The Myth of Too Much Homework

[Checkmite]

When studies came out in the late '90s talking about kids who had up to three hours of homework a night, with so many books to carry that they were injuring themselves, I was completely flabbergasted. I was going to high school at the time, and I was lucky to bring home more than a half an hour of work in two days. Did I live in some kind of quantum flux fissure or something?

Now, the truth...

Don't Believe the Homework Hype (http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/10/01/sprj.sch.homework.ap/index.html)



WASHINGTON (AP) -- The image of students lugging home heavy packs of books may be familiar in many homes, but two new studies offer a different picture: The nation's homework load is light.

"The popular belief out there, the conventional wisdom, is that homework is rising and becoming onerous. It's just simply not true," said Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at The Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

...

For example, when asked how much homework they were assigned the day before, most students age 9, 13 and 17 all reported less than an hour, according to a federal long-term survey in 1999. The share of students assigned more than an hour of homework has dropped for all three age groups since 1984.

...

"It's important to acknowledge that this is not true for everybody," Gill said. "All those stories about overloaded kids -- we're not suggesting that kids and parents are lying. It's just that it's pretty clear that those stories are the exception rather than the norm."

I'm sort of tickled by this report. In any case, it makes a lot more sense to me.

[Wile E. Coyote]

I remember that report coming out and thinking the same thing.

I did most of my homework on the bus to or from school or in homeroom. A lot of times I had no homework at all.

Ahh, the free time I had ...

[arcticpenguin]

Homework is like weather. People complain about it no matter what. It's been a while, but I think I had more than you state (0.25 hours/day) and the figure in the article (3 hours/day). But then I went to a Catholic school.

I do remember that the best teacher was the one who gave the most homework. He certainly wasn't the most popular teacher, of course.

[Chanileslie]

I recently attended my 10 year old daughter's open house, and we got a chance to meet with my daughter's teacher. The teacher had trouble getting a word out edgewise become a number of parents were too busy complaining about the amount of homework their child had each day, and that the work was complicated and the parents were unable to assist their child. I sat there thinking, "am I missing something? My child rarely brings home more than a half hours worth of homework." So after 45 minutes of listening to these parents whine, I spoke with the teacher, and asked her if maybe we were missing something, and she told me no, my child always finished the majority of her work in class, and that she wasn't missing any assignments.

Not that I would have complained or accepted any complaints from my daughter had she had a lot more homework because I think it is good to get into that habit, and practice makes perfect. I see it as a sign of a teacher doing their job when homework is assigned.

I just feel that education is very devalued in our society and that many parents put everything before education, social event, sports, tv watching, video game playing, etc. all seem to be of greater import to many parents.

My 13 year old never has homework because she usually has it done weeks in advance and uses her class time to read or to get more ahead in her subjects.

[Mendor]

My homework follows Parkinson's Law - it expands to fill the time available.

[MoeFaux]

I went to a private school. I had the back-breaking backpack.
I did 4 hours of homework a night.

I had no social life (can't you tell? :p)

[roger]

I remember having about 2hrs of homework a night (a bit less, but I'm including the extra stuff that was usually piled on on the weekend).

I also remember completing well less than 2hrs of homework a night. :)

[Suezoled]

Sometimes homework took me an hour. Sometimes it took me 3 hours. Sometimes I had to prick my fingers because we were so poor we couldn't afford pencils to do homework so I had to write in blood. In the freezing snow. Barefoot. Uphill both ways. ;)

[kittynh]

hhmmm, sounds familiar Moe. Kitten went to a private high school. she would have about 3hours a night, plus weekends. Before important tests or tests for college credit she would pull long weekend study sessions (perhaps 6 hours a day each day). she also did photography for class, and that would take hours and hours.

Kitten junior has a limit on her homework time of 2 hours. She is told which assignments are essential. Her school has time limits for each grade, but the parents have to make sure the kids are REALLY WORKING. with hockey and the million other things kids do, there should be limits. Who is to say that learing the saxaphone isn't as important as some extra algebra problems? In fact kitten junior being dyslexic, she only has to do half the homework problems, yet she does just as well on the tests.

[reprise]

An example of the homework policy (http://www.heathcote-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/homeworkpolicy.htm) set for high school students by the NSW Department of Education.

At Year 11 and 12 level it would be extremely difficult for most students to gain a high University Admissions Index mark without doing at least 3-4 hours per day of work outside of class (some of this could be done during free periods at school).

[Prospero]

Originally posted by reprise
An example of the homework policy (http://www.heathcote-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/homeworkpolicy.htm) set for high school students by the NSW Department of Education.

At Year 11 and 12 level it would be extremely difficult for most students to gain a high University Admissions Index mark without doing at least 3-4 hours per day of work outside of class (some of this could be done during free periods at school).

I don't like it when they issue these blanket statistics with a mean that is not capable of showing the schools that require 6 hours a night and the ones that don't have any. It's a useless number. Also, it does nothing to show the actual quality of the school. Each school is undeniably different in the quality of the education it provides. I went to a college prep school and never had more than 2 hours of homework on any given night and that was usually 2 or 3 nights a week on average. Even with such a comparably low workload, I still managed to get perfect scores on all my AP (high school classes capable of earning college credit if performance is high enough) exams, most without studying. Until they find some way to take into account the a) quality of the teaching b) quality of the material and c) quality of the learning environment, these statistics do nothing but exaggerate or minimize (it's impossible to tell which) the quality and nature of the homework.

[Theodore Kurita]

I can tell you that the work load for the IB classes that I do here is the same as the kids in any other nation!

IB = International Baccalaureate


Kind of like an international version of the AP program if you will...

I usually get about 3 hours of homework a night...

Except for weekends (but then again I am usually working on hacking up a report for one of my IB classes during the weekends :) )

The forums here, and the clubs that I am President at, my debate friends, and my Symphony Orchestra Friends...

That sums it up for my social life...

(Truth be told, our High School actually praises ners :eek:)

As to Parents that claim that students have too much homework every nigh.

SHUT THE F*** UP!!!

IT HELPS WITH STUDYING!

I PICK UP CONCEPTS FASTER THROUGH HOMEWORK!!!

YOU PEOPLE THAT B**** ABOUT TOO MUCH HOMEWORK PROBABALY NEVER DID DI** CR** IN HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMICALLY!



Oh, if you are interested in what IB courses are like... go the the website below:


www.ibo.org


Everybody that takes the classes does at least 3 times as much work as the average joe student.

[Professor Frink]

I have talked to a number of my neighbors with young kids about the kids' homework. One kid in particular, when I asked his mom about it, she said that he had tons of homework. Her (personal) impression was that the teacher filled up the days with stuff like building crafts from paper and popsicle sticks and doing activities instead of academic stuff because kids that age are easier to handle when they're busy with physical things, as opposed to trying to make them sit still and work on math problems.

I don't know if this was just one person's view of it, but she told me that her son was NOT given time during class to do the assignments, that homework was the time to do the sit-down types of work.

If the teachers are giving the kids time during school to do it, and they're not, then I have two questions:

1) What makes teachers of elementary school kids think that the kids are going to be good at time management, understanding the tradeoff of working on it now vs. working on it later?
2) What are the kids doing during the time that they could be doing their homework in the classroom? Running around? Sitting quietly/napping at their desks? Isn't whatever they're doing at that time a problem, especially for those gifted kids who are doing their "homework" then?

Frink

[reprise]

Frink, one problem here is an ever-expanding core curriculum which has to be delivered whether or not it is possible for it to be completed during school hours.

Well thought out homework tasks can reinforce and extend a student's knowledge of what is taught in the classroom, but a fair proportion of the homework my children were set during their primary school and early high school years was merely "busy" work.

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin


I do remember that the best teacher was the one who gave the most homework. He certainly wasn't the most popular teacher, of course.

I couldn't agree more. A lot of homework means a lot of work at school on behalf of the teacher and of course... parents have a significant role to play!

I still have chills when I remember the Kerberus of Hades, my dad, asking me before dinner if I have done my homework and if I replied yes he was giving me a big smilie and replied : " Great! bring your books to show me what did you learn today..."

Scarry but very effective.

Of course according to my dad the homework I had to do was never enough....and I remember that I had to study at least for three hours in order to have my homework done.

[LuxFerum]

Homework is a excuse to keep childrens busy.
Most of the time is just repetitive and boring.
In special math homework, that maybe the main reasons that almost no one likes math.

[Dragonrock]

This is something that drives me nuts. It's like the people who are constantly saying that kids have it so tough today, much tougher than we had it. I don't know if it is more difficult, but I feel that kids are hearing this and assuming that adults are too stupid to know what kids are going through. Children think their dad is Homer Simpson and feel that it's a miracle that he hasn't killed himself yet.

[magimix]

Up until my A-Levels I used to avoid doing homework as a matter of principle (hey guys, you have me captive for 6 hours of the day - outside of those hours my time is my own!), and it got me into a lot of trouble sometimes.

I say *until* A-Levels - even then it didn't improve hugely - pretty much doing the bare minimum required to not be kicked off the courses I was taking.

At Uni the approach was more pragmatic - concentrating the effort on where the big gains were. One of my course was very skewed in that there were *reams* (hundreds, over a single semester) of excercises that contributed to your final score, but that contribution was tiny (3% or something silly). Scratch those then, and concentrate on the course project that nabs you 55% percent of the grade.

I suspect when I have my own children, I wouldn't necessarily accept quite the same attitude from them :)

[Professor Frink]

Has anyone demonstrated that the extra homework helps anything? Are test scores going up? Are they learning anything? Say a kid has 1 hour of homework in the evening - that's what, 1/7th of a school day? 1/6th? That's a lot.

I think kids should be kids, allowed to play and have fun. When school is a constant, around-the-clock thing for them, school turns into drudgery. They go from school where they are in a structured environment to home, where the topic of discussion turns frequently on the status of the homework. It's "All School All The Time" radio.

So, what happened that all of a sudden first-graders are given homework? Someone mentioned above that curriculums expanded - what was added?

Frink

[LuxFerum]

Another point, I guess the main reason in homework is to teach discipline.
But i dont think that works, I remember a teacher, that we used to call her "mary cow":D.
She always give us homework:mad: , but I refuse to make then. But I always got great scores and manage to scape from her.:D
Another one was the math teacher of my 6th grade.
Every week he gave us more than 50 exercises to do. I tried to make then all, but after 2 or 3 weeks I realised that that is not worth. Why do you need to calculate 50-63 and more 50 variations of the same theme? That is just a waste of time.
After the end of the year I manage to scape from him too :D, with some points missing in my score for not making the homework.

And after like 10 years I meet this math teacher again, he said that he remember me, that I was a good student and that I did all my homework:roll: .
teachers.....they never learn.:D

[roger]

I pretty much refused to do much homework when I was younger. It was all a bunch of makework, especially in elementary school. I remember being taught multiplication and division - first you'd do 3 digit problems, then, after a week (yes, a week of daily excercises of multiplying 3 digit numbers), you'd get 4 digit problems. What the h***?? Haven't I proved that I can do multiplication with multidigit numbers?? What am I learning? nothing. So I stopped doing homework, except for when I didn't understand the concept and needed the practice.

This was not appreciated by my teachers, yet I always got A's on my tests.

Now, to offer the opposite perspective, I did a lot of math tutoring when I was in high school because it was something I enjoyed. Our school had a program where you could volunteer to be a tutor in any subject you excelled at (with permission from a teacher). You'd be assigned to a class, and have to attend it. You'd do things like grade homework, or answer questions while students did problems in class, or offer one on one help to kids not 'getting' it. Some of these kids really did need that kind of repetition - some really did have trouble understanding the correct order to multiply the digits. I suspected dyslexia, but for them, the repetition was worth it.

Anyway, although I feel my schools were good in that I received a good education, I was forever aghast at how much busy work was assigned when it did nothing to enhance learning.

[Glory]

I had about two hours of written home work to do five days a week in highschool. That was a drag and my performance was spotty at best. The killer was the reading. That had to be done all on our own time and it was pretty extensive. Also, boring. With all the wars and murders that happen in the world how do text book authors manage to make history so dull? And whose idea was it to make kids read Shakespeare's plays? They're not for reading, they are for performing and watching. For that matter, why do they only assign the tragedies? Most high school students do not know that Shakespeare was funny, or at least tried to be. I think The Twelfth Night would be far better recieved than Othello.

I would ask all you book worms out there to please go a little easier on those of us who weren't that successful in the academic arena. Not all of us are cut from the same cloth. What you find easy some of us don't and those of you who were licky enough to have had great teachers might take a moment to understand that not everyone had such luminaries in our lives.

My neice complained to me recently that her math teacher yelled at his class because they all did poorly on a test. She said that there was nothing higher than a D in the entire class. She thought that the teacher had done a poor job of teaching the material and that the poor grades reflected that. He wasn't having it and proceeded to go over the material in exactly the same way as he had done before. She says she is still doesn't understand the concepts he is trying to teach. Taking her account at face value, I must agree with her assessment. If an entire class fails a test I must lay the blame squarely at the teacher's feet.

I had some experiences which were simmilar to that. If you don't get it, a pile of home work isn't going to help.

I always despised the craft projects. How does making a diarama help me learn about the ocean floor? It taught me that I hate making diarama's and that I resent my science teacher's grading my artistic ability along with my mastery of oceanic geography. Why should I, a person with virtually no drawing talent or training what so ever, have to illustrate a book report on a book without pictures? I thought "creative cirriculum" was going to do me in entirely.

Glory

[roger]

I shared your distaste with the crafty assignments, Glory. I remember for a book I read among many other stupid assignments I had to draw a map of the town described in the book. What on earth was the point of that stupid exercise???

On the Shakespeare thing I kind of agree, kind of don't. In high school we had to read Macbeth and I didn't like it at all. Now Shakespeare is profoundly beautiful and moving to me, even when read. On the other hand, I did enjoy literature in general, and was introduced to many great authors in HS. I did know some kids in my class who fell in love w/ Shakespeare when reading Macbeth. So I'm glad that I was exposed to these books, even though some were not to my taste at the time.

However, I think it is difficult for the average teenager to truly appreciate 'great' works of literature, as they have so little basis for understanding what they read. Some can and do, of course. But I wonder how many are turned off from what really is (IMHO) great literature because it seemed boring at that time in their life, and never returned to it when they were older?

I was thinking about this thread on the drive to work this morning. I had one history teacher that made history come alive - he'd come in dressed as different characters in history (hi Hal!) and re-enact things, answer questions in character, bring real historical artifacts from his collection for us to see, etc. For the first and only time in taking history in school was I able to imagine myself in that time period and understand the context of what was happening. Otherwise it was a bunch of remembering of dates, times, battle sequences, etc, none of which I remember, and non of which has ever made any practical or intellectual difference in my life. I've learned plenty about history by reading on my own, but the stuff I learned in school is gone. vapor.

It all seems to come down to great teachers, of which there are only a few.

[sam catte12]

There are good craft projects and bad ones. Some are pure timewasters, others can actually lead to learning.

My son's social studies / classics teacher in his last year of primary school set the class the task of each building a roman seige weapon.

They had to be realistic and function. Some boys produced 1/2 scale weapons, others small working models.

In doing it they had to reseach and find plans or pictures, construct the device and understand its use and limitations. In the course of the project they learned a lot about ancient warfare.

Later that year they each had to build a trojan horse. My favourite was the boy who cut the head off a christmas reindeer lawn statue and carved a wooden horse head. You opened a panel in the belly and plastic army men fell out. He had cut all the guns down to look like swords..

[MoeFaux]

Originally posted by sam catte12
There are good craft projects and bad ones. Some are pure timewasters, others can actually lead to learning.

My son's social studies / classics teacher in his last year of primary school set the class the task of each building a roman seige weapon.

They had to be realistic and function. Some boys produced 1/2 scale weapons, others small working models.

In doing it they had to reseach and find plans or pictures, construct the device and understand its use and limitations. In the course of the project they learned a lot about ancient warfare.

Later that year they each had to build a trojan horse. My favourite was the boy who cut the head off a christmas reindeer lawn statue and carved a wooden horse head. You opened a panel in the belly and plastic army men fell out. He had cut all the guns down to look like swords..

Wow, this shows the huge difference between US and overseas education. Overseas, children are allowed to imagine weapons. If a student brought even a half scale realistic weapon to school in the US, they'd be suspended and there would be a huge hullabaloo.
It's a cool souding project, though.

[Glory]

Originally posted by sam catte12
There are good craft projects and bad ones. Some are pure timewasters, others can actually lead to learning.

My son's social studies / classics teacher in his last year of primary school set the class the task of each building a roman seige weapon.

They had to be realistic and function. Some boys produced 1/2 scale weapons, others small working models.

In doing it they had to reseach and find plans or pictures, construct the device and understand its use and limitations. In the course of the project they learned a lot about ancient warfare.

Later that year they each had to build a trojan horse. My favourite was the boy who cut the head off a christmas reindeer lawn statue and carved a wooden horse head. You opened a panel in the belly and plastic army men fell out. He had cut all the guns down to look like swords..

Sorry but I don't see the relevance. I don't know any thing about model making, carving or wood working. The one time I tried to make something out of wood, I cut the tip of my finger almost clean off. Why should my social studies grade rest on my ability to build a weapon? If I want to learn how to build a weapon I'll take a class in that. Surely there are other ways of handiling this kind of subject which do not depend on craft ability.

I understand that teachers want to find fun and interesting ways to teach and that they want to teach more than facts from a book. However, projects of this type are unfair to students who don't have talent or skills in the field of model making. Of course, there were no classes which taught model making or crafting. They just told us to use our imaginations and make something. Would they tell first graders to go read a book without teaching them to read?

Why couldn't they give students the option of a craft project rather than making all the students do the same thing? That way future Frank Lloyd Wrights don't get an advantage in a class unrelated to their crafting skills.

Glory

[Occasional Chemist]

Originally posted by roger
I pretty much refused to do much homework when I was younger. It was all a bunch of makework

...snip...

So I stopped doing homework, except for when I didn't understand the concept and needed the practice.


You have something that many folks coming out of high school don't have - knowledge of how much work you have to do to make sure you understand a concept. You'd be surprised at how many people just don't know when to quit (and more to the point, when to keep going).

In my college classes, I give students what I call "suggested problems". I tell them to work them until they're comfortable with that type of problem - but at the bare minimum, they should try three of each problem type. I then post solutions to all the suggested problems on the web, and let them have at it.

This works pretty well for people that actually give a flying cr*p about the course. Those that don't give a flying cr*p - well let's just say that they aren't getting into the nursing program anytime soon.


This was not appreciated by my teachers, yet I always got A's on my tests.


I did almost no homework in K-12th grades, except for reading assignments. College was a LOT different.


Some of these kids really did need that kind of repetition - some really did have trouble understanding the correct order to multiply the digits. I suspected dyslexia, but for them, the repetition was worth it.


You just observed something that most of us who do that sort of thing for a living observe in our classes - lots of people DO learn from that busywork.


Anyway, although I feel my schools were good in that I received a good education, I was forever aghast at how much busy work was assigned when it did nothing to enhance learning.

The "busywork"'s not aimed at you - it's aimed at the people you described above.

It's too bad it isn't optional in the lower grades, though ...

[Kilted_Canuck]

Well, now that I'm a high school senior, I really wish I had more homework in previous years.

I've always been one of the 'smart kids', the ones that would be done and finished their assignments, and those for the next two weeks in one class (I worked a month ahead in Grade 10 social studies). Because of this, I barely had more than 15 minutes of homework a week, and the rest I would do during school hours. Now, all the teachers are piling the homework, assignments, essays and projects on, in preparation to get us ready for university. Me, being the lazy procrastinator I am, now find it very hard to do work other than in a school setting. I find it much easier to type up my assignments on the computer to write them out by hand. I usually get all my homework assignments done before school the morning they are due. As such, my marks have suffered and now I have to kick back into gear to get them up so I can get some scholarships.


On the topic of IB:
Kurita, I looked into taking IB courses in high school, but the high school I am going to doesn't offer them, and I didn't want to travel to the other side of the city everyday for high school.

[kittynh]

well and remember how men and women learn differently. At first, girls usually "get" reading more easily. Big to-do to get the "boys reading". Later on, when the girls are taking longer to learn math, it's "hey, that just isn't their thing". One thing educators are studying is how to teach reading to boys and math to girls. Girls can understand and apply math as well as boys if given more time to ask questions. ( of course there are exceptions). My daughters all female high school had a slightly longer math and science classes. There was also open time to meet with teachers to review if needed. These same young women have gone on to science and math careers with no problem.

[athon]

When it comes to homework, I am the most loved amongst the students, and the laziest of all teachers. I am ashamed to say that I often neglect giving homework.

I use it for three things:

1) To catch up on missed work
2) To prepare for future work
3) To emphasise needed material

So while we're supposed to give it every night, I might only give one class one to two nights a week, if that. I often give it five minutes before the end of class, and those who are conscientious enough start it then.

Athon

[kittynh]

good for you Athon! When kids get busy work for homework, they see it isn't important and skip it. If you get homework just to keep you "busy" forget it! Parents hate busy work too. Kids have a LOT of stuff to keep them busy (it's hockey time!), they aren't just sitting around the old XBox in the evenings.

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

Due the nature of the courses I currently teach (for 8 terms now) I give no homework unless a student has neglected to do the work in class and has a history of not completing assignments.


Parents and students are informed every 3 weeks on the progress of the the student on a computer print-out of all assigments that have come due, with a complete break down of what each assignment is worth and how much it was marked out of.

No B/S, as it is not cool in my view to push and push for that one assignment that was only worth 1.2% of the total final mark. Students have to have a chronic problem with completing assignments before I get on their cases and inform parents.

In the course I teach, 52% of the course mark is earned through participation and effort in practical assignments and "employment skills"; 47.5% is earned through assignments and tests.

Do some teachers B/S to the point of appearing obsessive compulsive over minor assignments? It's possible. In a typical unit a child is going to have a dozen or a score of marks (sometimes more depending on unit/course weighting and the outcomes of the unit) and no one mark is going to skew evaluation.

I will not allow students to get less than 80% on their assignments in my courses, and 80% of their assignments must be completed before I am satisfied that they have met most of the outcomes in a unit and progress on to another unit.

In my jurisdiction, this is getting tougher and tougher to do in some courses as more and more content is getting stuffed into an already full curriculum. It is perceived time spent on homework is increasing as teachers try and fit 130 to 140 hours of instruction into a course that is scheduled for only 110 - 115 hours of instruction.

Math has more demands, the curriculum is expanding as universities are refusing to teach some elements they normally covered in 1st year post secondary courses. The curriculum blooms, expectations are added to an already challenging curriculum: The end result: more expectations and workloads for students. In this jurisdiction anyways.

[cbish]

The thing that drives me crazy are the districts that "adopt homework policies". This translates that your child will have x hours of homework per night.

The problem is, to achieve that, much of the homework is valueless. It doesn't take long for the kids to figure that out. This usually seems to occur in Jr. high when kids are testing the waters anyway. Consequently, what's happening is, the students are being trained that this really doesn't matter, get through with it as fast as possible, and move on. Unfortunately, when I get them in high school, when my homework really does matter, they don't believe it. It's tough mindset to break:(

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

Originally posted by cbish
The thing that drives me crazy are the districts that "adopt homework policies". This translates that your child will have x hours of homework per night.

The problem is, to achieve that, much of the homework is valueless. It doesn't take long for the kids to figure that out. This usually seems to occur in Jr. high when kids are testing the waters anyway. Consequently, what's happening is, the students are being trained that this really doesn't matter, get through with it as fast as possible, and move on. Unfortunately, when I get them in high school, when my homework really does matter, they don't believe it. It's tough mindset to break:(

Top down, blanket solutions rarely are effective. They are counter intuitive.

[cbish]

Pygmy wrote:
Top down, blanket solutions rarely are effective. They are counter intuitive.

Well said. Do you mind if I save/ cut & paste your quote? It's good, and I like to use it \! :D

[PygmyPlaidGiraffe]

Originally posted by cbish
Pygmy wrote:


Well said. Do you mind if I save/ cut & paste your quote? It's good, and I like to use it \! :D


not at all, go ahead and use it

not really an origional notion though mind you

[jj]

What good is homework? I dare say I almost never learned anything from it other than distaste for the primary to highschool system.

[T'ai Chi]

I think there should be about 5 time as much group projects in schools. In my student and teaching experience, that seems to reflect real-world scenarios more closely.

I was sick of busy... errr, I mean homework. from 6th grade to all through graduate school.

[Ratman_tf]

The only thing I learned from homework, and public school in general, is that public school is where America trains it's menial laborers and office drudges.

[cbish]

jj wrote:
What good is homework?

Well, it can have alot of practical application. Where skill mastery is necessary, such as math, much of the repetative practice can be done at home. In terms of mastering language (vocab) homework can be very useful. It's like taking batting practice. A teacher could explain to someone how to hit. That doesn't qualify them as a good hitter.

Certainly if someone has to read a novel, you want them to spend more time than just a 50 min. class period / day.

As I mentioned before, the homework has to have meaning/purpose. That's why I'm against mandated homework policies.

Ratman wrote:

The only thing I learned from homework, and public school in general, is that public school is where America trains it's menial laborers and office drudges

Yep! that's true. Look at your Bell Curve. Notice the big fat part!;)

[jj]

Originally posted by cbish
Certainly if someone has to read a novel, you want them to spend more time than just a 50 min. class period / day.


You have a point, I never thought of reading a novel as homework, it was fun...

And you might be surprised how few 50 minute class periods it would take me to read the average modern-day novel, too.

I had the Jr. High librarian accusing me of "looking at the pictures" in 7th grade because I circulated books so fast.

Maybe that's why I understand libertarianism the way I do, I read all the Heinlien way back then ... :D

[Schizobunny]

I'm in eighth grade and a straight A student and I don't think I get too much homework. I don't understand why my classmates complain about having too much seen as they never bother to do their homework. I personally think school is too god damn easy for it's own good.

[DanishDynamite]

Theodore Kurita:I can tell you that the work load for the IB classes that I do here is the same as the kids in any other nation!

IB = International Baccalaureate


Kind of like an international version of the AP program if you will...

I usually get about 3 hours of homework a night...Cool! Another suffering IB'er. I spent High School in the Philippines and took an IB exam as well. And yes, I'd guess 2-3 hours per day is about right. Mind if I ask which courses you are taking at the H (High) level? I had Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Danish(!).
Everybody that takes the classes does at least 3 times as much work as the average joe student. I agree completely. My problem was that if I just took the regular High School exam (= US standard exam) I wouldn't be elligable for university in Denmark.

[Schizobunny]

Originally posted by Theodore Kurita
I can tell you that the work load for the IB classes that I do here is the same as the kids in any other nation!

IB = International Baccalaureate


Kind of like an international version of the AP program if you will...

I usually get about 3 hours of homework a night...

Except for weekends (but then again I am usually working on hacking up a report for one of my IB classes during the weekends :) )

The forums here, and the clubs that I am President at, my debate friends, and my Symphony Orchestra Friends...

That sums it up for my social life...

(Truth be told, our High School actually praises ners :eek:)

As to Parents that claim that students have too much homework every nigh.

SHUT THE F*** UP!!!

IT HELPS WITH STUDYING!

I PICK UP CONCEPTS FASTER THROUGH HOMEWORK!!!

YOU PEOPLE THAT B**** ABOUT TOO MUCH HOMEWORK PROBABALY NEVER DID DI** CR** IN HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMICALLY!



Oh, if you are interested in what IB courses are like... go the the website below:


www.ibo.org


Everybody that takes the classes does at least 3 times as much work as the average joe student.

I am in few AP classes at my school and I still don't feel challenged. I have about three hours homework a night also, but barely any homework on the weekends, but maybe it is because I am still in middle school. Then after school I have newspaper, science olypiad, geography bee, and guide dogs. Three out of four I had to try out for and only the best got in and I got in.

[cbish]

schizobunny

Since you're still in middle school, then enjoy it! It won't be long before you're working you're butt off!!;)

[Glory]

Originally posted by Schizobunny
I'm in eighth grade and a straight A student and I don't think I get too much homework. I don't understand why my classmates complain about having too much seen as they never bother to do their homework. I personally think school is too g*d d*mn easy for it's own good.

Well gee, did it ever occur to you that not everyone finds school easy? You seem awfully proud of yourself for how smart you are and how you have been counted as amongst the best in various activities. You get straight A's while taking AP courses. If you were not unusual, of what would you be so proud?

Some people's strengths are usefull in acadamia. Some people's are useful elsewhere. The world is full of people who are not just like you. Could you try having a drop of empathy for those of us who are not brilliant students?

You sound like you need a challenge. You sound like you have never been challenged by anything in your life. I know that can be frustrating and boring but please consider that you are the exception rather than the rule as far as 8th graders go.

Glory