When kids get home from school, the topic of homework arises. Homework causes parents and children much stress as much of the problem lies in the fact that they believe that there is either too much HW or not enough. HW should be something that kids do to enhance their knowledge, to broaden and expand upon what they have learned at school. However, this type of enrichment shouldn’t take more than an hour out of your child’s afternoon/evening. Research indicates that there is no relationship between the amount of HW given to students and their achievement in school. Therefore, any more than an hour a day will cause burn out and negative feelings toward school and toward parents who try to enforce the HW rules, something that no one wants.
Furthermore, HW shouldn’t be rote drill and practice worksheets, like 50 math problems for example, that make them sit at their desks doing the same thing over and over. That type of drill and kill practice will not help your child learn their math any better and, again, will cause your child to hate the subject that is being pushed upon them. Rather, 10 problems is sufficient to practice a skill that they learned that day in school, any more is a waste of time.
Furthermore, HW shouldn’t be rote drill and practice worksheets, like 50 math problems for example, that make them sit at their desks doing the same thing over and over. That type of drill and kill practice will not help your child learn their math any better and, again, will cause your child to hate the subject that is being pushed upon them. Rather, 10 problems is sufficient to practice a skill that they learned that day in school, any more is a waste of time.
If you are a teacher you have it in your power to have kids engage in HW that builds upon their learning rather than drills it. Have them investigate something at home, interview a parent or friend, begin, continue, or complete a project so that your students are engaged with their parents at home, or have them make up their own math problems similar to ones that they are working on in school. Or, if all fails a really great way to have kids learn at home is to simply have your students read a book or article with their parents and write about what they learned or read to share in class, what better way to have kids learn?
Finally, HW should not take away from children’s time to be both active and creative. Research shows that physical activity, imagination, ingenuity and play all enhance learning. So easily we think of child’s play as a waste of time, something that kids do when real learning has already taken place. But it isn’t! These are opportunities for our children to grow socially, emotionally and physically. For younger children, play is a fundamental part of learning. They learn from the interaction and they learn from pretending to be or do something that is beyond their age grade or level, both practicing and developing their knowledge of the world around them. With older children, physical activity is essential in learning. Not only do they develop their coordination, stamina and strength, but also they develop their abilities to focus, work together, and cooperate with others on a team or individually. And, this physical activity builds their self-esteem, and helps develop essential life skills needed to be successful in and out of school. What better HW is there than that?
References:
Cooper, Harris; Lindsay, James J.; Nye, Barbara; Greathouse, Scott. (1998). Relationships among attitudes about homework, amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement.
Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol 90(1), 70-83. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.90.1.70
www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/rethinkinghomework.htm
