Thursday, February 09, 2006

CNN.com - Poll: Too much homework? - Feb 8, 2006

CNN.com - Poll: Too much homework? - Feb 8, 2006

Don't get me started, again, on education. In my opinion, children do not have more homework than I did, parents do not seem to be interested in their children's work, and the schools do not have teachers that assign work in a "mindful" way.

There are good points in the article. One teacher mentions that his kids do not have access to the internet from home so he makes time for research at school. Also, the kids concentrate better at school than at home. I know for some, I was one of them, I could not concentrate while others were around, I preferred a quite area without distractions. Teachers need to be aware of how a child responds to the environment. Parents need to learn that too.

Assigning homework is important. Being mindful of what to assign and home much makes a big difference. Some of the homework is practice. Math is that way. Much of the homework as the child grows up is a combination of the practice and research. The research and learning how to find information is very important.

I liked that survey result about affluent parents not spending time with their children on homework. I figure this is because they always had things done for them, so why should they help with their children. I can only think of Columbine when I read that. There was very little parent interaction in that child's home and looked how that turned out.

Homework is good for children. They need to have homework. The balance must be right, though. I child needs to be a child and have time for play. This does not mean sitting in front of a television set or a computer, either. We are talking interaction with friends and family.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In middle school, I had 6 hours of homework a night. Weekends were occupied by doing projects, often for 3 classes. I was a smart kid, did my work and did it efficiently and got A's. So your saying spending a bare minimum of 30 hours durring the regular week and 12 on the weekends inside, writing on worksheets or typing up papers is good for the development for children? If I wanted a healthy sleep schedule that would leave me about 6 hours on saturday and sunday to play, eat, practice proper hygine and keep my room in order.

After I figured out that school really didn't matter for me as long as I graduated. High school I enjoyed myself rather than doing work. I'm glad I did. I can honestly say I hate, yes hate, all my former teachers and I don't feel they done anything but hold me back and discourage me. Why does school not matter for me? I'm attending art college, the basic education requirements are a joke. I wish I would have dropped out in 9th grade, got a GED and begun attending college instead of going recommended route. I would have gotten more scholarship money and would have graduated by now.

Bill said...

Wow! You must have been the exception. I appreciate your comment and understand what you have been through. I must admit I went to private school and they worked our asses off. It paid off in the end as I was ready to take responsibility for my actions and not rely on others to do stuff for me.

Good luck on your ventures!

Anonymous said...

Hello. I agree with your ideas about homework. There needs to be a balance. As a student, I am swamped with homework. But this is because I chose high level classes. I am currently doing work 2years above the standard in 4/7 of my classes.

Although I enjoy the fact that I am learning more at a faster rate, that does not mean I should be given more to do. People ahead should be treated like they're older, not computers. I usually have around 6-8hrs of homework per night.

The school systems of each county of each state need to realize there is a point where students can go from frustrated to stressed and finally depressed.

That is all.

-Tom

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with your assessment. There's simply too much homework!

If you think the students in America are overworked, we Singaporeans have it worse. Students have to contend with tons of school work; to help them along, they have to do assessments and take up lessons parents believe would aid them acedemically. We are a country that believes in work, work, and more work, which is sad, compared to you more free-spirited Westerners.

Blame it on our goddamned Confucian culture. We think that a higher education automatically means success in life. If we are called 'un-creative' or 'boring' by foreigners, I think we deserve it.




Perv

Anonymous said...

yeah yeah i dont need homeworks for sure but for u surely u do need it so u can realize it sucks in ur life