Like it (parents) or not (students), homework has become an
ingrained part of the school landscape. At its very basic level, homework
reinforces what students are learning in class and gives teachers a quick check
to see if their pupils understand the material.
While homework has been around since the introduction of
public schooling in America, the homework of the early 20th century looks much
different from the homework of the 21st century—and I’m not talking about the
actual worksheets and problems, although that has undergone a metamorphosis of
sorts as well.
What has changed is the fundamental understanding of
homework. It used to be understood by all—teachers, parents, pupils—that
homework was the sole responsibility and domain of students to whom it was
assigned. Nowadays, homework involves not only the student but his parents as
well—all with the full support and encouragement
of teachers.
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| Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
For one of many examples I could cite from our children’s
teachers at the local public elementary school (and let me state that we think
the teachers are doing a bang-up job teaching our kids overall), take a look at
this recent note from my second grader’s teacher:
“Some students are still not writing down the books they
read at home or having a parent sign their planner. This is part of their
homework, so please help your child remember to do this every night.”
Now read it again and see if you can catch the irony in that
simple request from teacher to parents. Here’s the words and phrases that
jumped out at me: their homework,
that is, the students’ work. Then, please
help your child remember, that is, the parents
need to help their child remember the
child’s homework.
Let’s return to the matter of whose homework is it: The
child’s, of course. So why does the teacher
request that the parents get involved
with helping the student do his own homework? If the child is
supposed to be learning to be responsible for his own homework—which is the
goal of this entire planner thing, in which the kids write down their homework
each day—then how is a parent reminding the child going to help the child learn
that responsibility?
The short answer is that it’s not. And the more we as
parents “help” our children “remember” their own homework, the more our
children will “forget” to do the work (or even how to do the work). I guarantee
that every parent who reminds their second grader to write down the book they
read and to bring the planner to a parent for a signature will still be
reminding that same child until the end of the school year. That kind of “help”
is not going to make our kids progress to the point where they don’t need our
assistance.
In other words, if we don’t put the onus of remembering
homework in the first place and if we don’t allow our children to turn in
incomplete work or imperfect work, we are essentially creating an dependence on
others for work that by its very definition should be completed, alone, by the
child. If the child really doesn’t understand the material, then the teacher
needs to know that. If the child can’t “remember” to have a planner signed by a
parent, then the teacher needs to know that too—and grade accordingly.
Our second grader has a rather spotty record on the planner
signing and book title writing down in planner. We knew that teacher’s note was
talking about our second grader (and probably others in the class as well).
However, we simply said only, “Your teacher said you are not writing down the
book titles and having us sign your planner.” That’s it. We didn’t remind the
second grader every day to do this. We didn’t hound the second grader to get
this down. We put the responsibility firmly in his hands and let him sink or
swim on his own. He has improved his performance in this area, which wouldn’t
have been the case had we gotten involved and started shouldering the
responsibility for his planner.
How do you handle homework—and is that way working for you
and your kids?
Until next time,
Sarah
