Articles - Homework

Homework is often a flashpoint between schools, teachers and parents. Looking back to my own school years, I realise that my attitude to homework was very much governed by how I felt about school.  In good years, homework wasn't a great issue. In years when the last place I wanted to think about was school, homework was also something I didn't even want to think about.

A generation later, homework raised its ugly head again. Right from the beginning of school, my children were given homework and without exception it was inappropriate to their level, pointless and unproductive. Children who could read fluently were expected to ignore the books they love and instead read a primer brought home from school. Activities they usually did just for fun which also happened to be educational, were suddenly chores to finish in order to get a gold star. Homework quickly became an unnecessary and unwanted intrusion into our home and family life.

There is plenty of academic research on homework and it is generally believed to be unnecessary for children until their later years. Yet over the years, I have been surprised by the number of parents who expect, and even demand, homework for the youngest of children and many teachers who also believe in it. This suggests that the reasons for homework could be for something other than education.

The Reasoning Behind Homework

These reasons are anecdotal because despite all the research, when I talk to parents and teachers, their opinions are usually based on personal experiences and values. Here are some reasons for giving homework, and my comments in italics.

1. It reinforces what the child learns during the day.
   
2. It supplements or extends what the child learns during the day.
   Most time at school is "busy" time. If what they learn at school is meaningful the child will incorporate it into home activities which will supplement and extend as much if not more than homework.
3. It gets parents involved in what's happening at school.
   There is nothing stopping children talking about school and showing parents what they do there. If anything, conflict with homework creates a situation where children will avoid talking about school.
4. It teaches them time management.
   Does it? Can't simply getting ready for school on time do that?
5. It's good training for university and work.
   Comment: Most children will not go to university, and even if they do, universities have less contact time with "homework" which can be research in the library, studying and writing which can be done anywhere. The total hours expected during university is approx 40 hours per week. Yet often students in their final years of school are expected to do far in excess of 40 hours.
   Few people have a job where they take work home every night. If they do, it is usually seen as a problem.

What to do?

Even if you have a teacher who agrees that homework is unnecessary, they will often be bound by school policies and other parents' expectations. When one child refuses to do homework, that puts the teacher in a difficult position. Teachers cannot easily let one child off while enforcing the homework rule for the others.

I often found the easiest solution was to give children a note saying simply that they hadn't done their homework. That removes the dispute from between the teacher and the child in the classroom, to being between the teacher and parent, or school principal and parent, and so allows the teacher to continue in the classroom without disruption.

Another option if homework is aimed at the wrong level would be for either the teacher or parent to provide an alternative task.

Read more on homeschooling and other issues at No School Today: Talking Points