The Homework Dilemma...Should elementary students have homework?

As my daughter and I talk about her day, the inevitable question arises...Do you have homework? I want to cringe when she says yes as she usually does as a fourth grader. Will it be a battle of wills kind of homework or will it be an assignment she can do independently, for the most part? Don't get me wrong, it's great to see what she's learning in school but when I know how to do it one way and she does it another way, it becomes a very stressful evening.

As a teacher and a parent, I am very conflicted on the subject of homework. On one hand, as I mentioned above, it is a great way for parents to see and experience what their child has learned at school that day but on the other hand, the students who need help with their homework don't get that help and the students who do not need the help, get the help or can complete it in no time at all. I have often thought of assigning digital homework but then, once again, those who need the help the most are often the students who do not have internet access. It's a battle I haven't quite come to terms with yet. And let's face it, my students are seven and eight years old and have just sat in a classroom all day. Why can't they spend their evening with their families doing family things.

This video about Brandy Young, a second grade teacher in Texas, is so inspiring. She has a new outlook on homework and psychologist, Lisa Damour, backs her up citing many reasons why homework in the elementary years is not always beneficial for young students. The CBS Evening News also reported on this topic on September 26, 2016 with conflicting in views between schools that have done away with homework and Harris Cooper, a psychologist from Duke University who believes homework is essential but with guidelines.

This year, I changed my homework plan from previous years. I only assign 15 minutes of reading, the math homework for that lesson, and practice spelling. The spelling has no paper work to be handed in. After polling my current years' parents (2016-2017) about how they felt about homework in second grade, I found the results a little bit shocking. I was prepared for the majority to say that homework wasn't necessary and that they would prefer homework simply being work that was not completed in class. I'm wondering how different these results would have been if I would have polled parents in previous years when I assigned more homework that was required to be returned everyday.

It seems these results speak for themselves. I will keep doing what I'm doing!

#Homework