According to an international online media,there have been great agitation for making home work voluntary.
There’s no doubt that homework is a bit of a blue touchpaper issue
with parents. But what’s clear is that there’s little consensus about
it. Some parents want more, harder homework; others less, easier
homework. That said, parents and indeed educators would probably all
agree that homework stands or falls by its quality (in terms of
planning, execution and marking).
And there is a deal of evidence from the Mumsnet talkboards
suggesting that the whole business of homework, irrespective of how much
or how hard it is, could be done better. Some schools haven’t caught
up with the realities of 21st-century life; specifically, that most
households need two incomes to get by.
For parents who don’t get home from work until gone 6pm and plunge
into the dinner-bath-bed whirlwind, the homework folder can feel like a
reproach.
Having a vastly ambitious holiday projects that require the production of a
working volcano surely, in many cases, measure nothing more than
parents’ proficiency in ordering parts off Amazon and ladling papier
mâché while their children stay still and try not to glue their body
parts together. Most mum feels that homework are rarely, casually or belatedly marked. It is a
disincentive to children and makes parental intervention all the more
necessary.
As with so many things, there must be a sensible middle course to be
steered. Most parents want their children to achieve to the best
of their ability and to get into good habits of independent working. A
good homework policy can help.
Perhaps we could start by agreeing that homework for infants
should, as a rule, be explicitly voluntary. There’s a clear case to be
made that children in secondary school, approaching important exams
and life choices, need to learn about prioritising their time and the
value of extra effort; it’s less clear that this is the case for
6-year-olds.
Many conversations by mumsrevolve around sobbing children falling
asleep in their dinner while spelling sheets remain incomplete; surely
this is not a sensible use of anyone’s time or energy?
To be fair, many report that teachers are more than happy to be
flexible when approached by parents of distressed or unwilling children.
Other parents are blessed with children who genuinely enjoy homework.
Making it abundantly clear that homework for younger pupils is to be
done entirely at their parents’ discretion would be a hugely welcome
step forwards.


No comments:
Post a Comment