PODCASTHappiness Matters Podcast

These are great suggestions about homework,
thank you.  I know a lot of parents are trying to
figure out how much homework is too much and
how to communicate effectively with teachers.  I
read a book called “The Case Against Homework”
which helped me communicate with our school. 
After reading it, I wrote a letter to our
kindergarten teacher and the principal, and a few
months later they eliminated Kindergarten
homework.  (With the exception of reading with a
parent and some age-appropriate journaling, both
of which I thought were great.)  I don’t personally
agree with everything in the book, but it was
extremely helpful in figuring out how to
communicate with the school.

Anna Crotty | 11:08 am, April 20, 2011 | Link

Here’s a list of some homework strategies that
teachers can share with their students’ parents:

1. Set up a consistent place for homework to be
done. Homework should be done in the same place
every night - not on the couch one night, at the
dinner table the next, and the bedroom the
following night.

2. Organize your homework spot to maximize
efficiency. Have a box with everything your child
might need to complete any given homework
assignment…pencils, erasers, glue, scissors,
markers, paper etc. This will greatly reduce
homework procrastination.

3. Help your child establish a consistent schedule
for completing homework. Depending on the child’s
after school schedule, it may not be possible to do
the homework at the same time every night.
Therefore, it may be wise to sit down Sunday night
each week and create the homework schedule for
the upcoming week.

4. Do not sit with your child and do the homework
together. The purpose of the homework is for your
child to practice what he or she has learned in
class. If your child cannot do the homework by
herself then you need to contact the teacher.

5. After your child completes the homework,
discuss it…What did he or she learn from the
homework? What steps were easy? Difficult?

6. Your child should spend roughly 10 minutes per
grade level on homework. For example, a 2nd
grader should spend 20 minutes on homework
while an 8th grader should spend 80 minutes.
Again, if your child continues to consistently spend
more time than this on homework make sure to
contact your child’s teacher.

Amanda Gates | 2:26 am, April 24, 2011 | Link

Just a comment to the above, Amanda Gates’ post - I totally agree with all the strategies except for the first one. There is research going on about the places for doing homework. Specifically how it may be beneficial to switch study locations to improve brain’s retention of information learned. This NY Times article brings up very good points: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?src=me&ref=general

Yulia Willmore | 12:05 pm, May 5, 2011 | Link