Category Archives: General

From My Mailbox: Letter from a frustrated parent

I live in Rhode Island and have a 13 year old 8th grade girl. I wanted to share with you the attached newsletter that the Superintendent of our schools just sent this evening. All about how to be an active parent in your child’s school life, i.e., homework, etc. I personally resent being told howContinue reading “From My Mailbox: Letter from a frustrated parent”

Parents Speak out Against Homework at a New Canaan, CT, Board of Education Meeting

At a meeting of the Board of Education in New Canaan, Connecticut, convened to talk about pushing forward by 15 minutes the start of the school day, parent after parent stood up and said that a reduced homework load would solve the lack-of-sleep problem, not a new starting time to the school day. According toContinue reading “Parents Speak out Against Homework at a New Canaan, CT, Board of Education Meeting”

Teachers: Don’t Assign Parents Homework

The New York Times asked me to write an op-ed about a high school teacher who was assigning homework to his students’ parents. But the op-ed was killed after the School Board publicly disavowed the teacher’s actions. Here’s what I submitted: Unpublished Op-ed Teachers: Don’t Assign Parents Homework by Sara Bennett Damion Frye, a ninth-gradeContinue reading “Teachers: Don’t Assign Parents Homework”

Guest Blogger: An Unsuccessful Organizing Attempt by a Mother/School Psychologist

Today’s guest blogger is Nini Engel, a school psychologist for almost twenty years in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. Nini, a mother of three daughters, ages 18, 15, and 11, was appalled to find that her middle daughter’s new high school assigned upwards of 4 hours of homework per night. An Unsucessful Attempt Nini Engel, Ed.MContinue reading “Guest Blogger: An Unsuccessful Organizing Attempt by a Mother/School Psychologist”

Wyoming Elementary School Eliminates Homework

I just learned from the principal of Grant Elementary School in Glenrock, Wyoming, that her school is implementing a no homework practice. The school came to that decision after examining homework and having discussions with Kim Bevill of Brain Basics, who provided them with materials about homework. Kim, a dynamo, teaches social studies and psychologyContinue reading “Wyoming Elementary School Eliminates Homework”

Los Angeles area K-6 Private School Eliminates Most Homework

A Jewish day school in Los Angeles, Temple Israel of Hollywood, has basically abolished homework for its K-6 students. According to an article in The LA Times, Eileen Horowitz, the head of the school, stated, “It became apparent that some of what we were doing was silly. Why should our children spend time doing fill-in-the-blankContinue reading “Los Angeles area K-6 Private School Eliminates Most Homework”

Guest Blogger: Inspiration from a Parent

At the end of the last school year, Sharon Stochel, a parent from a Jewish day school in the New York area, was invited to give a short presentation on homework to her school principal, teachers, and staff. Throughout the school year, Sharon had approached the faculty about some of the problems with homework andContinue reading “Guest Blogger: Inspiration from a Parent”

Welcome Back to Stophomework.com

Welcome back to Stop Homework. I’ve enjoyed the respite from blogging, just as many of you have enjoyed a homework-free summer. Over the summer, I received a grant from a non-profit foundation to help fund my stop homework project. This is fantastic news, because it allows me to devote more time to helping all ofContinue reading “Welcome Back to Stophomework.com”

On Vacation for the Summer

I am taking a vacation from blogging until September, but please remember to come back then. I started this site last August with the hopes of keeping up a dialogue on the problems with homework. Since then, I’ve heard from hundreds, or possibly thousands, of parents, students, educators, and mental health professionals. I want toContinue reading “On Vacation for the Summer”