Should Kids Have Homework?

Eliza over at Blisstree wrote a post about a school that allows no homework contracts. I started to post a comment and rambled on so long, I realized I had a lot to say about it, so I decided to respond with a post from the viewpoint of someone who has been both a teacher and a parent:

I think a little homework during the elementary years helps them get basic concepts a bit better and is very necessary. Parents are able to see what concepts their children are having trouble with and can check with the teacher to be sure he or she knows the child is struggling, give the child extra practice with fun math or reading games around the house, or find some online games that reinforce the concepts.

The problem seems to begin in middle school or high school. Suddenly, there are several teachers. They don’t tell each other what homework assignments they are giving out, so two teachers may assign a project with the same due date or give a lot of homework on the same night.

When I was teaching middle school age kids, I’d often give homework, see someone looking teary eyed or hear a particularly heartfelt groan and ask what was up. A few kids would whip out homework from other teachers to show me how much they already had to do and I’d adjust the deadline so they didn’t end up with 4 or more hours a night. I don’t know how many other teachers do the same thing, but I’d hope most of them do adjust due dates or alter the length of assignments once they are aware of the problem

I think if your kids are spending hours on homework, you at least need to discuss the amount they’re getting and how long it takes with teachers. If someone isn’t struggling in school and doesn’t have extracurricular activities, he or she may whip through assignments in an hour, while another child with the same workload, a learning disability and soccer practice may end up going to bed late just to get homework done.