The website, Great Schools, just published a series of articles on homework, including an interview with me. When I was doing research for my book, I found that everyone, including the National PTA and the National Education Association referred to the 10-minute rule, but I never did discover its origin. But in reading the piecesContinue reading “GreatSchools Posts Several Articles on Homework”
Author Archives: Sara Bennett
Heritage Academy Christian School’s Homework Policy
I was thrilled to see that the Heritage Academy Christian School in Los Altos, California, suggests that their parents read this blog and highlights some of my posts. The School’s homework policy states: HOMEWORK POLICY Elementary school children need family time and play time at home. In the upper grades, homework may include nightly reading,Continue reading “Heritage Academy Christian School’s Homework Policy”
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls for End to Homework in Elementary School
(Welcome back and thank you so very much for your generous donations to Stop Homework) Over a decade ago, the economist and Nobel Prize winner, Amartya Sen, formed the Partichi trust to examine the issues of primary education and health in India. Last month, he released the Partichi Education Report II, which recommended ending homeworkContinue reading “Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls for End to Homework in Elementary School”
New Feature–Stop Homework Urtak
(I’ll be back in 2010. Have a wonderful holiday and please don’t forget to put Stop Homework on your holiday giving list. It’s really important for the future of this project. Read how to give a donation here.) I have just added a nifty feature called Urtak to my sidebar. It’s a collaborative polling tool,Continue reading “New Feature–Stop Homework Urtak”
Middle School in Missouri Tries No Homework Policy
According to an article in South East Missourian, a middle school in Bloomfield, Missouri, is trying out a no homework policy. After the principal noticed that poor grades were a result of either low homework scores or failure to turn in homework assignments, she decided to see whether a change in policy, allowing for lessContinue reading “Middle School in Missouri Tries No Homework Policy”
More from Suburban Chicago
In October, I posted a piece by Mary Sullivan, a freelancer writer and mother to two fifth graders and a seventh grader in suburban Chicago. She has her own webpage, Too Much Homework, where she recently wrote about opting out of homework after she read the stories that I had written about a family inContinue reading “More from Suburban Chicago”
How to Have a Homework-Reduced 2010
If you’re hoping that 2010 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 2010”
Even More from Fed-Up Mom
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 andContinue reading “Even More from Fed-Up Mom”
Guest Blogger – School Without Grades in Jefferson County, Colorado
Today’s guest blogger, Rick Posner, was the assistant principal at the Open School in Jefferson County, Colorado, from 1999-2001, where he taught for 30 years. His new book, Lives of Passion, School of Hope: How One Public School Ignites a Lifelong Love of Learning, describes the school, which unlike most others, has no set curriculumContinue reading “Guest Blogger – School Without Grades in Jefferson County, Colorado”
The Young Brain
Over the summer, I read a wonderful op-ed in The New York Times, Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think, by Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at Berkeley. She explains why unstructured play and discovery is so important for babies and young children. She writes: Babies and young children are designed to explore, andContinue reading “The Young Brain”
Stop Homework 