Homework…what’s the point?

Homework…what’s the point?

Most Parents know what homework should look like.

Homework is an activity that has been taking place since the beginning of education as we know it. We all remember homework assignments. Whether you were the type of student who did their homework every night or the student who never did their homework, most Parents know what homework should look like. Parents also understand that the curricula these days is quite different than the way that it was in the past. It is the same material but the process that children are learning in today’s society is different. So saying all of that, what is the point of homework?

Homework is supposed to be the reinforcement of concepts to help students gain mastery of a concept.

Homework is supposed to be the reinforcement of concepts to help students gain mastery of a concept. For example, if your child is learning about fractions in math class that day they should have homework to practice the learning of fractions to ensure that they have a clear understanding of the concept. Then when your child returns to that class, the teacher is to review that homework with the students to ensure that everyone understands the concepts and if they don’t, they need to set up a time to re-teach or reinforce that concept with the select students who need more support. Homework is not busy work for the sake of busy work. It is to be tied directly to concepts that are being taught and reviewed right away.

These days there are so many things that are getting in the way of homework being an effective tool for students.

These days there are so many things that are getting in the way of homework being an effective tool for students.

The first obstacle is students actually completing the homework.

The first obstacle is students actually completing the homework. There are many reasons that students are not completing the work, some of the reasons are that they may have responsibilities that they have to take care of at home, they may have a whole host of extra-curricular activities, they may not have an adult at home who can help them or they may simply not want to do the work. Whatever the reason, it the students don’t complete the work at home it can’t be reinforced which is the first step in its effectiveness.

The second obstacle is teacher’s reviewing the assignment right away.

Just as there are many reasons as to why students don’t complete the work there are a variety of reasons as to why a teacher may not check the homework right away. First, teachers usually have a large amount of assignments to grade. If they give homework each night or even three nights per week, that is a large amount of assignments to grade on top of tests, quizzes, etc. Secondly, teachers usually have a specific curriculum that the need to follow which rarely leaves time for teachers to re-teach or reinforce concepts that students don’t understand. So while they may want to review concepts that students are practicing on their homework assignments, they usually need to move on to get the curriculum completed.

Homework can be a very effective tool, however it would take students having the will and time to complete it. It also would mean that teachers would have to be given the flexibility to review and reteach as necessary based upon what is reviewed on the homework assignments.