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Opinion: your kid is right, homework is pointless. here’s what you should do instead..
Editor’s Note: Elissa Strauss writes about the politics and culture of parenthood. The views expressed in this commentary are her own.
We live, for the most part, fairly similar lives to our next-door neighbors. Both households have two working parents, two kids and an appreciation for the way California weather affords them unscripted, outdoor play year-round.
We are all busier than we want to be, but our neighbors have an extra, unnecessary hurdle that makes life more difficult.
Next door, the kids have homework. This involves 30 minutes of child-wrangling and patience-testing five days a week, pressure-cooking the little downtime they have together as a family.
Meanwhile, our family takes that time to enjoy our kids. No efficiency, no productivity, no agenda; just parents and children hanging out.
There’s been a lot of research and debate on the academic value of homework for school-aged children. The results, although somewhat mixed, generally conclude that homework provides no advantage for kids in elementary grades. As children get older, the potential benefits of homework grow, but less than you probably think.
Too much homework? Not in this class. None at all. None all year
Missing from the homework conversation is how no-homework policies benefit the whole family – parents and caregivers included.
School schedules and cultures were created for a different time, when moms were expected to be available to children during non-school hours. But today, the majority of families have either dual-working or single parents. Reconfiguring the education system to adapt to this current reality is a big project. We need to accommodate for the fact that nobody’s home to watch kids after school and during holiday breaks, or to spend four hours building a “Bridge to Terabithia” diorama on a Thursday afternoon.
The remedy to this would likely involve an overhaul of our paid leave and vacation policies, as well as modifications to our daily and yearly school schedules. This is not a quick fix.
Ending homework for elementary school-aged kids is, on the other hand, relatively easy. We just have to stop doing it.
We need to do less
Feeling overwhelmed is a defining trait of today’s parents and caregivers. We have too much to do, our kids have too much to do, and leisure and happiness are the prices we pay for it.
One recent survey of 2,000 parents commissioned by Crayola Experience found that more than half of parents feel they are too busy to enjoy the fun of parenting. A similar number told Pew Research Center they struggle to balance the responsibilities of home with the responsibilities of a family. We feel guilty, and we feel tired. We lack the energy to make it through the week, let alone figure out how to get ourselves out of this mess.
Why we should stop calling it 'screen time' to our kids
When every minute is accounted for, sometimes two or three times over, a reprieve from something as seemingly minor as homework can make a big difference.
“The time families have together is really short; it is much shorter than what people would like. And when you are together everyone is fried,” said Brigid Schulte, author of “ Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time ” and director of the Better Life Lab . “If you are stressed and cranky, and your kid has been in aftercare too long, and then you get home and have to force them to do their homework, it removes the sense that home is a supportive, loving place where you can connect.”
Schulte encourages parents and caregivers to resist homework. This might include fighting for no-homework policies at their children’s schools, and pushing back against unrealistic homework assignments. Reach out to a teacher and tell them why a particular assignment is burdensome or causing unnecessary stress and, if this is the case, why your child won’t be able to meet the teacher’s expectations, she suggested.
“The most important thing is to look for small wins right now,” she said, referring to the battle against busyness. Gaining roughly 30 minutes a night, or two-plus hours a week, has the potential to make a dramatic difference in family well-being, giving us an opportunity to remember why exactly we had children in the first place.
Teach your children, and yourself, to do less
It can feel scary to slow down. Rising income inequality has turned parenting into a competitive sport. It’s a winner-takes-all world and we want our kids to be the winners — unhappy, stressed-out winners.
There is so much out there telling your children they need to do more and be more, and that whatever they think is enough is most definitely not enough. This means that parents and caregivers provide what is likely kids’ only shot at learning about leisure and togetherness. The overwhelming message from decades of research has found these are the main ingredients to happiness and well-being.
Summer isn't a break for kids or parents
Getting rid of homework is a relatively simple way to combat this high-stakes problem. It gives parents and caregivers the opportunity to teach their children these essential – albeit systematically ignored and undervalued – skills.
“Kids should have a chance to just be kids and do things they enjoy, particularly after spending six hours a day in school,” said Alfie Kohn, author of “ The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing .” “After all, we adults need time just to chill out; it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.”
This isn’t to say that the downtime has to be mindless. Kohn suggests that parents and caregivers can, with their kids, cook, play board games, read or watch TV and then discuss what they read or watched. (Ideally, it’s something parents would enjoy as well.) All of these activities require logic or analytical skills, and can help uncover kids’ passions, as well as areas in which they might be struggling and need additional help.
Q: Am I a bad parent if I'm on my phone in front of my kids?
These activities can also help kids build the kind of skills we associate with homework, said Josh Cline, a public school teacher in Oakland, California. Perseverance and stamina, for example, are required to sit through a story and then discuss it, to complete a batch of brownies or play a game of checkers or chess. “It’s better to grow those skills doing things kids find interesting than forcing them to slog through worksheets,” he said. That said, if worksheets are your kid’s thing, Cline said to give them a shot — as long as it is clear they have a choice.
From an academic standpoint, Cline’s main interest is for kids to be reading at home. However, he says, forcing it is likely to backfire. Instead, parents and caregivers should try to encourage reading by giving their kids plenty of choices, and, whenever possible, integrating reading into a cozy routine (that may or may not include hot chocolate).
But ultimately, the best replacement for homework is, simply, a parent or caregiver’s attention.
“Spend time with them and see them as people. At school, they operate as a herd, and as hard as I try as a teacher, I can’t give them all the attention they deserve,” Cline said. “At home they should be seen as the unique, individual, interesting and brilliant people they are.”
Inspired Together Teachers
10 Reasons Why Students Don’t Do Homework
January 18, 2019 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments
Though the issue of homework is complicated and often involves a debate of whether or not homework is actually beneficial, the fact remains that most teachers still assign homework and some students will not do their homework.
If we can understand why students don’t do their homework, we have a better chance of both assigning homework that students will do and in doing what we can to create the motivation for them to do it. At the very least, understanding that there are many reasons that students don’t do homework can help teachers to realize that it isn’t personal. Students often don’t do homework for reasons that aren’t even about you, your teaching, or your subject matter.
Here is a list of 10 reasons that students don’t do homework, aligned with suggestions that may help to alleviate the problem.
They don’t know how to do the assignment.
In order to do their work, students need to understand the directions and have the basic skills need in order to complete the task. This usually means that students have been introduced to a topic, have had some instruction and are not trying to learn something new and difficult on their own. The material also needs to be at the students’ instructional or independent level. Be sure your directions are clear and specific and that the level of the work is appropriate for the students.
They don’t understand the purpose for the assignment.
When students understand the importance of something they are learning, they are more likely to feel compelled to do it. We want to know and do things that are going to help us in our lives. When students perceive an assignment as busywork, they often rebel. If a student can do ten math problems correctly, doing one hundred math problems is overkill and perceived as busywork. So is spending hours using a dictionary to define words. Make sure that students know how the homework will help them. Help them to connect the content to real world tasks.
Students are overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
We’ve all had experiences where we have felt overloaded with too much to do. As adults, we have also figured out ways to break down tasks. Students are still learning to manage large tasks. Help them to break down large assignments into smaller parts. Instead of assigning a large project due in three weeks, help students to break down the project into smaller chunks and then assign smaller chunks for homework in the days leading up to the due date for a big project.
Assignments are based on low level tasks.
Basic recall gets boring quickly. An assignment such as giving students fifty sentences and having them underline the noun once and the verb twice is drudgery and doesn’t engage them. How much more fun would it be to have a contest to see who could correctly incorporate the most verbs in a sentence? Consider homework that require higher thinking levels such as application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
Students have too many assignments.
This is a particular danger in middle and high school when students have many different teachers. At this level, teachers often don’t know what other teachers are assigning. You may think that homework will only take them thirty minutes. But if they have seven subjects and every teacher gives them thirty minutes of homework, the student is facing three to four hours of homework. Good teaching teams often discuss homework assignments and try to balance the load so that students don’t have many big assignments due at the same time.
Students don’t have time.
Many students are involved in many extracurricular activities. This is positive and those activities often help students to be engaged with school. When you add practices or games into the mix, it often becomes impossible to do hours of homework on any given night. Older students may have jobs or other responsibilities. Consider giving students assignments ahead of time so they can work on them throughout the week rather than assigning everything to be due the next day.
Students don’t get feedback on their work .
When a student turns in an assignment, they expect feedback. They may get a grade, but they also want comments, especially on written work. Homework should be an opportunity for learning. Students need feedback in order to learn. Teachers can read student work and provide feedback, or use homework in classroom discussions and activities in ways that allow students to get feedback or use their work for a purposeful activity.
Sometimes, the reason that students don’t do work is not related to you or your content. These are more difficult to control, but there are usually positive things you can do to help with the situation.
Students don’t have an appropriate environment to do work at home .
Let’s face it, some students live in chaotic environments. They may not have a quiet place to work or the tools they need in order to do homework. Having a one-on-one conversation with students can help. Talk about what they need in order to do their work and how they might get it. Could they stay at school and extra hour and work in a quiet room? Could they go to the public library? Could they carve a quiet corner of their home?
The student’s family is not supportive of education.
As much as we wish it weren’t true, some students come from families that do not value education. The student is not then likely to get the support or encouragement to do homework. Other families value education, but parents are absent or unable to help their children with homework. Your first instinct might be to “fix” the family. An easier route is to work with the student. Be their encourager. Let them know that you think they can succeed. Let them know how valuable a good education might be to them. We know of a first grader whose parent would not read with him. The teacher made a deal that the student could read to his baby brother, his dog, or even a stuffed animal. If he did that, he could sign his own name on the form that parents usually signed stating that they read together.
The student is rebelling against a parent.
If a parent cares about a student’s grades and a student is trying to rebel, often a quick way to do so is to stop doing homework. This usually gets the parent’s attention quickly. This is particularly true in cases where parents are very demanding and very controlling. Sometimes, the only way an adolescent knows how to rebel is to refuse to do something. This causes grief for both parties. Guiding the parent and student to compromise can be successful. Essentially, help them to negotiate trade. For example, if the student agrees to do homework each night when he chooses to do it, the parent gives up the demand that it be done immediately when the student gets home from school. Both parties can even sign a contract.
If you suspect a student is rebelling, see if you can find out why. That will also help you see possible solutions. Don’t hesitate to get help and support from a guidance counselor, instructional coach or administrator.
These are some of the most common reasons students don’t complete homework. There are undoubtedly many more possible reasons. Though you can’t control all things, you can try to identify why students aren’t doing the homework and then see if there are ways to fix the problem. If we keep our eye on the goal, which is learning, it is less likely that we will fall into the “blame and punish” game that many teachers engage in. Blaming and punishing don’t usually result in more learning!
What are some of the effective strategies you have used to increase homework completion? We would love to hear your ideas in the comments below.
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October 3, 2022 at 11:41 pm
For me, I struggled to do homework as a child because my attention needs were not met. I had no friends in school and spent the whole day wishing to be with family who loved me, only to be forced into isolation again for an hour of homework that I couldn’t always do alone and made me feel inferior and hopeless about myself and the future. Meanwhile, everyone else, in my mind, was doing something fun together while that was happening and I felt like I was being punished.
In adulthood, work has taken the place of homework and I am even more unhappy, isolated and have no life outside work that makes up for it. Luckily, I am not the type to become addicted to substances.
So, don’t let you child’s fate be like mine. Make sure your child’s needs for love are met, and that way they will have the internal strength to do an unfun task, and each one thereafter.
October 5, 2022 at 2:59 pm
Hi Christine, Thank you for sharing your experiences. You are not alone in your struggles either as a child or now as an adult. I hope that you are getting help for your depression. You can get better! There are ways to shift your mindset and to discover ways to be happier. No one has a perfect life, but we can all find ways to enjoy life. I hope you can find someone to talk to who can help you through your struggles. You are worth it!
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Why Students Don’t Do Their Homework–And What You Can Do About It
What To Do When Students Don’t Do Their Homework
by Dr. Jennifer Davis Bowman
‘ That was homework?’
‘That’s due today ?’
‘But… it was the weekend.’
We hear a lot of stuff when students don’t do their homework. Our cup runneth over with FBI-proof, puppy-dog eyes, procrastinated-filled homework excuses. What we don’t hear, is the research on how to excuse-proof our classrooms for homework. It seems, we are in the dark about engaging students in the homework process. Specifically, what contributes to homework resistance? How can we better support students in not only completing, but learning (gasp) from assigned homework?
To answer these questions, I examined a number of research articles. I focused on interviews/surveys with classrooms that struggled with homework completion (to identify triggers). Also, I used data from classrooms with high homework achievement (to identify habits from the homework pros). Here are 6 research-backed reasons for why students resist homework- plus tips to help overcome them.
6 Reasons Students Don’t Do Their Homework–And What You Can Do About It
Fact #1 The homework takes too long to complete.
In a study of over 7000 students (average age of 13), questionnaires revealed that when more than 60 minutes of homework is provided, students resisted. In addition, based on standardized tests, more than 60 minutes of homework, did not significantly impact test scores.
Teaching Tip: Ask students to record how long it takes to complete homework assignments for one week. Use the record to negotiate a daily homework completion goal time. As an acceptable time frame is established, this allows the student to focus more on the task.
Fact #2 The value is misunderstood
Students erroneously believe that homework only has academic value. In a study of 25 teachers, interviews showed that teachers’ use of homework extended beyond the traditional practice of academic content. For example, 75% of these teachers report homework as an affective tool (to measure learning motivation, confidence, and ability to take responsibility).
Teaching Tip: Communicate with students the multiple purposes for homework. Reveal how homework has both short-term (impact on course grade) and long-term benefits (enhance life skills). Identify specific long-term homework benefits that students may be unaware of such as organization, time management and goal setting.
Fact #3 The assignment is a one-size fits all.
In a study of 112 undergraduate chemistry students, the learners report interest in different types of homework. For example 62% of students are satisfied with online assignments (this format provided immediate feedback and allowed multiple attempts), whereas, 41% are satisfied with traditional paper assignments (this format had no computer printing issues and it is a style most familiar).
Teaching Tip: Assess student learning style with the use of learning inventories. Differentiate homework to account for student interest and learning preference. Educator, Carol Tomlinson provides examples of low-prep differentiation assignments that include negotiated criteria, ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ projects, and choices of texts. As teacher Cathy Vatterott emphasizes in The Five Hallmarks of of Good Homework , consider placing the differentiation responsibility on the learner. For instance, ask students to ‘create your own method to practice the key terms’.
Fact #4 Feedback is not provided.
Acknowledging homework attempts matter. A survey of 1000 students shows that learners want recognition for attempting and completing homework (versus just getting the homework correct).
Also, students desire praise for their homework effort. In a study of 180 undergraduate students, almost half of the learners agreed that teacher recognition of ‘doing a good job’ was important to them.
Teaching Tip: Expand homework evaluation to include points for completing the assignment. In addition, include homework feedback into lesson plans. One example is to identify class time to identify homework patterns with the class (student struggles and successes). Another example, is to give students opportunities to compare their homework answers with a peer (students can correct or change answers while obtaining feedback).
Fact #5 The homework is not built into classroom assessments.
Students want their homework to prepare them for assessments. When surveyed, 85% of students report they would complete more homework if the material was used on tests and quizzes.
Teaching Tip: Allow students to select 1 homework question each unit that they wish to see on the test. Place student selections in a bowl/lottery and pick a 2-3 of their responses to include in each assessment.
Fact #6 Students don’t have a plan.
It’s unsurprising that making provisions for homework, increases the likelihood that homework is completed. In interviews with ninth graders, 43% of the students that completed all of their homework indicated that they had a plan. Their homework plan consisted of the time needed to execute the work, meet deadlines, and follow daily completion routines. Amazingly, the students with a plan complete homework in spite of their dislike for the assignment.
Teaching Tip: Help students develop a plan. For example, you may show examples and non-examples, offer templates for home-work to-do lists, or challenge students to identify phone Apps that help track homework planning procedures.
- Bempechat, J., Li, J., Neier, S. B., Gillis, C. A., & Holloway, S. D. (2011). The homework experience: Perceptions of low-income youth. Journal of Advanced Academics , 22(2).
- Kuklansky, Shosberger, & EsHach (2016). Science teachers’ voice on homework beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education , 14(1).
- Letterman, D. (2013). Students’ perception of homework assignments and what influences their ideas. Journal of College Teaching and Learning , 10(2).
- Malik, K., Martinez, N., Romero, J., Schubel, S., & , P. A. (2014). Mixed method study of online and written organic chemistry homework. Journal of Chemistry Education , 91(11).
- Science Daily (2015). How Much Math, Science Homework is too Much?
- Vandenbussche, J., Griffiths, W., & Scherrer, C. (2014). Students’ perception of homework policies in lower and intermediate level mathematic courses. Mathematics and Computer Education , 48(12).
About The Author
Teachthought staff.
Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons
Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates
From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]
While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]
In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]
In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]
Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]
A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]
Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]
Is Homework Beneficial?
Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [ 10 ] Read More
Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More
Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More
Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More
Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More
Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More
Discussion Questions
1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).
2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).
3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.
Take Action
1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.
2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.
3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .
4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.
5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .
More School Debate Topics
Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.
Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.
Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.
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School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students
The Pros and Cons of Homework
Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.
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Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.
Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .
2. Homework Gets Parents Involved
Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.
3. Homework Teaches Time Management
Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.
4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication
Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.
5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time
Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.
6. Homework Reduces Screen Time
Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.
The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad
1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.
Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.
While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.
Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.
2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home
While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .
3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job
School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.
4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results
Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.
The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.
It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.
Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.
5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone
The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.
On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.
The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.
It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.
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Top 5 Reasons Why Students Should Not Have Homework!
Homework has long been considered an essential and unavoidable part of student life. It is considered to be a valuable learning tool that helps students practice, revise, apply and consolidate new learning.
It is meant to augment classroom learning at home where students have more time and freedom to learn and explore topics in great detail. However, recent research suggests no direct link between homework and academic achievement. Therefore its role as an effective learning tool is now being called into question.
So before you assign your students homework, or ask your children to complete their homework assignments, consider these 5 reasons why students should not have homework :
Reasons why students should not have homework:
- Students have packed schedules:
- In today’s age, children aren’t expected only to focus on school, assignments and projects.
- They are required to be extremely balanced and well-rounded students who are capable of taking part in a number of activities in and out of school while getting the best marks possible.
- Parents have a tendency to enroll their children in a number of after-school activities, plus give them daily chores and expect them to manage homework during the day as well.
- Students also participate in a number of extracurricular activities and clubs during school hours.
- This takes away time from the number of classes they are able to attend, making it very difficult to cope with what is being done in class.
- However, if students refrained from doing this they lose out on a chance to apply to the best colleges because they do not have other credentials to support their grades.
- With seven to eight hours of school, plus hobbies and other classes (dance, music, etc.), it becomes difficult for them to sit down and complete assignments at the end of the day.
- This is one of the key reasons why students should not have homework especially when most of them have packed schedules.
- Children need time to relax and unwind:
- Like all adults, even children need to relax and release some stress whether it is by playing video games, watching TV or chatting with friends.
- But thanks to such rigid schedules, students are unable to take time off to distress.
- Children also need to learn how to keep themselves occupied when bored or alone.
- They do not get the opportunity to do this because of all the extra classes and activities. They are constantly socializing and doing something.
- When children are given the time to relax they are unsure of how to use it. They feel irritable, jittery and bored and do not know how to occupy themselves efficiently.
- This isn’t ideal because every child needs to learn how to operate independently and figure out what they truly enjoy or don’t.
- Most of what they’re doing is forced on them which is one of the reasonswhy students should not have homework .
- It is understandable why there is a difficulty in doing this when after a long day of school; students have at least 3 or so hours of homework and assignments to complete.
- Students benefit from extracurricular activities:
- Contrarily, minus the homework and school work, children can truly benefit from other activities like sports, debate club, music lessons, etc.
- After 7 hours of studying in school, it is understandable why extracurricular activities can seem like enjoyable activities to children.
- While homework, on the other hand, is just extra hours of studying and doing projects.
- Many children are able to learn more from actually doing things than simply answering questions or writing essays for class.
- Doing physical tasks are more beneficial and assist in memory retention and learning various skills that are useful throughout one’s life.
- Homework can be a cause of stress:
- Homework is one of the leading causes of stress for children and one of the most important reasons why students should not have homework .
- There is so much pressure on children to be academically successful and focus on getting good grades, that the scope to develop in other fields is reduced.
- Not all children are meant for academics; some have skills or interest in other departments that are completely ignored because of how the schooling system operates or functions.
- This pressure to study subjects one does not enjoy, or to spend hours doing homework that doesn’t interest students creates a lot of pressure.
- Not only are they required to finish the work but they must submit it before the deadline as well and ensure that everything is correct.
- There are other alternatives to homework assignments:
- There are many other alternatives to homework like examinations, tests, quizzes,
- Schools should incorporate this into their curriculum for more balanced and well rounded young learners.
- Using these alternatives is one of the most Effective tips to understand how to do your physics homework properly .
The debate about the pros and cons will continue, but with a little experimentation and understanding, a balance can be found.
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Kids Should Not Have Homework: 5 Arguments To Support Your Point
Homework has been a part of students’ lives for so long that the idea of not doing it can seem incredible, surreal, or even impossible. But if you stop to think about it, the truth is that homework is not necessary. Do you have trouble believing that? Well, here are a few great arguments that will definitely convince you.
Without further ado, here are the top five best arguments that will definitely convince any naysayers that homework is not something that should be done by kids.
- Kids already have seven hours of school. You start school at eight and go home at three. That’s a full day of school. Most adults work similar lengths of time at work and come home exhausted. Yet they can’t understand when their kids have trouble focusing at the end of a full day of learning. And that brings us to our next point.
- It’s counterintuitive to make children spend too many hours studying. If an adult has attention problems, that’s nothing compared to a kid. Children are still growing, their brains aren’t yet fully developed, and it’s crucial that they get a lot of exercise and free time. Something that they could do in thirty minutes if fully rested and energized will drag on for four hours if they’re restless and can’t focus because they left seven hours of school to directly jump into three hours of homework.
- Getting sun and exercise is crucial for your health. If you’re cooped up in school during the day, then have to do your homework when you get home, you’ll develop poor health. A much better solution would be to do all the learning you need to do in one place, in a short amount of time. When you stop school, that’s the time for you to play and go outside and get exercise.
- Seven hours of school should be enough to learn anything. Sure, let’s say that you have recess and lunch--there’s still a good five hours where you’re studying. If you can’t learn what you need in that time, there’s a problem. Rather than giving you lots of homework after school to compensate, schools should look at how they can rework teaching systems in class to make the most of the time you have in school.
- Having a social and family life is important. In short, you should have a balanced life. Many adults get angry if their work life spills over into their personal life. They like to go out after work and spend time with friends. But children should get the same respect. School is a time for learning, and it takes up much of the day. After school is the time for pursuing your own hobbies and personal pastimes.
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17 Reason Why Homework Should Be Banned To Improve Student’s Life
Why homework should be banned? Many students are troubled by this question. Teachers, according to research, assign more homework in a single night than the average student can handle (almost 2 hours of work)! We’ll go over more than seventeen reasons why homework should be banned.
A high level of homework has characterized the twenty-first century. Homework covers a large part of a child’s life. Kids work on book reports, arithmetic puzzles, and scientific posters all day and night. As a result, homework is an inevitable part of the learning process.
People still fight over the necessity of homework after decades of debate. It is viewed as “wrecking kids” or even “killing parents” by some. These people are correct. Students’ and parents’ lives would be so much easier if they didn’t have to do homework
17 Facts Why Homework Should Be Banned
Table of Contents
These seventeen reasons why homework should be banned aren’t enough to convince schools and universities to stop assigning homework after class:
- Students are given way too much homework
- School is a full-time job
- Homework stresses students out
- Homework provides no real benefit
- Too much homework means not quite enough time for yourself
No family time
Normal sleep cycle, downtime at home, negative impact on tests, threat to kid’s nerves, extra challenges, lack of support, the way students perceive things, writing has different effects., no real impact on performance, irrelevant content, more love, more care, students are given way too much homework .
It is an important reason why homework should be banned. Homework is an important topic for being successful both in and out of the classroom. But too much homework can destroy your progress.
Students who invest too much time in homework may find it challenging to meet other demands such as staying physically and socially engaged.
The national parent-teacher association and The national education association have agreed on a “ten-minute rule” for how long students should spend on homework. The guideline specifies that children should work on homework for 10 minutes per grade level per night.
According to research by the University of Phoenix, students in grades 9 to 12 are given 210 minutes every night. These students are dealing with rising schoolwork and are spending nearly twice as much time on it.
Students will be motivated to complete their assigned tasks and feel more accomplished if there is less homework or none.
School is a full-time job.
In Taiwan, most children’s school days begin at 8 a.m. or even earlier and end around 5 p.m. or later. Every day, children spend approximately 9 hours of their time on their schooling. When you add in the extracurricular activities that kids are required to participate in to complete and thrive in society, such as cram school, studying musical instruments, and participating in sports, children might easily spend more than 10 hours per day on school-related activities.
Homework stresses students out.
This is the third fact of why homework should be banned. Homework is a source of stress. According to a stanford university survey, 56 percent of students regard homework as a significant source of stress. In contrast, only 1% of students believe homework is not a substantial source of stress.
Furthermore, more than 80% of students exhibit stress-related symptoms such as headaches, tiredness, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach issues. Homework is to blame for all of these irritating stress and health difficulties.
Without a doubt, no homework means no stress. Students don’t have to waste their time sitting at their desks, burnt out, and wondering about whether or not they turned in all of their assignments if they don’t have homework. As a result, having no homework is a student’s dream come true.
Homework provides no real benefit.
This is the fourth fact of why homework should be banned. Teachers assume that giving students extra homework would help them improve and remember what they have learned faster. That is not the case, however. The more homework students have, the less motivated they are to learn. As a result, homework becomes a devil, driving students into a corner of worry rather than a tool for motivating them to learn more.
A decrease in academic performance has been connected to spending too much time on homework. Even though homework can help you achieve better marks, it usually has decreasing returns.
Too much homework means not quite enough time for yourself.
This is the fifth fact of why homework should be banned. Students who invest too much time in homework do not reach their developmental needs or develop other essential life skills. Students who have too much homework are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities such as athletics, musical instruments, and other activities.
Furthermore, if kids spend all of their time doing homework, they may be unable to gain essential life skills such as independence, learning to cook, time management, or even mingling with others.
Many students feel compelled to prioritize homework over finding and developing other abilities or talents. However, without homework, keds would be able to spend more time on their interests, such as dancing, playing video games, and drawing, while still functioning in society as adults.
This is the sixth fact of why homework should be banned. The most significant difficulty for today’s parents is that they don’t spend nearly enough time with their children. Kids begin working on their homework and projects as soon as they get home, and they barely have time to chat with their families because they’re too tired. Those continuously working on homework miss out on family time, shared evenings, weekend activities, and dinners. However, without homework, there would be more time for family bonding, which would bring families closer together.
This is the seventh of why homework should be banned. When students are overburdened with homework and assignments, their sleep cycles become irregular, disturbing their biological clocks and decreasing the quality of their sleep. For example, they may stay up until two a.m. to finish a single report. Then they pass out when they arrive home the next night, only to wake up late the next night to complete their homework. These cycles frequently repeat in the lives of students.
This is the eighth fact of why homework should be banned. 2 hours of homework after 8 hours in class is a punishment. Going outside, spending time with friends, joining hobby clubs, assisting parents, and yes, watching TV and playing video games all help children feel like children. Their professors should provide kids with more unstructured time.
This is the ninth fact of why homework should be banned. Should schools ban students from doing homework to improve their exam grades? Yes, it is correct. Students risk failing to pass their exams if they focus on homework assignments. Complicated, time-consuming chores, as well as mobile gadgets, video games, television, friends, domestic responsibilities, and so on, appear to be distractions.
This is the tenth of why homework should be banned. Why should homework in schools be prohibited for the sake of mental health ? Teachers are unconcerned about the negative consequences of after-school activities on a child’s brain and mental health.
This is the eleventh fact of why homework should be banned. Students that combine business schedules with extracurricular activities, internships, or part-time work find it difficult to manage their time. They are tired and exhausted by the end of the day.
This is the twelfth fact of why homework should be banned. it is an essential part of why homework should be banned. One of the most compelling reasons for banning homework is that most teachers fail to communicate everything needed to complete the task during class. Parents are unable to assist with all functions. Friends of students do not have the necessary experience to assist, and they also have work to complete. The only companies that can assist students with any level of academic work are professional internet services.
These are the thirteen facts of why homework should be banned. Should schools ban students from doing homework? Another reason to say “yes” is that different students have various perspectives on things. While some students memorise and fully comprehend a topic by repeatedly reading the same material, others memorize and fully comprehend a topic by watching a relevant video.
this is the fourteen fact of why homework should be banned. Some students have a good grasp of the subject. They risk failing the entire course due to a lack of writing or research abilities, and most teachers do nothing to help.
The economic cooperation and development (OECD) found that the extra time spent on education does not affect productivity in 4 hours of weekly home-taken assignments.
Homework should be prohibited if it has nothing to do with the topic or subject being studied. It is unethical to provide homework that students did not cover in class and expect decent reports.
Even the most strict parents agree that they do not visit their children on a regular basis. These generations are divided by work and education. Family members will have more time to spend together and receive more support as the number of after-class tasks is reduced. Learn how to complete your homework in less time. It will save you a lot of time and allow you to spend more time with the people you care about.
Should Homework be Banned Pros and Cons?
We will list why homework should not be banned below to show that this post attempts to assess things objectively. To be clear, we do not insist on homework being avoided at any cost. We try to figure out if youngsters would be better off alone with little responsibilities or hectic routines.
Minimizing screen time
Without homework, a student can spend up to 8 hours every day in front of the computer. The recommended average duration is no more than 3 hours: it makes young people lazy and damages their vision. The benefits of doing homework include improved study and living habits.
Improving time management
Every professional needs to be able to manage their time. It is hard to assign 24 hours per day without it.
Improved critical thinking
Extra assignments after class are the most effective technique to increase critical thinking and memory.
Developed sense of independence
The majority of children aspire to have more independence. The youngster is allowed to work independently while analyzing personal flaws and threats.
Sparking enthusiasm
What about a little additional motivation? Homework assignments allow parents to encourage their children to communicate more.
Enhanced research skills
To accomplish their tasks, students must conduct in-depth investigations. They will learn how to choose sources and gather proof.
Learning to multitask
A student develops multitasking skills by having several things to do in one right. A single task may necessitate research, writing, and analysis abilities, as well as computer knowledge.
Getting ready
It is not a good idea to assign homework the day before an exam. When assigned individually, after-class activities can help prepare and deepen knowledge; teachers should set aside some time before the tests to focus on them.
Do Students Get More Homework Than They Used For?
Yes. Teenagers today spend twice as much time on homework as they did in the 1990s. According to some research, even kindergarteners spend up to 25 minutes every day on homework.
For over a century, the concept of homework has been a source of heated debate. The anti-homework campaign grew so strong in California in 1901 that it banned homework in all schools below high school. Homework, it was argued, may be harmful to a child’s health by causing too much stress.
The pendulum swung in the 1950s with the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union. Teachers in the United States were concerned that a lack of homework had caused their students to fall behind their students in other countries. Since then, educators have argued about the value of homework. There has been a trend toward more homework in the twenty-first century. However, the age-old debate rages on, with some schools or districts experimenting with eliminating homework.
Can Homework Kill You?
The downsides of homework are apparent to everyone: tiredness, frustration, loss of time to pursue other interests, and often a decrease in interest in studying.” he said… “doing homework is similar to taking medicine. It has no effect if you consume too little. It can kill you if you consume too much, “ Cooper explained.
There are numerous articles on the subject because practically everyone despises homework.
Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford graduate school of education and a co-author of a study published in the journal of experimental education, commented, “our findings on the impacts of homework challenge the traditional notion that homework is fundamentally positive.” – Stanford university news.
“To put it simply, too much of anything may be harmful,” says Gerald Legendre, chair of Penn state’s department of education policy studies. “What Harris Cooper has advised – and he is one of the leading researchers with some excellent, accessible books on the subject – is that it’s best to have 10 minutes as you go up each grade until you’re up to an hour and a half of homework by middle school.”
Most studies conclude that homework is a waste of time that keeps people from doing things they want or need to do, such as sports or attending important events. Even if students have a legitimate need to participate in such circumstances or do not have enough time to complete their assignments, they are severely penalized.
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Conclusion
In this blog, you have learned why homework should be banned. I hope you have understood easily. And also if you are facing a problem writing your homework and you need help. Then you can contact our experts. If you want to pay someone to do my homework to get Java homework help . Our experts provide you the best services.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Does homework kill brain cells.
Children with more than one hour of homework per night are overwhelmingly concerned about their capacity to accomplish their assignments. This tension can cause severe difficulties for a developing brain over time. This is especially harmful to children’s brains, which are rapidly forming neural connections.
Is homework more harmful or helpful?
Yes, and the stories we hear about kids who are stressed out because they have too much homework-four or five hours a night-are true. However, data reveals that students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds receive significantly more homework than lower economic classes. This is harmful to one’s bodily and mental health, as well as one’s overall well-being.
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10 Real Reasons Students Aren't Doing Their Homework
Author: Naimish Gohil
Posted: 09 Jun 2013
Estimated time to read: 3 mins
Remember when you were at school and hadn't done your homework ? What excuse did you come up with? You completed it but you left it at home? It's in your other bag? A goose ate it on your walk to school? Whatever you came up with, any parent and their parents before them have passed on a few stories of what they used to tell teachers about their homework.
Although some stories might be a little exaggerated, the truth is that these worlds might indeed be quite different from the one our students are growing up in today. But, something that hasn’t changed much are the real reasons why students don’t do their homework. Whilst students might give made up excuses when put on the spot, often these excuses are hiding the real truth of why they didn't complete their work. And here comes the shock: It's not always their fault!
Here are 10 real reasons that students aren't doing their homework:
1. It’s boring
Let’s face it, if you've been in school all day listening to the teachers and doing work, so why would you want to come home and do some more?
2. The instructions are too hard to understand
Okay. Be honest. Maybe you weren’t totally listening. Maybe you don’t know what to do or how to do it. Or maybe the homework was not explained clearly enough for you to understand. Whatever the case, it’s just too difficult.
3. It’s too easy
It just does not make sense to do more of what a person already knows how to do, so why do it? If you can write an essay well, what is the purpose of rewriting it or writing another one, for that matter? If you can solve some math problems, do you really need to do another page or two? If you already know what is going to happen in a science or marketing experiment, do you have to outline each step and complete them all?
4. It’s not a priority
With sports, music and art classes and a whole range of additional extracurricular activities, maybe some do volunteer work or have a job, and don’t forget hanging out with friends plus if you throw in a couple of other class assignments, you get the picture … so why would this homework be a high priority to finish?
5. They forgot
Does this sound familiar? I forgot to copy the assignment down. I don’t remember parts of the assignment. I forgot to bring the work home. I forgot the materials I need to do it. I don’t remember when it is due.
6. It’s pointless and irrelevant
I’m sick of it. Perhaps the work does not seem to relate to anything really meaningful so you don’t want to spend any time on it. Maybe it looks like busy work and it does not seem worthwhile.
7. There’s no place to do it
The house is noisy, there’s other family members interfering with a quiet place to work, the rooms are too cluttered so there is no good space to work.
8. They don’t have the necessary equipment
The computer crashed or the electricity went out… the slide ruler is misplaced or there are no working batteries for the calculator.
9. There’s just too much of it
Maybe it seems overwhelming. Maybe it is hard to organize what needs to be done. Maybe you just don’t know how or where to start.
10. It doesn’t matter if I do it
It only counts for a few points or it’s not graded anyway, so why do it at all? No matter the subject, there are always going to be those who have an excuse for not wanting to do their homework. When setting homework try and bear some of these common excuses at mind, and create a task that students have a hard time thinking up an excuse for.
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Should Kids Get Homework?
Homework gives elementary students a way to practice concepts, but too much can be harmful, experts say.
Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful. (Getty Images)
How much homework students should get has long been a source of debate among parents and educators. In recent years, some districts have even implemented no-homework policies, as students juggle sports, music and other activities after school.
Parents of elementary school students, in particular, have argued that after-school hours should be spent with family or playing outside rather than completing assignments. And there is little research to show that homework improves academic achievement for elementary students.
But some experts say there's value in homework, even for younger students. When done well, it can help students practice core concepts and develop study habits and time management skills. The key to effective homework, they say, is keeping assignments related to classroom learning, and tailoring the amount by age: Many experts suggest no homework for kindergartners, and little to none in first and second grade.
Value of Homework
Homework provides a chance to solidify what is being taught in the classroom that day, week or unit. Practice matters, says Janine Bempechat, clinical professor at Boston University 's Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.
"There really is no other domain of human ability where anybody would say you don't need to practice," she adds. "We have children practicing piano and we have children going to sports practice several days a week after school. You name the domain of ability and practice is in there."
Homework is also the place where schools and families most frequently intersect.
"The children are bringing things from the school into the home," says Paula S. Fass, professor emerita of history at the University of California—Berkeley and the author of "The End of American Childhood." "Before the pandemic, (homework) was the only real sense that parents had to what was going on in schools."
Harris Cooper, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and author of "The Battle Over Homework," examined more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and found that — when designed properly — homework can lead to greater student success. Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary.
"Every child should be doing homework, but the amount and type that they're doing should be appropriate for their developmental level," he says. "For teachers, it's a balancing act. Doing away with homework completely is not in the best interest of children and families. But overburdening families with homework is also not in the child's or a family's best interest."
Negative Homework Assignments
Not all homework for elementary students involves completing a worksheet. Assignments can be fun, says Cooper, like having students visit educational locations, keep statistics on their favorite sports teams, read for pleasure or even help their parents grocery shop. The point is to show students that activities done outside of school can relate to subjects learned in the classroom.
But assignments that are just busy work, that force students to learn new concepts at home, or that are overly time-consuming can be counterproductive, experts say.
Homework that's just busy work.
Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful, experts say. Assignments that look more like busy work – projects or worksheets that don't require teacher feedback and aren't related to topics learned in the classroom – can be frustrating for students and create burdens for families.
"The mental health piece has definitely played a role here over the last couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the last thing we want to do is frustrate students with busy work or homework that makes no sense," says Dave Steckler, principal of Red Trail Elementary School in Mandan, North Dakota.
Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet.
With the pressure to cover all topics on standardized tests and limited time during the school day, some teachers assign homework that has not yet been taught in the classroom.
Not only does this create stress, but it also causes equity challenges. Some parents speak languages other than English or work several jobs, and they aren't able to help teach their children new concepts.
" It just becomes agony for both parents and the kids to get through this worksheet, and the goal becomes getting to the bottom of (the) worksheet with answers filled in without any understanding of what any of it matters for," says professor Susan R. Goldman, co-director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois—Chicago .
Homework that's overly time-consuming.
The standard homework guideline recommended by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association is the "10-minute rule" – 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level. A fourth grader, for instance, would receive a total of 40 minutes of homework per night.
But this does not always happen, especially since not every student learns the same. A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that primary school children actually received three times the recommended amount of homework — and that family stress increased along with the homework load.
Young children can only remain attentive for short periods, so large amounts of homework, especially lengthy projects, can negatively affect students' views on school. Some individual long-term projects – like having to build a replica city, for example – typically become an assignment for parents rather than students, Fass says.
"It's one thing to assign a project like that in which several kids are working on it together," she adds. "In (that) case, the kids do normally work on it. It's another to send it home to the families, where it becomes a burden and doesn't really accomplish very much."
Private vs. Public Schools
Do private schools assign more homework than public schools? There's little research on the issue, but experts say private school parents may be more accepting of homework, seeing it as a sign of academic rigor.
Of course, not all private schools are the same – some focus on college preparation and traditional academics, while others stress alternative approaches to education.
"I think in the academically oriented private schools, there's more support for homework from parents," says Gerald K. LeTendre, chair of educational administration at Pennsylvania State University—University Park . "I don't know if there's any research to show there's more homework, but it's less of a contentious issue."
How to Address Homework Overload
First, assess if the workload takes as long as it appears. Sometimes children may start working on a homework assignment, wander away and come back later, Cooper says.
"Parents don't see it, but they know that their child has started doing their homework four hours ago and still not done it," he adds. "They don't see that there are those four hours where their child was doing lots of other things. So the homework assignment itself actually is not four hours long. It's the way the child is approaching it."
But if homework is becoming stressful or workload is excessive, experts suggest parents first approach the teacher, followed by a school administrator.
"Many times, we can solve a lot of issues by having conversations," Steckler says, including by "sitting down, talking about the amount of homework, and what's appropriate and not appropriate."
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Why homework doesn't seem to boost learning--and how it could.
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Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn’t do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework.
In 2016, a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students—and at least some of their parents—by announcing she would no longer assign homework. “Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance,” she explained.
The following year, the superintendent of a Florida school district serving 42,000 students eliminated homework for all elementary students and replaced it with twenty minutes of nightly reading, saying she was basing her decision on “solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students.”
Many other elementary schools seem to have quietly adopted similar policies. Critics have objected that even if homework doesn’t increase grades or test scores, it has other benefits, like fostering good study habits and providing parents with a window into what kids are doing in school.
Those arguments have merit, but why doesn’t homework boost academic achievement? The research cited by educators just doesn’t seem to make sense. If a child wants to learn to play the violin, it’s obvious she needs to practice at home between lessons (at least, it’s obvious to an adult). And psychologists have identified a range of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments.
For example, there’s something called “ retrieval practice ,” which means trying to recall information you’ve already learned. The optimal time to engage in retrieval practice is not immediately after you’ve acquired information but after you’ve forgotten it a bit—like, perhaps, after school. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes. Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material.
One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework. These are things that schools of education and teacher-prep programs typically don’t teach . So it’s quite possible that much of the homework teachers assign just isn’t particularly effective for many students.
Even if teachers do manage to assign effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers—for example, standardized reading test scores. Those tests are designed to measure general reading comprehension skills, not to assess how much students have learned in specific classes. Good homework assignments might have helped a student learn a lot about, say, Ancient Egypt. But if the reading passages on a test cover topics like life in the Arctic or the habits of the dormouse, that student’s test score may well not reflect what she’s learned.
The research relied on by those who oppose homework has actually found it has a modest positive effect at the middle and high school levels—just not in elementary school. But for the most part, the studies haven’t looked at whether it matters what kind of homework is assigned or whether there are different effects for different demographic student groups. Focusing on those distinctions could be illuminating.
A study that looked specifically at math homework , for example, found it boosted achievement more in elementary school than in middle school—just the opposite of the findings on homework in general. And while one study found that parental help with homework generally doesn’t boost students’ achievement—and can even have a negative effect— another concluded that economically disadvantaged students whose parents help with homework improve their performance significantly.
That seems to run counter to another frequent objection to homework, which is that it privileges kids who are already advantaged. Well-educated parents are better able to provide help, the argument goes, and it’s easier for affluent parents to provide a quiet space for kids to work in—along with a computer and internet access . While those things may be true, not assigning homework—or assigning ineffective homework—can end up privileging advantaged students even more.
Students from less educated families are most in need of the boost that effective homework can provide, because they’re less likely to acquire academic knowledge and vocabulary at home. And homework can provide a way for lower-income parents—who often don’t have time to volunteer in class or participate in parents’ organizations—to forge connections to their children’s schools. Rather than giving up on homework because of social inequities, schools could help parents support homework in ways that don’t depend on their own knowledge—for example, by recruiting others to help, as some low-income demographic groups have been able to do . Schools could also provide quiet study areas at the end of the day, and teachers could assign homework that doesn’t rely on technology.
Another argument against homework is that it causes students to feel overburdened and stressed. While that may be true at schools serving affluent populations, students at low-performing ones often don’t get much homework at all—even in high school. One study found that lower-income ninth-graders “consistently described receiving minimal homework—perhaps one or two worksheets or textbook pages, the occasional project, and 30 minutes of reading per night.” And if they didn’t complete assignments, there were few consequences. I discovered this myself when trying to tutor students in writing at a high-poverty high school. After I expressed surprise that none of the kids I was working with had completed a brief writing assignment, a teacher told me, “Oh yeah—I should have told you. Our students don’t really do homework.”
If and when disadvantaged students get to college, their relative lack of study skills and good homework habits can present a serious handicap. After noticing that black and Hispanic students were failing her course in disproportionate numbers, a professor at the University of North Carolina decided to make some changes , including giving homework assignments that required students to quiz themselves without consulting their notes. Performance improved across the board, but especially for students of color and the disadvantaged. The gap between black and white students was cut in half, and the gaps between Hispanic and white students—along with that between first-generation college students and others—closed completely.
There’s no reason this kind of support should wait until students get to college. To be most effective—both in terms of instilling good study habits and building students’ knowledge—homework assignments that boost learning should start in elementary school.
Some argue that young children just need time to chill after a long day at school. But the “ten-minute rule”—recommended by homework researchers—would have first graders doing ten minutes of homework, second graders twenty minutes, and so on. That leaves plenty of time for chilling, and even brief assignments could have a significant impact if they were well-designed.
But a fundamental problem with homework at the elementary level has to do with the curriculum, which—partly because of standardized testing— has narrowed to reading and math. Social studies and science have been marginalized or eliminated, especially in schools where test scores are low. Students spend hours every week practicing supposed reading comprehension skills like “making inferences” or identifying “author’s purpose”—the kinds of skills that the tests try to measure—with little or no attention paid to content.
But as research has established, the most important component in reading comprehension is knowledge of the topic you’re reading about. Classroom time—or homework time—spent on illusory comprehension “skills” would be far better spent building knowledge of the very subjects schools have eliminated. Even if teachers try to take advantage of retrieval practice—say, by asking students to recall what they’ve learned that day about “making comparisons” or “sequence of events”—it won’t have much impact.
If we want to harness the potential power of homework—particularly for disadvantaged students—we’ll need to educate teachers about what kind of assignments actually work. But first, we’ll need to start teaching kids something substantive about the world, beginning as early as possible.
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10 Reasons Why Students Hate Homework
It’s no secret that students often hate homework. This hatred makes students benefit less from homework. But why do students hate homework?
These are just a few reasons. In this post, I have explored in detail some reasons why students hate homework to help you make it better for them.
Why is homework important?
1. homework is an important tool for students to improve their grades..
Homework is an important tool for students to improve their grades. It can help them stay on track, learn new material, and build discipline. Getting a good grade on homework can help students build confidence, raise their self-esteem, and reduce frustration. They may also develop better study habits and set themselves up for success in college.
2. Homework can help students learn new material and improve their skills.
3. homework can help students stay focused and motivated., 4. homework is an important aspect of education that helps students prepare for life in the real world..
Students have to stay on top of their studies in order to be ready for college, work, and other life experiences. Homework also gives students the opportunity to practice what they learn in class and allows them to prepare for tests. This prepares students for the real world.
5. Homework can help students learn how to study and stay organized.
10 reasons students hate homework, 1. it assigns too much work.
It assigns too much work. Homework can be a huge burden for students and can often take up too much time. It can be difficult for students to get their work done, especially if they are struggling with it. This can lead to students feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, which can have negative consequences for their academic performance. Find out why you should give less homework here.
2. It Breaks Up the Family Dinner Schedule
3. it gets in the way of their other activities.
One reason students may hate homework is that it gets in the way of their other activities. This can be frustrating, as many students want to spend their free time doing things they enjoy. Homework can also take up a lot of time, which could be better spent doing other things.
4. It Can Be Hard to Finish
5. they don’t understand the instructions, 6. they’re afraid of failing if they don’t do their homework..
In these cases, it’s easy to give in to temptation and skip or ignore their homework altogether. This can have serious consequences, both academically and socially. Not only will students suffer from poor grades if they don’t do their homework, but they’ll also be less likely to get good jobs or admission into prestigious colleges if they’ve failed.
7. They Get Distracted by Social Media or Texting Friends.
8. they find it boring or dull., 9. they can’t concentrate or pay attention to details..
One of the main reasons students hate homework is because they can’t concentrate or pay attention to details. When they have to focus on a single task, it becomes incredibly difficult for them. Additionally, when details are important, students find it harder to pay attention. This can lead to mistakes and frustration.
10. The Penalties are too severe if they miss a deadline.
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Parents Are Asking for No Homework Before Middle School—Here's What Experts Say
After over a year and a half of pandemic stress, some parents are taking a stand against homework for kids grades k-5. here's what experts have to say..
Well before the pandemic, the years-old debate around homework for elementary schoolers was reaching a fever pitch. Older research published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that elementary school students were receiving about three times as much homework as recommended by the National Education Association (NEA). (The NEA's go-to rule is that students should have a nightly 10 minutes per grade level.) Add a pandemic, remote learning, stress of all kinds amplified to the nth degree for both parents and kids to the mix, and it's no surprise that parents are speaking out in favor of putting a stop to homework for elementary school children altogether.
"Kids have been through a tough couple of years, and they may need some downtime," says Michele Borba , Ed.D., an educational psychologist and best-selling author of Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine . "Homework is becoming more busywork as opposed to a learning tool, and many parents are raising the white flag."
Here is what parents and experts are currently saying about the homework debate, along with tips to make assignments less burdensome.
The 'No Homework Before Middle School' Movement
In September, Melinda Wenner Moyer, journalist and author of How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes , wrote a piece on her Substack newsletter calling attention to the science of homework and the issues facing parents with elementary schoolers specifically. She points to a 2006 analysis of the research on homework by Harris Cooper, a neuroscientist and social psychologist at Duke, which found no relationship between the amount of homework elementary school students did and their overall academic achievement.
"Maybe, after such a trying year, schools will recognize that the emotional health of their students should be priority—and that homework doesn't provide much of a benefit," writes Moyer.
In response, organizational psychologist Adam Grant agreed, tweeting, "In elementary schools, assigning more homework doesn't improve grades or test scores. And it seems to hurt those who are already disadvantaged. The past 18 months have been stressful enough. Let's give kids a break: no homework before middle school."
Twitter users jumped onboard , applauding the take. But how educators will respond to this plea has yet to be seen.
What Experts Say About Homework
According to some parents, elementary schoolers spend about one to two hours a day on homework, says Reena B. Patel, licensed educational psychologist, board-certified behavior analyst, and author of Winnie & Her Worries . That means they're lacking time to unwind, participate in leisure activities, and get a good night's sleep. "Plus, if you have a child in extracurricular activities, they may not get to homework until later that night," she notes.
Susan Kuczmarski, Ed.D., author of Becoming A Happy Family: Pathways to the Family Soul , agrees, emphasizing the importance of unstructured, relaxing moments for kids. "There is tremendous value in what I call 'hammock time.' This means daydreaming, hanging out, getting lost in your thoughts, doodling, and reading. Children are nourished by introspective time to wonder and dream."
Beyond that, researchers have yet to find that homework bolsters learning for elementary schoolers.
"There is no evidence, in any research conducted on homework, of any benefits to homework before middle school," says Dorothy Shapland , Ed.D., an associate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. "All arguments for homework are based on the idea that it is beneficial and not on any research that it makes a difference in learning."
What Parents Can Do to Help
In the meantime, kids are still getting homework, but experts say there are ways for parents to help them through it. Dr. Borba advises parents go to kids' annual back-to-school night session and learn more about each teacher's expectations for homework. If they say it's 30 minutes or 15 minutes, but you're spending more like three hours, that's your cue to call a parent-teacher conference and discuss the disconnect.
Parents can feel empowered to speak up about their child's homework, because in the long-run, what elementary school kids need more than anything is to prioritize their mental health and well-being, focusing on getting outdoors and enjoying physical activity, as well as reading and doing intellectually-stimulating games and puzzles.
Ultimately, using the NEA's guideline, kids can slowly but surely get accustomed to putting in more minutes of homework per night as time goes on. "Moderation is critical," says Dr. Borba.
In the meantime, if you and your elementary schooler are still struggling with squeezing in homework, consider the following tips:
Break it up
Instead of waiting until after dinner, sprinkle in a few minutes here or there. "Spend five minutes on flashcards while waiting to pick up big brother from a soccer game," suggests Dr. Borba. "Figure out how to weave it in, so it's little nuggets along the way, and therefore, more natural, easy, and stress-reducing."
Do the hardest homework first
Getting more difficult assignments out of the way first will boost your child's feeling of accomplishment while reducing their anxiety about having to tackle something they find challenging, explains Dr. Borba.
Set a timer
Whether a child needs to put in a little more time on their homework or they are actually working too long and hard, you can set a boundary around how long they're sitting. Dr. Borba recommends setting a timer. When it goes off, it's time to put homework aside and go play.
In the end, Dr. Borba says parents and schools need to get on the same page about elementary school homework. "We've gotta get our kids back on track," she notes. "But we've gotta do it in a way in which it's reasonable, it's manageable, and it's also in line with our kids' mental health and well-being."
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The Tyranny of Homework: 20 Reasons to Stop Assigning Homework Over the Holidays
M any students agree that assigning homework over the holidays really is a form of cruel and unusual punishment.
Upon returning from winter break, you’ll probably have a handful of students saying the dog ate their homework or it got blown away in a winter storm. But you’ll probably be surprised to learn that some research suggests assigning too much homework can be a bad thing. A 2009 article in the Los Angeles Times , suggests that some districts have cut back on the amount of homework in the effort to consider children’s social development. In fact, the San Ramon Valley district modified its homework policy and no homework is allowed over weekends and holiday vacations, except for reading.
The US National Education Association recommends no more than ten minutes (of homework) per grade level, per night.
Homework has fallen in and out of favor over the decades. California even established a law in 1901 limiting the amount of homework teachers could assign. Assigning homework is highly in favor now a days. With recent trends of information overload, packed activity schedules, and childhood obesity, it’s no wonder educators are reconsidering their stance on homework.
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Here are 20 reasons why you shouldn’t assign homework over the holidays. Perhaps one of your students will print this list and encourage you to reconsider your ideas about homework.
- Students are learning all the time in the 21 st century. According to a recent article in MindShift traditional homework will become obsolete in the next decade. Thanks to computers, learning is occurring 24/7. With access to software programs, worldwide connections, and learning websites such as the Khan Academy, learning occurs all the time. According to Mindshift, “the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear.” Try to see if you can bridge the gap between school and home by getting students interested in doing their own research over holiday break. Rather than assigning homework, create a true interest in learning. They will often pursue learning about topics they like on their own. After all, this is the way of the 21 st century and information is everywhere.
- More homework doesn’t necessarily equate to higher achievement . Yes, too much homework can actually be a bad thing. A 1989 Duke University study that reviewed 120 studies found a weak link between achievement and homework at the elementary level and only a moderate benefit at the middle school level. In a similar recent review of 60 studies, researchers at Duke U found assigning homework was beneficial, but excessive amounts of homework was counterproductive. The research found homework was more beneficial for older students than younger ones. The study was completed by Harris Cooper, a leading homework research and author of “The Battle over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents”. Cooper suggests that teachers at the younger level may assign homework for improving study skills, rather than learning, explaining why many studies concluded less benefit for younger children. Many teachers do not receive specific training on homework. Cooper suggests that homework should be uncomplicated and short, involve families, and engage student interests.
- Countries that assign more homework don’t outperform those with less homework. Around the world, countries that assign more homework don’t see to perform any better. A Stanford study found that in countries like Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic little homework was assigned and students outperformed students in counties with large amounts of homework such as Greece, Thailand, and Iran. American and British students seem to have more homework than most counties, and still only score in the international average. In fact, Japan has instituted no homework policies at younger levels to allow family time and personal interests. Finland, a national leader in international tests, limits high school homework to half hour per night. Of course, there are other factors not taken into account in the study, such as length of the school day. But in itself, it is interesting to see this issue from a world perspective.
- Instead of assigning homework, suggest they read for fun. There are great holiday stories and books you can recommend to parents and students. If you approach the activity with a holiday spirit, many students will be engaged . They may want to check out the stories on their own. You can start by reading the first chapter in class and leaving them intrigued. For instance, you can read the first chapter of The Gift of the Magi and suggest students read it over winter break. With younger students, you might promise roles in a play for students who read over break.
- Don’t assign holiday busy work. Most academics agree that busy work does little to increase learning. It is best to not assign packets of worksheets if they do nothing to add to student learning. You also don’t want to waste valuable time grading meaningless paperwork. Some studies show that much homework may actually decline achievement. Assigning excessive amounts of homework may be detrimental. In fact, a 2006 study by Yankelovick found that reading achievement declined when students were assigned too much homework. Actually, interesting reading such as Harry Potter produced higher reading achievement.
- Have students attend a local cultural event. You can let parents know that instead of assigning homework, you are suggesting students attend a particular event that relates to your classroom. For instance, if you are reading Shakespeare, they might attend a related play or ballet.
- Family time is more important during the holidays . Assigning less homework makes it easier for families to have time together. Family studies at the University of Michigan, show that family time is extremely important to achievement and behavior. Studies on family meals, suggest that students who have dinner with their family have better academic scores and behavioral outcomes. Perhaps this is only a correlation, but family time is undeniably important to child development. Students spent most of their days at school while parents are at work. When all is said and done, remember what it was like being a kid. The things you remember most about the holidays aren’t the assignments you took home, but the time you spend with family and friends.
- For students who travel during the holidays, assigning homework may impede learning on their trip . The Holiday time is the one time of year that many families reconnect with distant family members or travel. I remember having to pack hoards of books over some holidays to Spain and it was not fun. I wanted to enjoy the time with family and experience the country fully. Traveling in itself is a learning activity. Let students experience their travels fully.
- Kids need time to be kids. A recent article from Australia’s Happy Child website, “What is the value of Homework: Research and Reality” considers this issue and explains how children need unstructured play time. Homework can have a negative influence on early learning experiences. Suggest students use holiday time to do physical activity, such as ice-skating or sledding. Many kids don’t get enough exercise. Childhood obesity is a major problem in the United States. Suggesting students play outside or participate in a sport is a good way to get them to value physical activity. The holidays are a great time for kids to go sledding in the snow or play with friends outside. If no one has homework, classmates might exchange phone numbers to play together. You can suggest this to parents. If the teacher thinks physical activity is important, students will too.
- Some education experts recommend an end to all homework . Etta Kralovec and John Buell, authors of The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning , controversially suggests that homework may be a form of intrusion on family life, and may increase the drop-out rate in high schools. The authors blame homework for increasing the achievement gap due to socio-economic differences in after-school obligations. Consider challenging your own views of the benefits of homework and try to create a level playing field when considering assignments.
- Send a letter to parents explaining why you are not assigning work. You might want to take the Christmas holiday as a chance to engage parents to play a learning game or do some art with their kids. If families know there is an intentional purpose to not assigning work, they may take the chance to spend more one-on-one time with their child.
- You can make the holidays a time for an “open project” for extra credit. Students might take this time to do something related to the curriculum that they would like to explore on their own terms. Before the holidays, you might talk about topics or provide books students for students to take home. Learning for fun and interest, might produce more meaningful engagement than assigning homework.
- Suggest they visit a museum instead. With families at home, the holiday time is a great time for students to see an exhibit that interests them or do a fun activity at a nearby museum. Sometimes encouraging these field trips may be more beneficial than assigning homework. You might want to print coupons, a schedule, or a list of upcoming exhibits so that families have the information at their fingertips.
- Encourage students to volunteer during the holiday time. The holidays are a great time for students to give back. Students might volunteer at a local soup kitchen or pantry. Volunteer organizations are often at their busiest during the holiday time. Plus, students learn a lot from the experience of doing community service. I remember visiting a group home during the holiday time in high school and helping kids wrap Christmas gifts for their families. This is a great alternative to assigning homework, especially for Generation Y who highly values civic involvement.
- Develop a class game. You might have the class play a learning game the week before vacation and have them take it home to show their family. My fourth grade teacher had hop-scotch math. We often drew with chalk outside to replicate her game at home. Try to think of a holiday-themed game or one that the whole family can get involved in.
- Students might learn more from observing the real world. Learning isn’t just about paper and pencil activities. Teachers should also inspire students to seek ways to learn from real-world experiences. They might cook with their parents and practice measuring. Or tag along with a parent who is putting up holiday lights or building a shed. Ask students to observe a job around the house or ask their parents about their job over holiday break. They might be enlightened to learn more about the real world and different jobs they might pursue in the future. Perhaps some students might be able to go to work with their parents instead of a formal assignment.
- Go on a hike. Students learn a great deal from nature. Tell students to go outside on a walk and be ready to share their experience when they get back. Did they observe natural phenomena you talked about in science class or different types of rocks you discussed in geology? Or can you tie their walk into a discussion of poetry?
- Tell students to visit an amusement park. If you are teaching physics or math, amusement parks give ample room to explain the laws of physics and mathematical probability. This outing would allow students to think about the real world implications of science. You may want to even plan a lesson beforehand that ties this idea in. On another level, it allows students to create a lasting memory with their own families.
- Kids need rest! Everyone needs a mental breather and the holidays are the best time for students to play and take a break from school. Kids need a full ten hours of sleep and adequate rest. The vacation time is a great time for students to take a mental breather from school. With many family outings and vacations during the holiday time, they will have less time to complete homework. They will come back to school feeling re-energized.
- Many parents and students dislike holiday homework. You want parents to buy-in to your classroom community and support your endeavors with students. Assigning homework over the holidays is usually unpopular with parents because it may the one time of year they have to give children their undivided attention. Instead, you might want to take a survey to see if parents agree with the idea. You can then send a letter with the survey results. Taking parents’ perspectives into account shows you value their opinions and feedback. Students prefer some free time too. Not surprisingly one student created a Facebook page, titled, “Why do teachers give us homework over the holiday.” If the students know you are giving them a break over the holidays they may work harder for you when they get back.
If you’re still not convinced, check out this fact sheet based on The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. If you still plan on assigning homework over the holidays, at least keep in mind some guidelines.
The US National Education Association recommends no more than ten minutes per grade level, per night. If you must assign homework make sure it is meaningful and doesn’t take away from time with families. And most of all, remember what it was like being a kid during the holiday time. Homework is generally not a part of those memories, nor should it be. Those days playing outside and spending time with family are lifelong memories just as important as school.
Childhood is over in the blink of an eye.
About Miriam Clifford
Miriam Clifford holds a Masters in Teaching from City University and a Bachelor in Science from Cornell. She loves research and is passionate about education. She is a foodie and on her time off enjoys cooking and gardening. You can find her @miriamoclifford or Google+ .
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Reasons Why Homework Is Bad For Students?
- Post author By admin
- October 12, 2022
Homework is a word that most students don’t want to hear. Because, after many hours of sitting in the same class, the last thing students get is more schoolwork over their precious weekends. Well, it is known to be a traditional schooling system. Lets now
Some feel that Homework is a necessary part of education. On the other hand, some believe that the time should be invested in extra activities. Many studies have found that most students are getting too much extra Homework and assignments that lead to many problems like stress, sleeping problems, and other problems related to health.
Typically in high schools, students take six classes a day, which means they receive 24.5 hours of homework weekly. But this is not the main problem. The problem with the school nowadays is that it promotes stress at a very high level by giving students extra work that most of the students don’t want to do.
There are plenty of reasons why Homework is bad for students, but in this Blog, we will look at the top 18 most crucial reasons.
Without wasting any time, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
18 Reasons Why Homework Is Bad For Students
There are many reasons why Homework is bad, but in this Blog, we will cover the top 18 reasons why Homework is bad for students.
- May lead to Stress Problems
No time for outside activities
Excessive homework cause depression, have no real impact on performance, homework control the student’s freedom.
- May break student’s confidence
No real benefit
The school became a full-time job, irrelevant content, lack of social skills , waste of time, no time for family, destroy sleep cycle.
- Excessive Homework encourages cheating
Can lower your grades
Counterproductivity.
- No time for daily exercise
Consume free time
May lead to stress problems..
Extra assignments given by high schools and universities to students may lead to unhealthy stress levels. If bombarded with countless work at the school and at home, students may feel anxiety and stress. I know students need to learn in the class, but they also get some time to explore other things outside the academic world.
This is obvious if you get work after work and fail to complete that work. You will automatically get stressed, and that gets worse over time.
According to the survey, 56 percent of the students think that Homework is the primary cause of stress. At the same time, the remaining students think that giving tests and getting good marks causes stress. Only 1 percent of the students think that Homework does not cause notable stress.
One of the main reasons Homework is bad is that you get no time to go outside and play something that will automatically boost your productivity and instantly kill stress. Doing outside activities will not only boost your productivity but also make you healthy physically as well as mentally.
Excessive Homework may cause Depression, which then affects students mentally and physically too. According to the studies, more than 39% of the students have experienced Depression daily. The main reason is that most students want more grades rather than doing Homework. When students are unable to attain their goals, then it is really hard to maintain their health, so as a result, they get depressed. All of these issues can have a negative impact on someone’s life.
Extra time spent on Homework does not have a real impact on performance. As a result, it’s more like you’re wasting time by doing the same thing repeatedly, which does not produce any result.
Childhood is meant to be enjoyed, but extra Homework makes it impossible. Instead of spending time on something else, students spend most of their time on Homework. As a result, Homework became the reason to control students’ freedom.
May break students’ confidence
If you’re doing the same thing repeatedly, you don’t get any result from this. Then the probability is high that you will lose your confidence. So, to boost your confidence, students should take some breaks and then get back to work.
A decrease in academic performance is directly connected to spending more time on Homework. Homework can help you get better marks, but it usually has a low return. As a result, there is no real benefit from the Homework.
This is the seventh reason why Homework is bad for the students.
In Chile, most school days start from 8 a.m and end at 4 p.m or later. Every day, students spend approximately 9 hours in school, like you’re doing a full-time job.
If the Homework has nothing to do with the topic or the subject, it should be prohibited. It is unfair to provide Homework that a student did not cover in the class and expect a better report.
Heavy homework activities may have a terrible effect on student life. Everyone needs some time for daily routine activity and quality time with their friends and family. But teachers assign heavy Homework during weekends. Then there is no choice but for the students to complete the task rather than be more social.
Most studies found that Homework is a waste of time that keeps people from doing things they want to do. Such as attending important events or sports. As a result, even if a student wants to attend or participate in such events, in such circumstances, students don’t have enough time due to workload.
This is the twelfth reason why Homework is bad and should be banned. In most parts of the world, students doest have time to spend with their family members. Well, the most difficult thing for today’s parents is that they don’t spend enough time with their children. Students start working on their homework as soon as they get back home. As a result, students barely have time to talk with their parents.
Even on the weekend, students work on their extra assignments and Homework. That being said, students miss weekends that they are supposed to spend with their family members. However, without work, students have more time for family.
In most cases, students don’t want to get up early in the morning. When you sleep for a longer period and wake up late in the morning, you would feel more relaxed and chill. But due to excessive amounts of Homework, students barely get 7 hours of sleep. As a result, Homework is the biggest concern that destroys the sleep cycle.
This is the thirteenth reason why Homework should be banned.
Excessive Homework encourages cheating
When students have an excessive amount of work to complete in a short period, it is really difficult for them to complete their Homework. As a result, to complete Homework in time, they copy from other students. Cheating is illegal in any school. If the teacher finds out that both assignments have relevant material, they get punished. That is why Homework is bad.
One of the main reasons Homework is bad is that many teachers cannot provide all the important information in the class, and parents can not help children. If you spend most of the time doing homework, you don’t get time to study. As a result, it can lower your grades.
Rather than improving education, a heavy homework load may affect the students’ performance. Students have too much stress to complete Homework every other night, which can affect the student’s performance in school. A homework load may counter your productivity skills.
No Time For Daily Workout
This is the seventeenth reason why Homework is bad. Well, exercise has many benefits, like if you work out daily then it can improve your mental health, and remove stress. On the other hand, some aerobic exercise can even help you with Depression. Students don’t have time for daily workouts due to an excessive homework load.
Everybody needs some free time to chill or relax, but what if you don’t have time to do anything? How do you feel? Well, the obvious answer is you feel very bad. That’s what students feel when they don’t have time to play or to spend some time with family, just because of frequently given Homework and assignments by the teachers.
Reasons Why Homework Is Bad & Should be Banned
Four main reasons why homework should be banned
- It creates family stress : Some parents argue with their children about getting Homework done or being frustrated with their inability to teach children about any topic.
- Students can do other important activities : Other activities include outdoor time, family bonding time, and other unscheduled play.
- Doesn’t increase academic achievement : According to many studies, Homework has weak links to get better academic achievements.
- Leads to more anxiety : It can cause more academic stress for students.
Conclusion: Why Homework is Bad
In this blog, we have learned 18 reasons why Homework is bad. I hope you understand why Homework is bad for the student; not only do students in the same city face this problem, but it’s a worldwide cause. Students also have the freedom to do other activities and have some free time to chill and relax.
This is the end of this Blog. I hope you like it. Also, Read: Best Homework Songs to Listen While Study
Q1. Is Homework Good or bad?
Ans. Too much of anything can harm you instead of helping you. So, if students get too much work, it can do more harm than good. Studies have shown that if a student gets less Homework, it’s good, but if it’s too much, it’s bad.
Q2. Why is too much Homework bad for mental health?
Ans. Studies conducted at Stanford University in 2013 have found that top-performing students are distracted and mostly spend more time on Homework than on improving academic skills. As a result, they experienced more stress, problems related to health, lack of social skills, and many more.
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Why kids don’t hand in their work (even if they did it)
By Amanda Morin
Quick tip 1, use visual reminders..
Put a sticky note that says “Did you turn in your homework?” on a lunchbox or something else kids use every day. Or have kids keep their completed homework inside their lunchbox or on the very top of a bookbag.
Quick tip 2
Try a homework folder..
Have kids use a folder to bring their homework to and from school. Try a brightly colored folder with pockets. This makes it easier to find in a backpack and keeps papers from slipping out. Check this folder daily.
Quick tip 3
Use calendars and checklists..
Digital or paper calendars, planners, and checklists can help kids remember to turn in homework. Have kids choose a tool that works best for them. Then teach them how to use it.
Quick tip 4
Do a backpack audit..
A messy backpack can make it hard for kids to find their homework. Clean out the backpack together. Then give kids tips for keeping it organized on their own.
When kids complete their homework but don’t turn it in, it’s frustrating. And it can be even more frustrating if kids don’t have an answer to the question, “Why didn’t you hand it in?”
It’s not unusual for kids to forget to turn in their homework from time to time. And some kids choose not to hand in their homework, even if they did it.
Explore topics selected by our experts
Middle-schoolers and high-schoolers may want to seem cool in front of their friends. To some kids that age, caring about getting their homework done isn’t cool.
Some kids might feel like they’re just “not good” at a class or at school in general. Maybe they had a bad experience with an assignment or a teacher in the past. So they don’t even bother handing in their work — even if they did it.
For other kids, though, getting homework to the teacher is a different kind of challenge. It’s one thing to do homework. It’s another thing to put it in your backpack, bring it to school, find it in your backpack, and remember to turn it in.
It may seem like kids are being lazy or not trying hard enough. But challenges with organization are real.
Dive deeper
Homework and trouble with organization.
The routine to get out the door in the morning is already hard for some kids. Managing to take their homework with them adds another layer. It doesn’t mean that kids don’t want to get it right or aren’t working hard. Kids can want to get organized and still struggle with it.
Other kids may get their homework to school but forget to turn it in. Maybe they can’t find it in their messy backpack. They might be distractible and get sidetracked by something before turning it in.
Some kids just completely forget to turn homework in. Forgetfulness isn’t uncommon, especially when kids are stressed or tired. And it’s more common for some kids than others, like kids who have trouble with focus or with following directions.
Learn more about what can cause organization challenges .
How a homework contract can help
A homework contract holds everyone accountable for what they need to do to make sure homework gets done and turned in.
Parents and caregivers: Download a homework contract to use with your child. Use it to outline the ways you’ll help with homework, including how much you’ll help your child get it to school.
Educators: If kids are having trouble turning in their homework, suggest that families try a homework contract. Explore homework contracts and other organization printables for families.
When kids are completing homework but not turning it in, families and educators should connect and share what they’re seeing. Talk about the classroom policies and routines around homework like:
Late work policies
Where and when kids turn in homework
Online options — can kids turn in homework online, like on Google Classroom? Can they email homework?
Then use the information to find strategies to try.
Parents and caregivers: It’s important to talk with your child, too. Ask specific questions about how school is going. For example, does your child feel uncomfortable handing in homework? Is something going on with the teacher? Talk about what’s going on and let them know you’ll work together to find solutions.
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Is Homework Good or Bad for Students?
It's mostly good, especially for the sciences, but it also can be bad.
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Homework isn't fun for students to do or for teachers to grade, so why do it? Here are some reasons why homework is good and why it's bad.
Why Homework Is Good
Here are 10 reasons why homework is good, especially for the sciences, such as chemistry:
- Doing homework teaches you how to learn on your own and work independently. You'll learn how to use resources such as texts, libraries, and the internet. No matter how well you thought you understood the material in class, there will be times when you'll get stuck doing homework. When you face the challenge, you learn how to get help, how to deal with frustration, and how to persevere.
- Homework helps you learn beyond the scope of the class. Example problems from teachers and textbooks show you how to do an assignment. The acid test is seeing whether you truly understand the material and can do the work on your own. In science classes, homework problems are critically important. You see concepts in a whole new light, so you'll know how equations work in general, not just how they work for a particular example. In chemistry, physics, and math, homework is truly important and not just busywork.
- It shows you what the teacher thinks is important to learn, so you'll have a better idea of what to expect on a quiz or test .
- It's often a significant part of your grade . If you don't do it, it could cost you , no matter how well you do on exams.
- Homework is a good opportunity to connect parents, classmates, and siblings with your education. The better your support network, the more likely you are to succeed in class.
- Homework, however tedious it might be, teaches responsibility and accountability. For some classes, homework is an essential part of learning the subject matter.
- Homework nips procrastination in the bud. One reason teachers give homework and attach a big part of your grade to it is to motivate you to keep up. If you fall behind, you could fail.
- How will you get all your work done before class? Homework teaches you time management and how to prioritize tasks.
- Homework reinforces the concepts taught in class. The more you work with them, the more likely you are to learn them.
- Homework can help boost self-esteem . Or, if it's not going well, it helps you identify problems before they get out of control.
Sometimes Homework Is Bad
So, homework is good because it can boost your grades , help you learn the material, and prepare you for tests. It's not always beneficial, however. Sometimes homework hurts more than it helps. Here are five ways homework can be bad:
- You need a break from a subject so you don't burn out or lose interest. Taking a break helps you learn.
- Too much homework can lead to copying and cheating.
- Homework that is pointless busywork can lead to a negative impression of a subject (not to mention a teacher).
- It takes time away from families, friends, jobs, and other ways to spend your time.
- Homework can hurt your grades. It forces you to make time management decisions, sometimes putting you in a no-win situation. Do you take the time to do the homework or spend it studying concepts or doing work for another subject? If you don't have the time for the homework, you could hurt your grades even if you ace the tests and understand the subject.
Watch Now: Making Homework Less Work
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/468838813_5-56a188c33df78cf7726bd06d.jpg "what are some reasons for no homework")
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Impact update, homework or no homework maybe we’re asking the wrong question (part 1).
By Erin Gohl & Kristen Thorson
This is the first entry in a two-part series. See part two here .
We’ve all been there. Your child comes home from school. You eagerly await hearing about his or her day. Who did he sit by at lunch? How did her presentation go? What made him laugh today? And then they say it:
“I have homework tonight.”
Thud . Both your and your child’s shoulders sink in defeat. You dread the night to come, anticipating the struggles: over just getting started with the worksheet; over understanding the concepts or what is being asked; over how to help him “show his work” even when he knows he got the right answer in his head. You hope it can be completed before a crazy hour, but know it likely won’t given the backdrop of sports practices, making dinner, showers, and maybe, just maybe, a few moments of downtime.
Because of these dynamics, homework can have the unintended consequence of creating tension at home and between the home and the school. Parents feel uncertainty about how to best support their children as they complete their assignments. The parent/child relationship is reduced to one of enforcement rather than collaboration. Further, parents at times resent giving up a large portion of the finite hours they have with their kids each evening. In this vein, homework–rather than creating a bridge between the school and home–ironically alienates students and families from one another, classrooms, and schools.
In recent years, several schools and school districts across the nation have acknowledged the stress that homework places on students and families, and have debated its function and benefits in their curriculum. Research on the effectiveness of homework is murky. Academic studies on its value have shown a spectrum of results spanning conclusions that homework is the key to academic success to those saying homework is a waste of student time that damages home life.
Some districts, seeing the issue only in binary terms, have chosen to place a blanket moratorium on homework. But, this reaction may be resulting in throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. Rather than simply questioning whether teachers should assign homework, maybe schools and districts should ask: What if homework were different?
Shifting the Debate: Homework as a Tool for Inclusion and Family Engagement
Though studies on homework show contradictory results, the research on family engagement in education is clear: involving families in students’ learning increases academic achievement and student success for all students, regardless of race, socioeconomic background, or gender.
So, what if homework were a tool for both advancing student understanding and getting families involved and excited about learning, rather than a source of frustration and exclusion? Re-framing how schools approach homework has the potential to make it both more meaningful and more effective. Pivoting the intention of homework to focus on ways to engage families in learning can expand student understanding in a powerful way.
Key Components of Family Engaged Homework
Family engaged homework is a way for teachers to extend or reinforce learning from the classroom, similar to the best intentions of traditional homework, but with some key shifts. Family engaged homework finds ways to involve families in active learning. It invites students and their families to create, collaborate, and think critically about the learning from school, while helping students bridge their classroom to the outside world.
With family engaged homework, it is important to note that less is often more . By assigning students limited work, families can focus their time and effort on the specific task, decreasing frustration while increasing student understanding. This improvement results from focusing on the process of learning, rather than the product to be turned in .
Family engaged homework can be bigger than one specific standard or skill. Students and families are empowered when they are given the freedom to work alongside one another and think beyond the confines of a worksheet or task. When students do family engaged homework, teachers can encourage a high-level of thinking on assignments. When students work with a family partner, they can debate, create, and connect. While there is still a need for students to practice their math facts and other rote skills, teachers can be creative with other elements of learning.
Family engaged homework also means that not all assignments need to be turned in as proof of completion. The value in family engaged homework is creating a structure for learning that is ongoing. (For teachers concerned that not everyone will do their homework, they are probably right! But even students who couldn’t make the homework happen will gain a lot of value from their peers’ learning conversations the next day.)
Homework Could Be: A Way to Engage Students in Active Learning
Family engaged homework invites families into learning, and creates opportunities for students to apply what they are studying in the classroom. Extending the learning ecosystem beyond the classroom to the home and community leads to increased engagement, reinforces relevancy, and brings multiple learning supports from parents, siblings, and others. The “asks” of family engaged homework are a form of active and applied learning.
While classrooms have dedicated instructional resources and a limited ability to provide real-life experiences, family engaged homework can bridge the lessons of the classroom to the everyday life of families. Families provide a small adult to child ratio, and since they are not confined to the walls and routines of a classroom, they can provide greater access to experiences. These experiences can be as simple as a trip to the grocery store or a walk around the neighborhood.
Part two of this article can be found here .
For more, see:
- Success in Rural, High-Poverty Public High Schools: Path to Equity?
- Why True Equity in Learning Depends in Proactive, not Reactive, Design
- What Policies and Practices Can Make Learning Personal for All?
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No efficiency, no productivity, no agenda; just parents and children hanging out. There's been a lot of research and debate on the academic value of homework for school-aged children. The...
The student is not then likely to get the support or encouragement to do homework. Other families value education, but parents are absent or unable to help their children with homework. Your first instinct might be to "fix" the family. An easier route is to work with the student. Be their encourager. Let them know that you think they can succeed.
Fact #1 The homework takes too long to complete. In a study of over 7000 students (average age of 13), questionnaires revealed that when more than 60 minutes of homework is provided, students resisted. In addition, based on standardized tests, more than 60 minutes of homework, did not significantly impact test scores.
Research by the City University of New York noted that "students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework," such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, "are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes." [ 18]
The researchers also found that spending too much time on homework meant that students were not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills. Students were more...
Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad. 3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class.
These are some of the reasons why homework should be banned -: Homework Restricts A Student's Freedom No Time For Exercises No Time To Play Outdoor Games Often Breaks Students' Confidence Homework Doing Not An Achievement Most Homework Creates Bad Habits Less Time To Spend With Family Members Conflict With Parents Downtime At Home
Too much homework is associated with several health problems - physical and psychological. These problems include obesity, depression, mental disorder, anxiety, and headaches, to mention a few. It leads to obesity. Homework overload has been linked with obesity in children. Little to no benefits.
Homework is one of the leading causes of stress for children and one of the most important reasons why students should not have homework. There is so much pressure on children to be academically successful and focus on getting good grades, that the scope to develop in other fields is reduced.
Getting sun and exercise is crucial for your health. If you're cooped up in school during the day, then have to do your homework when you get home, you'll develop poor health. A much better solution would be to do all the learning you need to do in one place, in a short amount of time.
These seventeen reasons why homework should be banned aren't enough to convince schools and universities to stop assigning homework after class: Students are given way too much homework School is a full-time job Homework stresses students out Homework provides no real benefit Too much homework means not quite enough time for yourself No family time
Here are 10 real reasons that students aren't doing their homework: 1. It's boring Let's face it, if you've been in school all day listening to the teachers and doing work, so why would you want to come home and do some more? 2. The instructions are too hard to understand Okay. Be honest. Maybe you weren't totally listening.
Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet. With the pressure to cover all topics on standardized tests and limited time during the school day, some teachers assign homework that has...
Rather than giving up on homework because of social inequities, schools could help parents support homework in ways that don't depend on their own knowledge—for example, by recruiting others to...
One of the major reasons students hate homework is because they get distracted by social media or texting friends. Sites like Facebook and Instagram can be addicting, and it is hard for them to focus on anything else when they are constantly being pulled in different directions.
In response, organizational psychologist Adam Grant agreed, tweeting, "In elementary schools, assigning more homework doesn't improve grades or test scores. And it seems to hurt those who are ...
The holidays are a great time for kids to go sledding in the snow or play with friends outside. If no one has homework, classmates might exchange phone numbers to play together. You can suggest this to parents. If the teacher thinks physical activity is important, students will too. Some education experts recommend an end to all homework.
There are many reasons why Homework is bad, but in this Blog, we will cover the top 18 reasons why Homework is bad for students. May lead to Stress Problems. No time for outside activities. Excessive Homework cause Depression. Have no real impact on performance.
Yes. Generally, the link between homework and achievement scores is stronger for math compared to subjects like English and history. For middle school students especially, math homework can strengthen school performance. There is not a lot of research into the quality of homework. Most experts agree that homework should be reinforcing what kids ...
Yes, I want that. Finally, there isn't a shred of evidence to support the folk wisdom that homework provides nonacademic benefits at any age -- for example, that it builds character, promotes self-discipline, or teaches good work habits. We're all familiar with the downside of homework: the frustration and exhaustion, the family conflict, time ...
Staying organized. Middle-schoolers and high-schoolers may want to seem cool in front of their friends. To some kids that age, caring about getting their homework done isn't cool. Some kids might feel like they're just "not good" at a class or at school in general. Maybe they had a bad experience with an assignment or a teacher in the past.
Too much homework can lead to copying and cheating. Homework that is pointless busywork can lead to a negative impression of a subject (not to mention a teacher). It takes time away from families, friends, jobs, and other ways to spend your time. Homework can hurt your grades.
Family engaged homework is a way for teachers to extend or reinforce learning from the classroom, similar to the best intentions of traditional homework, but with some key shifts. Family engaged homework finds ways to involve families in active learning. It invites students and their families to create, collaborate, and think critically about ...