Have You Got Your Homework Done?

Most ‘seniors’ or ‘middle agers’ will not have a clue about what is happening in this area of the average home with kids in school. We are so far removed from what is happening or only occasionally get a glimpse that we don’t really care. We read a tiny bit about it – but for the most part it is not in our world…so we don’t really care.

We should all care. We should all be aware. It is all about our grandkids and the pressure that they face – or the lack of care that they have about a huge issue called HOMEWORK.

On April 3, 2008, The National Post(one of Canada’s Newspapers) reported on the issue of ‘Homework’ and the amount that students in Toronto are required to do each day. Wow! It was a new issue for me. I never realized that the present policy.

Students are expected to do 10 minutes of homework each night – increasing each year as they progress through school. For example a Grade Six student would be doing 60 minutes – 1 Hour of homework per night. Some one in Grade Twelve should be doing 120 minutes – two hours per night. And that is to just meet the bare minimum to get by…not even looking at what an ‘ace student’ might be doing.

Natalie Alcoba reports in The National Post that the Toronto District School Board is considering a new policy for the students of that city. She stated that
“The degree to which homework helps students do better in school is disputed. Some researchers contend its effects are positive, other studies say it does more harm than good.

A national survey of Canadian attitudes toward learning found that while most people believe homework helps develop good work habits, nearly three-quarters of parents say it is often a source of stress in their homes.”

So there is stress at home with Homework. I agree. Speaking with parents that have kids in the system of education – you will quickly hear that it can be a contentious issue at home.

I feel deeply for the family. It is one more thing to pull them apart. Yet I feel deeply for the kids that are propelled through a system of picking up all that they will need in 12 short years in order to enter a University or College or Work Force that says “This is what we require of you – now deal with it!”

If students, my grand kids included, don’t pick up some solid habits of assimilating as much information as they can into their minds over these short and fast moving 12 years, they will not be able to cope with what they will face up ahead. A University Prof or an Employer will not really care what the stress level is in your family – they just expect you to deal with it.

There is a new policy being considered and it is before the TDSB now.
“The new policy advocates for a customized approach to homework expectations -- the amount assigned should vary according to grade, learning ability, or proximity to upcoming tests or exams, for example.

"Time spent on homework should be balanced with the importance of personal and family wellness and the wide array of family obligations experienced in our society today," it states.”

Changes proposed in the Toronto District School Board's homework policy include….
-Homework should not be assigned on holidays or on "days of significance"
-Whenever possible, teachers should give students blocks of time to complete their homework so they can plan around other extracurricular activities
-Reduce homework time across the board (the current policy suggests 10 minutes per grade)
-No homework in kindergarten
-Mostly reading in Grades 1 and 2, and interactive activates like cooking or building with the rest of the family
-Independent work in the late primary and junior grades
-No more than one hour in Grades 7 and 8
-No more than two hours in high school

As I read more about this hot topic I have thought about my own grandkids a lot. What is happening now? What stress are they facing and are they coping with that stress? What about later? Will they be adequately prepared for what they face ahead? Or is dropping out easier – you know get a guitar and fantasize about being a rock star.

The reporter Ms. Natalie Alcoba, states…
“The policy encourages parents not to keep children up past their bedtime, even if the homework is not complete. Ms. Wong said the policy also places "a lot of guilt and responsibility on parents who can't speak English."

"I know parents who are going broke because they're trying to pay for tutors," Ms. Wong said.”

I am of an old school that believes homework still is the best alternative to get stuff into my head. Application to getting the Homework done is important. Yet there are studies that have found that evidence is divided on this issue – sometime homework helps and sometimes it is useless.

A long time ago someone stated that “Readers will be leaders; and Leaders will be Readers” (or must be readers).

Sadly or happily it is at a very early stage that the family influences the child to become what they will be. When they see reading at home – they will become readers. They don’t become that because some one tells them to be a reader.

In the TDSB’s dilemma the issues likely revolves around more of what is happening or not happening at home by example. Living with a parent that has no value in learning something more will produce kids that are the same…but then trying to live without parents will produce some sad results as well.

Parents need not be living away from home to not be there. I have watched with amazement many parents that are just too tired to care – they moved out long ago – these kids are all alone already.

Upon my retirement I would like to help some learn to read. Simple goal – but a powerful one for me.

I came across an interesting story of a 70 year old man in St. Joseph, Missouri that is now in Grade One.

When I listened to the story on TV about Alfred Wlliams my heart was moved. Here was someone that never had the opportunity to do homework…instead he had worked all his life to support his family and never attended school. (his photo is at the beginning of this post)

One of his statements made to his Grade One teacher, was, “When I go to the Grocery Store now I can read the words on the signs telling me what is on the shelves…I don’t have to walk all over looking for it.”

What I know…
It takes me about two to three hours per day now of reading in my work. My reading is the most powerful part of me. When and if my eye sight fails – I will count on all that I have read up to that time. At that time I will get myself a reading machine to read for me…I cannot stop reading and gaining more.

I suppose that is the advantage of Homework in my early life.

Today I watch my 87 year old mother read, she reads hour on hour, gobbling great books week after week. She loves reading. I watched that all my life. What an example.

Summing up today… policy will never accomplish what example will offer.

Young Families hang in there… we are pulling for you!

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~

Resource:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=418766
http://www.newstin.com/sim/us/51070689/en-010-001601996
http://www.wlbz2.com/news/watercooler/article.aspx?storyid=84068
http://www.humsurfer.com/view/70-year-old-first-grader-man-promised-mother-he-would-learn-to-read