A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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 believe homework is useless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research that proves homework to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading amount of hard data to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework ought to be based on the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it ought to be relatively basic to provide math research one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to avoid overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view.

When thinking of homework, instructors discover it beneficial 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, reflected on her homework approach which consists of the purposeful functions instructors and households play.

Research can be a dissentious subject in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers point of view. How do you communicate with households about research?

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LE: What is your position on the concern of research?
I answer as an educator and as the moms and dad of school age children when I address this question. I do see homework as having a role in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think homework is worthless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that shows homework to be useful, I did not see a convincing amount of hard information to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the amount of homework ought to be based upon the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it ought to be reasonably simple to offer mathematics homework one night, reading or spelling one night, etc to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. If instructors are creative with projects and in interacting the purpose of the task, trainees need to not become disappointed or bored. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend knowing. Would I assign 30 math issues to trainees who I understand would battle with them, or to students who have demonstrated their understanding of the ability? No, in those cases, it is my job as the instructor to customize the assignments.
Our textbook mentions it can take 24 repetitions of a skill for a student to reach 80% competency. I believe practicing skills is worthwhile. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are skills in tennis you must practice to enhance. There are standard math skills kids should practice to develop a solid structure before carrying on to higher-level math abilities. Kohn points out how students may progress at remembering, however not believing. I see this as two various things; we require students to keep in mind certain facts and after that move on to utilizing those skills as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a moms and dad, it can be challenging to squeeze in research some nights! We do the finest we can, and if we have problems or concerns, I reach out to the teacher. Again, excellent instructors make it a point to know what some house situations may be like and to modify accordingly.

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