I spoke with a mom in a neighboring school because the mom I was trying to meet up with that goes to my daughter's school fell through, so I had to do a back-up plan. I had asked her how she felt her children's teachers were using developmentally appropriate practice in their classrooms over the years and she said she was pleased with the projects they did in the class. She said her children have done a lot of group projects and such to reinforce the materials they were learning. She said there was a lot of fun hands-on learning going on.
The problem she was having with her children's class was the homework. They are both active in sports plus have two working parents. By the time they get home at night and get dinner and do their reading they are pretty much just rushing through the worksheet the teacher has sent home to specifically be homework. She felt this is useless because her children were not really learning from the homework, but felt they should only get homework if they did not finish their work at school that day. Or they could have an assignment that was more developmentally appropriate that they could learn from, like an activity to do instead of just a worksheet.
Another issue this mom had with school systems is how they are all working at different paces. One year her children had to switch school mid-year and they were "behind" at their new school. The teachers didn't bother helping them catch up, and just kept telling them, "You should already know that". That caused her children a lot of frustration and it was hard to get them through the school year. She said her children are both very good students and it was really hard for them that year. I keep wondering if that is something that could solved with common core, or if we will always have that same issue no matter what because teachers do not follow the same curriculum, so they may all meet the same standards by the end of the year but may do them in a different order. I keep brainstorming ways that this issue could be solved, because if good students are struggling with that, I can't imagine how that switch would affect children who were already struggling. That could possibly cause enough stress on a child to make them get so far behind that it becomes nearly impossible to catch back up.
I have heard a lot of pros and cons regarding homework. It is interesting to hear the perspective of parents and the variety of answers they give. It appears this parent understands practice is good for children unless they are tired or busy. This is a very valid point. I wonder if there is a compromise to this debate? Great post!
ReplyDeleteKelly, I have heard different opinions as well. I do agree that homework should only be if they are not finishing it in class, at least for small children. For example, my daughter has to be at school when I'm working from 7:40am-6pm. Then we have a 40 minute drive home. So we get home around 7pm. Most days she falls asleep on the way home. She'll eat whatever is left from her lunch in the car. If she does manage to stay awake she eats dinner, gets a bath, reads me a story, and goes to bed all between 7 and 8 (her bed time). That's not fair to make her do homework when she exhausted, she wouldn't be learning anything from it, she's too burnt out from school.
DeleteI had talked to another mom since then and she said her daughter's teacher sends home so much homework every night, she wonders what they even learned at school because her daughter doesn't know how to do any of it, so she has to teach her anyway.
Then they have what is called flip classroom where you do the lesson at home and then do the homework at school the next day so that you have teacher support. I think this is a good idea (maybe not for small children, but once they can read well) because I remember a lot of times I would get home and get stuck on something and have nobody to ask for help. It would have been nice to watch a lecture online or read something at home for homework and then do the assignment for it in class the next day when the teacher is there to help when you get stuck. But I can see the downside of this type of strategy as well, because if the students don't do the lesson at home then they won't be prepared for the work in school the next day.
I'm in the same boat for DAP homework. Reason being, I have a second grader who has projects to do. It's one thing that he has to learn about people but when you incorporate looking up extensive amount of information and place it on a board, it becomes my work. We work on it together but he doesn't know how to go in and out this sites without help. I'm a full time worker, student, and mother of 3. Who really have the time to sit down and do their homework too. He also comes home with homework that the quite don't understand. I always ask did you all go through it in class or were you not paying attention. Either way it's more on my plate to sit with him to make sure he do it right but most important that he understands it.
ReplyDeleteChildren working at different paces is called 'differentiated instruction' which is good for some but not good for others.
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