How to help your kids with homework

For many parents, the problem about homework is not whether it's too much or too little but the type of work the kids are bringing home.
"I am not an advocate for homework for the sake of homework," said Francesca Price, a pregnant mom of two sons who aren't yet school-age. "This does nothing but waste time for the student who has yet to complete it, as well as for the teacher who has to grade it, giving both of them what everyone calls 'busy work.' "
Dr. Tish Howard, a newly retired elementary school principal who continues to work with ailing schools as CEO of Edu-Linx Consulting, has never been a proponent of what she calls "tedious homework."
"If a learner is struggling, homework is not the key to improvement," she said, noting how few Learners have support at home to help them if they're having trouble with their homework. "Our schools need to embed intervention time at the end of each day to support the learning of that day and ensure conceptual understanding before new learning is added the next day."

Rachel Dueker, now a college sophomore in Ottawa, Kansas, says she benefited from a high school seminar class at the end of the day where she could do her homework in school -- a tremendous stress reliever.
"I always did my math homework during my seminar class and went to my math teacher and sat side by side with her and got that help, and I didn't have to put in any extra time. It was given to me," Dueker said during an interview.

Music may harm your studying, study says Rhonda Lochiatto, a 16-year teaching veteran who currently teaches fourth grade in Volusia County, Florida, came up with a unique homework policy after she realized as a parent herself how little time there is for homework once you factor in after-school activities and life in general.
"I don't require homework. In my class, I see homework as my opportunity to provide guidance to parents and offer ways for them to help their children at home," said the mom of two, who gives her students a "suggestion calendar" with optional interactive activities such as read-aloud time and topics to discuss.

"If a child has mastered a skill, there is no reason to waste time drilling it over and over, especially when they are struggling in other areas," said Lochiatto.

One thing I have heard repeatedly from learners on both sides of the debate is the impact homework has -- or does not have -- on academic performance.

Allie Eleuther, a single mom of two in Hilton Head, South Carolina, said it has been proven there is little value in homework. "More is not always better and does not result in kids getting a better education and doing better on standardized tests."

Shay Hardin, a single mother of two, believes the movement away from homework is hurting our children's performance and the United States overall. "This is why many countries are already beginning to exceed the U.S. in terms of educational rank," she said.
Who's right?

A 2012 study found no relationship between the amount of time spent on homework and grades, but did find a positive link between homework and performance on standardized tests. A 2006 analysis of homework studies found a link between time spent on homework and achievement, but found it was much stronger in secondary school versus elementary school, versus Higher and further Education. That analysis also found that for junior high school students, homework reaches the point of diminishing return at around 90 minutes, and between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours for high schoolers.
We just need to figure out what the right dosage is before our Elephant becomes something with a little more bite.

Author: Nicholas Blunsum
*information and interviews sourced from CNN.

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