By Mia
Starting from 1st grade I have had homework. Even if school was closed my parents gave me homework such as math, reading, coding, etc. Do you really think that homework is useful? I don’t think so. I have to sit around doing stuff I already know, and spend a lot of valuable time on it. I think that we should have less homework, but most teachers and parents don’t think the same way.
Many teachers and parents say that homework is good for improving academic achievement. A researcher wanted to find out if homework really worked, so he got a group of kids and did a test. Half of the kids received homework, the other half didn’t. The researcher gave them a test, and waited to see which group had the most academic achievement. At the end the group with homework was proven to have better test scores. For example, for the elementary school kids that got the homework, the 2nd grade did better on math, and the 3rd and 4th grade did better on English, and 5th grade did better on social studies. Another reason that most parents don’t want us to get less homework is that homework helps teachers determine how well the lessons are being understood by their students. If the students finnish the homework correctly, the teacher knows that they fully understand what they learned. If they finnish the homework incorrectly, the teacher knows that they don’t fully understand yet. I kind of understand, but if it is too easy for the student, then the teacher can’t determine anything.
I am now going to tell you about the three reasons why we should have less homework. First, homework doesn’t seem to boost learning. When you do homework you only review stuff you already learned at school, and there is rarely anything that you haven’t learned. In Why Homework Doesn’t Seem To Boost Learning–And How It Could, Natalie Wexler said “ Even if teachers do manage to assign effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers—for example, standardized reading test scores.” This piece of research showed us how homework doesn’t help with standardized reading test scores.
Second, since the teacher gives the same things to the whole class, the more advanced students will think it is too easy. When I get homework that is too hard or is too easy, I don’t like it. The hard ones lead to frustration, and the easy ones lead to boredom. Most of the time the teacher gives us homework, and I already know how to do it. I spent about 20 minutes finishing the homework that my teacher gave me. When I do that I waste a lot of my valuable time.
Third,I spend too much time on my homework. In Negative Effects of Homework May Surprise You it says “The National PTA and the National Education Association agree that homework that takes longer than 10 minutes per grade period is excessive. For example, a third-grader should have no more than 30 minutes of homework. Any homework beyond the 30 minutes is too much.” Usually I spend 1-2 hours on my homework. In 5 Reasons Why Homework Is Bad For Your Child it says “Multiple studies have found that most students are getting too many extra assignments, leading to sleep deprivation, unhealthy levels of stress, as well as related health problems.”
That is why I think that homework doesn’t help you learn new things, the more advanced students will think the homework is too easy, and I spend too much time doing homework. When considering child development and socialization as a whole, homework takes away social time and does not help elementary kids do better academically. Hopefully You will believe me afterwards. I hope you feel the same way.
Reference:
Written by Carol Bainbridge
Written by Natalie Wexler
Written by Peter Druker
Written by Kim P