Today I’m taking a short break from my stop homework mission to point out the stunning work of my husband, the street photographer Joseph Holmes. Joe was one of four photographers selected by Nikon to use a new camera and then Nikon based an ad campaign on the resulting photos. It’s a complicated web site,Continue reading “A Digression”
Author Archives: Sara Bennett
Guest Blogger: Children Need Contact With Nature
Today, I debut an occasional feature of this website: a blog entry by a guest. I am delighted that my first guest is William Crain, a professor of psychology at the City College of New York, the author of Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society, and the editor of the magazineContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Children Need Contact With Nature”
First Monday
In The Case Against Homework, we end the book by suggesting that parents send a note on the first Monday of every month to either a teacher or school administrator and express their frustrations. If parents took this simple action, the homework problem would become too big to ignore and we’d stop hearing that homeworkContinue reading “First Monday”
“Teacher Training is Chaotic”
According to a report authored by Arthur Levine, former president of Teachers College at Columbia University, and as reported in The Seattle Times, teachers emerge from college unprepared for their jobs. “The coursework in teacher-education programs is in disarray nationwide, the report says. Unlike other professions such as law and medicine, there is no commonContinue reading ““Teacher Training is Chaotic””
Understanding Homework Research
Duke University Professor Harris Cooper, perhaps the best known homework researcher and the author of The Battle Over Homework, explains his thinking on homework in Homework Within Reason Makes Grade. The homework question is best answered by comparing students who are assigned homework with students assigned no homework but who are similar in other ways.Continue reading “Understanding Homework Research”
One Teacher’s Thoughts on Homework
In an article in The Seattle Times, A teacher’s evolving view of homework, a third/fourth grade teacher with 30 years’ experience writes about how her views have changed over the years. Several years ago, she writes, I sent out a survey, which I have since done several times, asking parents their views on homework andContinue reading “One Teacher’s Thoughts on Homework”
Success Stories
In the past week, I’ve received a lot of email from parents across the country who’ve started discussing the homework problem with their children’s teachers and among other parents in their children’s classes. Their letters are inspiring. For example, this morning “HM” wrote me: After gaining insight from your book about how to approach homeworkContinue reading “Success Stories”
Too Often, Homework Doesn’t Work
In an article in The Washington Post, As Homework Grows, So Do Arguments Against It, a staff reporter writes that the controvery over homework is growing every year. “[E]lementary school students get no academic benefit from homework — except reading and some basic skills practice — and yet schools require more than ever.” In theContinue reading “Too Often, Homework Doesn’t Work”
Blaming the Victim
In a letter to a columnist in the San Benardino Sun, a single mother writes that she has moved her son from an inner-city school to one which believes in “high achievement.” She’s upset that her child brings home two to three hours of homework a night. She doesn’t want him to have to giveContinue reading “Blaming the Victim”
Today Show clip
Many people have told me that they didn’t get a chance to see my co-author and me on the Today Show. So, since you asked, here’s the clip of our appearance on the Today Show on August 31, 2006: http://media.stophomework.com/today-show.mov
Stop Homework 