Homework is wrecking our kids: The research is clear, let’s ban elementary homework

[tonni]

Basic math in elementary school is taught different.
Where even the teachers and parents have to take a class to learn it.
It's frustrating, advanced and not effective at that level .

Remember subtracting 2 digit numbers where you had to cross out one number to borrow a one.

Gone gone gone

I can't even explain the way they do it today. Tens and ones columns, much more writing and steps. Boxes with numbers in them.

When I was in college 10 years ago I took a math class that taught these new methods.
It was interesting at the college level to see other options, but it was a more advanced form. Hard to grasp, real out of the box ways of doing simple math .

Now in first grade these kids are being taught this way. You can even see the frustration in the teachers trying to teach such an advanced way to young children .
There are better, simple ways to introduce basic math.
Counting on fingers for the little ones even.

And when these elementary kids have homework . Forget about any parents knowing this method . Schools have to offer classes for parents to go over the new method of elementary math.

I'll look up this new way.

 

[Stoic1]

As the parent of a 1yr old I am rrading this thread intently.

 

[ShoelessRye]

10 minutes for every grade level maximum per night.

Ie 10 minutes for first graders, 20 minutes for second graders...90 minutes for ninth graders, two hours for 12th graders.

 

[ultramanhyata]

No, South Korea is 2nd in the world and have the lowest homework per hour.

That's just because most SK kids are working in school up to 12 hours a day. I had the chance to meet a SK college student once and we talked about his childhood. He said it was the norm. I was shocked.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

That's just because most SK kids are working in school up to 12 hours a day. I had the chance to meet a SK college student once and we talked about his childhood. He said it was the norm. I was shocked.

He may be a blast from the past because as far as I can tell SK has shorter daily school hours than the US -- they may have longer school years though. I couldn't find a good global comparison site yesterday.

 

[panamaican]

Maybe the issue isn't the existence of homework but the type of homework. Homework that teaches responsibility but strengthens the type of things that do have benefits. For example, a homework assignment that asks the child to learn one thing about their parent to share with the classroom. It teaches responsibility but relies on parent/child engagement and strengthens family relationships. I'm sure motivated teachers can construct assignments that do that far more creatively than I can.

 

[usmctanker242]

This is interesting because I learned more from my parents than I did from my teachers. I'm not suggesting that young kids need hours of homework, but I certainly think getting the parents involved with what the kids are learning in school is a good thing. A very easy way of accomplishing this is through a 10-15 minute "worksheet" for homework. Otherwise the parents are kept out of the loop for the most part and I think that would be a huge problem.

 

[usmctanker242]

If ramped up to correctly it can build up freakish work ethic.

In college I ran into a few people who could study for eight or nine hours straight without a test looming over them within the next 72 hours.

Damn... my entire class would meet up about 3 hours before a test and it would be a massive cram session. I can't even comprehend studying without a test looming. The way most of my coursework was designed was that the homework / lab work would prepare you for the test, so in theory doing that work was pretty much studying for the test.

 

[val_lixembeau]

It was funny, he had a reading log in kindergarten as well.

At the end of the school year, the teacher gave out prizes for the kids that read the most books.

The winner got just around 180 books read.

It was hysterical. It was clear to everyone there that the parents cooked the books. But, no one called out the kid (or teacher) on the sham.

What's so unbelievable about this? Let's do some back of the envelope...

Over 9 months of school, you have roughly 9*30 or 270 days. Lets subtract three weeks for first week, Christmas, and last week of school, and you still have about 250 days. That's less than one book a day. In kindergarten, even senior kindergarten, you could have books that are very short, with only a single, short, simple sentence per page. That's less than one easy book per day.

Even if you take off weekends, you have roughly 9*4 weeks with 5 days per week or 180 days. That's still only roughly a book a day (ok a little more if you subtract those three weeks I mentioned above).

Anybody who had less than that just wasn't trying.

 

[method115]

I think homework should be a bit more optional or extra credit type of thing for students. That way if a student or his parents feel he needs to work on a subject a bit more he can if not then he can skip it.

In highschool I stopped doing homework eventually. If I couldn't get it done during school I just didn't do it.

 

[cabear]

Half my class doesn't do the homework assigned anyways and their parents just cover for the kids. Then wonder why the kid doesn't know anything.

 

[Swing]

In math, I think we could honestly cut the content in half. Focus on the important parts that require students to think instead of regurgitating tons of equation whose origins they don't even really understand.

Use the saved time for in class homework and give the occasional bit of work to take home. Teach a kid to think properly and there's no need to inundate him with equations; he'll know how to use them when he sees them.

 

[ElKarlo]

How about we replace homework with an actual respect for education in this country?

That's hard. As most of my schooling was time filling nonsense.

 

[SaiWa]

The problem is at a young age they need to brute force memorize the basics (addition and multiplication tables) before attempted anything else. That's the foundation of math and often than not I am seeing kids who do not have that shit on lock down.

They're counting with their fuckin' fingers at times! There's no way to build good math knowledge if they don't know what 7x6 is off the top of their head...

 

[Yellowking]

I think a reasonable 1-1.5 hours of homework a day is fine. I had elementary school teachers that loaded me with 2-3 hours of homework a night. It was crazy.

Kids need an opportunity to develop and enjoy their own interests also, and to be physically active for a few hours each day between school sessions.

 

[Grrrr]

Basic math in elementary school is taught different.
Where even the teachers and parents have to take a class to learn it.
It's frustrating, advanced and not effective at that level .

Remember subtracting 2 digit numbers where you had to cross out one number to borrow a one.

Gone gone gone

I can't even explain the way they do it today. Tens and ones columns, much more writing and steps. Boxes with numbers in them.

When I was in college 10 years ago I took a math class that taught these new methods.
It was interesting at the college level to see other options, but it was a more advanced form. Hard to grasp, real out of the box ways of doing simple math .

Now in first grade these kids are being taught this way. You can even see the frustration in the teachers trying to teach such an advanced way to young children .
There are better, simple ways to introduce basic math.
Counting on fingers for the little ones even.

And when these elementary kids have homework . Forget about any parents knowing this method . Schools have to offer classes for parents to go over the new method of elementary math.

I went through this exact thing with my youngest when he was in elementary school. When he got to middle school his teachers didn't care what method he used as long as he could show the work to his answers

 

[SaiWa]

No, South Korea is 2nd in the world and have the lowest homework per hour.

I've mentioned this before but a buddy of mine who went to school in SK told me teachers beat him for answering questions too slowly.. not incorrectly.. too slowly. he claimed that he was one of the worst students in his classes and once he came over to the US he was one of the top students.

Same thing with another friend from HK. He told me he was almost dead last in grades and then once he came over to the US school was super easy. Both became engineers like me.. lol

 

[Metusalemi]

Reading this thread feels like homework.

 

[Bloodworth]

I went through this exact thing with my youngest when he was in elementary school. When he got to middle school his teachers didn't care what method he used as long as he could show the work to his answers

Lol. Got to show your work. But for the little ones it's too complicated of a method.
It seems they are making things more difficult then they need to be.

 

[n...not crazy]

Yeah I'm torn on homework. Research has pretty much proven it serves no purpose, but I do think some homework can help a kid to become more responsible.

Schools teach academics, parents teach life skills. Deal?

Projects are cool for elementary kids, but homework is a drag. They're 7 years old, jesus. Let them exercise or something when they get home. Or, you know, let their parents decide what they should be doing instead of loading them up with boring shit.