two main reasons.
1. I am on a curriulum reasearch committe for putting together an application for a Charter School in the Salt Lake City Valley in Utah.
2. I am doing a research paper for my writing class in USU college.
I have been teaching co-op homeschool for 12 years.
I have always had a strange belief that homework is not neccessary for children in oder for them to learn what they need to know in today world.
Some of the people that I am working with to found this Charter School have had alot of experence in the public school system and have founded their own Charter School in Arizona. They have a very strong view that they believe that they can not meet state standards without giving their students homework. They are very hard workers in their school and have made significate achivements with their students. They have received an award of recognition from the State of Arizona Charter School Board for having the best progress with their students this year. But, how can I convince them that this can be done with out homework. I know that alot of parents of the children that will be going to this Charter School, that we are founding, are very opposed to their children having homework. Considering the fact that most of these children are coming from a homeschool enviroment.
I would appreciate all the advise you can give me to address this problem.
Thank you very much,
Christine N. Wayman
November 8th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
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Christine: If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you start by reading The Case Against Homework. It should put to rest the idea that kids need homework to meet state standards. In fact, if kids were left alone at the end of the school day, did some reading on their own and pursued their own passions, they’d pass all state tests with no problem. (Those tests set a very low bar.)
And, watch for my blog entry on the follow-up in Wyoming. I’ll be posting the results of the school’s survey on its no homework practice.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
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I am a student in Tuscon, AZ and we have homework every night. We would like a break once in a while.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
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I am a student at cfms in Tuscon, AZ. We have homework every night and on top of that, we have to do a science fair project. We never have one night without homework.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
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Aside from being a high school administrator in NJ, I am also a doctoral candiidate at Seton Hall University. I am considering a dissertation on homework policies and practices and the claim that positive student achievement is associated with homework. I became interested in the subject after reeading Alfie Kohn’s work, but I will also read your book as well.
I support the initiative of this Wyoming principal. She, and her BOE, are true renegades and trail blazers. Kohn (and you, I am sure) has done a great job of debunking the traditional arguments for homework (a la Damon’s post) as well as refuting the research that support homework.
As I get closer to my dissertation preparation, I would like to consult with you. Is this possible? I can be reached at my blog or via email.
November 20th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
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I’d love to discuss your dissertation with you. Just email me at sara@stophomework.com
November 21st, 2007 at 1:05 pm
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I am a student at Lakeside highschool. Having each class 90 minutes is not as easy as a 50 minute class, you guyz are lucky! In every class I have multiple assignments every day. That should not be “fair”. I think that the teachers need to rethink the assignments because we teens need to live life a little don’t you think?
December 10th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
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Incredible!! I was one of those students who did all my homework and more, simply because I believed that was the way to get good grades. But now I struggle with my daughter (9 years old) to do her homework every night. She is burnt out, we spend very little leisurely time together and the day usually ends poorly. Even with a half-done job most of the time, she scores well above grade level in everything except reading, which coincidentally often gets scratched from the agenda as HW takes too long. On a gut level I agree w/the premise completely. But tell me, as a bilingual teacher I’m curious if acquiring a second language can be accomplished without some rote memorization of vocabulary. What do you think?
January 5th, 2008 at 12:48 am
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hi
February 28th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
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My class (at this moment) is trying to convince my teacher to not have homework. BAN HOMEWORK! MAKE IT GONE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
March 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
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I think that the work they do in school is enough
March 25th, 2008 at 8:51 am
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i agree with connor
March 25th, 2008 at 9:14 am
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I think that they shouldn’t have homework throughout junior high
March 28th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
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good no homework
March 31st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
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I have to do a report on homework. I am also making a petition for no hw. Who wants 2 sign it??????
Make it gone!?? :)
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 am
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Hi Max,
Please let me know what happens with your petition. Where are you located and what grade are you in?
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:12 pm
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Ok, my 2 cents.
I don’t think that banning homework is wise.
Yes, and even in elementary school.
Homework is not just a standard boring thing, it can be fun.
My daughter is in Kindergarten and she has fun homework:
1. It’s very active( for example many times we have to go outside to do it, like find patterns outside, and choose your favorite one. Observe the weather and sky, clouds etc., collect different leaves in the Fall and… I cannot stop on giving examples) It’s truly fun. Both my daughter and I enjoy it.
2. it gives me an opportunity to see what they do at school, how much she understands;
3. most of the time it leads to a discussion.
4. even when it’s something she has to do by sitting at the desk, like writing some words or drawing a picture that describes a sentence she read; it teaches her to do some work by herself.
So, please don’t get me wrong, I’m not pro a huge amount of homework, that makes kids sleep deprived or takes their time from playing outside or spending time with their parents and friends. I think wise teachers give proper homework that promotes interaction between kids and parents, teaches kids to be explorers and investigators(go to library, surf the net) and making leaning process fun.
I’m both hands up for this kind of homework.
In my opinion it’s very common for a human nature to go to extremes . The world is not simply white and black, just like homework.
I can totally understand high school students who are oppose to any homework, been there and know what does staying late just to finish homework means, and I had tones of completely wasted homework, that had no sense of doing. I’m against that kind of homework and will fight for my daughter if she gets that kind of homework.
Oh, btw our kindergarten is just 3 hours a day, so she is not overwhelmed by 6 hours of school. But still I would love to spend 15minuts a day to do fun homework.
regards,
April 5th, 2008 at 12:03 am
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I very much agree children of all ages should not be required to have homework. When they are finished at school that should be it for the day. It isn’t any different than a JOB that is overtime for a child of all ages!!!!! You will burn them out. Why do you think so many children hate school and look at the dropout rate!!!!! There is a reason for that.
Now let these children be children their job is the time at school. The time at home is THEIRS.. Teachers use your HEADS!!!!! If you can’t teach them what they need to learn in the time they are in school you are a POOR teacher.
I have children and grandchildren who are up till wee hours of the morning trying to get all their homework done. You don’t have to wonder why children hate and drop out. My daughter can’t do anything with her son because he is doing homework ALL the time. That was 6th grade last year at Beaver Dam Junior High School in Beaver Dam Wi 53916
They ate to tired to pay attention the next day in school. That is like working a 14 or more hour a day job. Think about it. This teacher who is teaching the same subject for 5 to 40 years in a row I guess should know the subject without thinking. But this is new to these children make sure they know in class what they are doing. Not send them home thinking they can figure it out for themselves! Thank for listening. But we really have to do something about this. They need to learn IN school.
There are also parents who know nothing and couldn’t help their child if they wanted to. Our school system is in trouble because of this. Give them homework, send them home they can do it there, after being in school already all day. Each teacher does that. You have how many classes? How would you figure you could get that all done? 7 hours of school 7 hours of homework Pretty crazy right?
September 4th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
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I am a mother of 6. Several of my children suffer mental illness diagnoses. I am completely, one-hundred-percent for a no-homework program. Anxiety and depression make it next to impossible to do anything after school other than homework if my children are to maintain good grades. I also, however, believe in a good education. I think most things can be taught and learned adequately in the classroom. Occasional book reports and science fair projects should continue to be an effort worked on partially at home. Reading at home should always be required. And a parent should always talk to their kids about what they are learning, re-enforce those concepts, and strive to be as informed as possible. However, endless worksheets, papers, projects and deadlines are more than a child (particularly a special-needs child) and their families should have to deal with. There are a great many more aspects of life that have just as much value as education: family, personal goals, religion, and service just to name a few. I would be interested in a national experiment with charter schools to gage just how such a non-homework oriented education could benefit children. I would be the first to sign up.
ATTN: Christine N. Wayman
I also live in the Salt Lake Valley. If you happen to read this, please get in touch with me. We (my husband Tim and I) are in the phone book.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
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Wow! I can not beleive I found this letter. I was just searching the web this evening at 11 p.m. regarding how much is too much homework. Like I said, it’s 11 p.m. and my 11 year old daughter just got into bed. Her homework tonight? Read a chapter of their reading book. Write a summary on it. Do the Vocab words & definitions from the story. Write 20 sentences from this weeks vocab words. Complete 2 pages from their spelling book. Complete a grammar worksheet. Complete 2 pages from their math book. Review multiplication, division, addition and subtraction facts, Complete a social studies paper. Helloooooooooo? Does anyone see anything wrong here? What about sports, playing outside, and spending time with the family? All things that I believe are just as important as academics. Something needs to be done, and I’m glad to see that this strong, intelligent woman has made the first step. Even if all schools do not ban homework, something needs to be done on the amount that is being sent home. And I’ve got news. I already went to school. I am done with homework. My parents never had to “do” my homework for me. Sometimes my daughter can’t even do her homework. Now you tell me. After almost 7 hours in school each day, 5 days a week.….….Why is that? I say, let the kids be kids again.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
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I myself am a sudent in 8th grade, so i have witnised and been part of this catastrophe. Some of my friends will call me crying at 3 in the morning needing help on work that wasnt well taught in class! Te y work all night just to go to school and get a D. I learned more today in school then actually doing the homework! Heck i learn more on the history channel then i do with homework. Think about this… an hour of home work per class, on some days 4 classes will all give out assignments, plus you have misssed a day so you have a P.E. make up do the next day. so you have to.… Do 40 problems in math, make 4 circles and split them in to 4 parts, then calculate the angles, the percents, and fraction of each mesurment( 2 and a half hours). Then you have to do a history assignment plus read 4 pages out of the history book( 1 and a half hours)
Next you have to write a 5 paragraph essay, review all the words from what you learned in class, and do the make up work you missed a few days ago ( 4 hours!) Now you have to do a P.E. make up.( 1 hour) Also you have to color pictures of organs, cut them out, then paste them the write place, then go on to the teachers website and copy the noes yoo missed ( 1 and a half hours) Finally you have to write a paragraph on a movie you watched in band which you barely remeber( half an hour) It all adds up to about 11 hours. Kids get home at usually 3 so they will have to eat and get some reast for an hour. So they start there homework at 4. So there done at 3 in the morning. But do you think a kid is going to be able to wake up at 6 in the morning now? Then go to school for the same thing? after a few days like that a kid is dying to get home, dying for the weekends and end up not doing there home work at all! so they get bad grades, even though they understand everything! now if a school can do that to a kid, then it obviously doesnt realize that its not even a school, more like a prison cell.
September 17th, 2008 at 12:29 am
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I sooo envy the kids who go to your school!my school makes us do 1 to 2 pages of math homework and 1 to 2 pages of english homework.I am writting an essay about no-homework thank you for the imfomatin1
October 20th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
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Hi. I am an Egyptian teacher and I am for a no homework policy. But before asking kids to do their homework at school something must be done first.
The people in charge of education should reconsider the curriculum and the amount of information given to kids. Unecessary parts should be deleted and the material given should be more interesting than it is now.By doing this, we give kids enough time at school to finish their work leaving home time to be managed by parents because it’s their duty to do so.ENOUGH STRESS PLEASE
November 10th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
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I agree todaly, kids need to get outside and be active. To releve stress. How are they going to realve stress if they go to school for about 5 hours. Give or take. Then come home to do homework. Theres the stress. Plus its not only the kids stress Its also the perents stress.
November 21st, 2008 at 11:45 am
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=O, are you kidding me?! this is so unfair fo’real =[
November 24th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
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Hello. I am student at a Middle school in the Midwestern region. I love your idea of eliminating homework because at my age I am staying up very late trying to figure out some math, communication arts, world history, of science problems and it isn’t fun or easy. Again I love your idea! Thanks a lot!
Nawal Majid
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
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i agree that there dhould be no homework it is unfar to go to school for six hours then do homework
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
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i agree that home work shold be baneed it causes stress at home. my advanced classes are to hard for my family so then we arguy and i cant figure out my work
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
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Thank you so much for this post and this site!
My wife and I have been going through a tremendously frustrating experience with our third grade son’s school. He is in an advanced math class, which is teaching from the district’s 4th grade book. His teacher insists on a minimum of 30 homework problems five days a week. The teacher allows little or no time for the kids to start their assignments in class. Many of the problems are actually multi-part, so a typical assignment ends up being 40 – 45 problems each night – all to be done at home.
The time that this takes has cut into other subjects, has eliminated his study of karate (no time), and has ended up in many tearful nights as we prod our tired child to “do just five more problems.”
Multiple attempts to reason with the teacher and the school administration have ended up in total frustration. Many other parents have expressed the same concerns and issues. All have resulted in defiance from the school.
Although the math is easy for our son, it is the shear amount that is causing problems. We have decided to move him to his grade-level for math. Although the work will not be challenging, at least he will be a happier kid and have time to play, go outside, have dinner with his family, and maybe once again do a sport.
Thanks again for the information posted here that reinforces our decision. Also thank you for the dedication to this subject and for the chance to rant.
Dave Arthur
December 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
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Dave, you brought up a problem we’ve highlighted here and I’ve spoken about it many times. So has FedUpMom. Wish you could google all my posts.
Homework is particularly pernicious for gifted kids and/or children with advanced aptitude. My daughter left private school after 4th and has been in gifted programs ever since. She is off the charts when it comes to IQ but she has distractibility and focusing issues, she’s also very deliberate and perfectionist, others in the class were not twice exceptional (GT LD) but not as intellectually advanced. In both cases, for each of these reasons, the children could not handle the volume of work and were up till midnight in 6th grade. I am still so stunned that we think it’s okay for children to regularly arrive at school sleep deprived, that homework trumps common sense.
In many gifted programs, the homework pressure on these kids has reached the level of absurdity. My daughter was spending three hours on homweork in 3rd grade. By 6th is was double that. As an eleven year old!
My husband and I would go round and round. If we took her out, she’d be bored to tears and would lose her peer group. Keep her in and while some of the projects were fun and interesting, they came on top of so much busy work.
Homeschooling is the beautiful answer to all this and we did it for one year. You challenge and eliminate all assignments you see as pointless. Harder not more, harder not more is my daughter’s never ending mantra. I want harder, I don’t want to be punished with more and more work! A well rested homeschooled child can get all theo work done from 9 to 1 with no evening homework. What are you all waiting for? :).
The school day was disorganized and the children didn’t seem to get much done. The teachers didn’t “get” giftedness. I have spoken to leaders in the gifted world and they are surprised when I tell them what it’s really like in the trenches. It is amazing nothing is being done. I give three reasons for homework overload in academically advanced classes:
1. Teacher is desperately trying to impress hyper-competitive parents
2. Teacher is untrained in how these kids tick and thinks they are little adults, that we need to fill every moment of their time, that downtime and play are frivolous. To the contrary. Our greatest thinkers discovered theories in their daydreams. Think Einstein. They equate giftedness with ACHIEVEMENT and straight A’s when in fact giftedness is how these children think.
2B. Teacher misundestands these are still children with avoidance/procrastination issues just like other children and thinks, they are little adults, so they can perform at an adult level. When they look at the assignment load, it’s as if they picture an electronic doll. Set the speed controls and flick a switch and it hums happily until you press OFF. Children are not robo-students.
Cognitively some of these children are capable of performing at an adult level but effective executive functioning skills don’t kick in until much later.
3. Teacher is pressured from on high to produce top NCLB scorers to balance out the failing school. I don’t know why they think homework overload will produce this, but they do.
4. Teacher has wasted class time (for all sorts of reasons, some of them perhaps not her own fault) and without heavy homework, she’d have nothing to show for the year.
It’s too bad you had to move your son back just to get less homework. He has a right to be appropriately challenged at school (FAPE, free and appropriate educaton in the LEAST restrictive environment) but I support you. A lot of parents of gifted keep the kids in, deciding the trade off is worth it. My long experience has shown me it isn’t.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
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Dave, I commend you for putting your son back in grade-level math. I had to take my daughter out of accelerated math and if I had it to do over again, I would take her out sooner! Accelerated math is a scam, in my humble opinion. Bright kids don’t need to get through math quicker, they need to understand it better. I hope more parents will follow your lead.
HomeworkBlues, I am getting ready to write my next rant, “Gifted schmifted”. You read my mind when you used this exact phrase in a recent comment! Oops — gotta run –
December 10th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
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Back again — I wanted to post some links that discuss the accelerated math phenomenon:
http://themorechild.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/forced-march-pta-meeting-reveals-math-trail-of-tears/
http://www.nctm.org/about/content.aspx?id=1010
http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-an-Accelerated-Math-Course-Appropriate-For-Your-Gifted-and-Talented-Student?&id=1366211
December 10th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
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And here’s another one: also, check out the comments at the end from teachers:
http://themorechild.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/just-saying-no-to-accelerated-math/
This comment from “James” really spoke to me:
I can’t justify myself as a person who loves and cares for children anymore if I’m allowing them to suffer through these math classes while lying to their parents about their “appropriate placement”. My wife and I would never send our daughter to MCPS schools, we want her to enjoy her childhood and develop a love of learning. The last thing we want for her is a curriculum that’s developmentally appropriate for a child 3 years older than she… leading to insecurities and depression so severe that she’s on meds before the age of 10.
“insecurities and depression” … that was my daughter!
December 10th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
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Yes, I’m the one who who coined, “gifted shmifted.” I spent years reading about giftedness butI have found myself more and more pulling away from those groups. Who needs it? You’re right.
And is everyone suddenly gifted? Why are all the teens we know taking five APs in junior year of high school? Oh, right. It’s not about love of learning and challenge, it’s about fears, fears they won’t get into college. It’s a race.
When I was a youngster, we did high school in high school and college in college. FedUpMom, I offered my daughter an exit strategy, two local college courses and we do all the rest, but she doesn’t want to leave her school right now. As a junior, she must feel there have been too many changes in her life.
The college courses are just so that we have one or two courses as anchors. Technically, she’d be a homeschooler again.I want to play with her, and hike and bike and walk and ski so badly, I’m sick with the agony of it all.
Go ahead, rant. We’ve been punished with all this long enough. I’d love to hear more!
December 10th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
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While I’m excerpting, I wanted to highlight this paragraph from the article here:
http://www.nctm.org/about/content.aspx?id=1010
She’s talking about bright kids:
All too often, we cope with these students by giving them more of the same. If the less able students do 10 problems, the more able students do 25. This does little to encourage deeper mathematical thinking and might even turn capable students against mathematics. We also sometimes cope by pushing the more able students through the standard material, only faster. This has always seemed to me to be such a wasted opportunity to expose students to beautiful mathematics that they might not otherwise get to see. Instead of more of the same, why not add more depth in the form of both in-class and extracurricular opportunities for able, motivated students to engage with some mathematics that is not in the program?
From your lips to God’s ear!
December 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
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Thanks again all for the input.
On the recommendation of one of my son’s former teachers, we are going to try to check out a 4th grade math text so that I can enrich his math experience at home. I am a former math teacher, so I think we can cover the material adequately. This way we can cover the more advanced concepts that will challenge him without killing his excitement with hours of homework each night. Maybe this is not an ideal situation, but we have to take steps in the best interest of our child.
As an unrelated side note, I had to give up teaching years ago because I could no longer afford to make so little — what does that say about our system!
Dave
December 10th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
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FedUpMom, that paragraph says it all. Not too long ago I read that for gifted kids, sometimes slower is the answer, not faster. Slower to go in depth, to go richer, deeper, more contemplative, more complex.. My daughter expresses great disappointment in her overall education. She craves stimulating discussions, project based learning, intense work that leaves her feeling invigorated, not drained. Again, she wants harder not more, harder not more.And I hate this sleep deprivation. But she doesn’t want to leave her current school because it offers her intellectual stimulation, from the other kids.
I really feel practically her entire education has been hijacked. Isn’t that too sad for words?
December 10th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
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Scroll way above. Milander writes:
but I do think that homework is important as it can force students to learn how to self-learn such as finding the information they need, discovering new ways of doing a task and being creative in approaching a task.
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»>
Force is the operative word here. I honestly do not believe you achieve any of the lofty goals you set forth her if you force. All force gets you is resistance.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
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Dave — how about math-related games? My daughter’s a big fan of a game called “Can’t Stop”. It’s basically about probability.
If you go to this site you can learn more than you ever thought possible about board games:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/
December 10th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
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i have a project about homework what do u think should i write guys?is h.w good or bad
December 31st, 2008 at 10:44 am
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[…] Wyoming Elementary School Eliminates Homework […]
January 6th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
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This is ridiculous! Do all of you really think that having homework doesnt do anything? Homework provides a chance to review what the teacher did in class that day, it provides a chance to PRACTICE what the teacher did that day, it sets you up to do better on tests, get better grades, and it helps you remember what you learned outside of a 45 min. time period.
January 14th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
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Nope, anonymous. Homework is an extension of school. Your reasons may have been the original intent but not anymore. My daughter, in a selective magnet school, does homework for at least five hours every night and every second on weekends when she doesn’t have rehearsal. Anything she does of value, anything complicated, anything long range she does at home.
I do have to question what on earth they are doing in school for seven and a half hours Monday through Friday if this much must come home. That is why I homeschooled. It was a no brainer. Gee, I reasoned, if she’s doing everything at home, may as well make it official. She awoke when she as rested, she ate when she was hungry and she learned at the times of day most optimal to her. Now we have her going to school from 8:30 to 4 and coming home to School #2, sometimes until 2am. You cannot convince me this is a system that works, that this is for the good of the child. I live in constant fear she will completely burn out and do what the other poster’s child has chosen, refuse to go to college.
January 14th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
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I hate homework
February 17th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
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I think homework should be banned I think its Gay!!!!!!
February 17th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
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i dont really like homework but i dont know i never have
February 17th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
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I hate homework because all I want to do is eat cheetos all day and night
February 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
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I was thrilled to find this site and that so many other parents are experiencing the same problems as I am. I have two boys 17 and 10, both are in academy-type programs here in Virginia, which also has the Standards of Learning Tests. We experience a lot of the same problems that have been mentioned by everyone else. It has gotten to the point I hate to see him get off the bus because I know we will spend the next hour to 3 hours trying to get all his work done. I have spoken to his teachers and don’t seem to get anywhere and the most frustrating thing is that very little of what he does is even collected or looked at by the teachers. It is very disheartening. He used to love to read and now it’s just one more thing that needs to done and kept track of. I would love to present this concept to our school principal and the PTA. Do you have any helpful thoughts on how best to do this without putting people (especially teachers and administrators) on the defensive. I just want my son to be happy again. He has also had more illness this year than ever before. Thanks for your help!
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:34 pm
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I agree with the above
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm
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I wish there could be a national program that allows all schools to work together on this problem.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
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I have a 9 year old in the 3rd grade and I listen to other parents and their horror stories of the many projects. I want my child to excel, but I want him to be happy and healthy, as well. What can we as parents do?
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
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I have read all the comments made about homework, and I can see both spectrums.
One of the major problems that needs to be fixed is the family dynamic. Now, before people get angry at me, look at today’s family…most are two full-time working households, the children are left to their own devices or are at daycare, religion is not a priority, and heaven forbid that a child picks up a book for enjoyment.
I am sure I angered some people, especially with the religion topic, but what I was trying to say with specific examples is simply that a FAMILY is not that important anymore. Parents, we are guilty of this. Why? Because many of us live outside our means. We have to have the big house, the new car, the newest gadgets…and then we have to give our children everything they want (of course we don’t…but many of us are very guilty!). What ever happened to children earning and saving money to purchase what they want?
So, when children have homework, which is an extension of what was taught that day, parents get upset because they’re tired from their jobs, and their children are tired and cranky knowing they have homework to do.
I agree…homework should be minimal. But, think…if you are an athlete, don’t you have to practice your sport in order to get better?
Family time should be a priortity, homework should be minimal and extend the lessons taught through the day, and people should learn to live within their means.
Sorry for the soapbox, but the homework ‘issue’ is a fragment of a larger problem.
P.S. I am sorry, but comment #39-Lizz…this is an example of why lessons need to be PRACTICED at home. Typo’s are ok…everyone does them. However, posting a comment with phonetically spelled words is disturbing-especially on this particular topic.
August 18th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
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I am not opposed to homework. My daughter is in 1st grade in a private school. She has a little bit of homework each night. She just started school so I am not sure how much homework she will have by the end of the school year. I will say that I think that homework, in moderate amounts, does have its benefits. I also like her having homework because it gives me an opportunity to see what she is doing in school. How many times I have asked, “What did you do in school today?” Her reply is “I don’t know”, or “What did you learn today?” only to hear “Nothing.” I think that having homework is important also for the sheer fact that when it is time to go to college, you cannot learn absolutely everything that you need to know in class. You will have to read the material, read your notes from class, etc. in order to be able to pass the tests. If homework is totally eliminated, children will be at a loss when they do have to figure out how to learn on their own. Just my opinion. I do not believe in hours and hours of homework though. It should be age appropriate and there should be some kind of limitation. I don’t know what the right approach is, but I do believe that some homework is necessary.
August 27th, 2009 at 9:52 am
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Anonymous — Yes, college requires a great deal of independent work. But the students are young adults, and they don’t spend 7 hours a day in class. What’s appropriate for a college student may be completely inappropriate for a first-grader.
As for letting you know what’s going on in school, how about if the teacher sent the parents a weekly e-mail describing what they did that week? I’d sure prefer that to homework.
It sounds to me like you’ve been lucky so far — the homework has been minimal, and maybe you’ve got an easygoing child. I hope your luck continues, but if it doesn’t, you know where to find us!
August 27th, 2009 at 10:09 am
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Illinois teacher — I don’t usually do this, because it is true that everyone has typos from time to time. But if you’re criticizing someone else for phonetic spelling, you should know that curiosity doesn’t “peek”, as you wrote in post #93 on the thread “I Hate Reading Logs.” Curiosity gets “piqued”. It’s a French word meaning
“to prick”. (Okay, no double entendres!) You can read about it here:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pique
August 27th, 2009 at 10:18 am
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BTW, there’s a poster at Mothering.com looking for support for her no-homework decision. You can find the thread by googling “Mothering support no homework.”
August 27th, 2009 at 10:24 am
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Loved the “required by law part”. I hope that Mom comes over here…sound like she’s going to need it.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:37 am
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I was thrilled to know that there’s a school who took this risk. Well, I’m kind of neutral for this time because I’m experiencing lots of works from school and sometimes I hate doing it sometimes I’m excited for the next one. Anyways, I would like to know more about the results of this school’s risk. It’s better if we would have results with the comparison of schools who give homework and those who doesn’t. If no homework is better, then many would know about it and learning doesn’t need to be accompanied with sleepless nights anymore. Sometimes, instead of studying the things I don’t understand I just do homework and getting no benefit in it at all.
August 31st, 2009 at 3:56 am
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alright, im a student in the 11 grade at wellington heights secondary school in canada, people, listen, homework is useless, if students need to keep remembering things using homework, that means that the teacher is not making things interesting enough to keep the students attention, all homework does is cause headaches and and bad moods, teachers need to understand that not all parents care or have the time to help with homework, nor do they always have the knowledge, someone else mentioned it, but homework nowadays is much harder then in the past, i agree that homework can be given if the work was not completed in class, but homework alone distracts from things that can keep people in a good mood for the next day, trust me, as a student, i know that it would not be necessary if the teachers would make sure they can get there students attention, yelling and assigning homework doesn’t do the job. when a student gets home, they are not thinking “YAY, TIME TO DO HOMEWORK” theres a reason why school work is done at school, its not meant to be done at home. it can make things much easier without homework
August 31st, 2009 at 9:56 pm
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I live in Florida and have two very bright kids. They rarely finish their homework before 10:00 pm every night and many times later than that. I feel like we are missing out on very important family time. My kids don’t have any time to be free or creative. Even holidays are spent doing projects and book reports.
October 19th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
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The really sad thing is that we don’t get a second chance, there’s no “do over” of our family’s life and our childrens’ childhoods. Once it’s over and the kids are onto their adults lives, be it at work or more schooling, they’re adults. And these adults have some really ingrained beliefs now about learning and school and when they have their kids, they are likely to repeat the whole thing all over again.
October 20th, 2009 at 7:45 am
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Dora —
It is great that your daughter has such active homework that you can work on together. You have terrific stimulating discussions on the assignments and get quality time out of it. Am I right in assuming that she is an only child?
I have three children, each with their own assignments on which they need parental assistance. We have one child in weekly soccer, two with weekly piano lessons and one with thrice-weekly karate. We are committed to family dinners and breakfasts. I work as a professor full-time.
When, do you propose, should I clone myself to do three different interesting adult-assisted assignments?
Might it be more useful for us to use our family time for family reading and family explorations driven by our and our childrens’ interests?
October 20th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
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I am a student at OHS in MA. I agree that homework is unnessecary (sp?). I go to school for 7 hours a day, then I have to go home and do at least 2 extra hours of homework every night. It is very stressful. How do they expect us to get anywhere in life? Homework leaves no time for things that are much more important. How are students supposed to get jobs when they barely have free time? Personally my family does not have much money so I need to save up to go to college. So I go to work, and by the time I get home I am exhausted. I also take dance classes, and 7 hours a week of that isnt helping either. I am trying to work hard to get a scholarship, but when homework is 50% of the grading it is difficult. It is a vicious cycle! I got to school on monday for 8 hours, then go to work for 4 hours, and then all I have time to do is eat supper and go to bed. Then I have to wake up at 5:30, take a shower, and get to school by 7. (I take the bus, and it comes at 6:30) And go to school again. So just by the end of one day I am already totally burnt out. Add in 2 – 3 hours of dance classes 3 days a week and I am dead by wednesday. It is physically and mentally exhausting to do this over and over again for 5 days straight every week. I would think going to school from 7 to 2 would be enough. Some people think that its hard to sit in an office for 8 or 9 hours a day, but the average high school student probably has the equivilent of a 12 hour work day every day!
October 29th, 2009 at 9:46 am
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You make a good point about adults and their work days. I don’t know the exact statistic but the average amount of time an office worker actually spends on work during 8 hours comes out to be very low.…roughly half the time I think. I might be wrong..but it’s nowhere near the time kids spend in school.
Human beings are abysmal at focussing their attention for long periods of time.…a good lecture or public talk is less than an hour because anything over that is a waste of time. The speaker loses people ..if they really have something important to say, the good public speakers keep it brief.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:37 am
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I am a seventh grader that is litterally forced by his parents to do an hour and a half of homework a night. I and everyone i talk to thinks this is ridiculous. i need a way out! i have no time during the day to play with friends or do anything other than homework. i need more of a life than just stupid assignments about things i learned a year ago. i need help please.
December 7th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
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Stop being little whinny bitches and do the work. Wait til you get to college, you will find out it will only help in the long run.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:15 am
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All that touted homework hasn’t helped you much, Anonymous, now, has it? Given how you spell.
December 8th, 2009 at 1:39 am
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I think the no homework policy is right and wrong. (If you have any questions please email and say who you are).
December 13th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
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