More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
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Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#2Hmm. The article alludes to some studies that back up their point, but, anecdotally, I think I got more out of doing homework than I did out of sitting in class...
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#3Hmm. The article alludes to some studies that back up their point, but, anecdotally, I think I got more out of doing homework than I did out of sitting in class...
Exactly! This dovetails with the Khan Academy approach, of listening to lecture online, then doing homework in class with the teacher there as tutor. Public school is usually run upside-down from what makes sense.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#4I see several issues with the ideas presented here. Firstly, the idea that a parent should have control over homework in any capacity seems like a misguided idea. Secondly, the article dances around ideas but never touches on the importance of the content of the homework. Not all worksheets are created equal and it follows that neither are all hours spent at home working. There are big differences from a pedagogical standpoint between homework designed to expand knowledge, evaluate proficiency, and provide mechanical practice (just to name a few).
In my opinion the whole issue stems from lack of standardization in education in this country. The huge variance, even at a regional scale, in the tools available to teach coupled with the lack of standardized methods for addressing the needs of a wide variety of students presents a system that is often going to regress to the lowest common denominator (often mechanical drudgery given the ease in creation and evaluation) .
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#5Hmm. The article alludes to some studies that back up their point, but, anecdotally, I think I got more out of doing homework than I did out of sitting in class...
I tried to do all my homework while in class. But I hated and did terribly at doing homework at home.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#6I learned the most from doing homework and studying for tests. In class I mostly daydreamed and didn't pay attention to much.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#7The vast majority of homework has little direct value.
The real problem is many classes are poorly structured and need to crutch of outside work to cover the material. Even in college I often found reading the textbook was more useful and faster than attending class.
PS: I still remember many math classes where attendance took 5 minutes, then 30 seconds of (new idea! yay), followed by 40 minutes of mind numbing boredom.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#8Seriously, parents are complaining about 10-20 min of homework a night? Kids should be spending 1-2 hrs on homework every night, and if they run out of homework they should be working on a personal project or reading. That doesn't have to encroach on their fun time; I'm talking about 2 hrs max. Every night. That's not asking a lot.
It's about learning how to manage your time and developing a productive routine. Kids will be expected to do plenty of homework once they get to college, I don't see the point in not assigning it before then.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#9I learned the most from doing homework and studying for tests. In class I mostly daydreamed and didn't pay attention to much.
This was me in high school, and even now in college. I couldn't get myself to do work during class and read or daydreamed (one time I brought a pillow to school). At home I did most of my learning and doing.
I don't know why I was this way, but I think I was just more comfortable in my room and thus more likely to learn.
Re: More parents, students saying 'no' to homework
#10I see several issues with the ideas presented here. Firstly, the idea that a parent should have control over homework in any capacity seems like a misguided idea. Secondly, the article dances around ideas but never touches on the importance of the content of the homework. Not all worksheets are created equal and it follows that neither are all hours spent at home working. There are big differences from a pedagogical…
Firstly, the idea that a parent should have control over homework in any capacity seems like a misguided idea.
Why, may I ask? It seems intuitive to me that the school's influence over the student ends when class is over and they return back to their families.
And regarding standardization in education - that is what leads to a regression to the lowest common denominator (see the non-religious criticism directed at common core), not a lack of standardization. Ideally there would be fewer students per teacher (in a perfect world: 1-1) who are able to tailor the curriculum to the person, rather than trying to shoehorn ~30 kids of varying skills and interests into a one size fits all class measured by a one size fits all standardized test.