Homework and Your Child

These are all very real and valid concerns. However, results of studies on the effectiveness of homework are quite surprising.

The current research on homework and school performance shows that there is very little evidence that homework does anything to help with your child's future academic success. Even so, we have seen a steady increase in the amount of homework assigned in the last 25 years.

In 2004, a University of Michigan research group surveyed 2,900 children and found that there was an overall increase in the amount of homework by 51% since 1981. A survey in the year 2000 showed that children between ages 6 to 8 in 1981 did 52 minutes of homework a week while the same age group in 1997 did a total of 128 minutes per week.

However, according to Dr. Harris Cooper, the director of the Program in Education at Duke University, homework does not improve academic performance or level of understanding of elementary school students. Even for high school students, the benefits of homework decline after the children do more than two hours a night.

It appears that the extra homework your child gets doesn't seem to help him. But more than that, having too much homework may be harming your child.

Homework takes away from quality family time; time that your child should be spending with you. It requires that you oversee your child, make sure he completes his assignments, and places you in the adversarial role of enforcer. It interferes with your child's play time, time which is necessary for normal social development. It takes away from extracurricular activity time, time in which your child can develop his or her own unique talents.

As you child gets older, peer contact becomes more important for normal development. Excess homework limits the amount of time children have with friends. Many students get far too little sleep, which also has a negative influence of their ability to perform in school.

To be fair, there are times that homework can benefit your child. Homework can reinforce new concepts that your child learned during the day. It can also help your child think independently. However, usually excess assignments consist of tedious busy work and contribute very little to your child's grasp of the material or its mastery.

What can you as a parent do?

* If you feel that your child is getting too much busy work assigned, then talk to the teacher. Most teachers don't see homework as a problem for families.

* Communicate your feeling to the school principal. Most administrators feel that parents are happy that their children are working hard in school. It is up to you to let him know that you feel that the excess work is detrimental.

Our society is filled with enough stress. We don't need to give our children more. For younger children homework is all but worthless. For older children, there are some benefits, but the advantages of homework are all but destroyed by the excessive amounts given. Excessive homework wastes your child's time, causes unnecessary stress, and might even destroy his love of learning.

It seems like our children may be getting too much of a bad thing.