Author Archives: Sara Bennett

Lancaster, Texas Community Gets Involved to Make Sure Students do Homework over the Holiday Break

For the second Christmas in a row, students in Lancaster, Texas, from pre-kindergarten through high school, were assigned homework over the holiday break. Last year, the nearly 1,000 students who returned without having done their holiday homework were suspended. This year, the entire community was involved in making sure the students do their homework. AccordingContinue reading “Lancaster, Texas Community Gets Involved to Make Sure Students do Homework over the Holiday Break”

How To Have A Homework-Reduced 2007

If you’re hoping that 2007 will be a better school year, homework-wise, why not give your child’s teacher a copy of The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It? If s/he reads it over the holiday break, s/he just might return with a new, informed, andContinue reading “How To Have A Homework-Reduced 2007”

Parents Go Back to School To Help With Their Children’s Learning

In Kenilworth, England, eight parents just completed a six-week science course where they learned about friction, how liquids change shape and how electricity works, so that they could better help their children at home. According to an article in Kenilworth Today, one of the parents who attended the course had this to say: “”The courseContinue reading “Parents Go Back to School To Help With Their Children’s Learning”

Testing Doesn’t Leave Room for Teaching

In a commentary in today’s North County Times, Stephen D. Aloia, Associate Professor of Education at California State University, Fullerton, writes that one of the reasons teachers give so much homework is that they spend so much time on test prep that they don’t have time to teach. With his permission, here’s what he hasContinue reading “Testing Doesn’t Leave Room for Teaching”

Interesting People You Meet When You Write A Book

One of the things I love about having a blog is that I “meet” interesting people all the time. I’ve posted two articles in the past two weeks by Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, a psychologist who writes for the Philadelphia Inquirer. After I read his first article, I dropped him an email and we’ve had severalContinue reading “Interesting People You Meet When You Write A Book”

Homework in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

In an article in gulfnews.com, It’s homework time for mum and dad, parents in Dubai, candidly admit that they do their children’s homework for them: Anita Ailani, a mother of two, usually ends up doing most of the work for her children’s school projects. “It is never a true expression of my children’s talent,” sheContinue reading “Homework in Dubai, United Arab Emirates”

First Monday–Take Action Against Winter Vacation Homework

This coming Monday is the first Monday in December. As suggested in The Case Against Homework, and in this blog on October 2 and November 6, I recommend that every parent send a note to her/his children’s teachers, administrators, or School Board members on the first Monday of every month. Over the Thanksgiving break, IContinue reading “First Monday–Take Action Against Winter Vacation Homework”

More from Dr. Daniel Gottlieb

Last week, I posted an article about how teenagers need more downtime, which was written by Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and author of, among other things, Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life. On Monday of this week, he wrote a follow-up piece, againContinue reading “More from Dr. Daniel Gottlieb”