Homework- yes or no?

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120406505#Comment_120406505

That must be at least the tenth time you've made a post saying basically the same thing.

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120412843#Comment_120412843

Yeah, maybe you get it now.

But I can go to 11.

Flinty997

Practice makes perfect.

Pawwed Rig

The chatgpt point is nonsense. If you thought your child was cheating at their homework it would be easy to detect and even easier to prevent.

shane b

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

For the future of homework im on the fence as I can see the benefits, but also the downsides as another poster mentioned.

From dealing with my now 10 year old, homework is good practice and help re-enforce the topics but it only works if the student is up to speed with classwork. My daughter had major issues with phonics and reading in general up until 3rd class in primary school. Homework that the teacher told us should be 15-20 minutes took hours and was very successful for all of us. Her reading skills have improved greatly so homework is not as big a deal now.

OP, I really like your idea of instead of homework, giving the children tasks. Something that child and parent could see benefits from. I wish other teachers would use that approach.

sekond

On the idea of giving tasks... during the covid school closures, one of my children was in 6th class. Her teacher gave a daily plan of work, loosely built around their own timetable. It wasn't compulsory to do like that, but was a handy structure for the day - particularly for those of us where both parents were also trying to work from home and mind younger siblings. About 2 weeks in she started adding tasks like "now go and make your mum/dad/granny a cup of tea", "is your bedside table tidy - if it isn't, tidy it", "go make your bed", "ask your mum/dad/granny for a job that will take you 10 minutes". (She also gave instructions on art projects how they might be adapted to include younger siblings)

I had really liked the teacher before then - after that I thought she was amazing. It showed a real understanding of the need to develop life skills, and the complications of life at that time. My daughter is still chief tea-maker when she's at home and I'm working.

I'd love it if homework included lifeskills stuff. I mean, I teach my kids those sort of things myself, but sometimes they are more likely to do things when teacher tells them :)

Caquas

The Irish Times has Jen Hogan debating primary school homework with a couple of academics. Jen is against homework because “play is children’s work” and the kids are exhausted after “ a long day at school” (don’t they finish at 2 pm?).

The academics are mealy-mouthed.

there is such a range of evidence, both positive and negative, that conceivably it would be possible to champion any opinion.

All that study to get their doctorates, and this pair discovered that their life’s work is wasted! Only joking, they have secure posts in our universities teaching the teachers that nothing can be proven so anything is possible.

An interesting cultural moment for Irish Times readers. Traditionally, education was the key to their offspring’s upward mobility, now they prefer to have fun with their kids and hope that “special accommodations” will get their kids on track for comfortable jobs.

Does homework have any benefits for primary school children? Jen Hogan and Dr Leah O’Toole discusshttps://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/09/19/does-homework-have-any-benefits-for-primary-school-children-jen-hogan-dr-leah-otoole-and-dr-joan-kiely-discuss/