Homework (1 Viewer)

[Jewell]

French president pushing homework ban as part of ed reforms

October 15, 2012

How do you think this would go over in the United States? French President Francois Hollande has said he will end homework as part of a series of reforms to overhaul the country’s education system.

And the reason he wants to ban homework? He doesn’t think it is fair that some kids get help from their parents at home while children who come from disadvantaged families don’t. It’s an issue that goes well beyond France, and has been part of the reason that some Americans oppose homework too. {snip}

"Education is priority," Hollande was quoted as saying by France24.com at Paris's Sorbonne University last week. "An education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home," as a way to ensure that students who have no help at home are not disadvantaged. {snip}

Whether Hollande really gets all of this done is open to question. But his homework position is not original; some school districts in the United States did the same thing going back more than a century. Early in the 1900s, the influential Ladies’ Home Journal magazine called homework “barbarous,” and school districts such as Los Angeles abolished it in kindergarten through eighth grade. In fact, some educators said it caused tuberculosis, nervous conditions and heart disease in the young and that children were better off playing outside. The American Child Health Association in the 1930s labeled homework and child labor as leading killers of children who contracted tuberculosis and heart disease.

http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/10/15/french-president-pushing-homework-ban-as-part-of-ed-reforms/

Maryland School Nixes Homework

Sep 7, 2012

(NEWSER) – It's every schoolkid's dream come true: There's no more homework at a Maryland elementary school. The new assignment for students: Read a book of their choosing for 30 minutes per night, Fox 5 reports. After becoming principal two years ago, Stephanie Brant and her colleagues "really started evaluating the work that we sent students home with," and found it lacking, she says. "We were giving students something because we felt we had to give them something." The school district gave Brant the OK to try a no-homework policy.

Parents seem to support the idea. "When [my son] comes home, he has relaxing time. And I think kids need that relaxing time," says one. To facilitate kids' reading habits, students get to go to the library every day, instead of once a week, as at most schools. And the plan seems to be working fine: Fifth graders showed 72% proficiency in math and 81% in reading in the most recent state exams. That's noteworthy in a school district where 70% of the children don't speak English at home, and 82% qualify for subsidized lunches.

http://m.newser.com/story/153640/maryland-school-nixes-homework.html

The homework revolution has also spread north to Toronto, which in 2008 banned homework for kindergartners and for older children on school holidays, and to the Philippines, where the education department recently opposed weekend assignments so that students can “enjoy their childhood.”

Research has long suggested that homework in small doses can reinforce basic skills and help young children develop study habits, but that there are diminishing returns, said Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. The 10-minute guideline has generally been shown to be effective, Dr. Cooper said, adding that over all, “there is a minimal relationship between how much homework young kids do and how well they test.”

Still, efforts to roll back homework have been opposed by those who counter that there is not enough time in the school day to cover required topics and that homework reinforces classroom learning. In Coronado, Calif., the school board rejected a proposal by the superintendent to eliminate homework on weekends and holidays after some parents said that was when they had time to help their children and others worried it would result in more homework on weeknights.

“Most of our kids can’t spell without spell check or add unless it comes up on the computer,” said Karol Ball, 51, who has two teenage sons in the Atlantic City district. “If we coddle them when they’re younger, what happens when they get into the real world? No one’s going to say to them, ‘You don’t have to work extra hard to get that project done; just turn in what you got.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/education/16homework.html?_r=0

Would be curious to hear both the FFA parent and FFA teacher perspective.

 

[Marvin]

Homework for homework's sake is terrible.

But as a teacher I firmly believe that there is value in homework for some subjects...the practice/repetition required to master certain concepts in Math or Language Arts for example.

 

[Arizona Ron]

I like "some" homework (like 30 minutes tops) as I like to know what my daughter is working on and I try to apply that to realworld situations whenever possible.

But teachers that expect parants to spend several hours with their kid each night helping with homework is BS.

 

[NCCommish]

Homework for homework's sake is terrible. But as a teacher I firmly believe that there is value in homework for some subjects...the practice/repetition required to master certain concepts in Math or Language Arts for example.

Yeah I think we went overboard in this country. Seems to me a little goes a long way and it should be meaningful.

 

[Sinn Fein]

I have seen elementary education shift a little this year for our kids - 1st and 3rd grade. Homework is down - typically just a math sheet for each of them. But, they each are expected to read for 20-30 minutes per night. Also, both grades have eliminated spelling tests, and have focused instead on vocabulary tests.

I like both changes. Our 3rd grader has had some longer term projects - book reports, and some basic research, but that work counts towards the 30 minutes of reading.

I think math requires homework - you usually learn it better just by doing it. But doing classwork at home for the other subjects does not add much value at this level.

 

[munga30]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

 

[DoubleG]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Every once in a while, I find myself thinking that maybe France has gotten things straightened out, but then they find a way to get into the news and remind me that they're hopeless.

 

[DoubleG]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My chidlrens' HS does this. They watch the "lecture" on youtube, then do homework in class. There are about a hundred gajillion advantages to this method:

1) The student can pause and go back to listen again if they missed or missunderstood something. This allows people to take in the lecture portion at a pace and style that works for them.

2) Doing homework with the teacher makes much more sense, as the teacher can help much more than parents (if the student even asks the parents for help or they are even around while the student is doing homework). This helps the student learn the correct way to practice - not just enforcing whatever (possibly bad) habit they would develop at home.

3) The time in class is more interesting/interactive, making better use of everyone's time.

There are many more - but gajillion would take a while to type - you get the idea.

 

[Psychopav]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

And my kids refuse to use the wheeled backpacks.

 

[DoubleG]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

And my kids refuse to use the wheeled backpacks.

Of course they do, they're not flight attendants!!!

 

[snellman]

I agree there should be no homework until at least the Junior high level. Our 4th grader struggles with school as it is and it is a 2 hour process to do homework at night. When you throw in all of the extra curricular activities that they want kids to be involved in and that kids want to be involved in, it really cuts down on the available time.

 

[Jewell]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

And my kids refuse to use the wheeled backpacks.

Opposite sex kryptonite

 

[El Floppo]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My SIL is a teacher at a private HS- they are going this route with homewokr consisting of watching the teacher give their presentation and in-class time spent working on supporting that presentation. Like you (and TED) say, inverting the typical set-up.eta: by DoubleG

 

[NCCommish]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My chidlrens' HS does this. They watch the "lecture" on youtube, then do homework in class. There are about a hundred gajillion advantages to this method:

1) The student can pause and go back to listen again if they missed or missunderstood something. This allows people to take in the lecture portion at a pace and style that works for them.

2) Doing homework with the teacher makes much more sense, as the teacher can help much more than parents (if the student even asks the parents for help or they are even around while the student is doing homework). This helps the student learn the correct way to practice - not just enforcing whatever (possibly bad) habit they would develop at home.

3) The time in class is more interesting/interactive, making better use of everyone's time.

There are many more - but gajillion would take a while to type - you get the idea.

Does seem like a better way to go about it.

 

[Psychopav]

Hey DoubleG, does the kids' teacher record the lecture, or is it a canned lecture from some program or something?

 

[belljr]

daughters in second grade. Teacher said anything longer than 30 minutes, we should contact her because the student may need additional help. They say 20-30 minutes

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

They don't challenge the kids enough (IMO) at least in our school district. I could count on 1- 2 hours of homework per night and I was a straight A student back in the 70's-80's. Now my kids are pulling off the same grades and never bring any work home. Good for them I guess - but when I read their written work it is nowhere near what was expected of us back in the day. Kids are soft these days I tell you.

 

[Arizona Ron]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

I think kids at that age should just have an iPad or something with the material downloaded to it.

 

[Psychopav]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

I think kids at that age should just have an iPad or something with the material downloaded to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1%.

 

[cstu]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

And my kids refuse to use the wheeled backpacks.

Opposite sex kryptonite

In 10 years it will be cool, just like double strapping.

 

[Jewell]

I think kids at that age should just have an iPad or something with the material downloaded to it.

Clearwater High program putting Kindles in students' hands attracts national attention

As experiments go, Clearwater High School's pilot program to put a Kindle e-reader in the hands of every student, with the hope of replacing textbooks entirely, was a bold one.

At stake: Can kids learn as well as they play on digital devices? Will education technology help cash-strapped schools? Are textbooks dead or is this just a blip on a screen?

The jury is still out on whether digital books improve student performance — a semester and a half of grades is not a large enough sample for that.

But six months into an effort that has attracted national attention, students and teachers say the "Kindlezation" of their school has yielded clear benefits — and limitations.

Some classes are book-free, others are still book-bound as publishers scramble to digitize materials. Some teachers have been slow to adopt, others have eagerly embraced it. And even the digital natives — students — are divided, with some using the Kindle more than others.

But one thing was clear in a visit to the school this week: The devices are blending in, being used as often as a pen or pencil.

"I tell my kids, 'You're ahead of the curve right now,' " said social studies teacher Kathy Biddle.

In fact, Florida education officials rolled out a five-year proposal this month that calls for all students in K-12 to use only "electronic materials" delivered by Kindles, iPads and other similar technology by 2015.

"I think it's the way of the future," said Biddle, an educator for 32 years.

She said she has found students pushing her harder to grade tests faster — because as soon as the grades are entered on her computer, students can see the scores on their Kindle, which is connected to the Internet and the school board's servers.

Students said a plus for them has been the ease of studying on the go — hard to do with a hulking textbook.

"I can just easily flip through. Study anywhere," said senior Nikki Hux.

Hux, who is dual-enrolled at St. Petersburg College, said many college-level e-books are less expensive or free, saving her money.

Many other students at the high school have accepted the grayscale-screened device into their menagerie of electronic companions, like yet another cell phone or iPod.

"I think the whole teen population is a digital native," said senior Bennie Niles. "We're used to texting and typing on little keyboards."

And by native, he means native-born. IBM stopped producing typewriters three years before Niles was born.

That many students take notes on the Kindle is something school principal Keith Mastorides said he was surprised by.

"I didn't expect a lot of use from those keyboards," he said.

Mastorides, who invested much of his school's textbook budget into the experiment and has been the driving force behind it, has a lot riding on his brainchild.

The Kindles were assigned at the beginning of fall semester 2010, a world first, according to Kindle manufacturer Amazon.

Money from a downsizing school district has been on the line: 2,200 machines, at $177 each. But the cost is seen as worthwhile if one device is able to help both gifted and struggling students.

Some students have gone so far as to register their own Kindle accounts so they can load non-school books onto their reader (though that disables the Kindle for school material). Officials are working with Amazon to remedy the issue.

John Just, the Pinellas school district technology chief, said about 150, or 7 percent, of the Kindles have needed to be replaced for some reason in the first six months.

Some issues — such as unplugging Kindles too quickly, resulting in a power surge that fries the device, or putting the device near another gadget that de-magnetizes its screen — may be more design flaw than attrition from student abuse.

Protective cases, however, are on the agenda for next year to prevent damage. And theft has not been an issue — with just two devices going MIA early last year.

One pressing student complaint — and concern of administrators — is the relatively small number of traditional textbooks available in a Kindle format.

"It's taken them a little longer," Mastorides said of publishers.

But Amazon, which holds weekly teleconferences with school officials, works with publishers to get more material and streamline the delivery process.

Mastorides said some publishers began work on Kindle versions of textbooks specifically at the request of Clearwater High School.

Senior Shanice Williams said because of her schedule last semester, few of her classes required extensive use of the Kindle because textbooks were only available in hardcopy.

"I'm using it now, surprisingly," Williams said.

Currently about a quarter of the school's curriculum is on the Kindle, mostly in math and English classes.

But as the pilot program winds down this year, Mastorides said that after this summer more titles will likely be available and processes will be streamlined.

With game-changing technology like the iPhone not even four years old, and the iPad not even one, by then, the Kindle's successor at Clearwater High School is still an open question.

Still the experiment has proved to work well enough to continue — as the early adopter that has set the bar for what appears to be a trend shaping learning in the state and beyond.

"I want to stay on this for at least four years. So we can get our money's worth," Mastorides said. "We feel it's had a great start."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/clearwater-high-program-putting-kindles-in-students-hands-attracts/1153939

 

[NCCommish]

Yeah it seems like a no brainer to put text books on to e-readers.

 

[Arizona Ron]

On a related note, the 74 pound backpacks have got to stop (mainly middle school/high school). Our children are going to have more back problems than Dolly Parton when they get older. And God forbid they play a musical intrument - they need a damn pack mule to get home from the bus stop.

I think kids at that age should just have an iPad or something with the material downloaded to it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 1%.

 

[Marvin]

Yeah it seems like a no brainer to put text books on to e-readers.

There has been some discussion about this in my district. Kindles are what? Less than $100? The textbook I use costs about $60 at least. Multiply that by 6 subjects...But there is also talk of not doing this until we reach the point where each kid has his/her own tablet. I guess they figure why spend all that money on e-readers when a couple of years later they're going to buy tablets.

 

[AcerFC]

I teach 8th grade social studies. I have not given homework in 3 years.

 

[NCCommish]

Yeah it seems like a no brainer to put text books on to e-readers.

There has been some discussion about this in my district. Kindles are what? Less than $100? The textbook I use costs about $60 at least. Multiply that by 6 subjects...But there is also talk of not doing this until we reach the point where each kid has his/her own tablet. I guess they figure why spend all that money on e-readers when a couple of years later they're going to buy tablets.

I can see that. But my guess is there will be a long wait for every student to have a tablet in most districts.

 

[Dentist]

I got where I needed to in life from a lot of repetition, a lot of work at home, and a hell of a lot of studying.

My parents had me do math drills every night, i always had to be reading something constructive. In the summer even my mom had us do workbooks and other stuff before we could "play".

Now maybe in grade K-2 i could see not loading kids up, but if you ask me there isn't enough work being done outside of class.

But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".

However, I'm all for identifying at grade 3-5 which kids are going to be our future doctors, lawyers, engineers, and actuaries and getting them in elite classes where they load up the homework and push those brains to success.... and the future retail workers, dental assistants, plumbers, and factory workers can enjoy a much more lax schedule because they don't need anything beyond the 3 R's.

 

[Arizona Ron]

Yeah it seems like a no brainer to put text books on to e-readers.

There has been some discussion about this in my district. Kindles are what? Less than $100? The textbook I use costs about $60 at least. Multiply that by 6 subjects...But there is also talk of not doing this until we reach the point where each kid has his/her own tablet. I guess they figure why spend all that money on e-readers when a couple of years later they're going to buy tablets.

I can see that. But my guess is there will be a long wait for every student to have a tablet in most districts.

It's a cheaper and more effective way to spend tax dollars. Why wait for parants to buy them when they've already paid taxes for education?

 

[Arizona Ron]

But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".

I hope this is fishing because it's horrible posting.

 

[Slapdash]

I got where I needed to in life from a lot of repetition, a lot of work at home, and a hell of a lot of studying.My parents had me do math drills every night, i always had to be reading something constructive. In the summer even my mom had us do workbooks and other stuff before we could "play".Now maybe in grade K-2 i could see not loading kids up, but if you ask me there isn't enough work being done outside of class.But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".However, I'm all for identifying at grade 3-5 which kids are going to be our future doctors, lawyers, engineers, and actuaries and getting them in elite classes where they load up the homework and push those brains to success.... and the future retail workers, dental assistants, plumbers, and factory workers can enjoy a much more lax schedule because they don't need anything beyond the 3 R's.

This sounds absolutely miserable, I don't want to live in your world.

 

[Slapdash]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My chidlrens' HS does this. They watch the "lecture" on youtube, then do homework in class. There are about a hundred gajillion advantages to this method:

1) The student can pause and go back to listen again if they missed or missunderstood something. This allows people to take in the lecture portion at a pace and style that works for them.

2) Doing homework with the teacher makes much more sense, as the teacher can help much more than parents (if the student even asks the parents for help or they are even around while the student is doing homework). This helps the student learn the correct way to practice - not just enforcing whatever (possibly bad) habit they would develop at home.

3) The time in class is more interesting/interactive, making better use of everyone's time.

There are many more - but gajillion would take a while to type - you get the idea.

This is a great idea. Nothing more pointless than having a kid stuck on some homework problems for a couple hours a night.

 

[Marvin]

I got where I needed to in life from a lot of repetition, a lot of work at home, and a hell of a lot of studying.My parents had me do math drills every night, i always had to be reading something constructive. In the summer even my mom had us do workbooks and other stuff before we could "play".Now maybe in grade K-2 i could see not loading kids up, but if you ask me there isn't enough work being done outside of class.But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".However, I'm all for identifying at grade 3-5 which kids are going to be our future doctors, lawyers, engineers, and actuaries and getting them in elite classes where they load up the homework and push those brains to success.... and the future retail workers, dental assistants, plumbers, and factory workers can enjoy a much more lax schedule because they don't need anything beyond the 3 R's.

Your shtick is getting more and more transparent.

 

[AcerFC]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My chidlrens' HS does this. They watch the "lecture" on youtube, then do homework in class. There are about a hundred gajillion advantages to this method:

1) The student can pause and go back to listen again if they missed or missunderstood something. This allows people to take in the lecture portion at a pace and style that works for them.

2) Doing homework with the teacher makes much more sense, as the teacher can help much more than parents (if the student even asks the parents for help or they are even around while the student is doing homework). This helps the student learn the correct way to practice - not just enforcing whatever (possibly bad) habit they would develop at home.

3) The time in class is more interesting/interactive, making better use of everyone's time.

There are many more - but gajillion would take a while to type - you get the idea.

This is a great idea. Nothing more pointless than having a kid stuck on some homework problems for a couple hours a night.

I tried to do this is my class a few years ago when that came out. It was very difficult for me to come up with practical things to have the kids do in class. It is mostly my fault that I didn't make it work. I had a new kid and it was too much for me. I should revisit it because I think the kids will benefit.

 

[DoubleG]

I teach 8th grade social studies. I have not given homework in 3 years.

Then the terrorists have already won.

 

[DoubleG]

Hey DoubleG, does the kids' teacher record the lecture, or is it a canned lecture from some program or something?

No - the teachers record it. Most of the time you don't even see the teacher - they overlay diagrams, charts - they do nice animations and all kinds of neat stuff. I've actually learned a thing or two, just by being nearby. It's like TV - only it's educational. Most of the teachers who do it, do a nice job. For the most part it's their science classes (AP Chem, Bio, Physics, etc.) - so they do a lot of nice graphics with it. Think of a lecture with all kinds of cumputer visual aides thrown in.

 

[Slapdash]

The Kahn Academy TED talk was pretty convincing as to why we do it backwards. Lectures at home, application at school seems to have a lot of advantages.

My chidlrens' HS does this. They watch the "lecture" on youtube, then do homework in class. There are about a hundred gajillion advantages to this method:

1) The student can pause and go back to listen again if they missed or missunderstood something. This allows people to take in the lecture portion at a pace and style that works for them.

2) Doing homework with the teacher makes much more sense, as the teacher can help much more than parents (if the student even asks the parents for help or they are even around while the student is doing homework). This helps the student learn the correct way to practice - not just enforcing whatever (possibly bad) habit they would develop at home.

3) The time in class is more interesting/interactive, making better use of everyone's time.

There are many more - but gajillion would take a while to type - you get the idea.

This is a great idea. Nothing more pointless than having a kid stuck on some homework problems for a couple hours a night.

I tried to do this is my class a few years ago when that came out. It was very difficult for me to come up with practical things to have the kids do in class. It is mostly my fault that I didn't make it work. I had a new kid and it was too much for me. I should revisit it because I think the kids will benefit.

Social studies doesn't seem like a good subject for homework anyways. Maybe assigning some non-fiction history books to read outside of class could add some value.

 

[Dentist]

But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".

I hope this is fishing because it's horrible posting.

I shouldn't have said "all parents" but my wife is a teacher. This is exactly what she describes.The worst performing kids generally have parents that are underperforming in life and in general they hated school because they sucked at it.and they transfer that hate of school and undermining of teacher's efforts to their children

 

[Arizona Ron]

But parents who hated homework don't think their kids should have to do it, and thus they either refuse to do it with the kids, or enable the kids not to do it (or do it half ###) by telling the kids how this is "too much work".

I hope this is fishing because it's horrible posting.

I shouldn't have said "all parents" but my wife is a teacher. This is exactly what she describes.The worst performing kids generally have parents that are underperforming in life and in general they hated school because they sucked at it.and they transfer that hate of school and undermining of teacher's efforts to their children

Your wife doesn't sound like a very good teacher.

 

[Dentist]

This sounds absolutely miserable, I don't want to live in your world.

I don't think anyone realizes how much damn homework and hours spent studying the average doctor/dentist/engineer/lawyer does.It's insane.And I didn't do 3/4 the work that my sisters who are both MD's did. They literally lived in a library or clinic for 6 years.It is an absolutely miserable lifestyle that most people wouldn't and couldn't mentally endure.People see shows like "scrubs" and think it's all fun and games. Well it isn't. It's hell and those years spent studying in school were basically my low 20's getting deleted out of my life.

 

[Dentist]

Your wife doesn't sound like a very good teacher.

why? she's relating facts, that's all.you sound like you're probably one of the parents she describes and are blaming the educational system rather than yourself.

 

[Dentist]

Your shtick is getting more and more transparent.

the elitism? it's not shtick.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

I have twins in the 3rd grade. I like to see what they are studying, so some homework is great! My twins are very busy throughout the week (take advance classes for whatever that is worth) and still manage to get very good grades. I think they are just smart kids and take after their Mother thank GOD.

Monday - Football Practice 6pm - 8pm

Tuesday - Football Practice 6pm - 8pm

Wednesday - Fall Baseball (times vary but usually 7 - 9)

Thursday - Football Practice 6pm - 8pm

Friday - OFF (maybe they can take up learning an instrument on this day?) kidding

Saturday - Football Game

Sunday - Double Header Baseball Games

Some Homework = Good

 

[Slapdash]

This sounds absolutely miserable, I don't want to live in your world.

I don't think anyone realizes how much damn homework and hours spent studying the average doctor/dentist/engineer/lawyer does.It's insane.And I didn't do 3/4 the work that my sisters who are both MD's did. They literally lived in a library or clinic for 6 years.It is an absolutely miserable lifestyle that most people wouldn't and couldn't mentally endure.People see shows like "scrubs" and think it's all fun and games. Well it isn't. It's hell and those years spent studying in school were basically my low 20's getting deleted out of my life.

It is insane but it isn't an excuse to treat children (or anyone) that way.

 

[Dentist]

It is insane but it isn't an excuse to treat children (or anyone) that way.

look you can treat your child however you want. The teachers can only recommend someone gets held back if they don't meet standards, the parents can keep advancing them even if they get all F's and do some or none of the homework.Shame on them for wanting to push the child into a better lifestyle or pushing them beyond what they might be capable of.Everyone I know who's a big success got pushed as a kid. And it wasn't pushed in sports that they had 0 chance of getting a scholarship for or playing professionally.it was pushed academically... with homework and drills.again, this is why i suggest there be different flights of education.. if you don't want any homework and just want your kid to be happy, mediocre, and to enjoy the fun social aspects of school and get some minimum competence, that's fine!But America needs more elite learners to compete with the big time minds emerging in the Asian countries and India if we want to stay on top of things.

 

[Marvin]

It is insane but it isn't an excuse to treat children (or anyone) that way.

Everyone I know who's a big success got pushed as a kid.

Oh well that settles it then.

 

[Marvin]

I teach 8th grade social studies. I have not given homework in 3 years.

Aside from reading in the text I assign "homework" about once every 2 weeks. The reading homework adds up to about 20 minutes a WEEK total.The only other stuff I send home are short activities or questions that they do with their parents "Ask a parent what their definition of 'patriotism' is..." etc. Of course if a kid is absent or doesn't finish a certain assignment in class they have to do it at home.

 

[The Flying Turtle]

Yeah it seems like a no brainer to put text books on to e-readers.

There has been some discussion about this in my district. Kindles are what? Less than $100? The textbook I use costs about $60 at least. Multiply that by 6 subjects...But there is also talk of not doing this until we reach the point where each kid has his/her own tablet. I guess they figure why spend all that money on e-readers when a couple of years later they're going to buy tablets.

I can see that. But my guess is there will be a long wait for every student to have a tablet in most districts.

Our town just opened a new elementary school and all 4th and 5th graders were given Ipads instead of books. They are responsible to take care of them and return them at year end. They are hoping to raise enough $$$ through private donations to provide 3rd and 2nd graders this year as well.

 

[Dentist]

Oh well that settles it then.

touche.you're the educator here, you're anti-homework?

 

[RCon]

Oh well that settles it then.

touche.you're the educator here, you're anti-homework?

A lot of educators are anti-homework. There are lots of reasons to think that homework does more harm than good.In truth, it probably varies greatly depending on the child. For example, homework did nothing for me, except turn me off to school. If I had been assigned much less homework, I likely would have learned more, and more importantly, enjoyed learning more.