I’m of two minds when it comes to homework. I’m not sure if I love it or loathe it. When I was teaching I would hand it out with such exuberance knowing that children’s learning would be reinforced and excited for the families who would bond over the projects I set. Now I’m a mother and only the word ‘homework’ brings the worst out in me. When I read my daughter’s homework plan I pump myself up with enthusiasm only to be very quickly deflated by her reply! Last year (when she was aged 7) each Monday her spelling words come home – ten of them each week, accompanied with the simple (and so utterly boring) task of writing them in ten interesting complex sentences. So first up is the word dictionary. My daughter writes I have a dictionary. No, I reply, it needs to be exciting. So here she goes again, I have a dictionary but I lost it. Within twenty minutes (of which time the task could have been completed) one sentence is complete and I’m slowly losing the plot, as is she. Not one single spelling word is learned, nothing has been reinforced and as for bonding I’m beginning to sound like Miss Trunchbull!
In England and Wales the government’s guidelines suggest pupils aged 5 to 7 should do 10 minutes of homework per night, stretching it to 30 minutes a day for pupils aged nine to 11. Homework was part of my school life. It was part of my childhood and now it’s my children’s. But does it do more harm than good? The teacher in me started researching this exact question. According to homework research guru Harris Cooper of Duke University, “there is no evidence that any amount of homework improves the academic performance of elementary students”. So why are we putting our children and us as families through it? An example of this, is that my husband’s family live in the Netherlands where there is no homework for primary aged children. My husband always says to me, children learn what they need to learn in school. It’s simple as that.
Don’t get me wrong there have been some projects come home where we’ve all enjoyed helping. Like the one where my daughter was asked to compile a book entitled This is My Life. For three weekends we spent time together looking through photos and recalling wonderful moments. And the one where she had to design a new game for her topic on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We talked about the games we enjoy as a family and what we liked about them.
For now, I’m sitting on the fence when it comes to homework – should we or shouldn’t we? Maybe that’s because all the homework is done for the weekend and we’re about to spend some quality time together! It’s a challenging issue for schools to find ways of presenting homework that is meaningful to children and their families. Let’s hope one day they get the balance right.
I’d love to know your thoughts. What is the homework situation in your house? Do you see the benefits of it? Or is it just something that needs to be done? Do your children have no homework and yet you’d like to see some? Do you think there should be more homework? Please share.
Vanessa x
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