"Most meaningful homework is that which students perceive to be meaningful”, says Denise Pope
Has your child shed tears over the amount of homework? Has he stayed up late to finish scads of homework to submit next day? Have you sacrificed your weekends for homework?
Homework has become overload for most of the parents in India. The homework starts from as early as preschool and goes up in quantity from there on. The unending search for making students’ lives more profitable in schools has thrown up the suggestion of doing away with homework, sparking off a debate on where to draw the line.
Why do teachers assign homework? Why do children suffer from homework anxiety? The questions that have taken center stage amongst parents have also given birth to new questions and debates not just in India but many countries across the world.
We will try to appraise the good objectives of homework and then understand why there is such a big noise about “Homework Policy.”
Objectives of Homework
It has been believed that homework reinforces the concepts taught in the classroom and inculcates independent or self-directed learning. These are some of the aims and objectives of homework:
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To help student develop skills of an independent learner
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To promote a partnership between home and school
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To practice what student learned in the classroom
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To extend the concept of learning beyond the classroom
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To nurture the development of good study skills
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To provide opportunities for drills and practices
Where is the problem of “Too Much Homework”?
“Research shows that students regularly receive higher amount of homework than experts recommend which may cause frazzled children, overload of work, underplay time and stress in some kids.” Says children watchdogs
Researches for Kindergarten to High School suggest that students are getting an excessive amount of homework than experts recommend. This is the cause of worry and anxiety amongst the parents and children, the overload of homework has left them with no time to relax and do nothing some days of the week.
A Pa
rent is also asking: How about the quality of homework or assignments given to do at home? Isn’t it time to weigh the quality of assignments given by schools to complete at home?
Answer Now
Excessive Homework Regularly
We are witnessing that schools are stipulating as much as an hour of homework per day and 2-3 hours of homework on the weekend for students in years 6-8 and upto half an hour for kids from prep to year 4.
The early elementary level students are getting more than three times the amount of homework recommended by experts.
The pressure of tests and reviews in the classroom also pressurises the parents, teachers and students putting all of them in an overwhelming situation. Parents’ complaint that due to the school system, they have to push their children to complete homework has been the cause of worry.
When NexSchools staff surveyed Kindergarten parents and students, we found it ‘absolutely shocking’ that along with the good amount of writing homework Kindergarten students in more 50 schools were writing the tests also.
The story of middle schoolers and upper middle school student is also the same due to board exam system in class 10. The high school students have to cope up with homework as well as if opt to go for competitive exams then coaching classes outside school hours leave them frazzled and not meeting their developmental needs.
“Study after study has shown that homework has little to do with achievement in elementary school and only marginally related to achievement in middle school.”
What’s the end of Homework Hurdle?
The amount of homework assigned to children is directly related to the age of a child. Harris Copper, Social Psychologist from Duke University whose studies have effected and impacted policies in the United States of America suggested that 10-minute rule per grade level per day should be followed for homework guidelines. For example, 10 minutes per day of homework in first grade, 20 minutes per day of homework in second grade and so on to 120 minutes for grade twelfth.
The key is to assign less homework at lower grades and let our children have time to just child rather than pushing him in structured busy life. Having an extra two hours to play, relax or to see friends would constitute a huge bump in any child’s quality of life.
Parents Tip
When you feel that your child is unable to cope up with homework do not do your child’s homework. Allow him to try his best and have a go. If he finds any task difficult and struggles then the class teacher needs to know, so discuss with her.