Homework- yes or no?

Luis7

As a primary school teacher I have grown tired of the stress,drama and time homework brings to the classroom. It causes the kids stress and I'm sure parents too. There is the drama of some not having theirs done, the excuses etc and the time it takes to go over it the following day. A primary school day is already packed to capacity with an overloaded curriculum. To try and squeeze in homework just wastes valuable learning time. My approach to homework has always been different. In my early days I would explain to my class if we got the work done in class and I felt everyone was engaged in their learning then I would simply give no homework. If they decided to mess and misbehave (a common problem for substitute teachers) I would give them more than usual homework. This approach worked well for me. Another approach I had was to give the children tasks- help their parents at home ( loading dishwasher, setting table etc, or reading a story to their parents-any story). This approach was enjoyed by kids and parents alike.

My reason for posting here is to ask parents in 2023 should your children be coming home after a long day at school learning expected to do more work? Research suggests it is of absolutely no benefit to the children. But I would like to hear the thoughts of parents. So a yes or no answer with your reasons why would be great to hear.

Cheers to all that participate

Spear

Moved to a forum that's actually related to the topic instead.

Gatica

Surprised no one has posted :)

I agree it's an added stress in terms of time and completion. If they have other activities after school, then they still have to try to squeeze in time to complete assignments. However, the upside is that I see how my child is doing in school based on the work they're doing at home.

Jasper79

I say no. I have one child in first class and one in junior infants. Myself and wife work full time and most nights it's just a chore for everyone, especially kids who are already tired come the evening.

Pawwed Rig

Yes as I can see what they are doing in real time. The school is a closed box where we get to look in the very odd time. They do not seem to do a huge amount and seem more worried about the church across the road than educating kids. All kinds of studies have shown that where parents are involved in the schooling the outcomes for the child are better.

timetogo1

I've a daughter in Senior Infants. She gets about 10 - 15 mins of homework for Monday - Thursday. So far we haven't found it to be a burden but we've gotten no push back from her. She'll probably push back more as she gets older.

Like Pawwed said, I find it useful to see where she is and I know where she is maths wise and reading wise so we integrate it a bit when we're going out for walks or have some time together. She gets no Irish homework (and my Irish is weak) so I've no clue where she is for that and coincidentally or not, she's told me that Irish is her least favourite subject.

Tiredandcranky

Yes. Homework is useful. It's the only chance for the parent to see how the kid is doing in school. That said, we're lucky, as the amount of homework our kids get is really very small (10 - 15 mins). My eldest will usually do the written stuff in 10 mins, and if we're feeling especially dedicated, we might do the Irish or tables with him. I've heard horror stories from other parents of lines and lines of colouring for j infants and such nonsense.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058280847/homework-yes-or-no

OP if you're concerned about how many hours a week teachers have to teach pupils, how about abolishing the half hour per day of "religious instruction" which is mandatory in 95% of Irish primary schools?

BlueSkyDreams

ChatGPT will erradicate any value in homework very soon.

Kids will need to demo their learning in person, at school.

Yellow_Fern

We need more homework, not less. Kids have too much free time.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404704#Comment_120404704

It is outdated now, due to ChatGPT.

There is little point in it anymore.

Flinty997

Depends what the homework is, and what quality it is. If it's busy work then no point. There's a certain amount of independent learning required in life. Certain amount of practice to stay current in a perishable skill.

Then some of that depends on the quality of what goes on in the classroom. Trying to get feedback and updates from many teachers is like getting blood out of a stone.

I've read the research on homework. I think if it's not making any difference then what is the point. It seemed the classroom instruction was higher quality then exist in other places. Perhaps that's why the homework was redundant.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404716#Comment_120404716

Homework has become redundant because the computer can do it all for you via Chat bots etc.

first you had Google and Wiki etc, but at least kids had to do some form of research to complete homework. which is still a valuable and contemporary skill to learn.

But ChatGPT and their new versions just write the essay/do the math for you. Instantly.

There will need to be a revolution in the way kids are tested and homework wont be part of the answer.

Yellow_Fern

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404709#Comment_120404709

Easy solution. Require it to be hand written. copying it out from a computer screen will impart some learning. Even better, teach through Irish.

BlueSkyDreams

Kids can just copy the text on to paper. They dont need to understand it to copy it.

ChatGPT writes it and they copy it.

ChatGPT can dictate the work in Irish. Again, kids dont need to understand it to copy it.

The answer probably lies in more in class presentations, taking questions from other students/teachers etc, as the kids cant "cheat" then.

So your homework could be preparing your presentation.

The irony is, the content of your presentation will be entirely written by a computer and the kid delivering it may not understand a word of what they are saying.

Flinty997

Just like you can tell when something is written by someone else. You can tell a lot of the time that its written by ChatGPT.

They have tools coming online that can detect chatGPT with apparently a  97% accuracy and a false positive rate of only 1%.