Believe that? Of course not. Only affluent American parents would raise such a fuss. Actually, the "homework wars" debate, which recently hit the consciousness of the P & C [see "Homework: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" in last Tuesday's Family Life section], has enjoyed several years on the radar screens of the Junior League and in neighborhoods of half-a-million-dollar and more households.
The Elizabeth Moffley quoted in former CCSD board member Fran Hawk's article receives credibility for her "anti-homework bullets" from identification as having run for state superintendent of education in 2006. Never mind that she lost the Republican primary (with a whopping 4.6% of the vote) and promptly endorsed Democrat Jim Rex, nor that various news sources can't decide how to spell her last name (Moffly?) or that, at least in 2006, two of her four children were in private schools. Her "arsenal" reads like the top 10 list of a late-night talk show host:
- Parents are not qualified or certified get judged for monitoring their children's homework; never been true
- Family values are compromised because children are too busy with homework to spend time with their families; or on other scheduled activities like football or soccer practice
- Homework is not in the school's jurisdiction because it's assigned for after-school hours; please!
- The schools that are charged with teaching democracy are acting as dictators. ah, yes, the democratic classroom!
- Children have a right to their childhoods and should be allowed time to let their minds wander. or watch television or play mindless video games
- As a compromise, Moffley suggests that homework be assigned as extra credit, with no penalty for the students who choose to ignore it. gee, I can think of penalties assigned by the real world
I don't know about you, but my favorite from the list is #5; or, maybe it should be #6--then with all that extra credit the child could pass on to the next grade.
Jay Mathews, a Washington Post staff writer, has researched the facts. Scholarly research from the University of Michigan "says the weekday average for 15- to 17-year-olds went from 33 minutes in 1981 to 50 minutes in 2003. Those teens, crushed by such punishing assignments, were recovering their sense of self and their need for play by spending on average two-and-a-half hours a weekday watching television or doing non-study-related computer activities [italics mine]." More likely in Moffley's neighborhood, playing video games or working after-school jobs to pay the insurance on their late-model cars. In a comparable report, the weekday average for grades 1 to 3 is 22 minutes, or as Mathews puts it, "less time than it takes to watch one episode of SpongeBob SquarePants."
Yes, students who take four or five AP classes may spend hours into the night on homework--or maybe not, depending on the student's ability and concentration. Kindergarten students can benefit by practicing their handwriting, and drill on multiplication facts can't be all bad for a third grader.
If a parent really believes that his or her child's homework load is problematic, that parent needs to sit down with the teacher or teachers involved to get to the bottom of the problem, not grouse with the neighbors nor spend time reading about the "homework debate."
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16 comments:
Too often student home work becomes parent home work. Of course parents should be encouraged to participate. They should do this by reviewing and encouraging a child's work at both school and at home. They cam be a resource when the work isn't clear or they get stumped. What doesn't make sense is when the work is piled on to the point where it seems to be a substitute for class instruction instead of a supliment to it. Also what about students whose parents are there? What can and should schools do about after school help or "homework" groups where community volunteers can step in where parents can't or won't? I'll bet the coherenat curriculum people watched too much Leave It to Beaver to really understand what a typical American household is like today. Sure the problem will always be "too much" or "not enough" (just don't ask the kids for an honest answer). The real issues should be is the homework appropriate to what's going on in the classroom, does the child have an opportunity to complete the homework within a reasonable time frame and is appropriate help available outside the classroom?
I wonder how many parents are objecting to only 20 or 30 minutes of homework a day. Precious few, I'd bet.
As just one homework anecdote, I remember touring Buist because I was putting my daughter's name on the list for the upcoming 4th grade. The parent who was conducting the tour said (I'm paraphrasing): "Now things really change in 4th grade. Typically, a child will have an hour and a half of homework a night." She said this like it was a source of pride.
Now, in public I tend to be polite, so I didn't say what I was thinking: "Lady, you people are loony."
Do you think Ms. Toya Hampton Green has already reserved a spot at Buist for the new baby when he/she is old enough to be in school even though he/she isn't born yet? She sure isn't showing much.
Is there a reading list for pre-applicants? After all the Buist kindergarteners have to read a book a week...or so they say.
I don't think Toya Green's pregnancy is relevant. Who cares? She was a disinterested board member long before any supposed pregnancy. God help the children in downtown schools. No one seems to care.
The issue seems to me not to be about homework, but that parents often don't have the "end in mind" when they consider their child's eduation. They don't think about what they want to say about their kid upon graduation beyond the vague "I want my child to be a good, hard working citzen." That leaves a lot of space for how that will be accomplished. If a parent wants to say their child was a straight A student, then homework is usually what they like. If a parent wants to say, he is a a great leader, than homework may not be as relevent. Where you stand on the issue largely depends on what your educational values are. Public or private school.
I agree with Kim...unfortunately, you may be in the minority on this one.
Did anyone see John Rosemond when he visited Buist years ago? He was great, actually quite hysterical. I thought he called many Buist parents out on this exact issue.
I've gone to Buist for several years now and I find it aggravateing the levels of homework. I mean I was in 4th grade and my bookbag weighed more then me! My mom picked it up and it was too heavy for her to lift. My mom asked one of my teachers how to do long division and the teacher never got back to her and I never learned long division until a 5th grade teacher taught me and I remember wanting to cry because I wasted a year of my life trying to learn something that I could of learned in a secound! I just needed an explination!!! Sometimes books can't teach something like a person can!!! That ticked me off, it was an hour and a half of homework every night because the teachers would have us sit there in class and do nothing. That was just one of the worst times of my life!!!!
I've gone to Buist for several years now and I find it aggravateing the levels of homework. I mean I was in 4th grade and my bookbag weighed more then me! My mom picked it up and it was too heavy for her to lift. My mom asked one of my teachers how to do long division and the teacher never got back to her and I never learned long division until a 5th grade teacher taught me and I remember wanting to cry because I wasted a year of my life trying to learn something that I could of learned in a secound! I just needed an explination!!! Sometimes books can't teach something like a person can!!! That ticked me off, it was an hour and a half of homework every night because the teachers would have us sit there in class and do nothing. That was just one of the worst times of my life!!!!
It seems we have a student weighing in on this debate. Great!
I have to agree with Anonymous 9:23PM. I had to take college algebra 4 times before I finally found a professor who could explain it just right. The prof turned out to be a high school teacher "moonlighting" at the local university. He taught freshman level college math at night using the same techniques he used during the day to teach 9th & 10th graders. This teacher made it simple. It was as if a light turned on...I aced his class and did the same for 102 under a different teacher...so it wasn't just an "easy A" professor. He had the ability to connect individual students with the concepts...which is really what good teachers should be able to do.
If only I had a teacher that good when I was in high school it might have saved me a lot of wasted time and tuition expense later. Of course my first 3 college math professors weren't much help either.
Sometimes it's all about a teacher's ability to light the right fire in the imagination of each of their students. Most students want to learn but individuals respond differently to new information. Homework isn't the most important means to this end.
Too often both class work and homework are just about following the book. As was said before, "What doesn't make sense is when the [home]work is piled on to the point where it seems to be a substitute for class instruction instead of a supplement to it." I'd judge the quality of teaching more by what goes on in the classroom than by how much homework is assigned. Some might even suggest the weight of both (classroom instruction/student participation & individual homework) multiplied should be produce the same desired constant (successful educational advancement).
No child should have to carry home their weight in books...though they often do. I seem to recall doing the heavy bookbag thing too, not that it had anything to do with homework. My school locker was always too full.
In response to 10:25 PM Anonymous
I guess the reason I found this blog is because I googled Kobrovsky. I am currently taking Algebra 1 and French 1. for 4-6th grade I couldn't grasp anything except Math and Science because the one teacher taught them both to me. Once I remember him giving us 100 problems and everyone knew them so only the lazy people where complaining. I just sucked it up and did them. It took me less then an hour, it was simple long division and an assortment of math problems. I couldn't grasp anything else because what I find with some of the teachers at my school is that the school board has a bunch of smart students so they put in an okay teacher and the teacher dosen't take the time to explain. Before I went to Buist I went to a public school and all of the teachers were amazing. I didn't have to study, it was a challenge but it wasn't smoothering me. I barely got homework and when I paid attention I could just absorb it. My first 3 years at Buist I was a horrible student because some of my teachers weren't good teachers. I remember in a math class in 4th grade falling asleep and zoning out completely, I did the same in 4-6th grade French and I'd get a load of homework in both classes and I wouldn't learn a thing besides "Wow....my bookbag weighs about a jillion pounds." Homework should be given as practice not to replace teachers, some teachers just use it as a replacement and will have us do something boring in class while they are grading papers.
Give this kid an application for the Charleston Charter School for Math & Science! An inquiring mind at work is a welcome surprise.
Just a few suggestions to anonymous 11:56PM (and anyone else):
1) Your comments to this blog are valuable because they give a view from the classroom at Buist that very few others could provide. It helps to answer a very basic question: "What really makes Buist different from other schools?"
2) Some people at Buist don't like this blog and don't want anyone connected with Buist to write comments here. Because Buist is very small (with less than 150 students in the 5th-7th grades) any student who writes comments here may say something that could cause them to be identified by those who know them. "Anonymous" should mean just that. If anonymity is what the writer is trying to maintain, extra care should be used to not write something that would be unique to that person...at least among those who know them within the Buist community.
3) Shouldn't you be off the computer and asleep long before 11:56PM on a school night?
4) A reminder to the rest of us: Little pitchers have big ears.
Retired teacher...
1) I see something bad in the world and I want to stop it. We only have a few minority students and a few African Americans and we have like a lot spots that could be taken but aren't being offered to students who need it. We got two new students in my grade, and we had so many open spaces. It was terrible. It gets my feelings hurt because when I look around I can tell some people I know, who could afford private school or could enter one of the great public schools in their area are taking spots from people who have the potential to suceed but are ignored by the school board and are in an envornimant where they can't reach their fullest potential.
2) Well if they don't like me voiceing my opinion instead of just sitting back and letting things happen. Im not going to be one of the people who sees evil and isn't going to stop it. Just by reading this someone should be able to pin point me and they can't punish me for voicing my opinions. I don't care if they know who I am because they can't do anything. It's not like I am doing something illegal. If they want to start a war with me, just let them because they can't do anything to me for saying anything because I didn't use any vulgar lanuage or give away any names.
3) We don't have school until Monday. I stay up later on weekends. My bedtime on schoolnights varies from 11:00 to 11:30 depending on what I am doing.
4) Yeah. I'm going to run up to Mrs. Ballard one day and say "Theese people on the internet hate you." I'm more likely to go up to her and tell her "I hate your school." I can't get in trouble for expression my opinion if I don't use inflamtory lanuage and I don't encourage anyone to do something bad. No one is harmed by me saying that I hate Buist and to be honest if my parents allowed me to I'd get up and leave.
OK. I guess there's nothing I can add to 12:24 except that Ms. Ballard is probably already well aware of what people are saying on this blog. The "Little pitchers..." comment was really meant as a reminder for the regulars here to do as you say, to not be "inflammatory", stick to the fairness issues and clearly state the facts. If students are reading this, and appearently they are, then it helps to be reminded that maintaining the integrity of the message matters that much more.
Buist student,
THANK YOU! We need to hear from you. From what I understand, members of the District 20 board have expressed the frustration over the vacancies at Buist numerous times. It would be great if they could hear from people like you.
You're a leader and keep up the good work.
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