Mom Is Teaching

Obviously this isn’t a topic I have discussed in a while, or at least 2 or 3 days anyway.  And, in our neck of the woods, school is out and it is my understanding that next will bring real homework and much  more of it.  My thoughts are how much more disgusting could it get than to have more homework when in the here and now we had more than I thought was necessary.

One of my favorite websites, Stop Homework has a great article or ten but one in particular about a school system that is doing their part in reducing stress and by doing so they are attempting to reduce homework. 

I get beside myself when I hear people talk about having a reading list for the summer.  What the heck?  Where I come from there was no guarantee’s whose class you were going to be in the next year and the classes weren’t uniform across the board so a kid could do an entire worth of reading only to be put in a class that requires different books.  How silly is that?

Another article on the site is about a fourth grade teacher who doesn’t want to assign her students a bunch of homework but due to the nature of the system, she needs to keep her job as well.  That’s pretty pitiful if you ask me.  Her own education and research proves that it is totally unhelpful but she can’t make decisions for herself all in the name of keeping her job.  That’s nuts people, completely nuts.

There are so many kids out there who find themselves at this time of the year, entering summer school due to failing or possibly those who passed with all honors that are heading straight on into college.  Hopefully you have a child who falls in the later phase but hopefully your teenager can simply stay at home and do what kids at that age should really be doing if you ask me.  That’s the one summer that all kids, in my opinion, should get to just hang out and be kids.  I was fortunate enough that my parents believe that being a kid was a time for being a kid and I never had to work while in high school. 

I really did take a class one summer, by taking part of driver’s ed, it was cheaper on my father for my insurance as long as I made good grades and I took this class.  This class wasn’t taught at my local high school during the regular school year so I had no choice but to get busy one summer.  I had been driving with a license for almost a year, but it again, it made the insurance cheaper so off to summer school I went.

If you are in the other situation, you might want to find a way to help your child deal with learning.   Parents.com has a couple of articles that can be of great help, one is 5 Steps to Homework Success. along with 7 ways to establish good homework habits and finally, some tips to School Success that might help your child now, this summer or it might be that you get to store these links away until next fall.  Good luck either way, that studying stuff….I’ve never cared too much for it.

I know, we beat this horse about as often as we beat the homeschool versus public school horse but the fact of the matter is, teachers just keep giving me blog fodder that I simply cannot let waste away.

Today, I found yet another article on Stop Homework which references the dreaded subject, obviously, that’s why I go to this site, for affirmation that I’m not crazy and all that homework my kid is doing is crazy.  But, anyway, back to this particular article.

One of the first things that caught my attention was about handwriting.  My kindergartener has the absolute worst handwriting ever.  He still draws his letters…….so is it silly of me to figure, who cares, it’ll get better or he will simply write like his parents for the rest of his life.  Honestly, I just don’t think that 5 and 6 year olds really have the coordination to make their handwriting “good”.  And, according to this article, second grade was the magical time for a young girl. 

And, that brings me to those ever present and no-one-can-stand “projects”.  I kid you not, it will be awful at my house when these start to roll in, for more reasons than simply the disgust of it all.  I grew up in a rural school where most of the teachers knew that most of the parents either couldn’t afford to buy big crafty things or didn’t want to bother so we rarely ever had anything  major to do. 

But, just 15 miles over from that school is where my son goes and I suspect that, when I was in school, this particular school didn’t assign these projects either..and for the same reasons.  My reasons for hating them are very different.

One of them is just the pure ignorance of it all.  Have I mentioned that the kids in my son’s school have to a “cell” model with a cookie in the 5th grade and again with a cake in the 7th.  UH?  What does that accomplish? 

In our house those, the problem will be that my husband will be all gung-ho about them just because he loves to create and invent….I’m sure my kids will have the most awesome projects ever…….

but….

it won’t be because of their momma….or her belief in them….

I know, it seems I get stuck on a topic and can’t let go.  But, for now, that’s simply what’s happening in my mind.  And, that is, the dirty pitfalls of public education.  And, we all know that homeschooling isn’t perfect neither is public schools.  They all come with their dirty little secrets.  But, the fact of the matter is, things just seem to get more and more out of hand in my neighborhood than they were just a few years ago.

I’ve mentioned before that I have a lot of history in this system.  Let me be more exact.  I started substituting in 1986…yes, that would be in August of 1986 after I graduated in May of 1986.  I continued to substitute on and off until I graduated with a B.S.  I then taught in this system in 1992 – 1993.  Then again from February 1995 thru May of 1997.  Of course my contract didn’t expire until Sept of 1997 but whatever.  Then, again in 2005 for one semester.

With that, I can honestly say that with each stint, things got impressively worse.  And now, now I just don’t know what to think.  The system endured a teachers strike in 1979 when…my father was president of the local teachers association.  And, my maiden name is Head, so you know, people don’t exactly forget I exist. 

So, yea, I have history here…..

But, back to the homework issue.  I’m going to send you to the entire article but I want to go through a few odds and ends that seem terribly important…for me anyway…

1. Replace elementary school homework with free reading.

2. Unleash charter schools. I know, I know. Many good people find this suggestion as welcome as a call from a collection agency.

3. Have teachers call or e-mail parents — once a day would be fine — with praise for their children. (someone strike me down, could this really happen?)

4. Have parents call or e-mail teachers with praise. (I can’t even get my son’s teacher to USE email, never mind check it once in a while, she point blank said, “I don’t use it)

5. Have every high school student read at least one nonfiction book before graduation. I am not talking about textbooks.

6. Encourage teachers to call on every student in every class. (Not a good idea in my opinion – some kids simply can’t handle being called out…)

7. Furlough everybody — including teachers, students and parents — for an unpaid national reading holiday. This will never happen.

What do you think?

Jumping back in time to a point where I was continuously complaining about homework.  We are actually seeing some assignments come through now that cause Walker to struggle a little..the first night.  After that, it’s all easy peasey for him and the two of us are bored to tears.  And, of course for now, he isn’t too concerned with whether it gets done or not and I only concern myself with the fact that his teacher still wants me to sign off on whether he did it or not. 

My parents were rarely asked to sign anything I brought home.  I’m asked to sign off on his homework, his behavior and any other miscellaneous note that manages to make it into his folder for that day. 

For older children though, the homework issues is still a big ugly fat sore in their life.  And, the research just continues to grow in this department.  I want to address something that a couple of public school teachers said to me.  What they said, directly or indirectly, was this, “if you would spend as much time helping your kid do his homework as you do complaining about the homework, he would be much better off”

Hummm, ya think? Well, what if the research says that if you (the teacher) would spend more time teaching and at least figuring out if the homework that’s been assigned is doing my child a service, then I (and many others like me) wouldn’t need to continue to complain about the way the whole situation is handled.

With that, I give you, The Experts say homework raises stress levels.  Humm…go figure….

I’m not your typical educator.  What I mean by that is I am not your typical pubic educator.  I never believed too much in homework.  sue, I had homework as a child.  And, here’s a quote from Sara Bennett’s site Stop Homework that I very well could have written…..

I already went to ninth grade. And when I was in ninth grade, I did all my homework. And my mother didn’t even have to check it for me. I really just don’t feel like it’s fair to make anyone on this earth responsible for ninth grade more than once in a lifetime.

I started saying 2 years ago how much I dreaded the start of Kindergarten because I didn’t really want to repeat kindergarten.  And, I knew what was coming.  I knew he would talk too much and get in trouble.  I knew he was going to have that dreaded homework and I feared it would commence sooner than later.  And it did.  And it pisses me off.  Sorry, I don’t mean to be so vulgar here but really, I say it regularly, “if that kid has homework one more day….” and then I do nothing about it.

I also could have written this quote by the same person which was featured on the same site…

It was not the parents’ job to serve as rules enforcer for the school. Yes, you can help with homework if they ask; you can create a schedule that sets aside a reasonable amount of time each day to do homework, but you are not the homework policeman … If they don’t do their schoolwork, they have to deal with the consequences, even if the consequences mean failure.

And, my parents didn’t serve as enforcer either.  I did it because I was suppose to do it.  But, the nature of homework for my kindergarten child is such that I have to help.  I have to be there, I have to enforce.  And, honestly, it sucks.  Sorry again.

From the time I wrote my first post here bashing homework until just a few minutes ago, I’ve remained steadfast that homework is not good if it is not good homework.  And, teaching a child to study is way more productive than assigning boatloads of homework. 

One night several weeks ago at Walker’s basketball practice (which is on Friday nights by the way), there was a high school student with a stack of post cards.  She had words on one side, definitions on the other.  She was carrying them around.  She would study for a few minutes and if someone came by and spoke to her, she would speak and then return to studying.  On a Friday night people?  Yea, on a Friday night.

I remember those days but unfortunately for me, no one introduced that actual method to me until  I was in college.  I mean, I made all kinds of pretend tests for myself in order to study but the method this girl was using, I was in college before I remember seeing someone do it or hearing the suggestion. 

Well, the time is nigh and my children will not have to wait until they are in college and have no clue how to study to learn at least one method to study.  Some of you are rolling your eyes and saying, “flashcards have been around forever” but the truth is, I don’t remember doing them as a child and I never remember being encouraged to make my OWN flashcards.

Here’s another method if you want to check it out. 

Angela Norton Tyler, of Family Homework Answers. Angela is a teacher and parent from the Sacramento, California area. She has been a classroom teacher, an elementary school reading specialist, and has taught courses at the college level. With a special focus on helping parents help their children become better students, Angela has put her energies into teaching parents how to improve the homework and reading skills of their children. In 2005, Angela published Tutor Your Child to Reading Success, and now conducts seminars about reading and homework for parents and teachers all over the west coast of the United States. She also publishes Family Homework Answers, a site “devoted to helping parents and their children deal with homework.”

Ok, so if you think for one minute that a fifth grader can’t write something that will have you on the edge of your seat, then you have totally missed out on this post, “Fifth-graders of the nation, unite against homework”.  Can you imagine what life will be like if fifth graders start uniting?

It’s not like it can’t be done.  There’s MySpace, facebook, twitter and that’s just to name a few of the on-line places where these kiddo’s and form a group, unite and take down the homework-giving-teachers with one fells swoop of their writing skills. 

Honestly, go read this essay which the author says was written at 8:12 pm as a homework assignment.  His name is Benjamin Berrafato and he is a fifth-grader at New Lane Memorial Elementary School in Selden, L.I. 

If you take one look at just one days assignment, spelling 10 x each, math book number 1 thru 15 and writer’s workshop…you probably wonder what his teacher thought when she handed out this assignment and then bam, she gets hit with this haunting essay.

I only have one thing to say, “this kid is good” and “I bet if you look, he has started a facebook group or yahoo group or something” and finally, the last thing I have to say is “this kid is going to move mountains….so watch out”

In the meantime, won’t you join his cause?  Help him.  Form a group yourself.  Form a group of adults who have the ability to make their voices heard a little louder than say a fifth-grader.  So, with that, I’m honestly going to ask you to take a look at your child’s homework.  Decide if it is beneficial “writing spelling words 10 times” or is the homework actually going to make a better learner out of your child….like maybe Berrafato’s teacher should be thinking now.

This is one of those few assignments that several people, teachers, parents, students alike have all deemed a good one.  Ok, I’m game, what does a good homework assignment look like. 

It looks like 3 students from Carver Middle School heading to Washington DC and their principal arming them with disposable camera’s and worksheets.  The students are all traveling independently but they are going to come home with more photos and more information to share with their classmates than any child who has ever completed a homework assignment in their life has. 

I promise you, I have never thought of an assignment to be a good one except maybe this one…..and this one resembles more the kind of work that the homeschoolers take part in….says a lot for the public schools recognition finally of what is good and wonderful. 

Because, if you remember, my kid would totally be called unexcused for those days out of school and I’d have to fight the system to explain that he is much better off in DC than he is sitting in a classroom reading to his classmates so his teacher can do other stuff or writing his numbers to 100 for the 5th, 6th, 10th day in a row.

Sorry for the grumbling, I wanted this to be a positive post.

I know that most of the people here on this blog have agreed with me in the past for the most part about homework.  I’ve read Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish’s book The Case Against Homework and I promise you, I’m reading it for the second time and taking notes.  And, I really enjoy reading Angela Norton Tyler’s Homework Blog as well.  I can’t stand this homework crap and people everywhere are starting to figure it out. 

And, just as I start to feel comfortable balking the system, some says that Duke study in 2006 says that homework is beneficial – if it’s not overdone.  What’s over done?  I mean, my kids need time to run and rip.  They go to school at 7:45 and the leave at 2:45 and then someone wants them to do 2 more hours of school work when they get home and I say be-dammed them, my kids is 6 years old and I want him to play with trucks and balls and whatever else it is he wants to do that doesn’t mean he has to sit down and be still but doesn’t mean he is learning nothing.  AGH!

Go read this and let me know what you think?

The previous post has a quote in it from a teacher who was writing in response to a post I wrote.  Here’s some of the high points of that post, then I want you to think back to all we’ve discussed here, then give me your thoughts and opinions…because I know you have some…surely!

First I started with this, “I’m going to start by saying that I hope no one is easily offended as we all have our opinions. My opinion when I graduated with my B.S. was that kids had homework and they did it. In my world, I came home, did my homework, did my "thing" and went on about my merry way. So, yea, homework was basically what I deemed to be the child’s job.”

Then,  moved on to a question, “Is right to force our children to come home and work a second job of "school. Why can’ their second job be to play?  Because in reality, that should be a child’s first job: playing.”

From there we made it to more of my own opinions, like “My idea isn’t that all homework is bad, my thoughts are that too much homework simply increase the difficulty in motivating a child to learn. And, when you read it over and over and over again that "doing homework has absolutely no affect on a child’s academic success" it’ a tough argument for you to justify the idea that homework still exists in the quantity that our kids bring home.”

I started to discuss how my son wants to come straight home and do homework.  I want him to come home, play a while, have a snack and then do homework.  It’s craziness.  Then I was introduced to Angela Norton Tyler and she gave me information like, “Another issue that falls into the homework category is "what kind of homework completion child do you have". There’s a link on Angela Norton Tyler’s website to the quiz.”

And, here, here’s a set of links to offer a little support for my big mouthed opinions…

">’>Our School Policy on Homework

Time for us to take the Homework Quiz for Personality

One more study

Quotes from the book from actual parents

The Case Against Homework

The Time is now

Our Homework Future

Thoughts on The Case Against Homework

Most of you already know my stance on homework.  I was fresh on this blog when I put my opinion out there.  I had no clue there was even one person in this world that agreed with me.  And, then, then the emails and comments started pouring in.  I eventually got to chat with The Case Against Homework author Sara Bennett and then Angela Norton was introduced to me and the fight was on. 

I couldn’t believe anyone out there even remotely thought I might be right in my thoughts.  My son continues to have homework although I have to say that right now, it seems appropriate.  More appropriate than it did 3 months ago even.  And, we do the parts of it that I know he needs to work on and then we move on to reading books that are closer to his level. 

He is not a very good phonics person.  He can sound out words for hours on end and never ever figure them out.  Wait, that’s another post. 

I started writing this one to share with you a comment/blog post on my local education blog, it reads like this,

“I agree with the post in response to the topic of homework from the educationuncensored.com homepage. COMPLETING homework isn’t what makes a successful student. The ATTITUDE and EFFORT put forth into the homework is what sets successful students apart. I also can tell you, as a 1st grade teacher, that they are correct about 1st grade. It is a seriously challenging year for even the most prepared students. We move at what sometimes feels like the speed of light. Without homework practice in reading, word study, spelling, and basic math concepts, most students couldn’t master 1st grade to the benchmark level that the State of Alabama requires. The discipline and focus required to learn to read is exceptionally high. Parental attitudes toward the importance of school and the work involved in class and at home is a vital part of a child’s success. I am so glad to see that some parents take their role as a parent and role model seriously and don’t complain about helping their child with learning. Thank you parents who support your child in their efforts to learn. Thank you also for instilling in them a love of learning by having a POSITIVE ATTITUDE!!! You are paying it forward!!”

Yea, this is the first Monday of December.  I know it is hard to believe that this year gained speed as it approaches the 2009. So, it is that time of the year for us to get out our pencils and papers or open up that blank word document and let the words flow out of your mind.

What thoughts am I talking about?  I’m talking about the letter that we try to write the first Monday of every Month, which is the brain child of the folks over at Stop Homework, regarding homework and our very own little children.

With my own son suffering with problems with his eyes, the idea of him coming home from school and doing more work when his eyes were strained is ridiculous.  And, don’t think it is just me.  He begs to do work.  He came from my mom’s just now where he had been writing sentences for her complaining of his head hurting.  When I wouldn’t let him read or write, he became frustrated.

So, for his teacher to send work home makes it even harder for me to tell him that he doesn’t need to continue to school work at home all the time.

So, get your thoughts going and write that letter.  And, if you join in this project, go by Stop Homework and let the folks there know how well you faired.

Yea, this is the first Monday of November coming up.  I know it is hard to believe that this year gained speed as it approaches the 2009. So, it is that time of the year for us to get out our pencils and papers or open up that blank word document and let the words flow out of your mind.

What thoughts am I talking about?  I’m talking about the letter that we try to write the first Monday of every Month, which is the brain child of the folks over at Stop Homework, regarding homework and our very own little children.

With my own son suffering with problems with his eyes, the idea of him coming home from school and doing more work when his eyes were strained is ridiculous.  And, don’t think it is just me.  He begs to do work.  He came from my mom’s just now where he had been writing sentences for her complaining of his head hurting.  When I wouldn’t let him read or write, he became frustrated.

So, for his teacher to send work home makes it even harder for me to tell him that he doesn’t need to continue to school work at home all the time.

So, get your thoughts going and write that letter.  And, if you join in this project, go by Stop Homework and let the folks there know how well you faired.

An interview with Sara Bennett and she explains so much that is amazing how it all came to fruition. 

Read it here…

Today’s brain teaser…