Posted on 08/23/2016 3:43:43 AM PDT by Zakeet
A teacher in Fort Worth has gone viral after she sent home a note to parents outlining her new homework policy for the year.
In the note, Mrs. Brandy Young says, "After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year."
[Snip]
The note ends: "Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance. Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child early to bed."
(Excerpt) Read more at walb.com ...
I never saw the point of cursive anyway. Some of the neatest and prettiest examples of writing I’ve ever seen are from people who print.
Of course, in the future, cursive writing will be a great way for parents to communicate in plain sight without letting the kids know what they are saying, similar to my mom and dad sending notes in shorthand when I was a kid.
I am not going to imply all, or even most, but I have seen some teachers who simply babysit kids during the day, and send “homework” so the parents can teach their children.
Yes because eating dinner together as a family takes up the whole evening and then the little kiddies must scamper off to bed and get a good night’s sleep.
Funny, our family ate dinner together, and I still managed to do homework. Same with my family today.
What also hasn’t been mentioned is that homework is the only way a parent can realize what their child is being taught on a daily basis. And how it is being taught.
I am still trying to figure out how one proctors any kind of literature class without requiring outside reading. The no homework approach may work for some subject matter but outside preparation or reinforcement exercises for certain subject matters is critical I would think.
I don’t know how it works in Texas but a frequent complaint I hear in Fl is the amount of “assessment testing” that is done each year which soaks up huge amounts of class time in preparation for and for the actual taking of these tests. Seems teaching to the test is the most critical part of teaching now.
Lastly at different grade levels, there exist different strata of skills that need be developed. In the early years, learning the basics, by rote mostly, form the foundation. In the later grades, learning how to study or prepare, time management, and critical thinking take over.
A different style “homework” is needed for this development to achieve. It is not one size fits all.
“I think reading books - of the child’s own choosing - is a better way to spend school nights.”
Reading is the best education, but not always books of the child’s own choosing. Many a 9th grader would be reading “Green Eggs and Ham” if it were up to them.
Then again, you could become a senator from Texas.
That doesn’t really address my question, since even on e classroom would still be implementing the idea, if only on that scale.
Our three kids went to Catholic grade school and high school. They got a lot of meaningful (not busy work) homework. They learned how to research and write very well. They blew away college and are all doing well. They are hard workers and their bosses and co-workers love them for their skills. They are happy.
They credit their early schooling for their success.
Today’s homework for a lot of kids is to fuss with theirs phones and computers alone in their rooms. They have never been pushed, which is why they are such snowflakes.
We have a lot of kids that if it weren't assigned, they would never read.
All those Chinese, Indians, Pakis, etc, flooding the US to take tech jobs were almost all educated via ‘teaching to pass a standard test’ method. Learning something - anything - concrete is better than learning something nebulous.
Yep. I’m on year 13 of my teaching career, and I almost never assign homework. The only time they get homework is when we are writing an essay... I usually help them with the first 3 paragraphs in class and then ask them to do the last 2 at home.
I would always finish the lesson 5 minutes early, so the kids got a head start on the assignment. It gave me a chance to see the kids understood the lesson. Any students with difficulty could get extra help. Most kids could finish the assignment
Well-said, Mouton. You’ve summarized my thoughts on this subject completely.
I say let the child read. They will eventually gravitate to more challenging fare on their own.
When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with comic books, MAD magazines, and dime-store novels. Of course adults around me frowned and said I was wasting my time. But I developed a love for reading that never went away.
Being an avid reader lends itself to learning in all subject areas. Everything starts to fall together. It also makes you an excellent writer.
I sure do! I don't think anything replaces it. I've watched Common Core being taught for several years now and I've also witnessed multiplication being taught as rote.......rote produces better, longer lasting results.
When they told me I was going to teach American lit, I found a 1989 textbook in a homeschool store. I still don’t know what grade level it was meant for. They each got one independently onLine for one dollar plus shipping. I should’ve had them get two so they’d stop whining about carrying it around
That’s all they need and a spiral notebook. Research they needed to learn how to use on line resources Parents will not go along with ideas of meeting Wally and the beav at the library. And that’s fine. They have to know.
Keeping the computer in perspective that it is a tool in any use, including socializing, keeps it simple
Funny, we must have been in the same households!
I see what this teacher is trying to achieve. Her method may not be the best but the message, a family unit, is great.
We had one firm rule during my growing up: we ate dinner together, period, no excuses. After school and before dinner was personal time. After dinner time was set aside for homework. That did not mean the rest of the entire evening. The difference then is there were few diversions: AM Radio, one phone in home, TV had 7 or so channels and what was watched was what my parents decided was watched. No prowling about the streets after dark until we were teens either and then within a half mile.
The neighborhood incidentally was multi faceted: Polish, Ukranian, Irish, German, Italian, Black and Scandinavian mostly all catholic FWIW. Not one of my many neighborhood friends ever got in trouble with the coppers. I attribute this to a strong family and church influence in our lives. Oh, we all went to the local parish grammar school too which had a lot to do with it too.
Most kids could finish the assignment within 1/2 an hour.
Were people smarter 100 years ago?
https://www.quora.com/Are-individuals-today-smarter-than-those-who-lived-100-years-ago
It is a fact. Americans read more in the 1920’s than at any other time.
Then came the radio.
And movies
And TV
And computers
And smart phones
Mix in the scourge of progressivism and do what feels good and you have what we have today. No responsibility. No tolerance. No basic skills. Even worse - a refusal to accept or face facts. Just self-aggrandizement.
There is an app for that. It’s called good parenting and homework ( where facts are learned ).
A bit off subject but Jacques Barzun’s pithy aphorism rings true:
Political correctness does not legislate tolerance; it only organizes hatred.
The same goes with outside reading and the required book reports........
Sorry but I'm a firm supporter of homework..............Without the education my nephew received in high school, which required lots of homework, I doubt the educational opportunities which were open to him after high school would have been available.
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