No Homework really

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Home : 2004 : October : 3

No Homework really
By Teacher

I really don't give homework beyond their spelling words.

In math, my students who do well -- homework doesn't benefit them, really, it is just busy work. I would not want my lower students working at home alone on problems.
That is where many of them learn the wrong procedures, especially in subtraction and fractions.
Besides, if they can get ten problems right, what is the point in doing 30?
My students read for 45 minutes a day in class. Those students usually get hooked on reading, so I don't have to assign reading.
I do give several projects for students to work on at home with parents. I usually

give 3 weeks notice and a rubric.

Good grief, I know that I would be miserable if I had to sit down at my dinner table every night and grade papers for an hour every night. If I give myself a break from evening work, I think that I can give my poor students a right to enjoy their lives.

Plus, my friend did her Master's thesis on homework and there is no correlation on achievement and homework in the elementary grades. It is very interesting. Actually, the benefit from homework only starts showing up in the later middle school years. IT is most effective in high school.