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Excessive amounts of homework given on weekends, over school breaks and during the summer was a topic brought up by several angry parents at a recent Board of Education meeting in my hometown.
Here’s a sampling of what high school kids are expected to accomplish these days—and this is during the summer when school is supposedly in recess:
Tenth grade English students were required to read two Ibsen plays and keep a journal identifying characters and themes. If that was not enough, they were also asked to write a comparison paper about the two plays. Due date: first day of school.
The 10th grade History summer work involved reading a non-fiction book (no less than 250 pages) and writing a three-page reaction paper.
There was also a rather lengthy and complicated Mandarin assignment (as if the language isn’t difficult enough!) involving keeping a journal and character writing.
Ninth Grade Biology students were required to cover 13 chapters during the summer, define all new terms (several in each chapter), complete all questions at the end of each section and were given a test worth 20 percent of the 1st marking period grade on DAY 2 of school. There were also very specific instructions about how the assignment was to be typed (14 point font, etc) and assembled (neatly, in a binder) and handed in on DAY 1 of school.
Over April break this same family was stressed out by a research project (assigned the Friday before break; due the Monday after break) made increasingly complicated since they were vacationing in remote Bryce Canyon at the time.
Listening to this mom made me happy my kids aren’t in high school yet but what about first graders (like my sister’s son)—who don’t arrive home from the school bus until 4 p.m.—being expected to tackle ½ hour of homework plus daily reading after school? To me, that’s just plain excessive.
According to Alfie Kohn, the author of The Homework Myth, there is very little evidence supporting the correlation between homework and higher test scores (in elementary and middle school there simply is no evidence in support of the assumption). So, what’s the point? Expert Kohn puts it this way:
It’s hard to deny that an awful lot of homework is exceptionally trying for an awful lot of children. Some are better able than others to handle the pressure of keeping up with a continuous flow of work, getting it all done on time, and turning out products that will meet with approval. Likewise, some assignments are less unpleasant than others. But in general, as one parent put it, homework simultaneously “overwhelms struggling kids and removes joy for high achievers.” Even reading for pleasure loses its appeal when children are told how much, or for how long, they must do it.
Hmmm, the guy’s got a point.
Two national organizations—the National PTA and the National Education Association—recommend no more than 20 minutes of homework per day from k’garten through 3rd grade (20 to 40 minutes per day from 4th to 6th). Rosie Young, Ed.D., former president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals says a good rule of thumb is 10 minutes of homework times the year in school. “So 20 minutes for a second grader; 30 minutes for a 3rd grader,
