by A colleague recently asked for advice for parents wishing to opt-out their children from school assigned homework.
This is what we did. Every person we have shared this strategy with found it to be successful. In most cases, teachers not only agree with our stance, but aren’t quite sure why they assign homework in the first place.
Dear Teacher X,
We are concerned by the lack of evidence supporting the use of homework and the toll the practice is taking on our child and family. Homework needlessly reduces ___’s time for free play, relaxation, independent reading, exercise, practicing his/her instrument, and healthy family interaction. There is no reason for my child to work a second unpaid shift when he/she returns home from school. I object to the imposition of homework into what might otherwise be domestic tranquility.The daily checking of homework robs valuable instructional time that could be used for more authentic learning experiences, such as project work. Homework may also have a deleterious effect on a child’s affection for school and is unfair to children with diverse lives outside of the classroom.I understand that you may be required to assign homework – perhaps even the amount of it kids get per night. Such policies contradict any argument that homework is intended for reinforcement purposes. In other words, if some kids may benefit from different levels of “practice” or “reinforcement,” then it makes no sense for every student to be assigned the same homework.Therefore, we propose the following. Each night when ____ comes home from school we will survey the assigned homework. If we believe that it has any merit, our child will complete just enough exercises or problems to demonstrate understanding of the concept. Once that is completed to our satisfaction, we will sign the incomplete work and have our child return it to you unfinished.We hope you will respect our decision and not punish our child in any way, shape, or form for the actions of his/her parents. Please feel free to share this letter with your principal.You might find these articles interesting.Here are two books on the subject.
- [easyazon_link identifier=”0738211117″ locale=”US” tag=”neweasyazon-20″]The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing[/easyazon_link]
- [easyazon_link identifier=”0807042188″ locale=”US” tag=”neweasyazon-20″]The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning[/easyazon_link]
Say the word and I will buy you one of the books making the case against homework.
Have a great school year!
Sincerely,Parent
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Veteran educator Gary Stager, Ph.D. is the author of Twenty Things to Do with a Computer – Forward 50, co-author of Invent To Learn — Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, publisher at Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, and the founder of the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute. He led professional development in the world’s first 1:1 laptop schools thirty years ago and designed one of the oldest online graduate school programs. Gary is also the curator of The Seymour Papert archives at DailyPapert.com. Learn more about Gary here.