Why Is Homework Necessary For Elementary School

In “The Problem with Giving Young Children Homework” Robby Berman believes that homework makes it difficult for young kids conform to school. Elementary-school children have a plenty of education in forward of them, and the best particular things a teacher can do, is to instill in a student a taste of learning. After being at school for six to eight hours, children physically take time to re-form. Commonly, they require 10 hours of sleep. One profit of elementary-school homework advocates support that homework helps develop a child’s sense of responsibility.

Homework has been around for many years, and parents have had many questions and concerns about the impact it has on their children. Kate McReynolds states in her article Homework that, “In 1957, the Soviet launch of Sputnik challenged the intellectual and military might of the United States. The New York Times ran a series of articles describing the Soviet educational system as superior to the United States’ system. Congress passed the National Defense Education Act and America’s youngsters were charged with restoring the nation’s competitive edge” (2). This means that schools are under the pressure to make sure their students excel and work extremely hard. So by doing so, they assign homework, which will progress to other issues for the students.

Homework was a necessity because it was the only way the students were prepared for class the following day. By the 20th Century the PTA began to push their opinion in the battle of homework. They sought to have it irradiated as it was a distraction from the students learning process (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 175). There were pediatricians going as far to say that homework was the reason for the rise in health issues and the death toll. At this time educators, doctors, and scientists were all in agreeance that is was essential to educate the “whole child”. Thus, allowing time for distractions, play, and a life outside of school that was enriched. This would develop the child’s well-being in every aspect of life (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 176). During the Cold War, the issue of homework became a cause for concern. The Russians had achieved more than the American children. This began the achievement for excellence. As the curriculum in school changed homework was reinstated because the students needed to learn outside of school in order to prosper in academics (Gill & Schlossman, 2004

In the beginning of the twentieth century homework was viewed as an exceptional practice that helped students learn through practice and repetition. In recent years parents and educators were concerned that homework is taking away from “social experience, outdoor recreation, and creative activities” These experiences are necessary to a good childhood. So, let’s think about it, is homework necessary for success in school?

Before everyone rushes off to condemn homework altogether, they should realize the many benefits provided when students take work home. Many times, repetition has been proven as “the law of learning.” When students do work outside of school, it helps reinforce what they learn inside school. According to Wendy J. Ponte, a freelance writer with three school-aged children, there are “no studies to back up the claim” that repetition improves academic performance. While some repetition might be helpful, Ponte points out that “When kids come home with 100 multiplication problems to solve, it becomes simple drudgery.” Can a love of learning be fostered in children who are overcome with hordes of homework?

Homework has been an area of discussion for teachers, students, and even psychologists. It’s been a practice which has been used throughout the United States to help students learn material, reinforce their day’s lesson, or just as busy work to improve a student’s work ethic. Several people view homework as useless, or just plainly unhelpful; this view has been demonstrated ever since the early twentieth century, where many authors and politicians were vehemently against homework, going as far as to write whole books and draft legislation (legislation which had passed the Californian government and had been law) against homework. This opposition has ever since faded, but is now seeing a new movement around America, and there are reasons as to why that is. In an article from CNN, they quote a study from another article published by The American Journal of Family Therapy which states that: “students in the early elementary school years are getting significantly more homework than is recommended by education leaders, in some cases nearly three times as much homework as is recommended”, and, as such, students are raised within a state of stress from the first grade. Several other studies also find that homework is very hurtful; the Journal of Experimental Education published an article which had made a study that found that the average amount of time students spend on homework each night had been 3.1 hours from a sample of high-performing schools in California, when the recommended time on homework is, at most, one hour each night. Homework has been mandated work for students all around the country, and several others, and the workload seems to only be increasing, and so, how might this workload affect a student’s ability to live a healthy life, a teacher’s work plan, and a psychologist’s view of an enormous workload on a student?

The homework debate has been fuming for many decades, with what seems like no end. On one hand there are the defenders of homework who testify its benefits and efficacy, and on the other hand we have the critics who would like schools to overthrow giving homework to students. Among the supporters there is also the question of just how much homework is the right amount of homework. Parents, educators, students and the general public have all been deeply divided over the homework issue for a long time. Some

According to Dennis Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, “Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good” (Clifton 2014.) Homework is intended to be a measure taken to instill responsibility and provide growth through practice. However, until an individual obtains the logic necessary to perceive the homework as it is intended, it is impractical to assign such measures. This is the case for kindergarten students.

According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly of Fall 2003, most teachers do not take courses specifically on homework during their training, and most are blatantly unaware of homework research and the problems associated with it (Bennett). Much like what was mentioned earlier, a 30 minute assignment from the perspective of a teacher can mean a much longer, more challenging assignment to a student (Klein). The students completing the assignment must go home and deal with the stress, the 'overtime' in a sense, on a day-by-day basis while teachers go home without the same assignments. By referring to the school-to-job analogy, this is the equivalent of a job supervisor telling coworkers to stay after hours to do his work, while he instead goes home and enjoys a recommended night's sleep, a luxury that most students do not get. This is an unfair use of student time, which is often be exploited in order to fill in the gaps of a teacher's inexperience or careless use of in-class time

Think back to elementary school, when dividing in math class was hard. Staring at the numbers at the paper and forgetting the order of steps in the dividing process. Even when trying their best, many young students still struggle with not understanding the material. The struggle was normally noticed and, as a result, the teacher would send out extra homework and insist “practice makes perfect.” The thought was that giving students homework would give them the additional practice to learn the material. This theory has been the current trend for the past few years. However, it might be time to reconsider this method of learning. Perhaps it is time to leave the worksheets behind and keep the students from wearing out. Homework in elementary schools should be reduced to meaningful work. By comparing and contrasting previous homework methods and the current ban on homework in elementary schools, many school districts will be analysed in their current decision to reduce the typical amount of homework until fourth grade.

A article from Educational Leadership states, there is five main tasks that homework should have for the students actually to be getting something out of it. The first one is, having a clear academic point and purpose. To do something like that you could have a checking in with it the student. Another reason is you can tell the student is learning something with it. Next is, there should be different choices for the different type of students. Many students learn at different paces and have to spend way more time on their homework than other classmates. The fourth thing is they should be able to complete this by themselves and not having a lot of extra help. This shows the students they are capable of doing something by themselves. Lastly, the students take an interest in the work and for the most part find it enjoyable.

Over the years there has been question about whether or not homework is beneficial for students throughout elementary and high school. The opinions on this topic often change with the times. For a period of time, homework is perceived as harmful for students. Then the opinions change and the consensus is that homework is indeed beneficial for students. The documentary Race to Nowhere looks at the stress that is put on American students to do well in school. All of this stress is coming from parents, teachers, administrators, even the government. Students are expected to perform well on classroom tests as well as standardized tests. On top of the pressure to do well on these tests, students are given a large amount of homework to complete every night. If students do not have the homework completed, they are reprimanded or given a zero on the assignment. Many students work, participate in an after school activity, or have family obligations outside of school. This leaves little time to complete the homework. The video Waiting for Superman looks at how schools are failing our students in their education. Homework is one way in which schools are failing our students. It causes the students to become stressed because of the amount of that they are assigned each night. Changing the way teachers use and give homework can make a difference in the stress that students feel from school.

Education is one of the most important life aspects in a society; however, people do not look towards education as an interesting subject, but as a duty that can be the key to success. The way in which we perceive learning frequently depends on our school experience and one of the first things that come to our mind when we think about it is homework. Even though one of the homework´s main purpose is to improve students’ abilities in a certain topic and to develop values such as responsibility and discipline, what homework really does is: decrease interest in learning, reduce the free time that can be directed towards hobbies or socializing and produce stress in students.

As an active member of the school board we have been curious on how important a child’s homework from grade K-12 is to parents and the positive and negative outcomes on a student academically when parents actively involve themselves in their child’s homework. The school board fears that if parents are too involved child’s k-12 homework, it might have a more negative effect on students academically than a positive effect and cause tension between a parent and their child, causing the child to hold back on asking for help with their homework. The school has been trying to come up with ways to help more students achieve in school so parental involvement in children’s homework has been a highly discussed conversation with the K-12 school boards throughout several states in the recent years. Despite the concerns recent studies have shown that parent involvement in children’s homework can be very beneficial and help students succeed in school in many different ways and even help better prepare them for college as opposed to a parent not being involved. Parental involvement in children’s homework could be the missing key to success for children’s education.

Many men and women of all race, religion and ages have at some time in their live made the decision of whether or not to do their homework assignments. With so much concern from school district officials, the community, leaders of the public, and most importantly parents with our youth and homework, one would think, how did this become such an enormous issue? School work and home work have many similarities, but there are differences between the two as well. This thought came over time, after several surveys and research had been conducted.