Homework has been a topic of conversation and controversy in elementary education for as long as many people can remember, the pros and cons have been argued and researched time and time again. While most professionals in the field agree that homework is needed and helpful in middle and high school grade levels, when it comes to younger grades the information strongly shows that it is a waste of time. At its core homework has two possible effects in the home. Homework can be seen as a rule over parents from the school to manage their children’s time outside of school or as a way to inform parents on what their children are currently studying and allow them a participation in their children’s education (Wright). Around the time leading …show more content…
But when it comes to the elementary grade levels, the cons of homework far outweigh the pros. The research shows time and time again that higher levels of homework in elementary school cause more issues than it does benefits. So, what are the cons? And how can learning be encouraged outside of the classroom without it having a negative impact?
In 2008 the MetLife American Teacher series polled students, teachers, and parents on their feelings and thoughts about homework and the results were as follows; one-third of parents rated the quality of homework given as fair or poor, one-quarter of students say that they as if their homework is busywork and unrelated to what they were learning in class (MetLife). But, one of the leading reasons that people support homework in elementary levels is because they believe it can kick-start healthy and even necessary habits. These habits include; time-management, study skills, independent working, etc. It is unrealistic to expect students to gain important life skills from poorly created and unrealistic homework.
Jay Matthews of the Washington Post says “What most people do not know about elementary school homework is that the research strongly suggests that it is a waste of time, something I began to suspect after my daughter's eighth or ninth collage.” Matthews consulted with a Duke psychologist who helped him to conclude that in elementary education the correlation
Although homework gives students a chance to succeed in a very competitive world, it takes up a lot of time in the day, it doesn’t help students grow academically, and it also takes a toll on the personal lives and the health of many students.
Roberto Nevilis, a teacher in Venice, changed history when he created the first use of homework in 1095. Since then, students’ opinions of homework haven’t changed. Roberto Nevilis started homework as a way of punishing his students for not doing their work. Nowadays, homework is assigned to help students receive more practice for what they learned in school that day. Despite the good intentions that homework is supposed to provide, it actually proves more harm than good. In the twenty-first century, the increase of homework negatively affects American teens’ sleep schedules, stress levels, and after school opportunities. Parent involvement in homework can turn into parent interference.
In today's education system, its teachers are held to a standard where they are supposed to give carrying amounts of homework to their students. While on paper this sounds like an obvious decision, recent studies have shown that while homework is helpful, the content that is on the homework can be unimportant or irrelevant. Often times homework is most important for students in high school and should be utilized more effectively. Therefore the amount of homework should remain the same, but at the same time be challenging and productive as well as relevant to the topic at hand.
Some other people say that homework is not a guarantee that students will master or absorb the skills they are doing their homework on. I believe that I don’t always absorb the skills or master them.” Also homework has become a source of complaint and friction between home and school, mainly because some teachers lack the ability to design homework that actually benefits the student and his/her future. This is important because if homework is becoming a source of friction at school and at home this child would be surrounded by friction which could have long lasting effects on the kid. I believe all these reasons are so very true so let's move onto the next group of
Throughout their school years,children say that they hate homework and that it’s pointless. Others will say, that this is definitely not the case. Students who actually spend time doing homework will better understand and execute class work more efficiently. Source C had mentioned that children who do not achieve much do more homework because they’re struggling. But, that struggling never goes away. Instead, children still struggle, but at this point, they don’t believe that homework is important. Source D had actually shown that high schoolers had higher grades when they spent more time doing work. They take the time to study and learn how to work through problems on their own, which helps them when taking tests. Multiple sources have stated
Does anyone like having extra work after a long day? Well, since the beginning, when school became more of a right instead of a privilege, homework has been given, teachers assign it and students complete it. Since then, homework has been used in almost every school, everyday. Students and parents had never seriously questioned it. Now many parents and students are starting to question administrators and teachers over whether or not homework really is beneficial to students. Homework is not beneficial to students because there is little evidence showing a correlation between doing homework and doing better on tests, homework helps to diminish students’ enjoyment of learning, it forces them to have to give up other beneficial things to their
“Homework puts pressure on both kids and parents.” The things students learn on a regular bases parents did not learn back when they were in school and if they did it had a new method of doing it. The stress level of kids always studying and doing homework on a daily basis is making them overwhelming. “Homework takes away our personal time no student wants to come home and do more work on what they were already doing for the past 6 hours anyway.”
How does homework affect students in academic and nonacademic ways? Both educators and students ask this infamous question throughout the course of their education tracks. Teachers and administrators often believe that homework is necessary; whereas, students often question the legitimacy of homework. However, due to new studies and research about homework, it has been proven to be insignificant, oppressive and pernicious to the student's wellness and success.
Homework is the idea of extending the school day, by assigning students work to be done at home. There are many different opinions of homework and its effectiveness, overall homework has been proven to have a positive effect on student achievement. John Hattie explores a study done by Cooper in 1989. “Cooper’s results suggest that more task-oriented homework had higher effects than did deep learning and problem solving homework… Homework involving high level conceptual thinking and project based was the least effective (Hattie 235)”. Assigning students’ homework that requires teacher support can have a negative effect on student achievement. Cooper “found that a lot of homework and a lack of monitoring seem to indicate an
Homework improves test scores and keeps your parents aware of what you’re learning. According to Dr. Harris Cooper, “ Kids who did the homework performed better.”Considering this, studies have shown that students that do their homework are exceptional on their tests. Harris Cooper has a degree psychology and wrote a book about students and homework.According to Sedl.org,“A little amount of homework may help elementary school students build study habits.” Further on, even with a insignificant amount of homework it shows a big difference on scores. Homework teaches kids to have a strong study habit witch that could be a useful skill for college. According to Harris Cooper , “Homework also keeps parents aware of what their child is learning.”Regarding this, all parents need to stay aware of their child's daily life including what they learn. Parents can also gain more things by staying aware of what their kids are learning by
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.
Hours of extensive homework can be unbeneficial to students. For a while, homework was thought to have been good for the brain; the mind was seen as a muscle that heavily benefits from the mental exercise given through homework. However, rather than enjoying their youth outside of school, students in a present-day academic system are forced to go home and spend more time on school work.
One of the major reasons as to why homework is unfavorable is because it causes high levels of stress. Studies “conducted at Stanford University found that students… who spend too much time on homework experience for stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance in their lives, and alienation from society.” This shows that homework has many negative qualities that are not
The general arguments given by teachers and some parents are that homework increases the overall grade averages, sharpens study habits, and helps students become more prepared for college work. Along with that, it helps students learn responsibility for life in the work field of the real work. Although these arguments are valid, there are arguments against homework as well. Homework causes students to be stressed out when there is too much to be done by a certain deadline and takes away the free time of students. Some of the work that students are assigned isn't relevant to what they are studying. Worst of all, it causes that struggling student to lose interest in the study of that subject ("Students and Homework"). While it does have negative outcomes, homework also has it's perks. Homework has helped prepare
When in a large room full of people talking away, we tend to pay more attention to the voices easiest to hear; the loudest ones. The debate over homework is one taking place in this metaphorical room. There are many, many people talking, but the loudest voices are easiest to hear. Currently those voices are saying that we should get rid of all homework for young students. But are those loud voices right? The more soft-spoken, expert voices are telling us the opposite. Homework teaches excellent study skills and is extremely beneficial to students, therefore it should be mandatory from a young age to help them to become high achievers. Homework helps kids to learn to work hard; they can get used to it early on. The cliche ‘practice makes perfect’ is ever applicable, and experts have come up with a rule for how much homework children should be given.