Category Archives: General

Does your Pediatrician ask about Homework?

I received an email from a father in southern California who told me: My 14 year old daughter was told by her doctor she was 40 pounds overweight, at 139 pounds and almost 5′ tall. The doctor said she was “too driven” and asked about homework. She carries a 3.8 GPA, but often stays upContinue reading “Does your Pediatrician ask about Homework?”

Guest Blogger: First Grade in Public School Was Pure Torture

Today’s guest blogger, Tracy Stevens, is a former high school Spanish teacher who infrequently gave project-based homework to her students. Currently a telecom salesperson and the mother of two boys who attend private school after a difficult year in public elementary school, she is the author of abettereducation.blog, which is full of interesting interviews (includingContinue reading “Guest Blogger: First Grade in Public School Was Pure Torture”

Easing Homework Overload

Here’s a piece I wrote for Natural Awakenings magazine titled “Easing Homework Overload.” The free magazine is in health food stores around the country. Here’s my suggestion: If you find a copy in your community, pick it up and leave it on a park bench, at the library, on the steps to the school, atContinue reading “Easing Homework Overload”

Inside the Minds of School Board Candidates

I came across this piece, where candidates for the Houston Independent School Board were asked whether the District should have a “no homework policy.” I have a feeling that the positions taken by the various candidates are typical of those in many communities and thus worth a look, just to know what you might beContinue reading “Inside the Minds of School Board Candidates”

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Update from Toronto, Canada

Today, Frank Bruni, the moving force behind Toronto, Canada’s family-friendly homework policy, writes about how the year-old homework policy is working. You can read Frank’s earlier entries here, here, here and here. My Thoughts on the Anniversary of Toronto’s Adoption of its New Homework Policy by Frank Bruni April 16, 2009 It is one yearContinue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Update from Toronto, Canada”

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–More from Halifax, Nova Scotia

A few weeks ago, Psych Mom, the mother of a second grader in Halifax, Nova Scotia, wrote about why she wasn’t going to make her daughter do any upcoming creative projects and how she was trying to reduce her daughter’s homework load. She provides an update: “Update on the reading homework my 7 year oldContinue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–More from Halifax, Nova Scotia”

Homework and the Brain

Kerry Dickinson, who was instrumental in changing homework policy in her Danville, California, community last year, sent me an interesting article on how homework effects the brain. “Once the frontal lobes start to develop, teenagers start being able to handle higher-level, more abstract concepts,” says Istvan Molnar-Szakacs, research neuroscientist at the UCLA Semel Institute’s TennenbaumContinue reading “Homework and the Brain”