Author Archives: Sara Bennett

First Monday (Advocacy is an Ongoing Process)

This coming Monday, November 2, is the first Monday of the month. As I suggest every month in this blog, I hope you’ll send a note expressing your thoughts about homework to your children’s teachers or, perhaps, to a school administrator or School Board member. Even better, join with a few friends and send aContinue reading “First Monday (Advocacy is an Ongoing Process)”

“Mr. Homework” Does More Rethinking

I’ve written here before about Washington Post reporter, Jay Mathews, who calls himself “Mr. Homework.” In August, 2008, he did an about-face and called for an end to homework for elementary school students. A few days ago, he wrote a Washington Post column, “Is Homework Necessary,” where he wonders whether his faith in homework forContinue reading ““Mr. Homework” Does More Rethinking”

Operation Daddy to the Rescue – Los Angeles

Today’s “Dad on a Mission” is Rafael Ortiz, the father of a 7-year-old second grader in a public elementary school in Los Angeles. Ortiz, who has a B.S. in Kinesiology, takes things into his own hands when his daughter’s teachers don’t respond to his homework concerns. Operation Daddy to the Rescue by Rafael Ortiz SinceContinue reading “Operation Daddy to the Rescue – Los Angeles”

Success – Parent’s Advocacy Makes a Difference in Denver, North Carolina

About a month ago, Deidra Hewitt, who lives in Denver, North Carolina, where she has two children in a public elementary school, wrote about how the school required her to sign off on her children’s homework more than 400 times a year. Today, she writes about what happened after she wrote to the school SuperintendentContinue reading “Success – Parent’s Advocacy Makes a Difference in Denver, North Carolina”

Success – One Thousand Parents and Teachers Pack School Board Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, and Board Backs Down

In September, I wrote about parents in Pam Beach County, Florida, who were up in arms about the School Board’s new policy allowing for 60 minutes of homework in 3rd grade and 90 minutes in 4th and 5th. Homework was just one of their concerns. The others included frequent testing, a calendar of skills thatContinue reading “Success – One Thousand Parents and Teachers Pack School Board Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, and Board Backs Down”

Guest Blogger – Experiences in Homeschooling

Today’s guest blogger, Tracy Stevens, is a former high school Spanish teacher who infrequently gave project-based homework to her students. She wrote here last year about her son’s difficult experience in first grade in a public school and her decision to have him repeat the year at a Waldorf school. This year, she decided toContinue reading “Guest Blogger – Experiences in Homeschooling”

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission – Suburban Chicago

Today’s guest blogger, Mary Sullivan, is a freelancer writer and mother to two fifth graders and a seventh grader in suburban Chicago. I tracked her down after she posted a Comment linking to her webpage, Too Much Homework, and I asked her to write about what motivated her to post her own page. Too MuchContinue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission – Suburban Chicago”

Send Etta Kralovec Your Stories about Lowered Grades Because of Homework Incompletion

Etta Kralovec, the co-author of The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning, needs your help. A long-time educator, teacher, author, and university professor, she is now the principal of a charter high school in LA. She wrote to me: The community where my school sits has the lowest parentalContinue reading “Send Etta Kralovec Your Stories about Lowered Grades Because of Homework Incompletion”