Homework: THE USEFUL AND THE USELESS + NEW RECRUIT IN THE HOMEWORK REVOLT – THE PRINCIPAL

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: Homework: THE USEFUL AND THE USELESS + NEW RECRUIT IN THE HOMEWORK REVOLT – THE PRINCIPAL

Homework: THE USEFUL AND THE USELESS + NEW RECRUIT IN THE HOMEWORK REVOLT – THE PRINCIPAL

THE USEFUL AND THE USELESS

BY VALERIE STRAUSS | THE WASHINGTON POST ANSWER SHEET | HTTP://WAPO.ST/IQKSKZ

6/17/2011 - We’ve come a long way from the 1930s, when the American Child Health Association put homework next to child labor as a leading cause of child deaths from tuberculosis and heart disease.

Yet the value — or lack thereof — of homework never seems to go away. The issue has been raised anew by a story on the front page of the New York Times (follows)about a number of school systems around the country that are either reevaluating their homework policies or have already found new, less stressful ways of giving kids work to do after school.

●●smf's2¢: Last October 4LAKids reblogged THE LOWDOWN ON HOMEWORK: How much homework is too much? A Grade-by-grade guidelines for what kids can reasonably be expected to do by GreatSchools Staff |http://bit.ly/dpd45a This is a controversial topic – and was not presented as an endorsement –though 4LAKids believes that “less-is-better” …especially for very-youngsters. The definitive pieces on homework as far as I’m concerned are Orson Scott Card’s essays: Homework, Part I: THE WORST JOB IN THE WORLD | http://bit.ly/a0YCa9 and Homework, Part II: WHY DO WE STILL GET HOMEWORK? | http://bit.ly/d2VSdf If you are concerned about your child’s homework load have a discussion with the teacher. Listen to the teacher and insist that the teacher listen to you – insist that the discussion be about your child, not ‘children this age’. If that is unsatisfactory have the discussion with the principal. Understand that there are widely varying opinions among educators on the subject. And that GreatSchools – the author of this article - is much like USA Today or 4LAKids– a good place to start but not the last word!