by Stern Center Staff
You had it as a student and now your child has it. I have the pleasure of being a teacher, college education professor, wife of a teacher and the parent of three children. I can'’t get away from homework!
Teachers assign homework for many reasons. Simply put there are not enough hours in the school day to practice the skills to a mastery level within the day. Middle school and high school projects, papers and exam studying take up many after school hours. Students understand in order to become excellent soccer players, tuba players or public speakers, they must practice. School tasks are no different.
Below are some structures you can put in place to make homework survivable. Establishing these habits early in elementary school is best, but it is never too late to start. Please remember, even though your middle and high school students are busy exerting their independence they still need parents around for homework support.
Brain Teaser:
A man is headed to a mountain along with a lion, a goat and a basket of vegetables. On the way, he needs to cross a river and the boat can only carry two things at a time. If he takes the vegetables, the lion will eat the goat. If he takes the lion, the goat will eat the vegetables. How does he cross the river?
(Answer at the end of post. Find more teasers like this on Buzzle.)
Interesting Learning and Literacy Links:
Homework in Elementary School Divides Educators. "PDF"—play, downtime, and family time—has replaced homework for kindergartners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders at one Chicago elementary school. Education Week, September 15, 2014.
Ted Talk: Rita Pierson, Every Kid Needs a Champion. Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level. May 2013.
