OT - too much homework?

[Tucson]

My feelings have nothing to do with the hours needed for sports. I feel that the work should be done in school, so that the parents AREN'T doing it.

Also, as a teacher I was required to do home visits. I saw some pretty sorry sights. If the work is done in school, it is done on an even playing field.

My kids had every opportunity in the world. I venture to say that it isn't that way in a lot of homes.

[hotwheels]

My feelings have nothing to do with the hours needed for sports. I feel that the work should be done in school, so that the parents AREN'T doing it.

Also, as a teacher I was required to do home visits. I saw some pretty sorry sights. If the work is done in school, it is done on an even playing field.

My kids had every opportunity in the world. I venture to say that it isn't that way in a lot of homes.

Well said!

[jofus]

Most kids are heavier not because of the amount of homework but because of the amount of times their parents insist on getting them McD's or Burger King for dinner 5 out of 7 nights per week....Also, how 1 double cheeseburger just isn't enough!

I agree, that is a huge part of the problem. But to imply that a lack of physical activity isn't a big factor is ridiculous, IMHO.

When you get home from work at 5:30 and practice starts at 6, sometimes it's hard to fix a good home cooked meal. We try to pack healthy "lunches" (actually dinners), during baseball/softball season that we can eat on the way to the field, but some families don't do the same thing.

[blackwidow]

A different view of the history of education in America.

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/historytour/history1.htm

[Skarp]

My feelings have nothing to do with the hours needed for sports. I feel that the work should be done in school, so that the parents AREN'T doing it.

Also, as a teacher I was required to do home visits. I saw some pretty sorry sights. If the work is done in school, it is done on an even playing field.

My kids had every opportunity in the world. I venture to say that it isn't that way in a lot of homes.

Tucson, nothing personal, but this is absolutely absurd. Homework needs to be done on an even playing field? We shouldn't assign too much homework because some kids don't have parents who will help them with it? So we should organize our educational efforts around the dumbest kid in class, or the one with the lousiest, most uninvolved parents? I think not.

School time isn't for doing homework. I'm already pissed about how much money teachers make for what they do (considering their average qualifications), so I'm damn sure not willing to pay them that much just to babysit a bunch of kids doing homework. School time is for instruction. Homework is for practicing what was instructed at school.

Most diligent students can find time to finish some or most of their homework during the school day, because the teachers teach to the mean (or worse, spend most of their time on the bottom 10%). So while the teacher is going over the most basic stuff for the umpteenth time, the kids who pay attention, keep up in class, and therefore understand it the first time can often devote their class time to finishing their assignments.

Be glad you don't live in China. You should see what those kids' days look like.

[NumeroUno]

I think 3 to 4 hours of homework a night is ridiculous. How many of you go to work all day come home and work 3 to 4 more hours? The problem is most schools are not efficient, my daughter had a test on Theodora in the year 532, who gives a sh!t about Theodora 1400 years ago. Teach her about the way the stock market works, the way the brain functions, the way to communicate with people. How about the way to motivate people and getting the best out of every individual. My sister has 6 kids, very involved with the church, they all play sports and take music lessons. They are not nerds or freaks and are socially very acceptable. Not one of her kids ever spent one day in school, she home schooled every one of them. The first day they ever stepped one foot in a class rooms was college. Two have graduated already, one with top honors and the other one with about a 3.4 gpa. She would teach them more in 4 hours at home than you would learn at school in 2 days. Why does everyone want their kid to grow up so fast? You are only a kid a very small part of your life, let them enjoy it. Help them stay young, adulthood is not all what is it made up to be.

#1

[Stubs]

Like most things it takes balance. Some kids can do well without much study or homework. Most cannot. And homework doesn't just teach the particular subject assigned. It teaches responsibility and good study habits that are so important when they go away and are on their own in college. While I agree that three or more hours of homework every night is too much (up to and including HS), an hour per night should be expected. Reading a few pages of the current history, social studies, english, etc. chapter(s) every night would help with retention and improve grades. And it would go a long way to eliminating the stress of last minute cramming.

If parents don't expect it, most kids won't do it.

[hotwheels]

I think 3 to 4 hours of homework a night is ridiculous. How many of you go to work all day come home and work 3 to 4 more hours? The problem is most schools are not efficient, my daughter had a test on Theodora in the year 532, who gives a sh!t about Theodora 1400 years ago. Teach her about the way the stock market works, the way the brain functions, the way to communicate with people. How about the way to motivate people and getting the best out of every individual. My sister has 6 kids, very involved with the church, they all play sports and take music lessons. They are not nerds or freaks and are socially very acceptable. Not one of her kids ever spent one day in school, she home schooled every one of them. The first day they ever stepped one foot in a class rooms was college. Two have graduated already, one with top honors and the other one with about a 3.4 gpa. She would teach them more in 4 hours at home than you would learn at school in 2 days. Why does everyone want their kid to grow up so fast? You are only a kid a very small part of your life, let them enjoy it. Help them stay young, adulthood is not all what is it made up to be.

Although I don't necessarily agree with all of this post.....One thing is for sure...ADULTHOOD DOES SUCK DOESN'T IT?.......I would much rather stay home all day myself and play Xbox and watch replays of th 88 World Series....Go Dodgers......Sorry.....Dreaming out loud

#1

[NumeroUno]

I agree

[Tucson]

But many schools push to "finish the book" for no other reason than getting it completed.

I can remember times that a teacher would have liked to teach something a little outside of the lesson plans and were told, "No, because you won't get the book finished."

Teachers are forced to teach "this and that" because it is on the SAT. I feel that teachers are pretty well hamstrung with what they can teach.

I can't think of many teachers that aren't worth the salary that they make. The headaches that they face during the day aren't worth it..

I had a kindergarten class where 3 little girls were being molested at home. It came down to that taking up ALL of my time.

We need to reach the kids that have the least. Sending home pages and pages of work the kids might not be able to complete, isn't the way.

The school district that I grew up in, thought that they had it figured out. All 142 of us were divided up by ability. We were in sections 1-6, with 6 being the highest. We were taught to our ability and everyone succeeded, because the lessons were different.

That was the late 60s and as you can imagine, it was quickly abolished but it worked well (I thought) at the time.