Friday, April 4, 2008

Homework

I don't like homework. I think the kids are in school long enough during the day that they shouldn't have to bring home homework every day. The homework guidelines state 10 minutes of homework starting in grade 1 and increasing 10 minutes for every grade. That means by grade 5, my children will have up to 50 minutes of homework.

I think this guideline is insane.

There should be enough time to cover what needs to be covered in a day, without having to send home homework on a daily basis. I do not mind if the children are sent home with projects, in which they have so many days or weeks to complete, but this daily homework thing is a real hassle.

What about keeping active and fit. Our kids are stuck sitting in school for 6.5 hours a day, when they get home, they should be able to play sports, attend extra curricular activities, which many kids are involved in or just stay outside and be active, and not come in the house and sit down for another 10-20-30-40-50 minutes or more.

I just heard in the news that in Toronto, there are some parents fighting the board to change the homework policy. If this flies, it could change things in our area as well. If it passes, as I don't think the new policy has passed yet, the new guidelines could mean our kids will have only reading homework from grades 1-6, when they are in grade 7&8 it can be up to 1 hour of homework and in high school up to 2 hours. I hope this passes and comes to our board as well. I think this is a great change, and it is needed. I think it is a positive step for everyone.

Change is good..

No comments: