Calgary family negotiates NO homework for kids

[yads]

Originally Posted by valo403

Or she has a teacher that's much better at managing an appropriate level of homework for her students?

So the answer is to write up a contract against homework?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by yads

So the answer is to write up a contract against homework?

If that's what it takes to come to an agreement that allows your kids to perform at their best level, yes.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by yads

So the answer is to write up a contract against homework?

Well if you read the article you would notice the parents sat on a "homework" committee and apparently nothing materialized.

They then decided to take appropriate steps in order to ensure their kids got the learning experience they wanted.

The idea of the contract was likely just as much as the school's idea as it was the parents.

This way, if the kid acts up, or doesn't finish work in class, or starts performing poorly, the school can argue that they are not holding up their end of the bargain.

[flip]

I was mostly in AP classes in HS and as such never had homework. All classes were marked similar to University (midterm, paper, final or just unit tests).

If I would have taken regular classes and had to do homework I would have failed because I never did homework.

So I guess I do agree somewhat with what the parents did here. However I get the feeling they are just loser helicopter parents.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by flip

I was mostly in AP classes in HS and as such never had homework. All classes were marked similar to University (midterm, paper, final or just unit tests).

If I would have taken regular classes and had to do homework I would have failed because I never did homework.

So I guess I do agree somewhat with what the parents did here. However I get the feeling they are just loser helicopter parents.

Well said. I agree with everyone - the parents are losers AND homework is useless...

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by yads

My sister is currently in grade 9 and is also on the national rhythmic gymnastics team. What that means is that 5 days a week she is at Talisman centre training for 3+ hours and that doesn't include national and international competitions. Yet she still finds time to do homework and gets marks in the 90s in every subject. She also has lots of friends and finds time to hang out with them.

Good for her. (And I mean that.)

However the system that may work for one kid may not work for another. That was always my problem with the school system; it focuses on one way of educating- and if you cannot conform then too bad. And to me that is what this is about more than anything, making education systems diversify their approaches so that no kid gets left behind.

One thing I have haerd in this thread is some teachers saying "I never give more than an hour of homework." Well, if a kid has 6 subjects; and maybe is a little slow in one or two he will have 6-8 hours of homework.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by bcb

At a young age, kids don'
t have an innate sense of personal accountability. That's why they're forced to do homework.

Personally, I think assigning homework is a terrible way to develop personal accountability. Personal accountability is developed by facing the consequences of not being accountable and learning from those consequences.

[flamingreen]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Good for her. (And I mean that.)

However the system that may work for one kid may not work for another. That was always my problem with the school system; it focuses on one way of educating- and if you cannot conform then too bad. And to me that is what this is about more than anything, making education systems diversify their approaches so that no kid gets left behind.

One thing I have haerd in this thread is some teachers saying "I never give more than an hour of homework." Well, if a kid has 6 subjects; and maybe is a little slow in one or two he will have 6-8 hours of homework.

Just thought it was funny you used those choice of words with the type of school system your suggesting.

[troutman]

I'd like a ban on the avalanche of memos, newsletters, fundraising requests, volunteer forms, pizza lunch orders, agendas, book catalogues, etc that come home with the kids every day.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by troutman

I'd like a ban on the avalanche of memos, newsletters, fundraising requests, volunteer forms, pizza lunch orders, agendas, book catalogues, etc that come home with the kids every day.

Yeah, but you're the most fun dad in the world, so your vote doesnt count.

[ma-skis.com]

seems like there's a lot of information missing from the story for us to accurately understand the reasoning behind the contract... could be a teacher / principal off their rocker about homework, could be hyper involved parents, could be the media being the stupid media again like with h1n1... (have they cured that yet?)

[bcb]

Originally Posted by redforever

Personally, I think assigning homework is a terrible way to develop personal accountability. Personal accountability is developed by facing the consequences of not being accountable and learning from those consequences.

The consequence of not doing homework in the classes I teach are, lost marks on 'surprise' homework checks and not being prepared for exams.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by bcb

The consequence of not doing homework in the classes I teach are, lost marks on 'surprise' homework checks and not being prepared for exams.

What do surprise homework checks teach? And why should marks be assigned for same?

Assuming some students need to do extra preparation, practise, study for exams, whatever, they will already have to face the consequences of bad achievement on exams if they don't do so. So why dock them twice?

I am not saying all homework or extra work is bad, but it can also be busy work and I see no purpose in that whatsoever. Let the family or student decide on busy work in their free time.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by bcb

The consequence of not doing homework in the classes I teach are, lost marks on 'surprise' homework checks and not being prepared for exams.

So a student that fully grasps a concept should continue to go through the motions on these homework assignments at the expense of more valuable study/activities? What purpose does that serve?

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by valo403

So a student that fully grasps a concept should continue to go through the motions on these homework assignments at the expense of more valuable study/activities? What purpose does that serve?

A student that fully grasps a concept would've finished everything in class, or take 15 minutes to do a homework assignment. It's a bit of repetition but no big deal for anyone that understands the concept.

It is only people that don't understand the concept where homework assignment becomes "hours of work" where you need to get your parents involved. That means that it actually is quite beneficial.

From the context in the article, it really seems like the kids in the article fall into the second group of students.

[Jagger]

I haven't read this entire thread but, as a parent of four, I can actually understand where these parents are coming from, to an extent.

My eldest was given a ridiculous amount of homework in grade two. We're talking homework taking three hours or so every night. Talk about weepy. It was terrible. We had to go to the school to fight this too. Turns out that every child in that class were having issues with this but most parents were too passive to do anything about it. The principal had to get involved and the teacher ended up giving only about half hour to an hour's worth every night. That's realistic, the other was not.

[Mr.Coffee]

Man, if I was a teacher I'd assign 6 hours of homework a night, kick up the feet at my desk, tell the kids to keep it down, open up the newspaper and sip on coffee.

What's the worst that could happen?? They don't fire teachers, right?


Just kidding. Seriously I see both sides of the argument so I truly have no idea where I stand and I find I'm just reading and agreeing with everything. Looks like I'm lined up to be a terrible, clueless father. Although these days I'm rocking a beard that makes fotze look like he's in kindergarten. So the beard should command respect at least.

[bcb]

Originally Posted by valo403

So a student that fully grasps a concept should continue to go through the motions on these homework assignments at the expense of more valuable study/activities? What purpose does that serve?

In my applied math class, 95% of students need to reinforce concepts learned in class.

Perhaps the only flaw in my system is that I'm offering a reward to students for doing what they should naturally do.

Anyway, I venture cutting up fliers for homework could be considered busy work. Doing extra math problems is not.

And if a parent ever challenges my homework policy, claiming their kid already knows the material, I'll simply question why they are in applied, not pure math.

[peter12]

The public education system, outside of the sciences and math, is basically a joke anyway.

Kids beliefs need to be challenged through a reading classical literature and philosophy. It's absolutely sad how the humanities and arts have been watered down to mere geography and history, instead of focusing on reading, writing, and critical self-awareness.

We can harp on the parents of these kids, but really, they are just the most current visible casualty of an education system which depends more on comfort than knowledge.

[Clarkey]

Kids sit in class for 6 or 7 hours a day. That should be enough, why does an 8 year old need to be doing school work at home after sitting at a desk for that many hours. I rarely did homework until highschool and turned out fine, I got into university, got my degree and got a decent job. I work with people who I know were automatons in school from grade 1, studying, memorizing and overstressing and they are still that way today, they can't think rationally. I'm not going to get too caught up with my kids when they enter school.

Adults need work/life balance and so do kids (moreso). Kids working overtime is bullshart, the evenings should be for playing, sports, socializing etc. This stuff is more important than memorizing how to spell mississippi.