Homework Time
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Homework is controversial. It is the one area of conversation with parents that strikes fear in a school-age professional. In the early history of public education, leaders banned homework because people thought it harmed children. Later, schools promoted homework as the path to win the Cold War. Homework has achieved the status of a taboo subject you never talk to other folks about (like politics, money, and religion), at least people you still want as friends.
Last month an article in Salon by Heather Shumaker, titled "How Homework is Wrecking our Kids," talked about the homework debate. The article shares a study by Duke University and Harris Cooper that says homework is practical and most effective for children in the 7th through 12th grades. The study says that a ten-minute rule is an effective strategy for homework in all grades, including school-age children. The article states, the "10-minute rule" is a commonly accepted practice in which teachers add 10 minutes of homework each year as students process through elementary school. I want to look at homework in a different light.
In school-age care settings, we have a short amount of time with the children. The children come into our programs with many ideas of how to use their time. Homework is the one thing children are not interested in after school, no matter the age or child's academic goals. Children want a break and to be outside playing while enjoying the fresh air. The importance of free, unstructured outside time is increasing as school recess has decreased.
The four activities children want after school is Snacks, Naps, and Chats. Think about it, after your workday what do you want? More work! Our role as a school-age provider is to offer good food for the children, so they can relax, get some nutrition in and be ready for a robust time at the playground. For naps, we provide space for children to relax, sit in a quiet space, read a book, or draw a picture. Children also need time to socialize, play group games, and practice social skills.
Talking to parents about homework is challenging for school-age professionals. When parents ask if we offer homework in our program, they also ask if we provide a homework completion guarantee. Why? Because children put up a resistance to more work after leaving school a few hours earlier. The children know they will spend a significant amount of time doing worksheets instead of creating and exploring something else.
In our program, homework is family-controlled. Each family decides how vital homework is in their life. At the beginning of each school year, I talk with all the parents about homework. I let the parents know that homework is not a priority for our program since it does not align with the best practices for school-age children. I let the parents know that there is a homework hierarchy, and it goes like this. The parents, teachers, and children dictate homework and its importance. The person responsible for homework is the student. The responsibility for checking completion and correction of homework falls to the child, parents, schoolteacher, aunts, uncles, neighbors, anyone else except us. Why? In afterschool, we have a different role; we are the school of applied knowledge.
Our school of applied knowledge, in a nutshell, is the opportunity for children to choose and work on what they want when they want and to have a great time doing it. The time we do not use for homework gives children the opportunity to use all the knowledge they have learned during the day and practice doing something they enjoy and explore the possibilities for learning beyond homework.
What is your belief about homework?