This is the sixth post by FedUp Mom, the mother of a fifth grader. FedUp Mom’s daughter used to attend a public school in suburban Philadelphia, but this year FedUp Mom moved her to a private Quaker school, hoping for a more relaxed environment. You can read her other posts here, here, here, here and here.
I Hate Reading Logs
by FedUp Mom
Every time I think we’ve solved the school problem something comes along to bite me in the rear. This week it’s the dreaded reading log. We found out about it from a letter the teachers sent home:
“Your child will be expected to read every night. We ask that you sign the log each night … We will also check the log regularly, in order to ensure follow through on your child’s part… Please sign the form below and return it to school tomorrow with your child.”
And now, the fun part:
“Thank you for your partnership in your child’s education.” (!)
And how does following the teacher’s directions make me a partner exactly? I feel more like an unpaid employee. Wait a minute — we’re paying them!
There was a little form at the bottom of the letter that said:
“I have read the above letter and agree to help my child by signing his/her log each night.”
I crossed this out and wrote in:
“We trust our daughter to do her reading.”
Then we signed it.
Then we sent the following e-mail to the teacher:
Teacher X: we have chosen not to participate in the reading log. We’ve experienced reading logs before and have these objections:
1.) They turn reading into a chore.
2.) They send a message that we don’t trust (daughter) to do the reading without meddling and micromanaging.
(Daughter) will do the reading she needs to do, but she won’t be logging the pages. Thank you.
I’m hoping that will be the end of it. I’m really tired of conferences and I’m sure we all have better things to do with our time.
Stop Homework 
To Lisa:
“For the record: I have taught all grades from 1 to 9, the most of my years at grade 4/5/6, I am currently at Middle School. I stopped doing spelling tests years ago. I never did reading logs, and I never participated in the “read 10 books, get a coupon for a pizza” program, and I rarely give homework”…if this is the way you treat your students (respectfully and with much kindess and thought), then why on earth would you be standing up for the teachers who solidly believe in those things and who treat some parents badly who are objecting?
We don’t teacher bash…for the 10,000th time. We stand up for our children and for ourselves. We ask questions. If we feel the school system and teachers are running over us we say something. IF that’s teacher bashing then I guess not a lot of inquiry goes on in schools anymore.
If you’re referring to Ministries, then I’m guessing you’re a teacher in the Canadian system….I’m Canadian. I know that the schools and their curriculums are based on the whims of the politicians. But other teachers have been on this site who have said they do what they like in their classrooms and they had the same education you had, and they live under the same Ministries you do…but still they have minds of their own. I think you do too….but there are some teachers who don’t.
Was anything of what I just said teacher bashing?
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Well, you could start with this quote from the second post on the page: ” I blame Older Son’s first grade teacher for his hatred of reading.”
I was responding to a feeling I got reading (and skimming) this incredible volume of passionate expression.
My original post was an attempt to shine a light on the real problem: Educrats collecting meaningless data instead of supporting teachers who DO know how to educate kids…..for the most part, we arrived to teaching because we were called.
I am Canadian, and live on Vancouver Island on the West Coast.
I’m just saying, teachers aren’t to blame, the system is.
If you care to read more about my feelings on Educational Topics, my blog is: http://readlisaread.edublogs.org/
You might find this story telling, as well: http://teacherteachme.blogspot.com/
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I am a middle school special education (LD and SED) teacher. I teach language arts. I spend most of my time “thinking” about how to make kids like school again. I spend most of my time in meetings, doing paperwork, or other stupid bureaucratic junk.
I am required to send homework home. Most of the time I have them take unfinished work home. I hate homework. I have them pick their own spelling/vocab activities. I accept ideas that they come up with. Now I have to have reading logs…..
Today I told them about reading logs. I explained that it was not a chore. I am allowing them to read internet stories, magazines, newspapers, books…ANYTHING. I want them to find something they like to read at home. I want to know what they want to read. After discussing what I wanted them to do I asked “is this ok? is it a chore?” and the answer was that it wasnt that bad. I dont require parent signatures, but I want to know (at least one sentence) what they read about.
Am I happy I have to do this? Originally, no. Now that I spoke to the kids I feel better. I really want them to find that reading is fun. If they skip reading one night, but read the next night and give me a longer summary, thats great!
I am rambling, mainly because I dont want to start on my mountains of paperwork (my homework!).
Can reading logs be “not that bad”? Can kids buy into them if they are used appropriately and not as a way to track and monitor responsibility?
My students need to have some feeling of ownership over their work. They need to feel successful and that they are working toward something beneficial to them. I think that if reading logs get them to try new books out and start to enjoy reading, then they might be worth it.
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Have any of you ever taught in a Public School? Parents need to help their children learn. It takes the student, the parent and the teacher…not just the teacher. With some of the attitudes many people on this website have…and lack of support for the teachers and classrooms, it’s no wonder your children dislike reading. Most teachers feel that a reading log (especially for K – 2) means that the children either WERE READ TO, READ IT THEMSELVES OR READ TO a parent or younger sibling. Children that are read to and encouraged to read, become better readers. Students whose parents take them to the library AND have books in the home (whether borrowed or bought) enjoy reading more. Children who see their parents read, enjoy reading. Teachers are not miracle workers. We are all not perfect, but most of us do our best. When there is parent support, not bitterness, it is easier for everyone.
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A Teacher, this is what I consider an inspiring teacher, one a kid will never forget:
“I let a 13-year-old boy who dreamed of being a comic-book writer spend a week in the public library—with the assistance of the librarian—to learn the tricks of graphic storytelling. I sent a shy 13-year-old girl in the company of a loudmouth classmate to the state capitol—she to speak to her local legislator, he to teach her how to be fearless. Today, that shy girl is a trial attorney.
If you understand where a kid wants to go—the kid has to understand that first—it isn’t hard to devise exercises, complete with academics, that can take them there.”
It’s from that article by John Taylor Gatto I just posted. In fact, he advises doing exactly what FedUpMom did, resisting the reading log!
“What Can You Do About All This? A lot.
You can make the system an offer it can’t refuse by doing small things, individually.
You can publicly oppose—in writing, in speech, in actions—anything that will perpetuate the institution as it is. The accumulated weight of your resistance and disapproval, together with that of thousands more, will erode the energy of any bureaucracy.
You can calmly refuse to take standardized tests. Follow the lead of Melville’s moral genius in Bartleby, the Scrivener, and ask everyone, politely, to write: “I prefer not to take this test” on the face of the test packet.
A Teacher, I know it’s hard to teach in public school. But you actually believe kids will read more because of reading logs? We’ve made convincing cases that busy homework does far more to turn kids off to learning than on to it.
You don’t like the likes of us, it seems, but are you really reading us? Because my daughter is a ravenous reader! Homework, over the years, did more to thwart her creativity than enhance it. It took significant time away from the reading and writing she loves, it limited learning rather than added to it.
You go on to tell us what makes a great reader. Which leads me to believe you are not listening. Because the primary posters here already have kids who love to read with parents who read to them and take them to the library. That is what we are pleading to do! Go to the library and read. Don’t you see that empty time wasting homework overload is just that a waste of our most precious commodity, time and that it has diminishing returns when it severely cuts into sleep?
We have made strong eloquent passionate convincing cases that especially for children who love to read and write, that is what they should be doing in elementary when they return from school. Not busy work that drains them and kills their excitement, initiative and wonder.
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A Teacher asserts: “With some of the attitudes many people on this website have…and lack of support for the teachers and classrooms, it’s no wonder your children dislike reading.”
I would venture to claim that it is precisely because of “my attitudes on this web site” that my daughter loves reading.
Lack of support for teachers and classrooms? Wish you’d told me this earlier. Could have saved me countless hours of volunteering, fund raising, chaperoning on field trips and a host of school functions, donating money, food and supplies, always asking to help out in the classroom, photocopying, asking the front office phones,, serving on the PTSA, board member of booster groups, not to mention all that homework coaching and support at home. A Teacher, please tell me, what does involvement and support look like on your side of the planet?
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I already said I was a typo disaster today so I have immunity, no? ANSWERING the front office phones, meant to write. And just one comma to follow. The print is hopelessly light in the draft, I don’t see a comma so I add one and up pop two!
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Fed up Mom,
If you are a public school teacher, you know that schools in the United States are nothing compared to that of any school outside the United States where education is valued beyond measure and by parents as well. I have traveled to various countries and have been able to see in depth that sad reality that is our school today. I am a teacher and it is evident that the education system we have within in U.S is a disgrace and eventually the United States will lose its prominent position as a world power soon enough. Intelligent students may be coming out of our colleges, but in recent years the majority of doctorate degrees were being given to foreigners. The students of today are expected to compete on an international level. Therefore, education is becoming that much more important. However, how does a student learn to succeed on an international level? They must fully develop the skills necessary to succeed in college and eventually the workforce. What skills? As many researchers have noted reading proficiency is the main skill that almost all jobs require. These skills require basic recall, analysis and the like. I believe that any way a teacher can aid a student to successfully developing these skills, the better chance the child will be able to succeed. Now, your opinion on reading logs indicates a sense of laziness. Reading is suppose to be fun. Yet, in the real world how many of us have read text books and the like and enjoyed every minute of it? Realistically, these children will have to read texts that are not enjoyable. If we base reading on a purely pleasurable bases then we are showing our children that reading is only to be done when it is fun. The problem that we face in society is that we are teaching our children that they must enjoy every minute of schooling. This why the constructivist theory has taken hold of our educational system and is why group learning plagues our schools. I feel more like a clown in class than a teacher as our schools want us to entertain our students all the time. It is a funny idea to think about when they get to college and they get a rude awaking as they find out what real work is and what it means to sit, listen and take notes, rather than being given a show about the lesson. For a teacher, to say that reading logs serve no instructional purpose rather than making it a chore, you are terribly mistaken. In my eyes, this is a perfect chance for you to interact with your daughter. have her read to you, or you read to her….it is your job to help educate her. And no, you do not get paid. Its a sad day when a parent feels they have to get paid to help their children through school. Moreover, no child can be trusted. Show me a child that has never lied or has made a mistake. I am sure your perfect angel has never faltered in anything she was requested to do and as such you can trust her without thought. This is what I hate about parents. They hate to admit that their child is not perfect. Again, it is your obligation as a parent to follow behind your daughter until she is of legal age. To ask for your participation in signing off on a reading log is the least you can do. And I say “participation” because every parent should be asking more on how they can help the teacher help their child succeed. I am sure you are asking her teacher what more you can do for her to help your daughter. I am a reading teacher, working on a master, and parental involvement is key to reading proficiency. Yet, we have parents like you that have to be paid. Take time and review your state scores and national scores. Math and science I am sure are low. But, think about why. Maybe it is because they do not or have not developed those skills that require them to read efficiently and accurately. Reading is across the curriculum and as such reading should be the primary focus of any schooling system and education as a whole. The reading logs serve the purpose of basic recall, predication, analysis and many more intellectual skills. Teachers do not give random work just to give it. This has a purpose and maybe instead of talking so much and acting like you know what reading is and how one develops it, take a course or read a bit on it. Oh! But I forgot it may not be interesting to you, so why read it? And those of you who have nothing but bad things to say about an educator, if you are not a teacher, become one and see the problems that education faces when we have parents that send their kids to school for babysitting. If you are not an educator, count yourself lucky as you will never know the work that is involved in taking an uninterested, lazy child and molding him/her into a future president, doctor and the like, And Miss FED up MOM, you are disgrace to my profession and to all teachers and parents alike.
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With all due respect, it seems obvious that many of the parents who’ve posted on this site have no concept of what it’s like to teach in today’s classrooms. With the emphasis on testing mandated by the states, the number of language skills that must be taught in less than an hour per day to 95-110 students is daunting. This isn’t meant as an excuse, just the reality of the situation.
Today’s teachers assume more and more of the functions that were formerly done at home. A positive connection between home and school goes a long way in helping student achievement. The more student’s read and comprehend what they read, the more they will succeed in all areas of education. I love my job, but it truly gets harder every year.
Not quite sure what type of reading logs many of you are referring to, but it seems to me that asking for a parent’s cooperation to simply initial a piece of paper to verify that your child is extending their learning to home isn’t too much to ask. If you’ve ever wondered why teachers remark that teaching just isn’t the same anymore and that students aren’t as respectful as they used to be, you may want to look at the message you’re giving your child when you openly question teachers’ requests and assignments. (Would you do the same with your spouse?) Sorry to say, but you’ve probably put your child at a disadvantage from the moment they walk through the classroom door. Your attitude shines right through them.
Teachers aren’t threatening your role as parents, we don’t think we could do a better job of raising your children, and we certainly aren’t trying to make your life miserable. We’re just asking for some help, a little cooperation, and a signature.
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Anonymous — what makes you think that I’m a teacher?
I never said that I want to get paid, I said that the teacher gives me orders as if she was my boss. I’m not asking the school to pay me. I’m asking them to stop telling me what to do in my own home with my own daughter.
“No child can be trusted”, you say? That’s nice. Now you’ll tell me you went into teaching because you love children so much.
I’m starting to think there’s a teacher’s website somewhere with a big link saying, “go post a message and put those uppity parents in their place!”
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FedUpMom, take that one on. I read it carefully but the entire comment composed in one single paragraph tells me someone didn’t learn her grammar. I gave up, my eyes buzzed.
I’m a pretty tough editor. You are very concerned with the real world. In the real world, Anonymous, you write something like that and in the words of Donald Trump, YOU’RE FIRED!
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And one more thing that would be really helpful… a little respect.
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Hi – probably a bad idea to point this out. The website http://www.readinglogs.com is online, eliminates many problems associated with on-paper reading logs.
The site does NOT solve all of the problems, but it reduces the burdeon on kids. Well, I emphathize with
your feels (believe me, I experience it every day, with 2 kids in elementary school). If you have to do it, the online reading logs is less of a chore!
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FedUp Mom wrote, “I’m hoping that will be the end of it. ”
Out of curiosity, was it?
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Oliver — that was pretty much the end of it. My daughter did the reading, without logging, and we never saw a reading log again. DD told me later that for the next book the teachers announced there was a reading log, but it was optional for the kids who had done all the reading last time, which of course included DD.
I’m still not convinced reading logs help the kids who don’t like reading, either. It seems to me it just confirms their belief that reading is an unpleasant chore.
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I’m amazed that so many teachers on this post got so bent out of shape with these reading logs. I continue to assert that when the school population is primarily comprised of involved parents, making them sign logs is disdaining. And unnecessary..
In the best of all worlds, a parent can make that case respectfully and teachers can then give it some thought. Then, those kids who enjoy the logs can continue to do them and for the others, let them read in the afternoon without taking away precious time to fill out logs. And allow parents to use those ever more scarce afternoon and evening moments to read to their child instead of filling out more paperwork.
My daughter is a ravenous reader so the logs were a waste of time. There was simply no educational value I can recall. I’d like to think they are also a waste of the teacher’s time, only adding to the mountains of paperwork a teacher already has to juggle.
As for the uninvolved parents? That’s not as simple as signing a log. Don’t delude yourself into thinking it’ll turn a reluctant reader into an eager one (and yes, teachers, it goes better when we can instill some measure of pleasure) or an absent parent into an involved one. Those are serious issues and can’t be glossed over with one simple piece of paper. And it’s not the school’s job to teach parents how to parent. It’s the school’s job to teach the children. That’s what our tax dollars are for.
You teach, I parent. Deal?
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HomeworkBlues — “those kids who enjoy the logs”? You must have put that in for the sake of argument. I’ve never met a kid who enjoys reading logs, and I don’t think I want to meet her.
You ask why teachers get so bent out of shape about something as trivial as reading logs. One possible reason is that they’re control freaks. Another possible reason is that schools have completely lost touch with their real mission — helping our kids learn. I’ve seen so many times that learning isn’t really the goal; the true goal is compliance. That’s why teachers get so bent out of shape. “You question my orders? How dare you!” Thanks for the partnership, guys.
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FedUpMom asks: “HomeworkBlues — “those kids who enjoy the logs”? You must have put that in for the sake of argument. I’ve never met a kid who enjoys reading logs, and I don’t think I want to meet her.”
I was being sarcastic :). You like them, log away. To your heart’s content. Any takers?
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Bingo, FedUpMom. It’s about control. Do the damn logs!, some teachers here scream. You dare to question, you are insolent, disrespectful, a sloppy mother who does not teach your child values and it’s your fault students are as disruptive, disrespectful, uninterested as they are. And let’s not forget that “your perfect little angel” will go to jail when she’s 25 if she does not do her reading logs. Time to break out “Another Brick in the Wall,” isn’t it? “You won’t get your pudding!”
You are right. We touched a nerve, not because reading logs promote reading (they don’t) but because it touched on control and compliance. That’s what you find when you dig deep enough.
I’ll say it again. We aren’t going to get very far if we don’t dig deep down for the root causes. And we had some on this blog assert that our children aren’t reading because we have taught them not to do reading logs. Except our children read. Mine does. That’s the whole point. Is anyone actually listening? I feel like I’m constantly going in circles.
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BTW, I want to clarify what I meant by “the real mission of schools is to help our kids learn.” I’m talking about learning actual subjects here — math, history, literature, art.
I’m not talking about learning fake subjects that have nothing to do with real life. This category includes things like “note-taking skills” (how hard is it?), “good study habits” (i.e., compliance), and “test-taking skills” (give me a break).
Teachers, please teach the actual subject. The kids will learn how to study when they have something worth studying.
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“But the whole enterprise still feels so wrong to me. It’s as if someone came up to you post-orgasm and said, “How was that? Would you give it a five? Or a four? Please, just write it down on this form each time.” It just seems so—contrary to what great reading is.”
From “The Cursed Reading Log”
I thought the author was a bit obsequious but the gist is powerful. I don’t have a problem with respectful and gracious but I wouldn’t be quite so magnanimous. It’s loathed, dreaded, turns reading into a chore. Get rid of it! Still, a good read.
http://thediamondinthewindow.typepad.com/the-diamond-in-the-window/2009/09/that-cursed-reading-log.html
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Confessions from PsychMom
I had seen on a letter from my child’s teacher that reading logs are an issue for some reason on Tuesdays. I admit that I don’t look at it more closely to see whether it’s “assigned”or “due” or what it involves because frankly scarlett…..
So this morning, on a lark, I said, “So what are these reading logs all about”
Child age 8 says, “What reading logs? What are reading logs?”
“Never mind”, says I, cursing myself that I brought it up.
“Oh, like I’m supposed to keep track of the books I read? I can do that, I can keep track in my black book…I’ll go get it…” enthusiastic child says, while she’s running away from me to go get it.
Now I’m really kicking myself. She comes back with a book she’s started…”See?” she says. “It’ divided up by the time of day…I read one chapter of X book, I read three pages of Y book, and after supper I read…….”
My child has created her OWN freaking reading log by her own design. Doesn’t she know who her mother is? And how vehemently she opposes reading logs? Doesn’t she know she’s supposed to hate the mundacity of writing these things out…that it’s meaning less to catalogue what you’ve read?
“Wow, you’ve done a lot of work”, I said in a lamely supportive way.
She has 4 books on the go right now. She’s a prolific writer..and she’s completely obsessed with spelling and punctutation and …..I have nothing to complain about.
To all those teachers who say my child can’t read because she doesn’t do reading logs…..hooey
But, I know it’s not like this in many households..So I guess I have to stand up for other parents who are having the troubles, and facing walls of rigid bureaucracy.
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PsychMom — I don’t see any contradiction here. The important point is that your daughter came up with this idea herself. If she enjoys organizing her reading in her own way, bully for her.
That’s a completely different situation from a child with a teacher-assigned reading log.
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My personal experience with reading logs: Two years ago, I decided I would keep a log of all the books I was reading, just to see what that was like. (I read about 5 books a week.) I managed to keep the log for 8 entries, and then I just couldn’t be bothered to pull out my log book and write it down. You’d think that would be so simple (I know that’s what teachers think), but for me it was a bore.
A few months ago, I registered with goodreads, thinking, again, that I’d keep track of what I was reading and share that with my facebook friends. I entered 4 books and gave up.
When I was doing research for my book, I spoke at length with Kylene Beers, a literacy expert. She told me, “Reading logs can be an effective diagnostic tool if the teacher takes the time to read each child’s log carefully, talks to him about what he’s reading, and thus gets an understanding of his reading preferences.” (page 125, The Case Against Homework)
My question to teachers: How do you use your reading logs?
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I suspect, Sara, that my daughter’s interest in keeping track will wane quickly too…making lists is a thing she’s into at the moment.
And I agree, FedUpMom, with what you say about the difference between my daughter’s new penchant and a teacher prescribed task that incorporates the parent’s signature and supervision. I suspect that this will become a reality shortly in our house too..I was just making light of the irony that I am waging verbal counter-offensives against reading logs that my own child creates for her own pleasure.
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To Homeworkblues:
It seems that you’ve obviously had some bad experiences with schools far beyond the scope of any reading log. I’m not sure what type of demanding, autocrats you’ve encountered but they don’t sound pleasant. Certainly, there are some teachers who would do us all a favor by retiring or finding another way to make a living, but if that’s all you’ve encountered, I’d consider another school district if I were you.
To FedupMom:
Your quote, “I’m not talking about learning fake subjects that have nothing to do with real life. This category includes things like “note-taking skills” (how hard is it?), “good study habits” (i.e., compliance), and “test-taking skills” (give me a break)” absolutely astounds me!
Not real life! Really? I truly beg to differ. Interested in having your children go to college but not know how to take notes, study for or take a test? Want your children to be in any profession that requires a post-grad license without these skills (law, medicine, teaching)? I wish them well. Oh, and let me add one more… organizational skills by requiring the use of agendas, folders & binders. If you’ve ever looked inside the backpack of many middleschoolers, you’d understand the need for this one!
The reality of the school classroom is not what I envisioned when I first started teaching where I simply thought that by inspiring students to discover their passions, they will automatically be motivated to learn, wherever that lead them. It doesn’t always work that way, I’m sorry to say. I’m given a curriculum decided by the powers that be at the state and local levels that I’m held acountable for teaching. I’m counting on the teachers in the grades below me to teach what they’re supposed to teach as are those in grades above. If I don’t do my job, it makes other people’s jobs more difficult. Ideal? Maybe not. Reality? Yes.
But, what is one way I can inspire my students to become whatever then want to be and to discover their passion in life? By having them READ books that interest them about things that interest them and recording it in a reading log! Yes, some students will do and are already doing this. But many, many students (for a variety of reasons) would never pick up a book of their choosing if it weren’t an assignment. My goal for them is to establish a habit of reading for their own personal enjoyment and to discover a world within their imagination that can’t be found on a video screen (none of them yet own a Kindle). They are asked to interact with their books by asking questions, making predictions, and connecting to real-life experiences. They share their books in class through both verbal and written exercises which inspire others to read even more. You may find it contradictory that it’s required for their enjoyment, but in my experience, it works.
By the way, for those who think it’s a bad thing for teachers to be “control freaks” as it were, good luck trying to teach in a classroom of 30 kids where the teacher isn’t in control! I keep my classroom fairly quiet just for that shy & timid student who has a hard time learning with distracting noise but doesn’t know how to yet speak up for themselves, something else we try to teach our students (or would that, too, be considered a “fake subject”?).
Reading these postings makes me even more grateful for the parents who are supportive, recognize that we’re doing the best we can, and even say thank you on occasion.
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P.S. To Homeworkblues:
You state: “You teach, I parent. Deal?”
Deal! I wouldn’t dream of telling you how to parent, question the tasks you’ve assigned to your child, or tell you how to manage your household. And even if I see some things during parent conferences or through comments your child makes at school that I would do differently, it would not be my place to question your purpose for things you do in your home (especially not in front of your child), even if it influenced what I do in my classroom. You are the best at parenting your child, and I admire, respect and support that. If I were to expect those same courtesies in return, do we still have a deal?
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The reason I call note-taking skills, study habits, and test-taking skills fake subjects is because so often they are invoked as the reason kids need to do assignments that have no other point. This is what I’m opposed to.
It’s not so much that no one ever uses those skills, it’s just that some of the most tedious, ill-designed homework I’ve ever seen is defended on those grounds. The way to learn these skills is to use them in the study of something important, like the actual subjects I mentioned (math, history, art, etc.)
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I’d just like to respond to proudteacher, if I may….
As a parent who does have tremendous respect for teachers (I know I could not do their jobs), I would have this deal if your job did not involve telling me what should happen in my home regarding schoolwork. I don’t write notes to you suggesting what I’d like to see taught this year. So why would you send work home with children indicating that their job for an hour tonight involves schoolwork? That hour of schoolwork was not on my agenda for my child tonight.
And on the subject of college prep for elementary students…it’s the old blanket about “better get-em used to it”- how many of those shining faces in front of you Proudteacher, will be sitting in college? There are so many other things they could be doing besides college, but all those kids have to be subjected to college prep mentality. It could be turning off many capable students who won’t go to college. I was always harped on in high school to take typing. I was certainly going to university but I could never see why typing was such a big deal. I never was taught to take notes….I never took lessons on how to take tests, but by some small miracle, I made it all the way to a master’s degree. If you need to do it, you’ll learn it.
And on the control issue. The idea of “Control freaks” has nothing to do with keeping a classroom under control. It’s the rigidity of thought and the manner in which one deals with the unexpected (control freaks don’t manage well) that highlights the difference. A teacher who is in control of his/her classroom should still be able to tolerate their 30 points of view.
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To PsychMom:
First, congratulations on your success. I hope there were some teachers along the way who encouraged and inspired you. To answer your question about college, approximately 90-95% of the students I teach go to college so whatever advantages I can give them by teaching them skills they can use now and in the future is to their benefit. Although I have in the past, I don’t currently teach elementary. The skills I’m referring to are age-appropriate, not taught in isolation, and done with purpose & meaning.
I realize that parents need an avenue for venting frustrations about things, like schools, that have an enormous impact on their lives. Chances are, there’s also a site for parents who are upset that their students don’t have enough homework which is a more frequent parent complaint in my experience. It’s impossible to please everyone.
The educational pendulum will continue to swing, old ideas will continue to be repackaged and sold as new, and life will go on as we all do the best we can. I wish you well.
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But Proudteacher…and notice I capitalized your name because I think you are a proud teacher…I see you as a professional who should not be swayed by trends…..you should “know”, the profession should know, about the research around homework. I work in the health care field…we don’t go by what’s “popular”, we base our work and our opinions on research, hopefully sound research. It’s professionally unethical to use methods that have been shown to be ineffective or ignore the latest findings because you still cling to old standards.
You, as the teaching professional, should be able to tell parents when they ask for more homework for their children, that “No, Mrs and Mr. So-and So, more homework is NOT going to make your child more successful because the research shows that having a family dinner with you is more predictive of a child’s success than any other single element”.
I’ve watched teachers sway their hands and totally dismiss the controversy around homework, “Ho hum, we’ve heard it all before…there has been debate about it forever so we’re not going to change a thing in the way we do things”. You cannot live in that bubble. Professionals don’t work that way.
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Thank you PsychMom. The above comment on keeping up with current research is exactly the point I have been trying to express in polite, respectful conferences at our schools, but I have encountered a wall of defensiveness and complacency from many (not all) teachers and administrators.
I know teaching is a tough job and that we all want what is best for the students. Students and their families, for their part, are trusting that schools will keep up with the latest research and do what is professionally sound.
If a school wants to know that children are reading at home, on their own time, teachers could simply, directly ask parents and guardians in person during conferences. For our family, the answer is yes, thank you, and we can then move on.
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Why do teachers make reading so hard? Why do teachers use it as punishment? Why do teachers make stupid, arbitrary restrictions (must be at least 150 pages, etc.)? Why do we use programs like AR so that books become just a way to get some points to satisfy the teacher?
If I were a student today, I would HATE to read.
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Whiney parents = whiney students. Get over yourselves and stop blaming the teachers for everything. Unfortunately, more and more legislature at all levels dictates what, how and even when we teach. Very little is left to the teacher anymore. Get involved in your schools or go to school board meetings and see where the decisions that affect the classroom and your children are made. Believe me, it’s not the teacher! Local, state and federal government are determining how and what we teach. I just spent the first 5 weeks giving a tedious assessment to each student when I could have learned the exact information from working with them in small groups in one week. Did I want to give the assessment? No. Did I have to give the assessment? Yes, as per state mandate. Did I waste precious teaching time? You bet and I’ll have to give the same test 2 more times this year! As for reading logs…I do send them home but it’s optional for them to use and return them as is the rest of my homework. Do most of my students read each night like your amazing, brilliant children mentioned above? Absolutely not….kids are honest…ask them and they’ll tell you. “No, Miss X, I didn’t have time to read. We don’t have any books and besides I was busy playing video games until bedtime.” I think you all need to find something better to do with your time than whine about teachers and reading logs. Volunteer at your schools or libraries and start a children’s book club and get the children excited about reading books (not computer screens). Sorry I came across this site looking for useful information and didn’t find it.
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Teacher1 said: ‘ask them and they’ll tell you. “No, Miss X, I didn’t have time to read. We don’t have any books and besides I was busy playing video games until bedtime.” ‘
That’s the point, right there. If children were taught to love reading, they’d be going to library to get books. They would make time to read.
As for playing video games, what’s wrong with that? They spent their 7 hours in school, they need some down time. If video games are it, so be it.
When reading turns into an assigned chore, with no choice as to what they’re reading or how long they spend reading or if they want to take a day off and do something else, it teaches children that reading is an obligation, not a leisure time activity to look forward to.
Frankly, not every child is going to turn into a voracious reader. Not the fault of the parents or teachers, some kids just don’t enjoy reading. Maybe they have an undiagnosed (or diagnosed) learning disability, maybe they’re more inclined toward athletics or science or math.
Do children need to learn to read? Yes. Do they need to read books for a specific period of time every day? No. Forced reading just turns them off and it’s sad.
At our house, we don’t consider reading to be “homework”. We read what we’re forced to read then we read what we want to read. We spend hours snuggled on the couch reading to each other or just having Mommy read a new book we’ve checked out of the library.
And, we play video games together. My daugther and I have spent endless hours playing “Mario vs. Luigi” and laughing at our antics. That is called quality time and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.
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To PsychMom:
Professional development is an important part of any educator’s life so keeping up with the latest research is part of what we already do, thank you. For every article or book that you can produce against homework, I can produce 2 in favor within age-appropriate limits.
Yours and other parent concerns about what students bring home, although important, are not new. Farm chores have since been replaced by after-school sports and computers, It’s our job as professionals to sift through the ever-moving stream of the latest information to decide what is in the best interest of our students.
It’s not my place to suggest to parents how they should nourish their families in the evening, but in my experience with my own family, there is time for food, conversation, reading, and a bit of homework. Do I believe that there’s validity in the argument that too much homework is too much? Absolutely. So does that mean there should be a moratorium on all homework? No. So what about moderation? After all, I believe we’re both working towards the same goal.
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ProudTeacher: Please show me the “2 in favor with age-appropriate limits.”
I’m still searching for that well-researched study that shows the benefits of homework. I’m not talking about those articles where experts say that homework teaches responsibility, self-discipline, and motivation. No one has ever studied that to show whether it’s true or not. I’m not talking about studies that show that students will get better grades if they do their homework. Of course they will, since homework completion is a percentage of the grade.
I’m talking about a comprehensive study that shows that a first grader who does homework will be better educated than one who doesn’t, or that shows that a sixth grader who does an hour of night of the standard homework (read a chapter, answer questions; do a math sheet; make a book cover, etc.) is better off than the sixth grader who does nothing assigned by the school outside school hours.
Most of the homework that I see is not well designed, is not well thought out, and is mostly busywork. Please show me otherwise.
And yes, I believe we’re all working towards the same goal of raising happy, healthy, well-rested, creative, analytic, thoughtful, and well-educated children. I just wish that homework wouldn’t interfere with that goal.
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Proudteacher, I still don’t see the value of homework at all.
Children are in school 7 hours or more a day. In that 7 hours, they should certainly be able to accomplish everything that’s in their homework folders.
We, as working adults, are expected to work at least 35 hours a week. Anything over 40 and we expect overtime. There are limits to the amount of hours we can be forced to work. And still, we’re exhausted by the end of the week.
Now we’re asking our children to spend 35 or more hours a week in school then put in overtime at the end of the day. We’re also expecting parents to add educator to their already overloaded work load.
If the children do not do their homework, they’re expected to forgo their recess for “study hall”. Personally, I have forbidden the school to put my child in “study hall” (mind you she’s in second grade). She needs her exercise.
So no, I do not believe there is “age appropriate” homework. I do believe there should be a moratorium on homework. We are overburdening our children with work and failing to allow them to be children.
Maybe the US is behind the Asian countries in Math and Science but it has always been so. We may not be turning out mathematical and scientific robots but we turn out some very free thinkers..
We don’t need more people running the same experiments, chewing over the same mathematical equations, we need people who will find cures for terrible diseases like cancer, AIDS, muscular degenerative diseases and the like. The HPV vaccine did not come from Europe or Asia. It came from the good, old USA.
We need more people like “The Steves” (Jobs and Wozniak), Bill Gates, and John Nash. We need creators of riveting literature. We need scientists making breakthroughs. We don’t need copycats.
I would be willing to bet that few, if any, of those geniuses can attribute homework to their genius.
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Well said, Sara. I didn’t mean to step on your post…we just crossed in cyberspace 🙂
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Proudteacher says: “For every article or book that you can produce against homework, I can produce 2 in favor within age-appropriate limits.”
The principal at the local public school said the same thing. I should have asked her to produce them. She also said that there were parents clamoring for more homework, and I should have asked to meet them too.
No matter what a parent says, the response is, “Somebody else says the opposite.” It’s the all-purpose excuse to avoid making any changes whatever.
If some parents want homework and others are opposed to it, give parents the choice. Let parents decide when and what homework they want their kids to do.
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I can see by the responses that “homework” (not just reading logs, but in any form) has become 2 four-letter words to most of you on this site. It really makes no difference what rationale or research may be presented, it will be dissected, discounted, and discarded by one of you well-intentioned parents. I wish you well as you assist your children in navigating their way through the educational system. I hope that the values you choose to instill in them prove to be to their advantage.
If you’re interested in an inspiring discussion about education and haven’t yet done so, may I invite you to view President Obama’s speech to school children and show it to your children… and I’ll bet, with the insistence of his grandmother, he did his homework!
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Proudteacher said: ‘I can see by the responses that “homework” (not just reading logs, but in any form) has become 2 four-letter words to most of you on this site.’
I’m not sure what you expected from a site called “StopHomework.com” but yes, the majority of us on this site are frustrated and more than a little angry at being dismissed by the school system as to ignorant to understand.
For the few homework proponents that come to set us straight, we have not received one scintilla of research that says homework is advantageous to children. Not one speck of research proving that there is anything about homework that’s healthy.
We get a lot of anecdotal evidence but simply saying, “For every article or book that you can produce against homework, I can produce 2 in favor within age-appropriate limits” doesn’t prove anything if you don’t produce even one.
As for Obama’s speech, I don’t want to get into politics but I had my child opt out of it. I read it prior to the actual broadcast and felt it was not appropriate for her or her age group and it ws inappropriate for him to force his way into the classrooms without parental consent.
Did he do homework? Maybe. Most likely not, though, given his age and where he went to school.
But he’s a politician, not a scientist or a mathmetician. He’s not finding a cure for diseases or inventing new ways of communicating or solving real world issues through mathematical equations.
The last thing this country needs is another politician.
That said, may I invite you to read Sara’s well researched book, “The Case Against Homework”. It has a bibliography and everything…very inspiring.
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ProudTeacher: I noticed in your response to my comment (#237) that you didn’t come up with the “2 in favor with age-appropriate limits.” Instead, you wrote, “It really makes no difference what rationale or research may be presented, it will be dissected, discounted, and discarded by one of you well-intentioned parents.” Please show me the research! (And, since you’re a teacher, you might want to take a look at the recently released Rethinking Homework by Cathy Vatterott.)
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Note to people who post here against homework, against reading logs, your only hurting your child!
1: do your homework on the issue- read the research- if you did you would see how ridiculous you sound.
Let me break it down:
The more you read, the more you know.
The more you know, the smarter you grow.
A quote from a book by Jim Trelease: The Read-Aloud Handbook. take a look.
Get yourself an education before you ruin your child’s!
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Show you the research? You are kidding right? Go to the library- there is so much research out there regarding this issue and it all points to — READ TO, AND WITH, YOUR CHILD EVERY NIGHT! Don’t be a lazy parent, don’t let your child suffer because you are too busy to take 15 minutes out of your day. It is too important.
“the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children”
J. Trelease
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100633.html
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Anonymous — Of course reading is good for kids. No one is arguing with that.
Reading logs are a bad idea because they tell kids that reading is a chore. Homework overload is a bad idea because it wears our kids out to the point that they don’t have the energy to read on their own, or exercise, or play outside, or do any number of more interesting and useful things.
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proudteacher — your link doesn’t go to research, it goes to an op-ed by Jay Mathews, written in 2006. He later changed his mind about homework for elementary school, partly due to our esteemed Sara Bennett.
Here’s a quote from a later Jay Mathews article, “Boosting Schools’ Value Without Spending a Dime”:
1. Replace elementary school homework with free reading. Throw away the expensive take-home textbooks, the boring worksheets and the fiendish make-a-log-cabin-out-of-Tootsie-Rolls projects. One of the clearest (and most ignored) findings of educational research is that elementary students who do lots of homework don’t learn more than students who do none. Eliminating traditional homework for this age group will save paper, reduce textbook losses and sweeten home life. Students should be asked instead to read something, maybe with their parents — at least 10 minutes a night for first-graders, 20 minutes for second-graders and so on. Teachers can ask a few kids each day what they learned from their reading to discourage shirkers.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2009/02/boosting_schools_value_without.html
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I read the editorial (note this is not research but an editorial) and I’m sorry Mr. Mathews was annoyed.
What I found interesting, though, is, in less than a year, he seems to have done a complete about-face in a later editorial here:
http://www.evri.com/media/article?page=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2007%2F08%2F01%2FAR2007080101713.html&source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com&title=Hit%20the%20Books
Maybe those projects taking hours of his time and having little or no value to his daughter’s education.
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To Anonymous…..I suspect most of the parents here, sent their 5 year olds to school already capable of reading….I’m a parent who has books in every room of the house. Reading to my child isn’t even a part of this discussion, it’s a given. That’s not what we’re talking about.
Maybe you need to do more reading of what this discussion is actually about.
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