For the last couple of years, my boys have blessedly few formal homework assignments to complete after school. Friends of ours have told us that their children have significant amounts of homework, in the same grades and at schools in the same board of education (the Toronto District School Board’s policy is here, if you’re interested).
When homework is assigned, our expectations are clear: it gets finished before they’re allowed to use the computer, watch TV or play video games. Most of the time we’re successful in keeping to routine, but even we fall down on the job once in a while and find ourselves hovering over our tired and cranky children, encouraging them to complete just one more question. I’m sure we suffer through the same angst that other parents face when dealing with the struggle over homework: we wonder how to keep them motivated; how to underscore the importance of the task; and given how busy are our days, how to fit everything in.
The start of the school year, and the advent of new classroom routines with new teachers got all of us wondering: are you a fan of homework? Are you a “Tiger Mother” or decidedly more relaxed? Is homework a necessary evil? Especially in the lower grades (where homework often takes the form of worksheets) is homework a valuable use of family time? How do you define “homework”, anyway? Reading with your children? Planned activities? Unfinished work from the day? Do you feel homework is more valuable for children in higher grades than for those in the lower grades? If your children are not yet school age, will you seek out a school where homework is an expectation? What’s your recollection of doing homework when you were a child, and has it affected your expectations for your own children?
This week, 4mothers1blog explores the topic of homework. As always, we encourage you to get involved in the conversation, by leaving us a comment or sending us an email at 4mothers1blog@gmail.com.
Photo attribution: Emily’s Meant to be Doing her Homework by squarepants2004j/auntyhuia on flickr.
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