Parents Complaining About Too Much Homework

[Boblobla]

Ugh, I was listening to the Eyeopener this morning on the way to work and there is a meeting of parents tonight in Lakeview I believe who think that schools are giving out too much homework. I cannot find a link to a story but this is from the Eyeopener website.

"Tonight a group calling itself the homework reform movement of Calgary is meeting to discuss whether too much homework is being assigned to school children."

I am sorry, but these parents need a nice warm glass of STFU. Homework is part of being a kid, and yes, it sucks ass, but it sucks ass for everyone. The lady that they interviewed said that they had spent the last Mothers Day and Fathers Day studying for tests. The last time I checked, these days fell on a Sunday. So now not only are you encouraging your kids to not do their homework with all of your complaining, you are showing them how to procrastinate.

They also interviewed an ex-teacher who wrote a book and she was of the opinion that Jr. High school students are at they age that they should not have to do homework because they should be enjoying life. She backed this up with the reasoning that when the 4 o'clock bell goes at work apparently everyone gets to go home...

I don't know where she got these rose coloured glasses but I will take 2 sets please. Everyone is done their work day at 4? This is your reason why kids shouldn't do homework? Even the ever polite Jim Brown was pointing out the flaws in this arguement.

Am I just being a ######? Should kids leave school and not have to think about it until they return the next day? WTF will this do to them when they have to transition to post secondary where 4-5 hours of homework is not uncommon?

[SportsJunky]

I don't have any kids but I've heard from a few friends that their kids seem to have way more homework than they remember having at the same age.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Am I just being a ######? Should kids leave school and not have to think about it until they return the next day? WTF will this do to them when they have to transition to post secondary where 4-5 hours of homework is not uncommon?

Why should kids have to do homework? Why can't most things be taught in the classroom?

Ask me to read a book on a subject and odds are I can then regurgitate that info on a test 3 days later, but 6 months from now it will be gone. Get me to do a science experiment or a participation event on the same thing and I'll remember a lot more of it for longer.

It all comes down to better and or different methods of teaching. Not every student learns the same way.

[wpgflamesfan]

Kids should actually have more homework, had I not gone to a private school for grades 11 & 12 i don't think i would have had to do more than an hour of homework or studying ever. I would get killed next year in university as I would have absolutely zero study skills. I love how these parents feel their helping their kids. Stupid, stupid people.

On a related note I hate all this alternative learning non-sense also. They always say some kids learn differently then others which is true but, at the end of the day their gonna be competing with the same kids for jobs so putting them in these alternative programs holds them back significantly and will hurt them later on in life.

Stop babying your kids, you're F***ing up society.

[burn_this_city]

I never did homework in school unless it was major assignments. Kids should be enjoying their youth rather than squandering it inside with mindless busy work.

[Boblobla]

I didn't do a lot of homework either when I was in Jr. High. That is not to say it wasn't assigned, I just didn't do it...

[Shazam]

Apparently the amount of homework is measured in hours, even in elementary. That, I think, is a little excessive, even for junior high.

Once they're in HS, pile on the work. Even then though, the vast majority of kids will never make it to post-secondary, and of the kids that do, most won't finish.

As for South Korea, their impossibly hard primary school is tempered by a post-secondary system that is a complete joke.

[Muta]

I agree with the sentiment that kids have too much homework these days. They need to have some, but not hours and hours worth...

A kid's time at that precious age is better spent playing a musical instrument or playing on a hockey or soccer team. I did this when I was in Jr. and Sr. High, and I maybe did on average about 40 mins of homework a night. Now I know that might be very little homework, but I did just fine in university and graduated with a decent GPA.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Muta

I agree with the sentiment that kids have too much homework these days. They need to have some, but not hours and hours worth...

A kid's time at that precious age is better spent playing a musical instrument or playing on a hockey or soccer team. I did this when I was in Jr. and Sr. High, and I maybe did on average about 40 mins of homework. I did just fine in university.

what kid has hours and hours of homework these days? I see the homework my sister gets and it maybe takes 15-20 minutes if you sit down and focus. Like you said 40 min of homework up to in my opinion an hour would be perfect.

[WhiteTom]

My personal feelings on the concept of homework early in academics is that it is the beginning of teaching individuals how to learn on their own. You hand a reading assignment to someone who normally never reads and, at that age, they may or may not pick up on and keep that information, however it is hopefully the beginning of developing the brain to be able to absorb this information in a meaningful way. It may even spark a desire for knowledge in this person, but I would not hold my breath for that one in junior high.

The other section of our world that you can't really cut homework, and usually tons of it, is math. I can stand up at the front of the classroom and scream at you about the importance of derivatives and vectors and how to utilize them to solve some problem, but without actually working on problems you are never going to learn how to do these things. This concept, that most people have to do math to understand math, is an important thing to drill into peoples heads early on, before they get destroyed in University.

If the parents feel that there is too much homework it can either be that this is true or that there is a severe lack of planning on their part. Like someone said, if you have a test the day after mother's day then why not study a little bit before? Studying in short bursts over a period of days is better than cramming at the last minute anyway.

Basically, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think that a higher level of homework (which may or may not be true, I sure as heck don't remember how much I did in grade 7) isn't necessarily a bad thing and shouldn't impact a child's "fun time" if the parents are enforcing a routine to get the most out of their days.

On the topic of things being bassakwards in South Korea, I'm fairly certain that Japan has the same thing going. Their students spend 7 days a week learning in and out of school, in cram schools and doing homework from elementary to high school to get into University. After getting into University or College I hear that they have it way easier then.

[Weiser Wonder]

My little brother spends hours on homework every day. Too much IMO. Give more time for recreation and extra-curricular activities like musical instruments and sports.

I hate homework now and hated it then. I don't mean studying for a class, which I've learned to enjoy somewhat as I make my way through University, but I hate doing stupid busy work.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

what kid has hours and hours of homework these days? I see the homework my sister gets and it maybe takes 15-20 minutes if you sit down and focus. Like you said 40 min of homework up to in my opinion an hour would be perfect.

There are K-9 schools in Calgary that are giving out hours of homework. Seems a bit silly.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Weiser Wonder

My little brother spends hours on homework every day.

Is it hours in one subject? Or do his teachers just need to communicate better so they can coordinate homework.

[McMack]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

what kid has hours and hours of homework these days? I see the homework my sister gets and it maybe takes 15-20 minutes if you sit down and focus. Like you said 40 min of homework up to in my opinion an hour would be perfect.

Apparently, the lady on the radio claimed that her child had hours of homework and had to drop out of all sports and extracurricular activities.

In my opinion, that participation in team sports is probably better preparation for life and worklife than extra hours of book work.

Also, most kids who go astray at University do so because they don't have any independent living skills... because their lives prior to University have been so heavily structured and scheduled.

I won't deny that an ability to tolerate excruciating hours of reading and studying is important, but so is an ability to think independently and creatively and to participate meaningfully in the classroom.

I have a child in Kindergarten, and she gets homework sent home with her at least once per week. I remember my Kindergarten well and I don't recall ever having to do homework at that age.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by fotze

I've heard that, apparently after high school you are done, easy as hell if you get into University. Seems so crazy.

My father would wonder why I was doing homework in University until 10pm every night instead of partying.

[WhiteTom]

Originally Posted by McMack

I have a child in Kindergarten, and she gets homework sent home with her at least once per week. I remember my Kindergarten well and I don't recall ever having to do homework at that age.

I don't recall having to do any either, although my memory is a bit fuzzy on what I was doing in kindergarten at all...

What kind of homework is it, if you don't mind me asking?

[enthused]

I remember getting a fair amount of homework all through school, but I also remember that I definitely didn't do it all. It was obvious that there was some stuff that was just for "practice", and if I knew the teacher assigned something that they weren't going to take in or correct, I generally didn't do it. I think I was one of those kids who could still do really well without putting in much effort though.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by WhiteTom

The other section of our world that you can't really cut homework, and usually tons of it, is math. I can stand up at the front of the classroom and scream at you about the importance of derivatives and vectors and how to utilize them to solve some problem, but without actually working on problems you are never going to learn how to do these things. This concept, that most people have to do math to understand math, is an important thing to drill into peoples heads early on, before they get destroyed in University.

Yes, but to this day I remember learning about square footage- thanks to a video (or likely a film back in the day) of pigs and their magic rope. Each was given 8 metres, and this rope would create 4 walls that were wolf-proof by only setting up 2 sides. Basically it showed that with the same 8 metres of perimeter, you could get different square footages.

As for doing math problems, why should this be done at home? Why not in the classroom? You've already said there is no point in going on and on about the thoery in class, so why not let the kids work in class.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by McMack

I have a child in Kindergarten, and she gets homework sent home with her at least once per week. I remember my Kindergarten well and I don't recall ever having to do homework at that age.

Heh, what exactly do you remember from Kendergarten?

[J pold]

She said that mostly in Jr. High the need to cut back on the homework which I totally agree with

My little brother is 14 and he does on average two hours of homework a night which is ridiculous. On most nights I’m done with my university work before he is done his Jr. High homework which is insane to me

Like the lady said he had to drop out of basketball and swimming so he could do homework

I agree with sending home a math sheet, or a passage to read but a half an hour 45 minutes, but two hours?! Give these kids a break