<p>“lost so much of their childhood to time-wasting stuff”</p>
<p>Thank you. I agree that math (and foreign language) require repetition before they become second nature. But all that silly busywork in reading and social studies and even in science…what a waste.</p>
<p>I like doubleplay’s suggestion of 2 grades–one for HW and one for tested material. My kids would have liked it too.</p>
<p>If I were an elementary school teacher, I would differentiate in subjects such as spelling. My kids read a lot and already knew all the spelling words. Instead of busywork, they could have gone through the NYTimes looking for new words. :)</p>
<p>I hated HW when my kids were in elementary school. I felt it was more a test of my abilities to parent, and supervise, than of the child’s ability to be responsible or grasp the concepts. How could it be otherwise when the child is a 5 year old in kindergarten? We live in a diverse district (by any measure) and homework in early grades was another way for kids without structure or resources at home to fail. Those may or may not have been the students who most needed to reinforce the day’s lessons by doing homework, but they tended to be the students who didn’t turn in the work and suffered the consequences. Then there were the teachers in later years who didn’t go over homework, so what was the point of that? </p>
<p>S. learned, through homework in h.s., that not all assignments are created equal and he had to prioritize and leave some things undone. That is a valuable lesson to learn before entering the workforce.</p>
<p>In the long run, effort is a very important component of success.</p>
<p>For this reason, I’m in favor of grading systems at the elementary, middle and high school levels that reward effort as well as other traditiontal measures of performance.</p>
<p>We sent our kids to private school through 8th grade, where there were no grades, almost no tests, and almost no homework (none before 5th grade). In 5th grade, there were weekly spelling tests with lists customized for each student, and that was it. In 6th grade, there was a meteorology unit where they had to listen to a lecture, take notes, and take a test, so they could know what that was like. They also had weekly writing assignments in 6th grade, which some kids did at school but most worked on at home. And so on. Overall, the kids spent about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of each school day on academic work. The rest was spent mostly on outdoor play and art/craft activities.</p>
<p>These kids go on to public and private high schools and do fine. They still have a lot of energy for school when they reach 9th grade, when some of their peers are tired of school by that point. I really think you don’t have to practice doing homework for years and years just so you’ll know how to do it in high school or college. Better to do it when it’s meaningful and important for what you’re trying to learn.</p>
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<p>I agree. As is prioritizing and time management, which in the lower grades, as well as the higher grades, are all things homework teaches.</p>
<p>School, including homework, was my S’s job. His privileges depended on him getting his job done adequately. He was told and understood that the teacher was essentially his boss and that the assignments were part of his job.</p>
<p>S was required to get everything done, but he got to organize the when and how. Did he stumble at first? Yes, he “forgot” homework assignments, but at his private school, after 3 homeworks in a six weeks were missed, Saturday detention set in. Early his first year (4th grade) he missed enough assignments that he served several weekend detentions in a row. He never did that again. He got the message. He arranged his life to get things done. </p>
<p>He is a freshman in college this year and has had no transition problems with time management and prioritizing his studies with the other activites he has chosen.</p>
<p>Homework is a larger lesson than the substantive work. And, since S learned early on to get his work done and got to set his routine, he got all the time to play, take taekwondo, etc. that he wanted. Believe me, he never spent more time on homework than absolutely necessary to get it done right. AND, we didn’t have to nag him!</p>