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A student's work is never done
Wow, homework is a hot topic.
We’re only looking out for our kids’ interests, from many points of view.
My last blog entry This just in: Kids assigned too much homework? elicited a lot of reaction from South Florida parents.
Eliza felt strongly that teachers are overly micromanaged: “We tie teachers' hands and continually lower the bar for our kids regarding their education.”
And Julie presented another perspective: “Yes, they need to learn discipline to enter the workforce, however, do adults spend most weekends and evenings doing work? or do adults go home from work and golf, ski, hike, go to movie, etc? I work full time, but I don't work every night for 2 hours and every weekend for 6 hours.”
Somewhere in the middle is balance - and truth. An elementary school student bringing home two hours worth of homework begs the following questions: Why? What happened in class that day? Does the student have difficulty paying attention? Is it really class work that was not completed? Is it really a 30-minute assignment but you are having trouble keeping your child on task? Maybe there is some fessing up to be done.
And teachers just might possibly appreciate the guidelines. I’d love to hear from some. Is every homework assignment graded? What's the value in giving homework - it's just more work for you too.
I agree trips and getaways are tricky to plan when there is homework to be done.
So, what grade would you give the Broward County School Board for this initiative:
Broward County School Board sets homework limits.
What do you like about it, what would you change?
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez loves to worry, or so her husband says...
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of three blonde, blue-eyed kids all under six years old.
Comments
This is a wonderful conversation thanks to all of you. There are some great ideas I had not considered. To me, that only highlights the challenge teachers have - a room full of 30 plus individuals. Multiply that times each child's parent and their own ideas of how things should be done...and you get the idea!
Posted by: Cindy Kent | February 20, 2009 10:42 AM
On behalf of my colleague I am re posting her comment to my earlier blog here too: "This is an interesting conversation. I'm wondering if any of the parents or
teachers commenting here would speak to me for a story. If so, e-mail me
at akjohnson@sun-sentinel.com. Thanks"
Posted by: Cindy Kent | February 20, 2009 10:47 AM