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Should Elementary School Students Get Assigned Homework?
A mother and educator weighs in
This morning, as I ran up and down the stairs, gathering everything needed for the day, my son ate a bowl of cereal while finishing the homework he never finished last night, some of which was a continuation of work he never finished during the school day. As always, I found myself repeating the refrain: “Ok, what’s the next question? Stay focused. Keep going.”
Three minutes before the bus was due to arrive, I stuffed packets of homework into my son’s folder while he rushed to put on his jacket and shoes. This morning scramble has become routine, especially since now my son is preparing for state testing and we have ELA (English Language Arts) homework on top of regularly assigned math sheets.
When I lamented about this on Facebook, I received multiple responses from other parents and teachers, who all agreed that elementary school children should not be getting homework. I decided to do some research to find out whether homework for elementary school students is beneficial or necessary.
The Value of Homework
In Harvard’s Ed. Magazine, Lory Hough addresses an important question: is homework valuable for students? On one hand, homework often leads to nightly battles between parents…
