Homework: Worthwhile or Worthless?

[disney junky]

What do you think?

 

[merrily]

Depends. If it is reinforcing what is learned in the classroom and not busy work it is useful. I do not think that children should have to spend hours doing homework.

 

[Poohnatic]

The actual homework itself may not be worthwhile, but the mechanics of doing homework-definitely!

I was one of those kids who did fantastic in school without cracking a book and I hardly ever did homework. I was in for a rude awakening in college.

As a result, my kids come home and know they don't get to do anything else until the homework is done. Sometimes I think the work is a waste, but they still have to do it (without my opinion).

Suzanne

 

[PiRSquared]

Depends on the age of kid and type of HW but in general I think it is worthwhile. I have to admit -- I am a teacher, high school math and science to be exact. If you don't practice the problems at home without the teacher there helping you, you probably won't understand it well enough for a test.

Now elementary school--they should have some to get in the habit of setting aside a small part of the day to think about school but it shouldn't take long.

Also homework should NEVER be busy work and it should always get some sort of grade. For my classes your grade is effort. If you finished you get a 100 even if you got every problem wrong. Homework should be a learning time for math.

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

It can be worthwhile.

This used to annoy me: Teachers would yell at kids (for various reasons) for interrupting the "teachers time". Teachers would say that the kids had to wait until "their time". Well, isn't homework being assigned in the "kids time"?

I did hate when I would have homework, but they woundn't bother reviewing it at all. Some wouldn't collect it. So I did all that work, but no knowledge if I even did it correctly.

 

[chrissyk]

I say worthwhile, DH says worthless. I think that it's worthwhile as long as it's relevant, age appropriate, and not excessive. I wouldn't give a first grader 2 hours a night, for instance.

 

[GeorgeG]

I managed to get through high school doing as little homework as I could get away with... most of the time (got kicked out half way through my second year of Spanish for refusing to do homework even though my grade average was well above passing). Most of my focus then, and now, was on music.

College was different! I went on the G.I. Bill in my late twenties and my attitude toward learning was much better. The homework was much more intense, but also much more necessary. I was also at an age where I was able to communicate better with the teachers. I would sometimes challenge my sociology teacher, something the younger students thought was insane. At the end of the semester she told me she would set me up because the unexpected interaction (expected reaction from me) always woke the rest of the class up.

Then there was work. I would sometimes take work home because I could get more done without the constant interruptions.

Now, in retirement, I still do a lot at home for my music ventures because it's very much a labor of love. No more "day job" to get in the way.

 

[Skatermom23]

I think it is worthwhile if it isn't busy work.

My DD in 8th grade had a homework assignment last week that required some coloring. She carefully colored this thing but one area needed to be orange and she didn't have an orange marker, so she used a yellow/orange. It looked fine to me! Teacher docked her 5 points! Stuff like that drives me crazy!

 

[snowball22]

I think it is worthwhile if relevant. If the homework reinforces what is taught in class, then I think it is appropriate. What I can't stand is when the kids bring home word searches and goofy math puzzles that take an hour to do.

 

[Daxx]

As a Kdg. teacher, I only give homework to reinforce what is learned in class. That means a page of math that has 3 or 4 items on it, a printing sheet where they have to print a letter we're working on 5 times. Nothing that should take a child more than 5 mins. I only give one piece of homework a night and no homework over the weekend.

As a teacher, I can find some kind of learning quality in most of the projects that others find "useless" when it comes to other homework/projects.

Even something as "silly" as coloring hones motor skills. Something as "frivolous" as a word search brings in analysis and thinking skills. Yeah, it might suck that your kid has to do a word search, but it helps in analytical thinking, exercises the brain and prepares them for the time when they will have to sit through tasks that take them longer than 3 minutes.

 

[Hedy]

I think it is worthwhile if it isn't busy work.

My DD in 8th grade had a homework assignment last week that required some coloring. She carefully colored this thing but one area needed to be orange and she didn't have an orange marker, so she used a yellow/orange. It looked fine to me! Teacher docked her 5 points! Stuff like that drives me crazy!

Honestly, I think that's an important lesson for your daughter to learn before high school-instructions are instructions.
If you're really concerned about your child's homework, bring it up with your child's teacher--don't whine about it on the DIS.

 

[punkin]

The way it is done now, it is completely worthless. I have seen some (very few) worthwhile assignments. My DD8 is currently in a school with minimal homework policy and almost no testing. The homework they do assign is worthwile. I am very happy.

DD14 (9th grade public high school) does homework while watching TV, listening to music, talking on the phone, and IMing her friends; all at the same time. She is in Honors Math (Geometry) and English and is keeping an A- average. Any homework that can be done with so little attention is a waste of everybody's time.

 

[Daxx]

The way it is done now, it is completely worthless. I have seen some (very few) worthwhile assignments. My DD8 is currently in a school with minimal homework policy and almost no testing. The homework they do assign is worthwile. I am very happy.

DD14 (9th grade public high school) does homework while watching TV, listening to music, talking on the phone, and IMing her friends; all at the same time. She is in Honors Math (Geometry) and English and is keeping an A- average. Any homework that can be done with so little attention is a waste of everybody's time.

No testing and minimal homework policy. Wow! I have teacher friends who test (b/c it's required), but many grade based on homework and class participation. If you have minimal homework and no tests, what is her grade based on? What methods are the teachers using to base grades on aside from classroom participation or work done in the classroom to determine grades? How are they grading retention of materials presented in class? This interests me as our school is v. testing oriented. Do you have mandatory state exams?

 

[noodleknitter]

Usually worthless. Finishing work started in class, fine. But issuing work just to work is silliness. It is entirely subjective, class by class, and oftentimes does nothing but reinforce problem areas.

Also takes time from families. Kids don't play after school anymore, they work. We wonder why so many kids are disconnected, and families dysfunctional, when many spend a minimal amt. of time actually interacting.

If you're really concerned about your child's homework, bring it up with your child's teacher--don't whine about it on the DIS.

Wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Everyone whines about everything on the Dis...rudeness is against the rules...sarcasm, yes...but they don't mention whining.

 

[gina2000]

Homework is enormously worthwhile. In the lower grades it can be used at a reinforcement of concepts learned in class. It's especially useful in math drills and basic skills.

Homework in middle school is used to assess understanding and reasoning. It is also used to further a child's knowledge and foster natural curiosity especially in language arts That is, if the parents support it and the child does it.

The kids that do their homework are the ones who excell in the classes I teach. And they're also the ones who have curiousity and will ask questions to expand class discussions.

 

[disykat]

The best homework years my kids had in elementary school was when the teacher required them to read, write in their journals, and practice math facts. No packet or worksheets, just a piece of paper where they wrote down the time spent on these endeavors and I signed it at the end of the week.

My boys read books of their own choosing, wrote stories, and beefed up their speed at math as they got better at math facts. I was a very happy camper. Other years it always seemed like I was having to say things like "stop writing that story and go do your worksheets!" It just didn't make sense.

 

[taximomfor4]

Well, while some is helpful in providing repetition (which may lead to mastery for some skillsets), another value in it is: it makes the kids practice time management, organization, and planning...and teaches about deadlines, which exist in the real world.

 

[punkin]

No testing and minimal homework policy. Wow! I have teacher friends who test (b/c it's required), but many grade based on homework and class participation. If you have minimal homework and no tests, what is her grade based on? What methods are the teachers using to base grades on aside from classroom participation or work done in the classroom to determine grades? How are they grading retention of materials presented in class? This interests me as our school is v. testing oriented. Do you have mandatory state exams?

DD8 is in 3rd grade in a private Montessori school. There are no grades. We get assessments based on classwork and teacher interaction with the child. State tests are not required because the school receives no funding from the state or the feds whatsoever.

 

[Maleficent13]

If you're really concerned about your child's homework, bring it up with your child's teacher--don't whine about it on the DIS.

The OP asked for opinions about homework...the poster offered one.

 

[noodleknitter]

I agree, that a well-considered project can help master planning and dealing with a deadline.

I think it is silly, though, to think that busywork teaches time-management. If you want kids to use their time wisely, don't have them waste it doing repetive drills, etc., once they show they have mastered a skill. Speaking primarily of math skills, but including grammar, etc.