What’s The Right Amount of Homework?
In a recent survey, fifth-graders in Minnesota spent slightly more than four hours a week on homework–significantly less than the six hours in Sendai, Japan and a vastly smaller amount of time than the thirteen hours in Taipei.
Research in the last decade has begun to focus on the relationship between homework and student achievement and has greatly strengthened the case for homework. Although there are mixed findings about whether homework actually increases students’ academic achievement, many teachers and parents agree that homework develops students’ initiative and responsibility and fulfills the expectations of students, parents, and the public. Studies generally have found homework assignments to be most helpful if they are carefully planned by the teachers and have direct meaning to students.
But, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, there is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary school students achieve academic success and that it helps older students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll on America’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, and exercise time they need for proper physical, emotional, and neurological development. And it is a hidden cause of the childhood obesity epidemic, creating a nation of “homework potatoes.”
What do you think? I would also like to know what the parents think as well. There are no right or wrong answers.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Ideally, little homework is a good idea for family life. We like our children to do other activities and fellowship with other children too. Sometimes when kids get too bogged down with homework, they get trapped in their rooms and confined to a desk. This confinement resticts their growing and it also decreases the amount of educational retention. From what I understand, physical movement after didactic learning increases retention time.
I agree that most of the school work should take place in school. However, I like that homework gives us, as parents, a glimpse into the daily lives our children are living for the 6 hours they are not with us. I believe it gets us involved and in their heads as well. We can also find ways to incorporate the lessons that they are learning at school into daily life.
I love that we have a way to correspond with teachers!
August 11th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I would have to agree with Bennett & Kalish. Although homework is important, I believe the child should not spend more than an hour doing homework so that he/she has time for family, sports, personal, etc. My child already gets home late from school and when there is a load of homework, she has no “downtime” to spend with her family and before we know it, its bedtime.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
The story does represent two sides to the homework theory that is interesting. We think that being well rounded in all areas is just as important as being intelligent. So homework for us is good, but we also like the idea that most of the learning takes place in school. The additional take home work should be to reinforce the lesson and to see if the children are having difficulty in that area.
This would allow the homework to not consume so much time that they are not able to participate in extra curricular activities and still get the rest they need.
August 11th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
As long as homework reinforces what is being taught in the classroom then I believe it is beneficial. The number of hours spent is less relevant than the content and objective of the homework given.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
I think homework is a way to bring school home so you can learn more at home and it also teaches students to do their kuleana and bring your homework back to school. so, altogether, I think homework is good for the students.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Hi Kawika’s mom here…
I believe homework is a good thing to help reinforce what was learned at school that day or week. However, when homework starts overwhelming the students and consuming a big part of their after school and evening, then I believe it is no longer helpful and becomes a task the students feel they “have to” complete just to “get it done” and turn it in.
August 12th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Homework is no doubt a good tool that can be used to help reinforce student learning that took place in the classroom, teach personal responsibility, and increase student activity in the learning process outside of class. I believe one of the keys to making this happen starts with the careful selection of homework assignments. Tasks that are clearly relevant to previous content covered in class and involve alternative forms of learning (i.e., experiential type activities; not your basic paper and pencil worksheets) tend to increase student motivation and interest, which are critical factors that enhance a student’s overall ability to learn. Tasks that force collaboration and the involvement of others (i.e., parents, neighbors, friends) also increase the likelihood that such goals will be met. The bottom line is that homework assignments that involve basic worksheets tend to be redundant and quite boring for many, causing a lot of students to become aversive towards the learning process outside of school.
August 12th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I agree with Kawika and George. Homework assigned and used strategically is a good thing, but homework just for homework’s sake isn’t.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I liked reading the two sides of the homework story. I can find myself agreeing with both sides on different levels. I do appreciate homework when it is a relevant assignment. I would deem an assignment relevant if it helps my child improve in an area he is struggling or when it requires him to find a creative way to implement multiple concepts learned in class. I really like the projects that require long term planning. This allows my son to learn time management, develop work habits for more detailed projects, and allows us to work on the project as we have time in our home. Now, here is where I agree with the other side of the story. We are a family that also believes in life balance. We encourage our kids to exercise, spend time playing, visit with the family and also participate in community activities. I want to make sure that homework does not always overshadow these activities. I am not sure if I can put a number of hours on the right amount of homework, but if I had to it might be about 1 hour a night. I always think about it in terms of our adult world. What would you say if your employer handed you a folder every night and said “here take this home and get better at your job”? I am not sure that this would always lead to us being higher quality employees or more passionate about our job, just like I am not sure that daily homework will make my son more successful in his academic career or more passionate about going to school. Thank you for this opportunity to communicate. I have really enjoyed this process and reading other parent’s perspectives.
August 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am
It is my belief that homework is a tool to reinforce what has been taught in school. Homework also offers parents the opportunity to work hand in hand with our children as I firmly believe that as parents WE ARE THEIR FIRST TEACHERS. As long as the homework has a purpose than I am all for it.
Like most parents, we want our children to be well-rounded. They should be able to enjoy sports, music, family, church, and friends while learning at the same time. We want them to be able to learn outside of the classroom–out in the great big world through their daily experiences and interactions with people, through community service, etc.
Our children should not be subjected to homework “just for the sake of it”. In the summer, one of my children came home everyday with homework and was quite frustrated because the teacher used homework as a means of figuring out what the children knew or didn’t know. This was one of those cases where my child didn’t know how to do the assignment. I spent the next hour or so explaining the process and lo and behold, my child was able to do the homework and felt successful.
As for how much time should be spent on homework, I don’t believe time has anything to do with a child’s success. It is the effort that is made by both the child, teacher and parent IN PARTNERSHIP that will help the child to be successful.
Mahalo for the opportunity to share my thoughts and to hear the mana’o of others.
August 16th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I believe that homework is a tool that should be used to reinforce learning in the classroom. Homework also gives parents the opportunity to work hand in hand with our children. I am a firm believer that as parents WE ARE THEIR FIRST TEACHERS. As long as homework has a purpose, I am all for it. Unfortunately, not all teachers assign homework for the same reason. During the summer, on a daily basis, one of my children was frustrated by the homework assignments. After talking to my child, I discovered that the process for doing the assignment was never discussed in class. Rather, this teacher was using homework as a tool for assessing what the students knew or in this case, didn’t know. I strongly believe that the actions of this particular teacher was inappropriate. During the regular school year, this child would normally thrive in this subject matter class. However, this teacher was creating a very unhealthy learning environment for my child to the point that this child was beginning to dislike the subject. As for the amount of homework that should be assigned and the amount of time spent on homework, I think there needs to be a balance between time spent with school, family, friends, sports, music, church, etc. If too much of their time is spent on homework, how can we expect them to live balanced lives? Isn’t our goal to nurture a holistic individual? Mahalo for the opportunity to share my mana’o and to hear the mana’o from others.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I think homework is a good thing as long as they’re not spending hours on homework. I believe that physical activity such as organized sports is also a good thing and being able to enjoy quality family time is also just as important. I guess I believe too much of anything is not a good thing. A well-rounded child is the ultimate goal (balancing the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.) I think when a child spends so much time on homework, it can drain them, burn them out, and then they end up hating school and the work that comes with it. I am so amazed to see my son so excited and eager to learn this year. I think the best learning can be done when they are excited about learning, when they are curious about what they can learn and then feeling such a sense of accomplishment when they realize their capabalities and potential. Mahalo for allowing me to share my thoughts.