A classroom teacher’s view on homework

Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers viewpoint. We wish to hear your thoughts about homework. What is your philosophy? How do you communicate with families about homework?

When considering research, teachers discover it useful to communicate their policy with the households of their trainees. After just recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade instructor from Pennsylvania, showed on her research philosophy which includes the purposeful functions instructors and households play.

I do see homework as having a role in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think homework is worthless, or worse, has a negative impact. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research study that proves research to be useful, I did not see a persuading quantity of hard data to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the amount of homework should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it must be reasonably easy to give mathematics homework one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Research can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view.

LE: What is your position on the issue of homework?
When I address this concern, I address as an educator and as the parent of school age kids. I do see research as having a role in the academic process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to think research is worthless, or even worse, has a negative impact. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that shows research to be beneficial, I did not see a convincing quantity of tough information to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the quantity of research should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As the majority of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it ought to be fairly simple to give math homework one night, reading or spelling one night, etc to prevent overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. I see homework to extend learning.
Our book points out it can take 24 repetitions of a skill for a student to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how trainees might end up being better at keeping in mind, however not believing. I see this as 2 different things; we need trainees to keep in mind specific facts and then move on to utilizing those abilities as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a parent, it can be challenging to squeeze in homework some nights! We do the best we can, and if we have issues or problems, I reach out to the teacher. Once again, good teachers make it a point to understand what some home circumstances may be like and to modify appropriately.

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