Once again, research is failing to validate a long-cherished belief. This time it’s in the realm of education, and it’s hitting that beloved icon of diligence and superior achievement: homework. Apparently, homework doesn’t really help kids learn all that much. Like my cousin pointed out when she passed along the article to her homeschooling family members, even though this research is about students in traditional school settings, it is definitely worth thinking about for homeschoolers, too. We are often subject to the same pitfalls, especially when we let our worry over drifting too far from educational norms shackle us to bad ideas we haven’t really thought through. Check out The Truth About Homework by Alfie Kohn.
Doing Our Homework on Homework7 comments to Doing Our Homework on Homework |
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That was a good article!!!
I will talk about my own schooling experience! When I was in high school, I was involved in lots of things, swimming team (both our school and our provincial team), synchronize swimming team, water polo team, student council, I was a tutor and held a part time job!!!! Needless to say that I was not sleeping much nor doing any homework (or any housework for that matter LOL)
My teachers and Parents had a agreement that if I could do all these activities and still keep my grade above 96% in all subject I would not need to do homework.
To everyone surprise I graduated with a average of 98.7% got lots of scholarship etc… When people ask my parent how did I find time to study for all my tests etc… My parent would giggle and say “she never study at all!!!!”
But I also could point out the I NEVER missed a single class, was attentive during them and try to get the most out of it. I learn more by what I hear, so during tests and exam, I could reply in my head the part where the teacher was explaining the answered and there you go!
But I think each person has his/her own way of learning and teachers or homeschooling parents should adapt the way of transmitting information according to each individual style.
Excellent article! This one line really hit home for me:
“kids are regarded as inert objects to be acted on”
This attitude is prevalent at my daughter’s school, unfortunately, and in my opinion it is getting worse.
Adele
My favorite quote: “Lots of practice can help some students get better at remembering an answer, but not to get better at – or even accustomed to — thinking.”
That’s similar to what I tell people often regarding homeschooling vs. public school: conventional schools cram students full of information to then regurgitate, but homeschooling provides an atmosphere where students can learn to learn (not to mention think for themselves!) and love it along the way!
It is funny that alot of PS parents will comment that they don’t have time to HS their kids – then on weekends and evenings they can never join our family for different fun events because there is so much homework to do!
I often point out that homework isn’t needed in HS because we have time during the day to complete our lessons – there is a better ratio of teacher to student
)
I have been for a while looking into different theories on education; since I have three little ones that I plan to homeschool, the oldest of them is 4yrs. I really appreciate posts like this one; thank you Mrs. Parunak.
I have come to the conclusion that I won’t start formal education until my children are 7yrs, as that’s the age when they, apparently, are ready to learn; again, this is my decision and i don’t criticize anyone who chooses to do otherwise.
I’d like to share two things that expand on the idea i just shared; the name of a book by a renowned ex-teacher John Taylor Gatto, “Dumbing Us Down”, and a link to an article http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2007/10/28/rush_little_baby?s_campaign=8315
Soon-to-be homeschooler mom,
That was a great article. Thanks for passing it on.
I thought I should mention that many states have compulsory school ages younger than seven years. You might want to look into the Homeschool Legal Defense Association for their advice on navigating the educational laws in your particular state.
May the Lord bless you on your homeschooling journey!
Didn’t have time to read the entire article, so I may not be aligning myself very well. I teach a study skills class, and we are trying to teach kids how to achieve more in less time. Some concepts require a sufficient amount of “practice” to achieve mastery. In that case, the amount of practice work varies from child to child and subject to subject. But merely assigning busy work for the sake of busy work is an enigma in good educational theory.