Sara Bennett

Letter to the Editor of a Local Newspaper

Today’s post is a letter that appeared in the Sackville Tribune Post on May 8, 2007. I’ve been corresponding with the author, Amanda Cockshutt, since the publication of The Case Against Homework and Amanda and I were on a Canadian radio program together in the Fall. Amanda, who lives in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, isContinue reading “Letter to the Editor of a Local Newspaper”

Guest Blogger: Senior Dad Goes to Homework.

For many months, I’ve been corresponding with Stan Goldberg, also known as Senior Dad. Stan, who lives in the Bay Area, has his own podcast and has many interviews with educators and other experts that are well worth listening to. Here, he talks about his own perspective on homework and also how he has approachedContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Senior Dad Goes to Homework.”

Guest Blogger: Story from the Trenches–Part 2

Here’s an update from Lisa Grady, the parent from southern California who writes about what she’s doing to try to change homework policy in her fourth-grader’s public school. In Lisa’s first guest blog entry, she told us about a comprehensive presentation she gave to the fourth grade teachers at her school. (I’m on vacation thisContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Story from the Trenches–Part 2”

First Monday

This coming Monday is the first Monday in May. As suggested in The Case Against Homework, and in this blog every month, I recommend that every parent send a note expressing her/his views on homework to her/his children’s teachers, administrators, or School Board members on the first Monday of every month. As always, please letContinue reading “First Monday”

A High School Sophomore Speaks Up

In a letter to The New York Times, a high school sophomore writes: As a sophomore in high school, I can say that I have a genuine love for learning. But too often it becomes a thoughtless process with rote memorization where I simply cram for tests and then discard the information. Instead of learningContinue reading “A High School Sophomore Speaks Up”

Australian Author Rails Against Homework

In an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, Daniel Donahoo, the author of Idolising Children, a book slated to come out in the United States in August, has much to say about the perils of homework. Much homework is the antithesis of holistic learning because it brings the constraints and limitations of the education systemContinue reading “Australian Author Rails Against Homework”

A Respite from Homework

In a recent column, a New York reporter who spent a few months in South Africa, writes about experiencing a school system without homework: I cannot overstate the feeling of levity that has descended upon my family. [My children] are spending more time playing chess, Boggle, and Scrabble. They are spending more time talking toContinue reading “A Respite from Homework”

Guest Blogger: A Seventh-Grader Speaks Out

Edward, a twelve-year-old seventh-grader from Las Vegas, has been writing to me with his thoughts about homework. He is a “wizard on the computer,” plays viola, and would be taking advanced classes except that he was reassigned to regular classes because he wasn’t completing all of his homework. The other day, Edward sent me anContinue reading “Guest Blogger: A Seventh-Grader Speaks Out”

Guest Blogger: There’s No Time for High School Students to Do Hours of Homework Each Night

When I was in Chicago at the AERA conference two weeks ago, I was on a panel with Chris Ellsasser, an associate professor of education at Pepperdine University, a high school English teacher, and the founder of a group of progressively-minded teachers known as the Mad Tea Educators. Chris approaches homework by asking high schoolContinue reading “Guest Blogger: There’s No Time for High School Students to Do Hours of Homework Each Night”

Guest Blogger: Story from the Trenches–Part 1

Today I’d like to introduce Lisa Grady, the parent of a fourth-grader from a community of 35,000 in southern California. Lisa is the co-chair of a committee which formed to raise the issue of homework in the fourth grade. Although you might want to turn to The Case Against Homework to learn the research andContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Story from the Trenches–Part 1”