I read an article on msn.com this morning about elementary kids and homework. I have to say I completely agree with it. Click here for the whole article, but my favorite part is in quotations below:
""Children come to school thinking the world is their oyster and that anything is possible," concludes Molnar-Szakacs, "and then every year we essentially limit their vision by teaching them how to narrow their thinking."
If homework can't be more universal in drawing on student strengths, the least our schools can do is allow a kid more time to be a kid. After all, the most respected thinkers in history are noted for their exploration of unconventional ideas.
Some of the hours now spent hogtied to a chair, trying to solve for x and y, would be better spent thinking outside of the box…or even simply outside of the house."
By Rich Maloof
4 comments:
Amen, and Amen!!! If teachers could be assured that kids would go home and play outside or explore "outside the box" instead of sitting in front of the "idiot box" maybe they wouldn't feel the need to send home so much homework. Maybe. Anyway, it's something to think about.
My kids haven't hit the "homework" stage yet, but I think you're right. We have to think of ways to expand their minds, not limit them.
In my Young Women's program all I ever hear from the girls is how overloaded they are with homework. I can sense how much is stresses them out. This is one of the reasons I'm really researching which of the schools is best for my family.
By the way, I watched your YOUTUBE leg burners and I'll have to give those a try!
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