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Pushing back on homework: Tenafly parents protest the load, joining nationwide trend
North Jersey,com ^ | December 8, 2014

Posted on 12/08/2014 6:45:47 PM PST by SMGFan

TENAFLY — Pressured by parents, school district officials are considering lowering the stress of homework with such measures as homework-free nights and vacations, and giving students more information about the demands they will face in choosing courses.

The district also will organize workshops for parents on reducing children's stress.

The measures are being taken after a group of high school parents confronted the school board, arguing that homework is wreaking havoc on their children's lives.

(Excerpt) Read more at northjersey.com ...


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: education; homework
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To: SMGFan

How do dads in the inner city feel about this?


21 posted on 12/08/2014 7:34:57 PM PST by MNDude
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To: miliantnutcase

If you pay attention, you might find, like I did, that most of the real academic study happens in homework. They are busy with nonsense in the classroom. Some assignments will show you the degree of the teacher’s and textbooks’ stupidity.


22 posted on 12/08/2014 7:57:00 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: SMGFan

We didn’t have TV until I was 11 so I had to learn to read. I didn’t go to college until I was 38, there wasn’t much I hadn’t already covered. If you read well and are curious education is automatic.


23 posted on 12/08/2014 8:02:28 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: SaraJohnson

Yeah, I’d agree. The response I usually receive is, “this is the curriculum and we can’t always get everything in during the school day”.


24 posted on 12/08/2014 8:51:13 PM PST by miliantnutcase
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To: SWAMPSNIPER

I enjoyed doing handwriting, spelling, and math homework from the first grade on. My parents bought me my own desk to show me the importance of applying myself every night to homework. We still had plenty of time to play before dinner and the family watched TV together for a bit after dinner, westerns and shows like Route 66 and 77 Sunset Strip.


25 posted on 12/08/2014 8:57:49 PM PST by Ciexyz
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To: SMGFan; All

“Zach Glass, 16, who takes six Advanced Placement courses at the high school, spends an average of three hours a night on homework and often spends weekends and vacations hunched over his books.”

THREE HOURS????? Oh for crying out loud. No wonder this country is producing morons who can’t figure anything out. Boo hoo for this poor little boy having to study three hours a night.


26 posted on 12/08/2014 9:02:02 PM PST by Nifster
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To: miliantnutcase

Homework in first grade should consist of reading, drill and kill arithmetic tables,spelling words, and practice printing.....and none of that should take more than 10 or 15 minutes for each item


27 posted on 12/08/2014 9:04:00 PM PST by Nifster
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Oh, good grief.
You said Korean parents pay for extra homework, I said 8 hours is stupid. Don't get your panties in a wad. My kids school gave 1.5-2 hours per class, going to class from 7:30am to 3:30pm AND 8 hours of homework WAS stupid
28 posted on 12/08/2014 9:06:38 PM PST by svcw (Not 'hope and change' but 'dopes in chains')
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To: SMGFan

never did homework. if the teacher couldn’t explain it in class it was worth knowin.


29 posted on 12/08/2014 9:39:49 PM PST by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My normal daughter (17) has about 3-4 hours of homework every night. Her very smart brother at that age was taking AP everything and had about 6 - 8 hours.

My OCD daughter (17) spends up to 8 hours of homework many nights trying to get everything perfect. She could take advantage of the disability rules the school has in place, but rarely takes advantage of it. (Too prideful).

It is a lot of homework compared to what I had to do back in high school (late 70’s). What is really disturbing is how little teaching the teachers actually do. Many of them spend 5-10 minutes teaching, pass out worksheets, and tell the kids to ask each other questions. (Common core “group exploration” type crap).

The math teacher last year would pass out the worksheets (no teaching), and then say “are you an idiot?” to any kid asking questions. We went to the principal twice with no luck. I would spend an hour with them at night on their math (twins).


30 posted on 12/08/2014 9:50:22 PM PST by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts 2013 is 1933 REBORN)
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To: Nifster

That’s pretty much what it all is. Just drives me nuts because they should be getting this all in during class.


31 posted on 12/08/2014 10:08:30 PM PST by miliantnutcase
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To: SamAdams76

maybe they should be in school until 5 and make the teachers teach the subjects thoroughly during that time. then let kids play like adults who go to happy hour.


32 posted on 12/08/2014 10:33:59 PM PST by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
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To: dr_lew

i have another post not as elaborate but you explain the issue very well: teachers do not want to spend the time teaching. at home the parent is stuck with it. the answer home skool.


33 posted on 12/08/2014 10:41:05 PM PST by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
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To: Secret Agent Man

The homework you had is different from what I had, and the homework I had is far different from what kids are doing these days. I look at a Common Core question and I want to crawl under a rock. I’m not an idiot but damn, just looking at those questions make my IQ drop.


34 posted on 12/08/2014 10:44:21 PM PST by wastedyears (I may be stupid, but at least I'm not Darwin Awards stupid.)
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To: wastedyears

I had actual homework. Real homework. Not PC homework. And I learned how to do it using genuine methods, not some kind of new-math, homos must be included in math problem, non-phonetic/sound it out reading methods.


35 posted on 12/08/2014 10:50:51 PM PST by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Mr Rogers

i said the same. never did home work in high school. i caught up in home room if i had to write something and no one could read it anyway. except in 10th grade, DR Lambert made be complete all the homework before he gave me my A in algebra. so i completed those at the end of the semester, in class in my own personal torture chamber. I think his disappointment was that i didn’t take it serious. i didn’t. didn’t do that well in first time college, but engineering school calculus was just as much fun.


36 posted on 12/08/2014 10:51:58 PM PST by kvanbrunt2 (civil law: commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong Blackstone Commentaries I p44)
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To: Mears

So what if I’ll be 30 next year?

*cries in corner*


37 posted on 12/08/2014 11:46:38 PM PST by wastedyears (I may be stupid, but at least I'm not Darwin Awards stupid.)
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To: Nifster

AP courses are a step above Honors courses. My freshman year biology teacher told me I was eligible for Honors Biology, but I wanted to take Earth Science instead. Dunno how school would’ve turned out if I went for it, but life had other, lamer plans for me.


38 posted on 12/08/2014 11:51:55 PM PST by wastedyears (I may be stupid, but at least I'm not Darwin Awards stupid.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

I had Hooked on Phonics when I was a kid. Dunno what you mean by non-phonetic/sound it out reading methods. When we couldn’t pronounce something straight away, the teacher helped us with the syllables.

A kid would pronounce ‘abasement’ as ‘a basement’, rather than a single word. Nevermind knowing the meaning of the word.


39 posted on 12/08/2014 11:59:20 PM PST by wastedyears (I may be stupid, but at least I'm not Darwin Awards stupid.)
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To: wastedyears

i meant they don’t use phonetics now, just rote memorization.


40 posted on 12/09/2014 12:23:17 AM PST by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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