Comments about ‘Limiting homework: 'Parents want their kids back'’

I don't think that quotas on homework is a good thing. If a concept is difficult (like memorizing times tables) then a little extra time at home is valuable. Sending home cross word puzzles just because you want to give the child some home work is useless. But saying that the child has to have 20 - 60 minutes of homework a day seems to miss the point of homework.

Use homework sparingly, and only to help with difficult topics. Once a child has mastered his times tables, it is time to quit sending home times tables. Busy work at home shouldn't be considered homework and shouldn't be sent home. In this case less is more.

Imagine a child being in school eight hours a day, than after school tutorial for sharpening test taking skills. Than come home and do homework? Our children are like computers needing constant down loading of data. Sick of government mandates. Children belong to parents.

How about making homework optional. Some kids like to work hard so why punish them by banning homework. Having an option is the answer. Let's let those who want to work hard do it and those who don't-don't make them. The world always has a place for those who don't want to do much or sharpen their skills. The world will always need people to pick up the trash and scrub toilets for a living. Heck, in our society, these kids can just sign up for free lunch, collect food stamps, and won't have to work at all. Yes, no homework is a good idea. Seriously, though, what are we really trying to teach our children here?

Really funny stuff, in the article right above the Secretary of Education is applauding the takeover of Detroit schools where they school day and school year will be longer. Could we please make up our minds. Do we want ALL students to score well on these oh so very important high stakes tests that not only determine a child's future but his teachers future as well, or do we want to let kids learn a little and still be kids? Can't have it both ways, high scores for most students on these high stakes test require extra time and effort by they student. As a teacher I believe the kids should have time to play, even teen age kids, but I don't care which way we choose to go but could we choose one philosophy and stick with it.

The quote about homework not doing anything is completely FALSE. DNews, please verify who your "experts" are, because they are NOT educational experts nor basing their soundbite on research in any way.

Current research shows that homework has a HUGE increase on student achievement. The achievement peaks in the higher grades and is nominal in lower grades down to about 2nd grade. So says researchers like Cooper, Walberg, Braue, Marzano, etc.

The true reason for starting kids out with homework at an early age, according to the RESEARCH and not opinions, is to acclimate them to doing it. You can't spring homework on a 7th grader and expect anything but apathy. There are still positive gains across the board for all ages, and especially for the high school age.

RESEARCH also shows that, just like the article states, 10 minutes per grade level, up to between 7-12 hours per week is highly effective. After 12 hours, diminishing returns kick in.

So, please stop with the hype.

@worf - Children do belong to parents, but parents like to blame teachers for their child's performance.

Re: hmm | 5:36 p.m. June 20, 2011
"How about making homework optional?"

Homework already is optional. That's the beauty of No-Child-Left-Behind. Dumb down the over-achievers so that those who don't want to study don't get left behind.

When it comes to education it is always best to leave those in Washington who are highly educated but lack the intelligence to use it.

Look, you have my kid for eight hours a day. Whatever work you want him to do, get it done during that time. After school is his time, and MY time. He needs a mental break, and a physical break, and I may need him to do a few things around the house and yard. Maybe we have plans as a family. It just might take all afternoon and evening, and if it does, that's my right.

If you absolutely positively HAVE to assign homework, make it something fun and interesting, NOT related to paper and pen. Get him out into the world to research something related to whatever you're working on during the day. The school day is for paper and pen. After school is for exploring the world and finding the practical application of what he's learning in the classroom.

If you can't complete your teaching plan in eight hours a day, perhaps you need to work on your own time management and teaching skills.

There is a defined body of work for every grade level (or there should be). As students step up to the plate in their grade, they will have differing abilities to master that body of work. Some students must continue their work at home in order to complete the grade level work. Others don't have to do as much, so there must be effective incentive programs in place for independent reading and study to ensure students utilize some of their "free" time exercising their brains outside of school.

We have lost the understanding that at each grade level, there are defined skills that must be mastered, and defined content that must be learned (and remembered) so that at subsequent levels, students can advance to logic and rhetorical phases of learning (and develop the "higher order thinking skills").

In times past, if students failed to master the grade level content and skills, they were held back until they did. This was not punitive, but logical.

If students are required to master their grade level content, some will have lots of homework to keep up, others will have less. As they become more efficient students, it equalizes somewhat.

One of the best ways to improve your kids' performance in school is to turn off the TV and the computer. We didn't have the internet in my house until my junior year in high school, and TV was not allowed after school until homework was done. And that did wonders for both school performance and family life.

I believe homework has value. I used it as a teacher to look good study habits, responsiblity, and as a gauge as to how they were doing in a subject area. If a child had a problem with a subject, I'd ask the parents to write a note to me so I could reteach the concept to their child. I also agree that it is wrong to give out too much homework. What a way to make a child hate math. I know of at least one teacher who gives out up to 80 math problems per night. Wrong, wrong. Also, home reading is vital. We just don't have enough time in the school day. Practice makes improvement. Of course, each child's homework load should be adjusted for that child. There is no way I want a student spending too much time on homework. They do need a life out of school.

I agree that excessive homework does not benefit a child. When my daughter ends up doing homework from the minutes she gets home until she goes to bed thats too much. I like Laura Anns (the teacher) request to have parents let her know when this is happening so the teacher can go over it again with the child, or whole class if necessary. Another peeve of mine is teachers who assign projects that are beyond the childs capabilities, requiring parents to assist, if not basically do it for them. These usually involve building some kind of contraption. That is nothing more than assigning parents homework, which is totally wrong. And dont tell me its done to provide quality time or cause interaction between parent and child. We can do that on our own, without some teacher passing judgment on us. To me its just an excuse, trying to compensate for poor teaching practices. Enough with the worksheets; give them meaningful work that doesnt take over their every waking hour.

I loved giving some homework to my students, but most parents didn't take seriously my emphasis on home reading. I simply asked that my students read regularly, every day if possible. I said it didn't matter what it was--street signs, cereal boxes, comic books, the back side of their dad's newspaper at the breakfast table, their sister's email--as long as they kept it up until they became self-motivated and began to love reading on their own.

For some reason most of them only considered math worksheets or writing assignments as real homework. I suspect many parents didn't like reading themselves, and couldn't bring themselves to push their children through what they saw as drudgery.

If nothing else, parents need to spend time every morning or evening, when their children can see them, reading something. (Or as my BYU professor said, "...even if an illiterate parent cuts a whole in the paper to secretly watch TV.")

Yes, there can be either too much or too little homework. The important thing is that parents really love helping their children learn.

I am a big believer in having a consistant level of homework. For younger children maybe it is 15 to 30 minutes a day, junior high 45-60 minutes. Keeping parents involved in the learning process strengthens family relations.

Without any challenges our children turn into mush in this electronic stimulated world we live in.

Have your child read each day and they will do better in all of their courses.

Many parents don't like homework because they don't want to have the parental duty to make sure the homework is done and/or to help their children do their homework. They would rather have the family veg out all evening playing video games, watching TV or playing on the computer. We are growing an entire generation of couch potatos.

Pure and simple---it is called "The Dumbing of America"

This idea is more dumb than a room full of "education experts".

I could live with homework guidelines for different grades, but let's not put strict limits or requirements on it. Some subjects and some areas of study just require more home study, and some areas require less.

Or an even better idea--let our legislative leaders pass some laws regulating homework hours. They are trying to screw everything else up so they might as well try homework.

While working on my undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, I had a particularly difficult class. In this class, the professor drew upon three different sources for his material - his verbal lectures, printed lecture notes and the text. He would then assign homework which drew from all three. But he would not collect the homework or even grade it. He simply gave a weekly quiz, again drawing from the three sources. One day, some students complained about not knowing what they should study from in order to do well on the quizzes/tests. These students often complained, and finally, my professor had it. He told the students they needed to "not let their grades get in the way of their education." He explained that is why he required us to study all three sources, to actually understand the material.

I can certainly understand a teachers need to assign homework. I actually expect homework for my kids - if they say they don't have any, I will make some for them. But my goal is not to make them do homework, it is to help them learn the subject. (to be continued)

So when I see teachers continually assign homework which is simply "busy" work, I get frustrated. The article mentioned how one teacher stated math is learned by memorization and repetition. Having a deep understanding of mathematics, I can tell everyone this teacher is gravely mistaken. Knowledge is not gained by learning facts or memorizing things. It is gained by understanding the process or by learning from others triumphs or failures. Knowledge is not memorizing the outcome, but understanding how and why it came to pass. The goal of our educational system should not be to have all the children have passing grades. The goal should be to educate them all.

So homework is a tool in the effort to educate and pass knowledge to our children, but it is a tool that is often abused. Teachers should assign meaningful homework and not use it as a lazy way around actually teaching. And parents should be engaged in their children's education more than all others combined - including homework. But to provide a well rounded and balanced education, parents should ensure their children have other activities as well, including unorganized playtime, chores, and so forth.

#17 for a reason!

I believe reading is a good thing. It helps the children relax. It opens up a whole new world for them. I am all for that every day.

However,when my child comes home with Math homework he/she struggles with and the parents have no idea how to help with...why give the homework? It is ridiculous and only causes tears. I am all for being involved with my children... but some of the Math that comes home... the parents need a class to take to teach us the "new" way the children are learning these skills now. Different verbage and all this new way of doing Math is a bit much. Math is Math, lets stick with the basics. Send the kids home with the teachers manuals and then maybe it will be more successful.