A Pithy Piece

A friend sent me a link to this piece, which nicely sums up the problems with homework. (If you run across something you think I should post, please send it to me.

Why Kids with Autism and ADHD Rarely Thrive in School
by Lisa Jo Rudy

Imagine this:
You get up in the morning, and are transported to work at exactly the same time every day, along with up to thirty other people. Before you even get on board the bus, you know that many of the people on the bus will avoid you. Others make a lot of noise, or sing, or throw spitballs – and that’s before your first cup of coffee.

Once at work, you have not one but possibly as many as six or eight different bosses. Each has a slightly different set of rules and expectations, which you must memorize (if you don’t, you’ll receive a poor review, which has the potential to negatively influence your entire life).

Each of these bosses expects you not only to do the work assigned, but to do it well – even if it’s in an area you find most difficult. No, you can’t just be an accountant because you’re good at math – you must also show your ability in the advertising department and in sales, and on the production line. Of course, you are required to join the company softball team (and you’ll be jeered if you miss on the ball). On your “off” hours, you’re scrutinized for your ability to get along with your workmates, and if you fail you will have to practice your “social skills” on a daily basis.

Continue reading “A Pithy Piece”

First Monday

Today, February 2, is the first Monday of the month. As I suggest every month in this blog, I hope you’ll send a note expressing your thoughts about homework to your children’s teachers or, perhaps, to a school administrator or School Board member. Even better, join with a few friends and send a collective note. Ask for a public discussion of the problem. Ask the school to be responsive. If you need help in formulating a note, look in The Case Against Homework for some examples, or see the kinds of notes parents have been writing by browsing Moms (and Dads) on a Mission on this blog. If you do send a note, please post a comment and send me a copy of your letter. And if you get a response from the teacher or school, please let us know that as well.

And what am I doing? I mailed a copy of The Case Against Homework to the principal of my daughter’s high school. I included a short note introducing myself and inviting him to have a discussion with me about high schoolers and stress.

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Letter to the Editor

Morgaine Pauker, a mother of a soon-to-be ninth grader in Westport, CT, wrote the following letter to the Westport News, after learning, at a meeting about high school, that the children could expect to be “inundated with homework.”

Letter to the Editor–Homework Policy Needed
by Morgaine Pauker

Wednesday night I attended the Staples High School parent meeting to welcome new families. We were introduced to the administration followed by a Powerpoint presentation by the school counselors. The meeting was informative and the staff seemed friendly and eager to make the transition from middle to high school as smooth as possible for our kids.

However, when the subject of homework was mentioned, casually at first statements were made such as “You can expect a lot more homework than middle school” and “up to a few hours per night.” When homework was addressed directly we were told, and I quote “Your children will be inundated with homework.” I was taken aback that we were being told point blank that our children would be overwhelmed, engulfed, submerged with work after they have already spent 6.5 hours in the classroom.

When I asked what the homework policy is at Staples the administration looked at each other questioningly, finally deciding that there was none.

Continue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Letter to the Editor”

New Study: Stress Disrupts Human Thinking

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don’t do their most agile thinking under stress. The findings, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that 20 male M.D. candidates in the middle of preparing for their board exams had a harder time shifting their attention from one task to another than other healthy young men who were not in similarly stressful situations. Luckily, when the stressful situation no longer exited, their attention-shifting performance and brains returned to normal.

You can read a summary here.

New Study Shows Importance of Recess

While any reader of this blog knows the importance of recess, it’s always nice to read a new study that backs that claim. The study, “School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior,” which was just released on January 26 and published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “suggests that recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school.” In fact, teachers reported that school children who had at least 15 minutes of recess had “better classroom behavior.”

Here’s a copy of the report.

A Tenth Grader Speaks Out

I am a grade ten high school student and I usually make sure to try my best to do my homework and give it a good effort. I still have to say, the amount is RIDICULOUS! I wish my parents were just as supportive as many of you.

Research has proved that repetitive questions, ones that make up quite a large percentage of our daily homework, only make children forget the formula/method etc. they are supposed to be learning.

And wasn’t the ORIGINAL meaning of homework supposed to be “Work assigned in class that the student did not complete”, not “Work assigned purposely just to go home and waste all our free time”?

The school boards keep telling us that gym class is very important, but we still need to get physical activity after school. Then they tell us that we need to spend time with family. THEN they say that we need to care about our hygiene and shower/bathe/get washed daily. How do they expect us to do all that AND still get free time?

It’s just not fair.

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Teen Stress

Last year, Kerry Dickinson wrote often for this blog about the ways in which she was trying to change homework policy in her Danville, California, community. At the end of the school year, the school instituted a new homework policy. That doesn’t mean that Kerry has stopped. (Type her name into the search box to read about all of her prior activities.)

Recently, she wrote an article for the San Ramon Valley PTSA Healthy Choices Newsletter. I urge you to read it and I encourage you to write for the print media in your community as well.

Teen Stress
by Kerry Dickinson

The San Ramon Valley is a beautiful, privileged, affluent, and successful community. At times, life can seem almost perfect here. Even in this community, however, serious problems affect our teens. “Affluent kids are two to three times more likely to suffer from depression and to self-medicate with drugs than any population,” according to Dr. Denise Pope, speaking at a recent conference in Marin(i). Teen stress can come from different sources in our teens’ lives, including school, family, friends, and even extra curricular activities, for example.

There are many aspects of school that can cause stress for teens. Ideally, teens should be engaged in school and self motivated (see “Commitment to Learning” from the 40 Developmental Assets)(ii). Often, instead of focusing on learning, however, teens find themselves under pressure with regard to grades, test scores, homework, and the college application process. Teens are rewarded for their performance with regard to school, and this external motivation places much stress on them. Dr. Michael Riera spoke at SRVHS in October and reminded parents that praise should be limited to comments about their students’ effort, not their performance. For example, instead of saying, “You are really smart, you got an A,” say, “You really worked hard on that assignment (iii).”
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From my Mailbox–Letter from “Frazzled Parent”

Hello Sara,

My husband and I share custody of his 2 sons, now 3rd and 4th grade. We have them 2-3 days each week, along with rotating weekends. Our time with them is limited and constantly invaded by homework demands and frustrations.

We are a very pro education family, with both of us having degrees and professional careers. We both know the realities of what education can do for a person’s future opportunities, so we believe that supporting our kids learning opportunities is priority! However, we have developed a resentment of the quantity of this work ever since our kids started 1st grade.

Our first issue is that we (parents) did not sign up for returning back to school ourselves when our kids started. The homework often requires our time and involvement, explaining, interpreting, and reviewing the homework along with our kids in order for them to get through it; this is after we have put in 12 hour work days ourselves.

Also, we are put in the position of being teachers in the evenings.. and it is clear that we are not trained to perform in this manner. Our own inability to know how our kids are being instructed (which differs greatly than our methods learned 30 years ago) gets in the way and confuses the kids. Our own career choice to not go into teaching was for good reason. The patience and special temperament required to be a teacher is a unique and special skill that parents to not necessarily have. And we don’t want to be put at odds with our kids over our own lack of good instruction!

Last issue is that our patience and time is taxed already with teaching our kids all other life lessons… housework chores, sharing with siblings, conflict resolution, personal grooming, manners, balancing responsibilities with fun, physical fitness, eating healthy, etc. etc. the list goes on….
Reading, writing, math, history, literature, etc. is why our kids spend more time with their teachers each day than with their families already!

How wonderful it would be to be able to spend our 3 hours of time together in the evenings sharing stories about our day, laughing at a few funny shows, reading a bed time story, playing outside, baking cookies, etc… rather than rushing through the evening, barking like drill sargeants, hurrying through dinner,etc. so that there is enough time for them to get their homework done before bedtime at 8:30!

Keep up the fight!!!!
Frazzled Parent
Edmond’s School District, North of Seattle, WA

Recess Should Not be Optional

Here’s a great piece from the Commercial Appeal about the importance of recess.

Recess should not be optional program
Unstructured outdoor physical activity renews children’s minds and enhances their social skills
By By Ben Dyson and Lisa Dyson
Special to The Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Childhood obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed in the past 20 years and are now at epidemic levels. Tennessee ranks third in the nation for childhood obesity and has one of the highest rates of pediatric Type II diabetes and heart disease. Memphis has been nationally recognized as one of the “fattest” and most unhealthy cities in America.

At the same time, many public schools throughout the country are eliminating recess in elementary schools, saying that it is a waste of time better spent on improving academic performance. Unfortunately, schools in Memphis and Shelby County often follow this national trend by failing to schedule recess, and those that do hold recess allocate only 15 to 20 minutes per day.

Eliminating or reducing school recess is a mistake. School recess is often the only time during the week that today’s over-scheduled children are able to engage in unstructured play. Recess holds many physical, social and even academic benefits for children.

Continue reading “Recess Should Not be Optional”

A Tenth Grader Speaks Out

My name is Maya and I would like to thank you for making this website to inform people of this problem. I am a tenth grade student who is currently weighed down with so much homework I can barely handle it. I’ve been talked into higher level classes to better my chance at getting into college, and just tonight I have to read 10 pages of my textbook and take notes, create a five paragraph response, write the first two paragraphs of my research paper, 23 questions of math, and a biology worksheet, all of which was just assigned last class. That’s only half of my homework, not considering the next four classes on my other day. On top of being a generally anxious person and suffering from panic attacks, as soon as I get home from school I’m stressed with tons of work and get to bed late, when I have to wake up at 5:30 the next morning. I often find myself depressed and even suffering physically at my lack of free time, which I usually use to read and catch a few more hours of sleep. I hope we all can bring this matter to everyone’s attention, not as a complaining teenager, but as a hardworking student who just can’t deal with it all anymore. Thank you!