I want people's opinions as to an appropriate amount of homework. I'm not looking for recommended hours per grade or whatever. I'm wondering whether you think homework in itself is of value to busy students these days. I'm talking about kids that are involved in sports, outside classes, "geeky" clubs, etc. My kids used to go to private school and got TONS of homework. Now they go to public school and are able to finish their assigned work in school because a lot of their schoolmates are in home situations that are not conducive to homework completion (semi-inner city school). In any event, I don't see a huge difference in the quality of their education, and I've come to the conclusion that amount of homework does not equate to quality of education. My nephew, however, feels that homework, and a lot of it, is a necessary part of education. Do you agree with me or my nephew (best answer to the person that substantiates their response even if they don't agree with me)?
2006-12-17 11:19:57 · 13 answers · asked by just browsin 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Primary & Secondary Education
I teach 4th grade and I don't assign a lot of homework on any given night. Homework is a tool to allow students to practice what they have learned in school during the day. It makes the knowledge more permanent in their brains. I usually give math homework every night because math is something that needs to be practiced regularly. I also assign my students to read for 20 minutes a night. Otherwise, I don't give much else as regular homework.
Homework can be detrimental to some students. If a concept or skill is practiced over and over the wrong way, the knowledge still becomes more permanent. It just isn't correct. I find it's better to assign a few problems so that students who haven't quite gotten it will not teach themselves an incorrect way of doing it.
Homework also can be a bad way to monitor a student's progress. Some children have parents who will do their homework for them, some children have supportive and helpful parents, and some have no support and/or no one who is able to help them at home. It's just a difficult way to judge what a student actually knows. However, when used correctly, some homework each night can be an effective learning tool.
2006-12-17 12:50:24 · answer #1 · answered by caitlinerika 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
homework is only neccessary if the teacher isnt filling the students day with busy work, more often then not the students are forced to do reams of work sheets and then continue the routine for homework, they end up learning very little, and becoming extremely bored of the process. However if the teacher actually teachs and there is an exercise or reading involved with the day's assignment, it is good to have a little homeworl as a refresher, but kids today have far too much homework that doesnt help them especially if they plan to have any kind of a social life.
2006-12-17 11:30:16 · answer #2 · answered by Bri B 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I am a college student, and so I can say what the advantages of a lot of homework (or just a bit of homework) are. When you have a substantial amount of homework, as in a half hour to an hour of work outside of class for every class you are in, it gives you a chance to find problems with the material dealt with in the class and also gives lots of grades for you to have, meaning if by chance you don't understand something and screw up bigtime, the grade isn't going to absolutely ruin you. The downside is, of course, that if you have many assignments, a lot of time will probably not be spent on each one and it's easier to "fudge" your way through a class. With a little bit of homework, a lot rides on the grades you attain from that work. I had a class this past semester that gave only two written homework assignments, but each was worth a quarter of my grade. This means that I spent a huge amount of time working on these assignments and paid attention in class so that I could gather the information I needed for each one. It also meant that I had no real gauge to show myself whether or not I understood and internalized the material being presented to me until it was too late to ask for help with a certain topic, and that a huge amount of stress was attached to these assignments. My belief is that you need a light but consistent homework load to be a successful learner. Teachers who assign two to three hours worth of homeowrk each night are unrealistic, and so are teachers who give out two huge assignments that try to encompass half of what has been learned in a course. I agree mostly with you, then; lots of homework isn't extremely important, but the quality of what's assigned definitely is.
2006-12-17 11:29:43 · answer #3 · answered by Cat Loves Her Sabres 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not necassarily a lot of homework. Homework is a way for the students to retain the knowledge. Most of the students would just say "oh i don't need this anymore so why retain it?" and then preform a purge. Its also a way to prepare students for the real world they won't have a teacher there telling teaching them everyday after the graduate from College, this way it continually bangs it in there head that they need to know this.
Also would you rather have them take quizzes of tests at the end of every class every day? If, a teacher decides to do that then it stresses out the students. I for one stress out about certain quizzes and tests. Homework is a better way to review in a more relaxed setting.
2006-12-17 11:46:44 · answer #4 · answered by cheesehead 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There Should Be Little, But Very Challanging Homework. Or a Lot of Easy Homework.
2006-12-17 11:28:02 · answer #5 · answered by ordinaryfrog12 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Most homework is assigned just to keep kids busy. For example, when I was in 8th grade, I once had a math homework assignment that consisted of 80 simple algebra problems (i.e. 2x-3=9). The entire class was familiar with these types of problems and the teacher knew, but wanted us to practice. That is what I consider busy work. Homework that has a point would be to define a certain amount of vocabulary words, read a section of a textbook and answer questions based on it, etc.
2006-12-17 11:36:13 · answer #6 · answered by attn deficiency. 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Homework is assigned to reinforce what the kids learned that day, if not they'd do a memory dump as the last bell rang...Well alot of them do that anyway. These kids are our future...geez that scary..Really a moderate amount of homework should be given, more and more challenging as they get older.
2006-12-17 11:25:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
This particular vacation? I got math, biology, and english. Usually I get a lot of homework, but for Thanksgiving break, I got barely any, which was really surprising!
2016-03-13 08:02:53 · answer #8 · answered by Elizabeth 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well...the class i have no homework in, i have a 97...the class i have a ton in, im almost failing, and that subject was always my best...so homework=bad! im really smart, but to much homework leaves more room for forgetting to do part of it...i feel that the more homework someone has, the more weight they have on their backs, and may start to not care...
2006-12-17 11:31:19 · answer #9 · answered by nat 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
there should be homework but not a huge amount
2006-12-17 11:21:36 · answer #10 · answered by Zhukov 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋