For the most part, all of us have grown up doing homework while going to school. However, has doing hours of homework made any of us better students or more knowledgeable in the subjects we are learning? That, in essence, is the question being posed by the author of this book. And, his answer is a resounding no, especially when dealing with children who are younger than high school age.
I have watched my daughter do homework from the time she was in kindergarten and wondered at the point of it all. Most of the time it was worksheets that seemed to be little more than an attempt to pound information through her head. However, as a gifted student, she already understood the material and only ended up frustrated at having to spend more and more of her spare time doing work she already knew. She went from being a student who loved to go to school to one who cringes at the thought and I suspect homework is one main reason.
The studies presented in the book by the author that show homework is of little value validate what I have been saying for years. I found it very interesting that there is no correlation between increased homework and better grades or improved test scores on standardized tests. However, as we move to a more "test" driven world, class time becomes much more valuable and increases in homework become the norm, to the point where many students end up having no life left after school and homework.
My daughter, although still in high school, is taking a college course at a local community college. It was fascinating to read the policies of the college. One states that to get an A in a three credit course, the student is expected to do 7 ½ hours of homework a week. When multiplied by 6 courses, which is what my daughter takes at high school, the amount of homework expected for a top grade is 45 hours. When class time is included, that makes a total of about 60 hours a week. Yet at the high school, she is in class for 35 hours a week and has about 30 hours of homework assigned each week. So, she is doing more work in high school than would be expected in college. Something is very wrong with this picture.
All parents should read this book and understand the contents. If you don't read it and complain now, your child will lose more and more of their free time as they get older. It won't make them better students; just bitter at the experience.
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Top reviews from other countries
C and D
Essential reading for educators and parents alike
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2019
Miki
Sollte von allen Pädagogen und Eltern gelesen werden
Reviewed in Germany on June 14, 2009EssKay
Confirms what some of us already suspected
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 30, 2015