Posted on 06/27/2009 12:11:52 PM PDT by wintertime
Outside of dealing with parents whose children can do no wrong there is probably no more contentious issue between a parent and school than homework assignments. The issue is clouded with research that indicates that proves that homework hurts students, doesn’t make any difference, helps students, or all of the above. In other words there clearly is no final word on the benefits or harm done by asking a student to work outside of school.
The reason that homework has been an issue may not have anything to do with education, but with power. Who controls a student’s time? Is it the child, the parent, or the school? This power struggle is further hampered by No Child Left Behind in its test driven mandates. Thus some schools find there isn’t enough time in the day to cover the required materials and pile on homework in the hopes that some will stick and add another point to the final tally. As Daniel Willingham points out in Why Don't Students Like School, proficiency requires practice.
(Excerpt) Read more at ednews.org ...
Little learning happens in the institutional school. The only thing the institutional school is doing is sending home a curriculum for the parents and the child, himself, to follow.
Why have I come to this conclusion?
When I compare the lives of academically successful institutionalized children with our homeschool life I see little difference.
With the institutionalized child about the **same** amount of time is spent in formal at-home study. This is called "homework" with the institutionalized child. I call it "afterschooling".
The parents of institutionalized children have read to their children since infancy. They have books and magazines in the home. They have set study hours. The TV and other electronics is strictly controlled. They take their children to museums and historical sites. These parents have knowingly or unknowingly taught their children phonics. They get outside help with tutoring when needed.
In essence, the parents of academically successful children who are institutionalized for their schooling are doing **everything** I did as a homeschooling parent!
Where exactly is 99% of a child's academically learning happening? It is important to know this answer.
If most learning happens at home, then the children of parents who value education may actually be artificially retarded in their progress by attending an institutional-type school. They may be better served by spending more time at home with support from tutors.
The child in a family with little appreciation for learning would be better served in a school that attempts to duplicate in the institution what happens in a home that values education. KIPP schools are an example. George Will calls them "paternalistic" schools.
Continuing the typical government institutional school is insanity.
So...If you can read this. Thank your **PARENTS** for doing such a great job of "afterschooling" or homeschooling. A teacher in an institutional school likely has had little to do with it.
Institutionalized children spend 30 to 35 or more hours a week in school. This plus transportation time is essentially a FULL-TIME JOB for a **child**!
Is it any wonder that children and parents are stressed by homework? If an adult dreads doing more work at home after a full-time job, why on earth would we expect this from a child? The child is already working a full-time job at his institutional school!
That chip on your shoulder also distorts your vision and inhibits reason.
That chip on your shoulder also distorts your vision and inhibits reason.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The above is not helpful. It is merely a personal attack.
On what points, and in what way, do you disagree with what I have posted?
I agree with Clara Lou that your comments are overdone. There are many parents who tell their children that doing well in school is important but do not “afterschool” or “homeschool” them. In some cases, the parents are not too well educated or are immigrants who were educated in another language. Many Asian kids in the U.S. fall in to this category but still do well in school.
Although I would agree that the parents are the #1 factor in whether a child does well, I would not agree that structured institutional learning is always deficient.
I have my kids in private school and I think they learn quite a bit in the classroom. Their homework is primarily repetitive practice, which is very helpful in learning.
When I have asked these parents about their home lives, I find that they have:
1) Found a cousin, aunt, or neighbor to help their younger children and find people to help with older children when they are having difficulty with a subject.
2) There older children are essentially self-taught through the textbooks and projects sent home. ( This is the pattern for homeschoolers as well. )
3) These immigrant families control the TV and electronics, and have set hours for study. ( Successful homeschoolers do this too.)
4) Have sacrificed greatly so that their children have music lessons..etc. ( Homeschoolers do this.)
5) Education is highly valued. ( Successful homeschoolers do as well.)
Put simply, “homework” is when virtually all of the child’s real teaching takes place. By the parent, instead of by the teacher who is paid to do it.
And, as often as not, “projects” assigned as “homework” by the teacher get done by the parent, not by the student.
The only truly useful things that public schools seem to provide these days is the “socializing skills”. Sorta like “Lord of the Flies”, except with some adult supervision.
(No, we don’t homeschool, but I am considering it more and more)
Thank you for helping me to home school. Sassy is doing above her grade level, her health has improved so much & we love it. She still plays with her friends & has no social problems. My neighbors who thought I was a loon are now saying they would love to do it but find excuses why they can’t. My child amazes them by what she knows & understands. I think she may know more about what is going on in the world then they do. Thank you again! ~Pandy & Sassy~
I have been following your posts about your daughter, Sassy. I am so pleased she is doing so well....**especially** her health.
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Wintertime
There are ways to make sure your kid get’s proper socialization. A lot of home schooler’s set up study groups and special events where the families can come together and get to know one another.
All "institutional" schools are NOT government schools.
Might as well give it up. The sanctimony of the comments you both commented on is way over the top. Some forget what it’s like to live in the trenches as opposed to the ether.
Homeschool was the BEST decision we ever made.
There are several types of “schools” both private and through the government. For example there are homeschools, virtual schools, and schools in institutional-like settings.
I was specifically referring to the common government “school” that is in an institutional brick and mortar setting.
Anyway, Gabz....Get used to it. I am seeing the term “institutional school, and institutionalized child, all over the place. It has grown legs and is walking around.
There seem to be a fair number of homeschoolers on this very thread, that are, or have been, in the “trenches” of homeschooling.
I hate to burst your bubble, wintertime, but the term has been around far longer than you have been posting it here. In fact I remember the term from back when I was in school, I went to Catholic schools, and I've been out of HS more than 30 years.
And for your edification, homework has been around longer than you or and I will continue to be around long after w both depart this earthly world.
I slipped up today. I ordinarily don’t take extremist bait.
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