How to Decide on a Homework Policy
Question: What is the opposite of "reading for pleasure?" The answer is: "homework." What better way to ensure that kids learn to hate reading than to force them to read books that don't interest them at the end of a busy day? Is this supposed to make them better readers?
I would like to see homework completely ABOLISHED at the elementary school level EXCEPT FOR VACATIONS! I think that kids should have 20 or 30 minutes of work to do on each day of vacation. Whether it's the two-week holiday or Spring break or the long Summer break, kids should not be allowed to forget what they have learned over the last few weeks and teachers should not have to backtrack when the get back from vacation; they should be able to pick up right where they left off. I don't think that asking kids to do up to 30 minutes of homework a day when they have no school is asking too much!
Here are my suggestions for developing a homework policy.
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Instructions
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Check your district or school homework policy. The general rule of thumb regarding assigning homework is 10 minutes per grade level (e.g. 10 minutes in first grade, 20 minutes in second grade and so on). This is usually a guideline and never enforced on the light or heavy end, leaving the decision up to the teacher.
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Consider that Scholastic Inc. (the mammoth book publishing company) recently found that children in the United States are too busy, too distracted, and in some cases, too tired to read books for fun. Also consider that there are numerous studies that have found that homework does absolutely no good.
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Remember that any homework you send home MUST be checked and graded. Any homework that you assign that you are not grading is wasting the student's time. If it's worth their time, it's worth your time.
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Be sensitive to a child who takes an unusual amount of time to finish work. The child's parents can only hope that they have a sensitive teacher who will not ask them to spend their entire evening doing homework. Teachers should grade the work event if it is incomplete. If the assignment is supposed to take 30 minutes, the student should be able to stop working after 30 minutes (assuming that the student was working hard).
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Comments
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L.L. Stephenson
Mar 03, 2009
It is very important to do some form of learning over the summer. I am so happy my daughther is reading twilight now. She was going to buy the book but I bought it for her. I want her to enjoy reading. When it is fun you will do it on your own. She is 12 and some of the words are new to her and I help her with the new words. Great article 5* -
kllmomof2
Sep 22, 2008
Great article. As a parent of a child who takes a long time to do homework and wants to make sure it is perfect, it is nice to know teachers will be sensitive to that and respect her trying hard!
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kllmomof2
Sep 22, 2008
Great article. As a parent of a child who takes a long time to do homework and wants to make sure it is perfect, it is nice to know teachers will be sensitive to that and respect her trying hard!
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StacyP
Sep 09, 2008
Awesome article! I cringed at #3; during a student teaching experience, my cooperating teacher would assign homework and just give a check mark for completeness. Some students took their homework seriously and I could see the looks of disappoint when all they got in return were check marks.
