Childhood Has Become A Work-Release Program
Except without the release part.
Western countries ended child labor long ago -- only to re-up it in the form of homework. Now, I do have to say, as a smart kid, I did almost zero homework during my school years, except when there was an occasional project. But, I read almost constantly -- including Russian literature from the time I was in my early teens -- so it's not like I wasn't learning.
I absolutely love learning -- it's one of my favorite thing about my job, that I can dig in for a week or weeks reading studies for a single column. I see what I do as intellectual detective work and internal debate, both of which I find very exciting. But, I found school, pre-college, boring and annoying...probably due in part to my long-undiagnosed ADHD...and the fact that school was, well, too often boring and annoying.
I did love a few classes -- the American Civil War, Africa, government, journalism, and, especially, logic -- my very favorite class in high school. Aside from journalism and logic class, we were rarely asked to think. In fact, thinking was frowned upon in many cases, like when I angered the American lit teacher by questioning the agreed-upon meanings of literary symbolism in some of the books we read. I did get mostly A's, because school was easy for me, but I really didn't get a whole lot out of my K-12 experience, vis a vis time invested, save for all the reading I did on my own.
Getting back to the homework issue, while I think it's a good thing to teach kids good work and study habits, which I acquired later in life, the level of homework The Wall Street Journal's Jeff Opdyke describes his kid getting, and what I see friends' kids going through, seems ridiculous:
I hate school!Yes, I know that's a bit immature for someone 41 years old. But it's true. I hate school -- so much so that my wife, Amy, and I have hired a college student to help our fifth-grade son manage his schoolwork a few times a week.
It's not that we can't do the work with him, or that we don't want to. Just this evening we helped him study for a reading test, and over the weekend I was quizzing him on customary and metric units of measurement one day and biological definitions the next.
No, it's that the volume of homework and tests that fill his docket is, in a word, ridiculous.
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point U.S. schools decided that if you can't teach 'em, test 'em...or pile on more homework.
The result is that my son's life -- and by extension our family life -- is a constant, stress-laden stream of homework and tests and projects. It overshadows everything we do, always hanging over our head. It affects our weekends, our meals, our vacations, our work time, our playtime, our pocketbooks.
And to what end? Maybe I'm missing something, but when did schools determine that the best place for kids to learn math, science and English is at their own kitchen table?
Obviously, learning is what school is about. I have nothing against homework or school projects or a certain level of anxiety about it all. How a student deals with those demands and that anxiety is great preparation for later life.
But the level of homework and anxiety my son deals with on a daily basis is well beyond anything healthy. And from talking to other parents, this problem is hardly unique to our family.
Amy and I knew there was a problem several weeks ago when our son brought home a D and a C. This was the first time that he earned anything less than a B. And then, a week later, another D.
At first we were mad. He's just not paying attention to the questions; he's rushing through the tests; he's being careless. We quizzed him before the test and again afterward. How is it that he can know the information before and after, yet not during?
It turns out he's stressed out. He told Amy that he wishes he could do better. But he already wakes up on school days between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., panicked that he doesn't know the material he has already studied. He wakes up Amy to help him go over his notes one more time. He studies in the car on the way to school. Some nights he's up past 10 p.m., writing, reading or memorizing. He spends parts of many weekends reading and doing projects.
Then he sees the Ds and Cs and gets dejected, wondering how he could possibly study any harder or any longer.
The truth is, he can't. His childhood is already all but consumed by textbooks, notebooks and flashcards.
I used to play outside when I was a kid. When do these kids get to do it -- between their Swiss Alps of weekly homework assignments and summer camp for math? And what of kids who need after-school jobs to help pay for college? And how about the notion that every kid is not cut out for college -- despite the way we treat high school as an automatic conduit, when many kids would be served better by the celebration of trade school as a terrific option?
In short, by shoveling homework on the very young, are we preparing kids for life or preparing them for life in the therapist's office?
I think some schools overcompensate in order to bring up academic standards, or their results on standardized tests, by piling it on. Standardized tests seem a bit of a crock, but they apparently can't come up with any better way to measure whether or not a school is performing adequately.
I think this "pile on homework" thing is a per-district or state thing. I live in central Ohio, and some of our Suburban districts are academically exceptional. From what I've hear today, they don't seem to have any more homework than I did (graduated from one of them a while ago, and I worked sporadically from age 13, and had a steady after-school job from 16). I had plenty of time to do stuff outside, read, build stuff, and play video games. My stepdaughter goes to a local city school, and she almost never has homework to bring home. Like most of her peers, she has time at school to work on it and is usually done with all of it before she gets home. Personally, I think the city schools are crap, but that's another story.
I may see more of this first hand this year, since I'm part of a middle school mentoring program.
Jamie at October 1, 2007 6:24 AM
I read this very article yesterday, after struggling with my younger daughter the day before over a Social Studies assignment that she was a week late handing in. Her teacher had called me at work on Friday, explaining the situation to me, and I confronted daughter #2 at dinner and asked her what was going on. After much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands, she came clean, and told me she didn't understand the assignment, so I read it over with her and gave her a hand with it, not too much that I did it for her, but I provided her with examples of what needed to be done and how it could be accomplished, and told her that on Saturday, she could complete the assignment before the TV or computer was allowed to be used. Daughter #1 wasn't too pleased, but, as I've said before, schoolwork alwayscomes first.
At #2's school's open house, all of her teachers made it a point to explain what was to be accomplished in their classes, the grading system and how class participation, homework, tests, etc. contributed to the overall grade, and each teacher said that they did not hand out more than 20 to 40 minutes worth homework each night. And each one said if it took the child more than that time frame to complete the assignment, that there was a problem and the parent should call the teacher to discuss it. Now, #2 has been doing well in all of her other classes, especially math, and she's now back on track with Social Studies, so we'll see what the progress reports say. Neither of my girls has had to expend the amount of time as Jeff's son has on their homework, and they've both been on the honor roll pretty consistently throughout their school careers so far, so I wonder what is different in his case?
Flynne at October 1, 2007 6:25 AM
I was always a B/C student. I thought I had shit loads of home work. The old catholic school philosophy, keep them too busy to do anything stupid. I also had sever ADD which was diagnosed but hidden from me by dad, not sure why.I hate school with a fire brand loathing I can't really describe, even a years after high school. I like science and the few engineering like courses were fun but most of it sucked. Most of the teachers assigned shit load of busy work (which would now be considered light), from 2nd grade to senior year of high school.
My wife works with children who are in school now. I thought I had it bad with all the useless busy work. Wow was I wrong. Compared to these kids I had no homework at all. The stress levels are enormous "Harvard or bust" attitude is rife. If you aren't an A student you ain't worth shit. All of which amuses me to no end for several reasons. I did not got to Ivy league for either my BS of ME nor was I an A student. Most of the parents who are pushing their kids to be A students were not even close to that themselves.
I own my own house (no I do not have teady bear stationary)before 30, happily married and making plenty of money. So am I actually a failure and don't know it or is the system and the metrics used bad?
vlad at October 1, 2007 6:27 AM
Flynne, I don't know where they live, but my (admittedly secondhand) experience with homework is limited to New York and Los Angeles. My friends who are kids in NYC have simply sick amounts of homework -- even my little friend Sophie, who's seven.
Amy Alkon at October 1, 2007 6:47 AM
If you aren't an A student you ain't worth shit.
I think this notion is damaging to kids, and gives some kids the idea that they'll never amount to much.
Amy Alkon at October 1, 2007 6:49 AM
I feel for them! Seven year olds need time to play and explore, not be inundated with homework!
Daughter #1 has 2 study halls this year (she's a sophomore), she does her most of her homework during those, and she seems to be doing well so far; she loves all her classes, and is a voracious reader, so I'm not too worried about her. #2, however, even though she's a good student, sometimes has trouble getting started. We've implemented an after-school schedule that seems to work: they both get half an hour, when they get home, to grab a snack and unwind from the day. Then they do whatever homework they have from their day at school, and some of the teachers let them start it in class, so a lot of the time, they're just finishing up. After homework is done, they have some free time before I get home from work. While dinner is cooking, #2 sets the table while I go over homework with #1, and then after dinner, I'll go over #2's homework while #1 cleans up. It's a fair system, I think, and the girls usually will trade off with each other, alternating who sets the table and who washes the dishes. So far, it seems to be working!
Flynne at October 1, 2007 6:59 AM
"I think this notion is damaging to kids, and gives some kids the idea that they'll never amount to much." - Amy
School administrators, just like a lot of people, struggle to find the "happy medium." "Shall we drive into their skulls that they're worthless unless they get all 'A's', or shall we outlaw grading with red pens, because it damages self esteem?"
Seeing how craptastic some of our schools are, makes me want to go into education when I'm ready to retire from the tech/IT industry. Of course, it'd be science. "I know you kids don't get to play dodgeball anymore (grrr), but let's play it anyhow...with a pneumatic dodge-ball launching cannon! WHEE!"
Jamie at October 1, 2007 7:05 AM
My 3 girls have more homework than I did, but I was bored silly most of my K-12 years. I only survived because I snuck Tolstoy into my classes.
Homework takes longer in our house because we have ADD/autism issues to cope with. My husband also brings home more office work than I remember most dad's doing in my day. Has our technology blurred the line between home and work/school?
Ruth at October 1, 2007 7:18 AM
I made good money tutoring high school kids while in grad school. They certainly seemed to have homework in amounts that were orders of magnitude greater than I did not too many years before. For kids at the top LA prep schools like Harvard-Westlake, the demands homework demands bordered on the absurd. And for most of them, this was in addition to sports and extra-curriculars and etc. Their lives were so regimented; I often wondered when did they just fuck around with their friends?
Has our technology blurred the line between home and work/school?
Yes. At least for me. I work at a small tech company and help run another that I've invested in; if there's a crisis at either one, the only way I'd be off the clock is if I'm somewhere that my phone doesn't work. But this works both ways; I can be off somewhere playing and still keep tabs on things.
justin case at October 1, 2007 7:32 AM
I was always able to finish my homework at school. Only rarely was school challenging, because I spent K-12 in a redneck small town in a class of 57 students. The only thing ANYONE ever cared about was sports, especially football. So half of the teachers were really only hired to coach - their teaching was straight out of the book. Read the chapter, answer the questions at the end, lather, rinse, repeat. Boring busywork, mostly - great preparation for corporate cubefarm life. I didn't fit in at all and got bullied from time to time, which was the main reason I hated school.
Pirate Jo at October 1, 2007 7:38 AM
"But this works both ways; I can be off somewhere playing and still keep tabs on things."
If a workload is too heavy, it's just plain too heavy. But I am happy about the changes technology is making in the workplace. It should help companies foster environments that are more results-oriented. They can stop watching the clocks on people and associating face-time with productivity. Workers have deliverables to accomplish, and does it really matter where they are doing their work, as long as it gets done right and on time? I can't think of any responsible adult who would blow off an important deadline just because of screwing around. Forcing anyone to sit in a gray cubicle when they don't need to be there is just asinine. Let 'em log in from home or take e-mails on their Blackberries, for cryin' out loud.
Pirate Jo at October 1, 2007 7:45 AM
I'm not saying we shouldn't have standards -- but the level of homework I see kids getting nightly seems rather extreme.
Amy Alkon at October 1, 2007 7:47 AM
I think the problem isn't necessarily how much homework is assigned, the problem is the percentage of homework that needs to be done before the kids retain the information. For Instance I would say that throughout my educational life I did... 40% of the work that was assigned to me. (College brought this number up considerably) Despite my permanant slackerdom I attended a prestigious university and graduated with nearly a B average.
This is, so I have more recently learned, not because homework was stupid, but because I am smart enough to learn things the first or sometimes second time through. So all of the repetitive homework, and the constant review was BORING because I had already learned it. (Where as I've heard the average person has to hear something repeated as many as 13 times in order to remember it.)
I think the problem with school these days goes back to a series of editorials that I read on the WSJ's site, possibly linked from here. Not everyone is smart, and not everyone is book smart. Even if every kid in the US were educated so they were as smart as they could be, a percentage of them will still fail the NCLB tests because they aren't smarter than what the government considers "left Behind." And that is OKAY, just because they aren't great at school doesn't mean they wouldn't have some other skill, like being a carpeter or cooking that could contribute to society.
Really,the fact that this guys kid HAS to do ALL the homework and HAS to work his ass off to get As and Bs tells me that his kid isn't that smart. Though parents don't want to admit it not all of their kids are smart enough to go to an Ivy League school, the kid in this article would probably kill himself via stress and not enjoy the experience at all. (As many students at my university did.)
In the end, it is a trade off, if your kid has to work CONSTANTLY to get As and Bs why not think about the possible trade offs of them having a life and getting Bs and Cs. It isn't the end of the world, and they can always take extra Music or Art classes to bump up their GPA. They can still be successful with a low grade point, what is important is that they learn how to decide how much effort to put into something. IF getting perfect grades is important to them then by all means they should do the extra work necessary, but if it isn't then they need to prioritize.
Shinobi at October 1, 2007 7:55 AM
I took all honors classes in middle school and then most honors/some regular in high school. When I was in 8th grade I had four-five hours of homework each night. In high school it decreased to a steady 3 hours (b/c I dropped honors math...why do that to myself?!?). This allowed me to get a part time job and exercise. Oh, and um, sleep at night.
...my parents thought I was overly meticulous until they realized that I wasn't unique in the amt. of time homework took. I was actually in the middle. Kids who didn't take any honors classes obviously had less (when I first took an "upper standard" class I was SHOCKED when I'd only get one work sheet or ten pages to read). All-honors/AP kids would have SIX TO SEVEN HOURS of hw. I'll grant these kids were over-the-top perfectionists who went on to med school, etc.
It was overwhelming and at a point I just didn't do anything for some classes (I figured out what I could fudge and what I HAD to do. I got a C on my English exam on 1984. I didn't read a page...).
One good thing that's happened: my former high school switched to online text books. My brother only has one physical text book (can't remember how many times I forgot a text book at school when I needed it for hw!). This also helps w/ the "heavy backpack/back problem" issue...
Gretchen at October 1, 2007 8:13 AM
"Really,the fact that this guys kid HAS to do ALL the homework and HAS to work his ass off to get As and Bs tells me that his kid isn't that smart."
Um, not sure how your school did things but if you missed homework you got penalized. The only way your getting A is doing you home work. B average could be accomplished if you nailed all the tests and did no home work. The problem is that the home work reflects directly on the grade. I didn't need to do the shit 20 times to get the concept but if I didn't do it 20 times I'd get a phone call home and in deep shit. I'd normally have to do the stupid thing once and the a few more time in the weeks that followed, not the same problem with different numbers the same night.
vlad at October 1, 2007 8:13 AM
"the kid in this article would probably kill himself via stress and not enjoy the experience at all."
I can't agree with this particular case because I don't know the kid or the school. However you defiantly have a point. I never went to Ivy league . I saw the problem in engineering. Many parents and I have no idea why, insisted that the kids become engineers. I know a couple (who met in ENG and left together) who's parents disowned them. Actually disowned the both of them when the changed majors. The problem is partly the school but some parents are nuts. Yeah the stress can kill, I know one kid in high school who later tried don't know if he succeeded in killing himself.
vlad at October 1, 2007 8:22 AM
Related: school hours and days are downright weird compared to when I was a kid.
I went to school 8 to 3, my daughters go to school 8 to 2. In addition, at least once a month if not more, there are "inservice days" or some such crap where the kids are released early while the teachers get together and figure out how to assign more homework.
jerry at October 1, 2007 8:32 AM
If I ever have kids, its all about home schooling.
snakeman99 at October 1, 2007 8:43 AM
Ack, no kidding about home school. The more I read articles like this, the more I either want to light the world on fire changing the educational system (my personal pipe dream) or to simply drop out and do an unschool/home school combination once my 3yo is old enough.
As it stands, plans for grad school in Educational Psychology are still in my mind for a few years from now.
Allison at October 1, 2007 10:17 AM
I see a few problems with home schooling. It produces really narrow minded people, which is never a good thing. You can't get home schooling to replace college and going to college after home schooling is culture shock that rarely ends well. Most of the home schoolers I have met had very serious social issues, these were engineers who as a group are socially limited to start. Think how bad these people would have come off to the general population. If you are in a situation where one of the parents can quite their job to home school then you can just as easily work and send the kid to private school, or tutors. You need to let the kid experience the real world before college.
vlad at October 1, 2007 10:28 AM
Undersocialized, narrow-minded people. And then, how many people are really qualified to teach their kids all the subjects of K-12? Personally, I think one of the great things about modern American education (vis a vis the one-room school) is that teachers specialize. My Africa teacher could speak volumes about the Yoruba but probably was rather speechless on the subject of the mating habits of carpenter ants.
Amy Alkon at October 1, 2007 10:38 AM
The only way I could see home school work is if a group of parents with different backgrounds (Engineering, Science, Social Studies, History, Art, Philosophy etc.) got together and did group school. Each parents could pull an hour out of there day and teach a class. There would have to be enough parents with differing world views as well. Republicans, Democrats, Socialists etc. as well then It might actually work. Assuming the parents do not kill each other. Otherwise your basically indoctrinating the kids to your world view. Which is a bad thing because while your world view may or may not be right it is dated.
vlad at October 1, 2007 10:47 AM
"It produces really narrow minded people, which is never a good thing. You can't get home schooling to replace college and going to college after home schooling is culture shock that rarely ends well."
Its my understanding that modern home-schooling often involves significant cooperation among the kids' parents to make sure socializing is not ignored. Many schools also make accomodations for home-school students who want to get involved in team sports and other activities. I understand the concern, Vlad, but I think things have evolved a little bit.
Or at least I hope they will have by the time I become a parent.
snakeman99 at October 1, 2007 10:49 AM
The only way I could see home school work is if a group of parents with different backgrounds (Engineering, Science, Social Studies, History, Art, Philosophy etc.) got together and did group school. Each parents could pull an hour out of there day and teach a class.
That makes sense, although I would describe these as different areas of expert knowledge, not "backgrounds".
There would have to be enough parents with differing world views as well. Republicans, Democrats, Socialists etc. as well then It might actually work.
Here's where you and I part company. All "world views" are not morally equivalent. Socialism has directly caused the deaths of millions of people throughout the world, and you want me to voluntarily hand my children over to a socialist to be taught that view of the world? Hell, no.
Where do you draw the line? Fascism, revolutionary Communism, and white supremacy are "world views"; why don't you list those? What about fanatical religious "world views" -- shouldn't your ideal school teach those too? If all philosphies are equal, you can't exclude ANYTHING.
Otherwise your basically indoctrinating the kids to your world view. Which is a bad thing because while your world view may or may not be right it is dated.
That makes no sense at all. If a value is right, then it is right. Discarding it just because it's not brand new is an amazingly stupid thing to do. Here's a random example for you: opposition to slavery is quite "dated"; people have been expressing that idea for centuries. Shall we chuck it on that basis alone? Only a fool would say "yes".
Most of the fundamental values of Western civilization are thousands of years old. They have endured because they are sound and true. Condemning them for being "dated" is madness.
My children are now 21 and 18, and I have done my best to "indoctrinate them to my world view", as you put it. I prefer to call it "teaching them values", and I regard it as a vital part of my job as a parent. But before you freak out about this, you should know that one of the values I have taught them is that they should think for themselves. I am not shy about letting them know what my opinion is, but I also encourage them to do their own reading, evaluate the facts, and decide what they think. If their opinions end up differing from my own, that's fine -- as long as they arrived at them honestly, through self-education and rational thought.
Pat at October 1, 2007 11:18 AM
I hated school, no thouht no learning just memorazation and rote work.
The only thing I ever did in school that I acctually put effort into was my senior history paper. We were supposed to write a ten page paper on a major historical figure. My teacher failed it and tried to have me suspended,
The title was Christopher Columbas: Bigger Than Hitler
lujlp at October 1, 2007 11:29 AM
"Where do you draw the line? Fascism, revolutionary Communism, and white supremacy are "world views"; why don't you list those? What about fanatical religious "world views" -- shouldn't your ideal school teach those too? If all philosphies are equal, you can't exclude ANYTHING." Well don't you think they should learn about the concept then how it was applied to the real world. Then they will see that many of the philosophies are simply wrong.
Revolutionary Communism is a fantastic example. I saw all of these idiots at BU with the communist party who did not know or would not listen to the history of communism. Now they head to college and get a lecture about the utopia of communism with some fudging of the details.
I'm not saying hand them over first of all let them learn what it is without bias. The socialist paints a rosy picture of a socialist society. Then the republican or democrat or who ever paints the historical picture of applied socialism.
Values and view are different. Value: No free lunch you want to live well (or at all) you have to work. View: In order to get a good job you do (fill in the blank).
"If their opinions end up differing from my own, that's fine -- as long as they arrived at them honestly, through self-education and rational thought." That would make you a rarity from what I have seen.
vlad at October 1, 2007 12:04 PM
Sometimes I think that the teachers assign "projects" to make chilren and parents bond or something. I am a big fan of rote memorization, as well as conceptually heavy science and humanities teaching. The projects might be great for bonding, but the teacher was just cooling her butt. More work for the student seems to mean more work for the teacher. I like the test heavy French system. Not a lot of tests, but your graduation from lycée depends on it. One. Talk about stress.
Liz at October 1, 2007 12:11 PM
"I like the test heavy French system. Not a lot of tests, but your graduation from lycée depends on it. One. Talk about stress." Trying that, yeah they are called MCAS in Massachusetts. So once this got implemented all they do is teach the test. So you know how to memorize textbooks full of stuff and can't really think.
vlad at October 1, 2007 12:17 PM
I think critical thinking skills are something that kids don't learn in school anymore. I had a few teachers that really focused on it, and a lot of the students were often totally lost because it was so rare that they were expected to think for themselves. I do think that if parents were really commited to teaching their kids to think for themselves homeschooling might be the better option. I'm sure I wasn't the only student who was penalized academically because her paper didn't agree with what the teacher thought.
Shinobi at October 1, 2007 12:28 PM
Yeah, but Vlad, the students are not given multiple choice tests. The tests, at least in humanities, ask a very broad question and grades the student's multipage answer.
I guess that if you want to find out the meaning of life, you should ask a French student.
Liz at October 1, 2007 12:37 PM
"I'm sure I wasn't the only student who was penalized academically because her paper didn't agree with what the teacher thought." This is the problem (at least in the US) with broad questions and multi page answers. I'd be all for more essay question with two requirements. Students should be able to use computers unless it is a penmanship exam. That the grading is completely objective.
vlad at October 1, 2007 1:02 PM
If only the government wasn't running the school system ... imagine if private markets were allowed to do for education what they have done for grocery stores and electronics. I think there would be all kinds of options, most of which I probably can't even imagine.
The homeschooled kids I have seen do tend to be a little weird and socially awkward. Not that herding them into classrooms with other noseminers who are within a year of their age tends to work much better, the little savages. Think how things are when you go to work - you interact with people of all ages. Is there any real reason a 12-year-old couldn't be taking a programming class in the same room as a 45-year-old? John Taylor Gatto made some interesting points about segregating children away from society in industrial-age-designed institutions.
Pirate Jo at October 1, 2007 1:08 PM
"imagine if private markets were allowed to do for education what they have done for grocery stores and electronics" Are you reffering to private schools or privatizing public schools? What would the private sector get out of running a public school profits wise?
vlad at October 1, 2007 1:26 PM
Here at my school, an elementary school in a small district in California, there is a minimum weekly hourly requirement for homework, dependent on grade level. In theory it's 60 - 90 minutes a day, four days a week for grades 3-6 and about 30 minutes a day for the 1-2 graders.
The problem is the teachers apparently aim for the brightest kids, so the majority spend a heck of a lot more time doing homework. The homework also tends to be mainly prep work for one of the many required "standardized tests". The teachers are always complaining they don't have time to actually teach the kids, as they're required to spend so many hours prepping them for the tests. The poor kids are learning what they need to pass the tests, not learning how to be, well, thinkers.
Kimberly at October 1, 2007 1:30 PM
I am a 13 year old home-schooled kid. This is my 1st year doing home-school. I think that there are alot of good points in these comments, but a lot of ppl don't realize how stressfull school really is. Some ppl over exaggerate things that are not that important and kids really pay no attention to. Like if a kid doesn't make all A's then they think they won't be anything, but thats not true. When i make a C or F i get a little mad, but it never makes me think i am nothing because i have way more better grades than i have lower grades. So i know that if i would have studied harder, i would have done better and i jus try harder next time. One of the real problems with school is the boring subject matter. It is more interesting being home-schooled because my mom and the other parents involved seem interested in what they are teaching too. A lot of teachers act like getting done with some crappy assignment is more important than the assignment itself. Some teachers are just pathetic. You wonder what they HELL their lives are like outside of school.
M!$+@ GL@$$ at October 1, 2007 2:13 PM
That child has too much homework, using just the article as a source. I know others have agreed with this here, I just want to add an educator’s view. At my school the kids are on academic teams and the team assigns 0-2 hours a day and they also have an extra period in the day so that kids and teacher can work on projects that involve, not just the academic subjects but Art, Music, Technology (shop), and other disciplines in the school. During this time they are offered time to do homework while teachers are able to help them. When we tracked this last year, the average “out of school” workload was 7 hours of practice and supplemental homework and a project due. Projects are usually 1 week in length and they will do 3-4 a quarter.
I deal with this question all the time from parents, some believing we assign to little home work as well as too much. I know some teachers, as early as 1st grade, are told they need to give homework to get the kids ready for mid school and we get the same for high school. Some teachers try and teach in a vacuum, no class exists for the kids except their’s and they give 2 hours of work a night. I tell my teachers my expectation of homework at the beginning of the year: Math does need to be given every day as practice for the lessons taught and then the homework should be used not as a grade, but to tell the teacher if the topic needs to be re-taught, and then give credit, not for the numbers right or wrong, just that it was done, it is a practice and evaluation tool. Science and Social Studies need some reading and maybe questions, either as a pre-instruction activity (fancy teacher talk for “this is what we are going to study in class tomorrow”) or as a reinforcement activity (as above for “this is what we did in class today”). The English teacher need to have the kids do some reading and writing every day, some of my teachers are having the kids read Fahrenheit 451 as a class, so they need to read a bit each night and then they write a response in their journals to bring to class. All told this should be no more than 2 hours a night and is often less given time to do it in school.
Most elementary students have 1 teacher, maybe 2-3 and I can see no reason why a teacher would give that much work.
Piper at October 1, 2007 2:34 PM
I have to jump in here. My 2nd grade son "hates school."
He actually enjoys class, and doing the assignments-- at school. The REQUIRED homework is a constant battle. We have had a focus on math facts all of September. 50 addition/subtraction problems a night.
If you don't complete the assignment, or turn it in the next day, you get the nice blue warning slip to sign. 3 warning slips and the principal calls the parent. I have written notes and emailed the teacher before the due date explaining why an assignment is incomplete, and when we will finish it. We still get the "blue slip."
I'm feeling like an unpaid teachers assistant. If my wife or I could be home at 2:30 instead of 5, the homework load wouldn't seem as heavy. As it is, it seems I spend all the after school time doing homework, instead of playing ball, working on our Pinewood derby car, or other fun Dad/son stuff.
A quick check of the school calendar shows 175 student contact days @ 6 hours of actual class time.
Verkan at October 1, 2007 2:42 PM
I had nightmares about school for 15 years after I finished university. I still won't go back. I do all my learnin' on my own, as I don't like the pressure or structure of formal education.
Chrissy at October 1, 2007 6:51 PM
"If you aren't an A student you ain't worth shit."
"I think this notion is damaging to kids, and gives some kids the idea that they'll never amount to much."
That's what we say about the President, isn't it? Hmm. Mixed message.
Look around. I find that a majority of people do not want to learn. Verkan even resents having to take a role in teaching.
Think a minute, and then say who benefits from education. There may be debate on what to teach, but the need is not debatable.
For those who think your - and maybe your kid's - class load is too heavy, just Google for "Missouri" and "eighth grade test" and see of you can pass that. Those who complain as if they are the only people who ever struggled to get things done just aren't thinking.
Radwaste at October 2, 2007 2:30 AM
I'm not saying we shouldn't teach the basics -- I get e-mail from kids that reflects a shocking level of illiteracy. But as for whether loading kids down with homework so they start losing their hair from stress at 10, and can't go outside is the answer -- well, I think that's debatable.
Amy Alkon at October 2, 2007 4:58 AM
I've got a "typical" boy in grade 3. While he gets off school at 3:00 (12:30 on Fridays), I don't get home until 5:30 or 6:00. Things are better now that he is getting older and he is becoming more responsible and able to remember to work on his homework on his own. However, like many 5-7 year olds just getting his jacket home from school was a big task, let alone thinking to do homework instead of playing with all the other kids. So homework didn't start until 6:30 or 7:00, goes until bedtime, no time for extra-curricular stuff or spending time as a family where other non-academic skills are learned. I don't know if average students had this much homework as a kid....I found school easy and rarely brought anything home, at least until middle school. It makes things a grind and he "hates" school as a result.
moreta at October 2, 2007 6:13 AM
Making kids hate learning is a real problem, I think. No, life isn't all fun and games, but the classes I learned most in (like my Africa class and Civil War class in high school) were the ones where the teachers made learning exciting. I remember more from Civil War and Africa classes (thanks, Mr. Finney) than I do from articles I read last week.
Amy Alkon at October 2, 2007 6:22 AM
My school experience, not too many years ago, was not that difficult. But I'm smart. And I read like a maniac. I can't tell you how many people I went to school with who were just barely able to get the material, while I rarely studied and got mostly A's. I didn't do a ton of homework, but passing the in-class exams was enough, usually. Should we aim higher, so students like me aren't bored, or lower, so students can all get A's? Isn't the point that the average student will get C's? I agree with the person above that not everyone is capable of getting A's, and I think that's the way it should be. If you have to lose your life to homework, and you still don't get A's, it soubds like you need to take another look at your priorities. A C student may not get into a top university, but do you really want a C student to be your lawyer or doctor?
For many kids, going to college right out of high school isn't the best path. I think that more of them should take a year off between, or go to community college while working. The skills you need to succeed in life aren't taught at school, and the fast-track straight through misses a lot of learning opportunities. I'm at a university now, and the sheer volume of drunken debauchery and foolish mistakes is incredible. I can't help but think that a year or two in the "real" world could only benefit some of these self-entitled, overly confident, neuroses-ridden twits. Beyond that, its much easier to focus on getting good grades when you actually know what it's like to try to support yourself on minimum wage. Grades have a much bigger real life value now than they did when I was sixteen and I could only see as far ahead as the weekend.
christina at October 2, 2007 10:08 AM
One argument in favor of mind-numbing rote-learning mass education is it mentally prepares people to become cogs in the wheel. In other words, most of their work life will be boring, repetitive, and possibly meaningless work, so why not turn them into sheep while they're still young?
An argument against it is it doesn't provide really usable work or life skills. People should be able to read and understand legal documents such as leases and loan papers, manage their personal finances, understand how to participate in their local governments, be able to deal effectively with the police, sift through the media to find out what's really going on in the world, maintain their physical and mental health, render basic first aid, perform basic household repairs, choose healthy foods, defend their rights at City Hall, make major purchases without getting ripped off, address dishonest merchants effectively if they do get stiffed, and negotiate effectively with family members, friends, neighbors, and business associates.
Almost none of this do we learn at school. I memorized lists of old presidents but never had to review a lease or buy a car! And yet, which is a more important basic life skill?
Red Ree at October 2, 2007 11:21 AM
"No, life isn't all fun and games, but the classes I learned most in (like my Africa class and Civil War class in high school) were the ones where the teachers made learning exciting."
Bingo! You have just hit on the secret to real learning.
Now: what makes some people think that parents are irrelevent to instilling a love for learning?
Pushups aren't fun - not until the pushee realizes the benefits. One of the obscure benefits is that until you can do pushups, you can't make a choice not to do them. That's the case for any ability a person may develop.
So people are making the case the school is like work? Of course it is. Now, notice that some people love their work, some make noise about it but can't imagine anything else... and some hate it, and "drop out". As a parent, it's my job to point out how wonderful awareness can be. I point out the things, and the things people do, which are wonderful, and learning takes care of itself.
Radwaste at October 2, 2007 5:03 PM
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