Poor Dears
The Toronto School Board says that a "culture of homework," - i.e., too much homework for kids - is ruining family life.
Who are these people?
I'll tell you what is ruining family life - families.
Families who build and buy homes with a so-called "family room," which means a place to watch TV and not talk to each other.
Families who don't have a nightly ritual called "eating dinner together."
So-called "nuclear" families who think that grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins are unimportant. That used to be called the extended family.
Homework?
I'll let you know when I think Canadian kids are overworked academically. Don't hold your breath.
4 comments:
The homework formula for elementary school used to be 10 minutes per grade, so that by grade seven students would be doing approximately 70 minutes of homework each night. I'm fine with that, however, my son, who is in grade six, regularly exceeds that by from 30 to 60 sixty minutes. In other words he regularly does between 1.5 to 2 hours of homework nightly. This, of course, does not include special projects.
He's 12, he needs to play and spend time with the family that does not include going over his maths and learning grammar and syntax and the art of editing (which are not being properly covered in school by the way).
While I think constructive homework is a positive reinforcement of what is being taught at school, my feeling is that parents are being used as "teacher assistants" because teachers do not cover the basics during the school day. So many non-essential topics are covered at school that there is often little room left for 'reading, writing and 'rithmetic'. Cover the basics then perhaps you can branch out.
I do not think homework should be banned, but there is something wrong with our school system when kids are required to spend so much time learning through homework and when so many kids are leaving school to head straight to their tutor's house instead of the basketball hoop.
So, I agree with your statement that Canadian children are not overworked academically; however, I don't believe that has anything to do with homework. They need to be challenged in school and they need to be TAUGHT in school. My parents certainly did not spend their evenings going over my school work and grading my homework.
Next thing you know, teachers will be blaming poor performance by students taking the FSAs on the lacklustre teaching habits of parents.
I'm not a teacher basher, but this is what I see. Over the years we have encountered very good and not so good teachers, but the system doesn't favour student success in my opinion.
Mo.
The homework load on children has become ridiculous, Sir David. No, they're certainly not overloaded academically overall, that's for sure, but the trouble is the "teachers" do less and less during class times and instead simply send home a mountain of homework. I rail about it frequently. My grandkids have far more than my kids did, who had way more than my wife and I did. They have less and less time for family etc. and just being kids. Meanwhile, parents and grandparents are teaching more and more at home, or not.
While, ironically, the kids learn far less nowadays. I mean, take history for example, oh, don't let me get started ...
Anyone I know with kids and grandkids in the public system (private schools are different I'm told) has observed this.
Yet more evidence of the BCTF's great concern for their pupils. :roll:
I lived overseas and went to a private school for three years.
There rarely was any homework.
I went from the bottom of the class to be one of the top students in the school.
Then I came to Canada.
Back to the bottom of the class.
watch the bctf jump all over this one. less homework means less work for teachers and less accountability overall. perfect scenario for an 'association of professionals' that has slowly but surely morphed into a trade union.
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