Why I Dislike Homework and How the Research Backs Me Up
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Do your kids spend hours a night doing homework?
Mine do.
And I hate it– maybe even more than they do.
Seriously, I’d much rather that my kids get much needed down-time to: play, nap, read, run, swing, dance, twirl, build, create, draw, invent, or design.
Yet I sit inside with them, trying to pretend that I’m enthusiastic and supportive, helping them to stay focused, answering questions that come up. Ugh. (And don’t get me started trying to describe the melt-downs when you have a child with Sensory Processing Disorder and ADHD. Homework is that much more of a nightmare.)
Remember when I asked you on Facebook about homework? Most of you didn’t support homework either.
And to be clear, I didn’t care for homework as a fifth grade teacher either. My students rarely had homework unless they didn’t finish something in class. (Lesson to use your time wisely.) No homework meant that they could read, play, do sports, have family time . . .
The majority of research supports no homework. (So does common sense, one could argue, . . . at least, I’d argue anyway.)
Homework Research
1. There is no evidence showing that early elementary homework is beneficial (Cooper, 1989 a; Cooper, Robinson & Patall, 2006) ASCD with the exception of some studies showing correlation on math tests. (NCTM, 2008)
2. Too much homework affects a child’s sleep. Lack of sleep negatively impacts brain function. (Wolfson, 1998)
3. Homework is detrimental to student achievement and makes children depressed. (Australian Institute of Family Studies following 10,000 students)
4. Too much homework is not helpful to student achievement. (Cooper, Civey, and Patall, 2006.)
5. Mixed research showing homework developing good study habits – some research shows yes, some no. (Cooper, 1989a, Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006) ASCD (Kohn, 2006 The Homework Myth.)
6. Time spent on homework for secondary students sometimes correlates to achievement but not with elementary students and not consistently for secondary. (Plude, Enns, and Broudeur 1994) NCTM and (Maltese, and Fan, 2012)
7. Many countries (Japan, Denmark and Czech Republic) with high test scores have instructors who assign no or little homework. (Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez, Kelly and Smith, 1998.)
You’ll find more research on two articles from which I learned the most and synthesize the homework research: Jane Bluestein’s blog and on ASCD.
Recommendations for Homework (if given)
While I’ll always believe that homework should be little to none, IF homework is assigned here are my recommendations.
Homework should:
– be able to be completed independently, without the help of an adult
– have been well-covered in class and is an opportunity to deepen knowledge
– promote mastery of a skill the student hasn’t yet mastered with an engaging task
– be clear and purposeful to the learner
– give students autonomy to learn a topic interesting to them
– be coordinated with other teachers so there isn’t an overwhelming amount
– be differentiated (considering different abilities of the learners, different modalities of learning, etc.)
I think less homework just makes sense.
But there’s the rub. What’s up with all the homework our kids are assigned?
What do you think?
Have you advocated for less homework in your child’s life? Or would you do so now that you know the research and know you’re not alone? Please elaborate in the comments.
Great info! I must rant about homework…My son just started Kindergarten. He has ADHD, and his teacher stressed the importance of routine. Two weeks in, the school decided to combine the Kindergarten classes and move his teacher to a higher grade. He is now in a class with 32 students and a pregnant teacher leaving for two months. By the time he will have been in school 6 weeks, he will be on his 3rd teacher. HIs current teacher assigns him homework that takes us about 2+ hours a night. She informed me that 1/2 day kindergarten is expected to test to the same as all day Kindergarten. Mind you, all day Kindergarten is $375/month…and it’s about $650/month when you add in safe key. And, this is public school! I can’t afford to pay more than I am for daycare for him to attend public school. To top it off, Kindergarten isn’t even required in Nevada. School isn’t required until kids are 7 years old. By the time I get home from work and pick him up from daycare, we get home and get started on his homework around 6-6:30 pm. That’s the closest thing to a routine he has at this point. The fight is basically on as soon as we open his backpack. He is getting so much homework that we spend our entire evening butting heads. We barely have time for dinner, and we all go to bed exhausted and upset. He has 2 poems / rhymes to read and answer questions about each night…questions like “Circle the periods,” and “Circle the words that are colors.” All of which require not just help from me, but for me to explain to him what a period is or reading the colors to him, as he can’t read to that extent. He also will have 2 small lessons to do things like write 2 different words 5 times and count something. He then has to practice writing his birth name (not his nickname) multiple times. He hadn’t even started learning to spell his last name in his last class. Then, he has to read a book to me. It’s a small book & doable, but this is on top of everything else. To top that off, he’s given a weekly family project and sight words to memorize. I’m so frustrated that I don’t know what to do. So, I will take time off from work to volunteer in his class to see if I can figure out how to help him succeed, and still have time for dinner, a full night’s sleep, and occasionally a bath before bed…and, I’m tending to my sick mother on top of it all. I’m sure this isn’t an uncommon family situation. I have communicated with my concerns with his teacher, and she told me what a great teacher she is and how she knows he will succeed. Well, of course he will since he is basically being home schooled on top of her classroom instruction! I wish the powers that be would realize what they are doing to our children with workloads like this. He is going to hate school before he’s had a chance to finish Kindergarten. 🙁
Becki, I’m going to tell you (and whoever reads this) a subversive secret of mine – that you can do with what you will. If it were me, and it has been in the past, I wouldn’t make him do it. You know what’s best for your child and this is harming him. You also know that it’s Kindergarten – not High School AP Chemistry – so the stakes are low. With my 2nd grader last year, she got an insane amount of busy work. We didn’t do it. Ever. I had her read. Period. And yes, she got graded down for homework but I didn’t care. Again, it’s not HS or college – not a big deal. She was on grade level, she was doing fine in class, so why make her do meaningless work when she needed down time – something much more valuable to her growing mind?! And, to your point about you doing his work, one could argue that the teacher isn’t seeing a true picture of what your son knows since you’re having to reteach it. If he doesn’t understand, I think it’s better to write a note saying he doesn’t understand so she can reteach it and hopefully realize that he’s not getting what she’s trying to do in class — and modify it! Kindergarten should be the time of their lives, where it’s fun, playful and they love their teachers, . . . when it’s not – something is very wrong. I don’t know if you know my story but here it is: https://imaginationsoup.net/2011/01/why-i-dont-want-to-send-her-back-to-school/. After the support of everyone in the comments, I found a private school. If you have any other options of schools – charter, Montessori, anything, I would actively look. In my experience, it’s very difficult to make changes at a school. If you want to try, you need to get a group of parents together to ask for change and make sure you’re talking to the principal and involve whomever else in administration you need. I’m sick hearing about your son’s experience. Please email me and let me know how it goes and what support you need: Melissa@imaginationsoup.net. Hugs, mama!!
I, too, would absolutely skip the busy work, but at our school, not only would your grade slip, but you also pull a behavioral ticket (you get 5 a day, pulling to the 5th is when you are sent to the principal) when you don’t turn in or do your homework. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes the kids will earn a Homework Pass to be used on one assignment and I cherish each of those. It doesn’t give them a night off, but it eases the time spent one afternoon/evening. I just wish they were earned more frequently!
Becki–you’re not alone! I know that knowledge doesn’t ease the burden any, but I hope it helps to know that other parents feel the strain as well. Hugs!
Thank you, Lisa and Melissa! I will read your story straight away! I just stumbled upon this in the midst of my battles. I’m getting a 504 plan in place due to his ADHD. I figured it’s a starting point. All I want is communication. A friend told me I was expecting too much from the teacher in a class of 33 Kindergarteners. Well, perhaps they should fix that issue. HA! Hubby and I actually discussed looking for a private school. We just have so many roadblocks. Our jobs are 16 miles from home, there are no schools on the way to work, we are both gone (with travel time) 10-11 hours a day, and I will likely have to get a 2nd job to pay for his school, which means I won’t be around to help him or be active in his schooling. Another rock and a hard place. But, I’m pushing back, and hopefully I can get somewhere.
wow – sounds like private school won’t work and public isn’t working so far. Keep doing your best to communicate with the teacher. Once you get a 504, that will help some, but it does take time and paperwork to get it in place. Our state has another sort of 504 plan they do first — but it’s not legally binding like a 504. Maybe you could ask for modifications without the 504 for now and see what you can work out?
Thanks for the great post Melissa. I could not agree more about homework. I feel that like so many elements in education the high ground is so often held by those more conservative. Personally, I would love to scrap homework, however it is not always the overall consensus. Also, there are many parents out there who seem to believe that homework is somehow essential to success. In the end, I feel that homework underwrites the relationships that we as teachers continually try and build with students. There is nothing more depressing than the awkward conversation with parents seeming whinging about the failure to submit homework.
you’re welcome – it’s quite the debate, isn’t it? And, yes, there are many parents who want homework and lots of it.
My elementary students have limited homework. It’s 10-20 minutes three nights a week. They have a rare math worksheet, an expectation to master their spelling, vocabulary, and math facts via the learning method of their (or my) choice, and a blanket “read 10 minutes” thing. I think that’s reasonable because we can generally make it work. They don’t get mindless worksheets very often.
sounds like a well-thought out homework plan! Thanks for sharing, Susan!
when i was running my small private school, we had a no-homework policy. our literature told parents we thought it was important for children to spend their time after school playing, reading, or being with friends and family. the vast majority of parents complained and said we should have homework — if we didn’t, their kids would “fall behind.” :/
on the flip side, we had a before- and after-school program for public-schooled kids and more than once i watched mothers sit down and *do their children’s homework for them*. one of them told me it was just mindless worksheets so it didn’t matter.
you can’t win for losing.
and demographics affect everything. Thanks for sharing!
I believe my sons’ teachers do a great job with homework in elementary school. It is enough to review tops and let me see what is going on in class. As a high school teacher, I think it is important to start the homework routine in elementary school and start good habits early.
thanks for the comment, Becky!