The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett Nancy Kalish

Author:Sara Bennett,Nancy Kalish
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307381453
Publisher: Random House Inc.
Published: 2006-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

Of course, we have to assume that teachers either believe in these projects or are pushed to assign them by administrators who do. But just what is the purpose behind them? Here’s what one middle school director at a New York City private school told us: “Some kids might not necessarily write such a great essay. But when they come in with this fairly humble, goofy-looking shoe box with some figures in it and you ask them to discuss the relationship between Scout and Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s pretty remarkable what they can say,” he explains. “These kinds of creative activities are frustrating for some kids, I grant you. But for others, it gives them another window in.”

This sounds good. But aren’t there other ways to help kids express themselves that don’t involve a family weekend with a glue gun? Teachers tend to think that these “creative” projects are fun and a great opportunity for the family to work together. In fact, there’s nothing that can drain all the joy out of baking a cake, drawing a picture, or building a model faster than being rushed through it and then graded on it.

The misery starts with the frantic search for supplies, which are often expensive. “We always end up spending at least forty dollars at the crafts store,” says one mom. “I can afford it. But what if you can’t?” Of course, you’re lucky if you can find the correct supplies at all. “Last year in eighth grade, my son needed Styrofoam balls of a certain size for a science project,” says a mom from Needham, Massachusetts. “I went to the art store, but they were all sold out, and we couldn’t find them at any other stores. The teacher didn’t bother making sure you could actually get them. It was very stressful.”

And there’s sometimes little leeway. “Last night, we had to sign a form from the teacher acknowledging we knew that our son had been ‘unprepared’ for class,” says Debbie, the mother of a sixth-grader. “This was because we had bought an 11×17 piece of posterboard, and the teacher wanted a larger size! We had to run out at 6:30 P.M., delaying dinner, to get the right size. He bought extras so he could bail out his friends whose parents didn’t have cars. Otherwise they would be penalized and given a failing grade for the semester.”

Parents who can’t afford the time to find the correct size Styrofoam balls or posterboard are often in a bind. Many schools don’t take into account the needs of working or single parents who don’t have unlimited hours to participate in these projects. Karen, from Pelham, New York, had to spend hours and hours over one weekend driving her second-grade twins from one location to another for a school community project. “It involved crayon rubbings of local monuments, collecting bus and train schedules, and gathering leaves. They had to interview local merchants and get restaurant menus. I did not feel they learned anything useful at all and this was complete Mom homework.

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