No Homework rule at my kid's school

[Grrrr]

How old are your kids?

Mine are 12 & 14 and a great deal of homework is either bullshit busy work or stuff they should be learning in class. A little light homework as review would be fine....more often than not that is not the case.

 

[mjmj]

I am fucking with you. I am pretty sure I don't have any children, but I do have 12 nieces and nephews. Being an uncle is all the benefits of being a parent with none of the responsibilities. That is the way to go.

I know you are. But you're still making my point that if you don't have young kids in elementary school, you won't understand how they learn and why they need to go over certain things every night. I thought the EXACT same as you before my kids got in school. Now I can spend 10 minutes in my kids schools and point out the kids that don't get help from their parents at home. It's quite easy. They're always the loud, annoying, brats and are constantly causing trouble and saying shit they're not allowed to say because they saw it on a movie with mom last night. They also get held back frequently because they simply don't learn. On average, kids in elementary school only spend about 3-4 hours a day learning the basics. That's not much for a young mind to learn reading, math and writing.

 

[chardog]

I still think 8 hours a day is enough schooling. Kids are still people, they have lives and need downtime.

It's just like how most adults want to leave work at work. They're not trying to take that shit home with them.

it's not 8 hours though, it's only 7 including breaks and lunch (less than 6 hours spent learning), and they only have 4 days of homework per week.

 

[mjmj]

Mine are 12 & 14 and a great deal of homework is either bullshit busy work or stuff they should be learning in class. A little light homework as review would be fine....more often than not that is not the case.

As they get older I agree. But we're talking about elementary school. For the most part, it's become accepted that kids do best with 10 minutes/grade level of homework per night. It's not a great deal of work.

 

[Grrrr]

As they get older I agree. But we're talking about elementary school.

It was basically the same way from kindergarten until now....my wife and I are extremely involved in our kids schooling and sports. Both of my boys could read and write going into kindergarten. Both are in honors classes, play instruments, and do sports. The homework in itself isn't a horrible idea it's just not very useful how it gets assigned.

 

[ralphc1]

A rectangle is a square.

If you had done your homework, you would know that.

You were the one who didn't do your homework. A square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn't a square.

Definition of
Rectangle
more ...

A 4-sided flat shape with straight sides where all interior angles are right angles (90°).

Also opposite sides are parallel and of equal length.

Example: A square is a special type of rectangle.

Definition of
Square
more ...

A 4-sided flat shape with straight sides where:

• all sides have equal length, and
• every interior angle is a right angle (90°)

https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/rectangle.html

 

[Doughbelly]

Here's my opinion as a former professor who taught biostatistics, epidemiology and public health.

Assigned, graded homework is completely unnecessary, even at the college level. I almost never assigned homework because I had the utmost confidence in my abilities as a teacher. Homework is for students who have teachers who can't get the lesson across to their students in the classroom.

And for the record, math doesn't necessarily require a high degree of repetition, either. Fast, accurate, rote math requires repetition. On the other hand, if you've taught almost every student (there will always be duds) in a high quality way, they'll be able to figure out the principles involved when asked to on a test.

 

[Grrrr]

Here's my opinion as a former professor who taught biostatistics, epidemiology and public health.

Assigned homework is completely unnecessary, even at the college level. I almost never assigned homework because I had the utmost confidence in my abilities as a teacher. Homework is for teachers who can't get the lesson across to their students in the classroom.

And for the record, math doesn't necessarily require a high degree of repetition, either. Fast, accurate, rote math requires repetition. On the other hand, if you've taught almost every student (there will always be duds) in a high quality way, they'll be able to figure out the principles involved when asked.

Great post. Some teachers are simply amazing. Some are not very good at all and that is unfortunate.

 

[ralphc1]

Great post. Some teachers are simply amazing. Some are not very good at all and that is unfortunate.

The most unfortunate part is that there is no real reward for being a good teacher. To get a raise they have to go into administration which takes a good teacher out of the classroom.

 

[Doughbelly]

I know you are. But you're still making my point that if you don't have young kids in elementary school, you won't understand how they learn and why they need to go over certain things every night. I thought the EXACT same as you before my kids got in school. Now I can spend 10 minutes in my kids schools and point out the kids that don't get help from their parents at home. It's quite easy. They're always the loud, annoying, brats and are constantly causing trouble and saying shit they're not allowed to say because they saw it on a movie with mom last night. They also get held back frequently because they simply don't learn. On average, kids in elementary school only spend about 3-4 hours a day learning the basics. That's not much for a young mind to learn reading, math and writing.

That's more than enough because reading shouldn't be homework. If kids are engaged properly, reading is something they should be doing on their own, not being forced to do. Forcing structured reading down their throats is how you get them to NOT read for enjoyment and personal enrichment.

Math, explained properly, is something that kids (and adults) should be something they should be engaging in on a near daily basis. How many legs does a dog have? How many legs do two dogs have? Did you know cats have shiney eyes in the dark? If I count six shiney eyes, how many cats is that? There are five pieces of chicken. If we each have one piece, how many are left for your friends? This is the kind of thing I did with my nephew and nieces on road trips when they were four and five and six. Meanwhile, they're hating assigned homework because that shit is just busy work and they know it.

It is mind boggling to me hown slow the learning pace is in the broken primary education system, yet people think they need more of the same to fix it.

 

[Grrrr]

The most unfortunate part is that there is no real reward for being a good teacher. To get a raise they have to go into administration which takes a good teacher out of the classroom.

I agree. My youngest boys 5th grade math teacher was simply amazing. My oldest boys current (9th grade) math teacher is amazing also. There is a soft spot in my heart for a good caring teacher. Small gifts and gift cards throughout the year are just a couple of the things I do for teachers that really care. It may not seem like much but it's a way that I can let them know that I appreciate what they are doing.

 

[mjmj]

That's more than enough because reading shouldn't be homework. If kids are engaged properly, reading is something they should be doing on their own, not being forced to do. Forcing structured reading down their throats is how you get them to NOT read for enjoyment and personal enrichment.

Math, explained properly, is something that kids (and adults) should be something they should be engaging in on a near daily basis. How many legs does a dog have? How many legs do two dogs have? Did you know cats have shiney eyes in the dark? If I count six shiney eyes, how many cats is that? There are five pieces of chicken. If we each have one piece, how many are left for your friends? This is the kind of thing I did with my nephew and nieces on road trips when they were four and five and six. Meanwhile, they're hating assigned homework because that shit is just busy work and they know it.

It is mind boggling to me hown slow the learning pace is in the broken primary education system, yet people think they need more of the same to fix it.

You don't appear to grasp that we're talking about young kids LEARNING to do these things.

 

[lifelessheap]

There was essentially no homework in elementary school when I was a kid. Very little in middle school too. I don't think it makes any significant difference in performance. But it seems to put unnecessary pressure on kids.

You are totally correct.

 

[Daverisimo]

Here's my opinion as a former professor who taught biostatistics, epidemiology and public health.

Assigned, graded homework is completely unnecessary, even at the college level. I almost never assigned homework because I had the utmost confidence in my abilities as a teacher. Homework is for students who have teachers who can't get the lesson across to their students in the classroom.

And for the record, math doesn't necessarily require a high degree of repetition, either. Fast, accurate, rote math requires repetition. On the other hand, if you've taught almost every student (there will always be duds) in a high quality way, they'll be able to figure out the principles involved when asked to on a test.

I mostly agree with this, but I do think that it varies quite a bit at the university level. When it comes to upper-level pure math for example, I think problem sets are a better indication of skill than test performance.

 

[Doughbelly]

You don't appear to grasp that we're talking about young kids LEARNING to do these things.

Sure I am. I'm the one who taught my nephews to read before they went to school. In two languages. I'm the one who taught them how to do arithmetic. Before they went to kindergarten. Well, my parents (their grandparents) did most of the work.

 

[Magooglie]

Some subjects require homework, others don't. Some subjects should have a lot more class time rather than homework.

 

[Gregolian]

Just wait till college when the kid gets 100 pages of reading for their Russian history 410 class, 200 pages of reading for their "Race and Politics" class, and mock up two briefs on big US Supreme Court cases for their "Intro to Law" 401 class... all due in two days.

 

[mjmj]

Sure I am. I'm the one who taught my nephews to read before they went to school. In two languages. I'm the one who taught them how to do arithmetic. Before they went to kindergarten. Well, my parents (their grandparents) did most of the work.

Thats not at all the same. LOL at 6 year olds should be "engaged" in reading every day.

 

[GSP_37]

Those kids are going to end up dumb and fall for fake news. Those teachers deserve paycuts. Lazy shits don't want to be bothered with grading homework.

 

[Doughbelly]

I mostly agree with this, but I do think that it varies quite a bit at the university level. When it comes to upper-level pure math for example, I think problem sets are a better indication of skill than test performance.

Well, I was being a little hyperbolic, but the point is that it is all about getting kids/students to learn for themselves on how to teach themselves. Rote repetition is all about spitting out artificial answers to artificial problems as opposed to learning how to attack a problem in a meaningful way.

Given, a little repetition is necessary, but that has less to do with homework and more to do with the learner spending time examining and re-examining a problem until they understand that this is ultimately a simple problem that have methodologies have been developed to solve, not one that has answers.

You can let kids be intimidated by decimals and fractions or you let them learn it by letting them split up dinner and count out coins on a daily basis when you go shopping. Most people just let the industrialized learning take place instead of turning everything into a learning experience.

Thats not at all the same. LOL at 6 year olds should be "engaged" in reading every day.

LOL at thinking they can't. In fact, it disturbs me that you think that they can't. Everything that a six year old sees should be a reading adventure, from store signs to restaurant menus.