Love is complicated.
It’s that time of year again. Time to get those kids out of the house and back into the classroom. Parents everywhere, rejoice.
This year is special for me because I have a Senior and a Freshman in high school this year. Two milestone moments. A beginning and an end.
This should be fun!
School is in full swing and this means kids are coming home with work. Hence, the name “homework”. This is not good. I am a firm believer that just like Vegas, school should stay at school.
I’ve read the studies that suggest too much homework makes kids hate learning. Other studies conclude homework does not measurably improve academic achievement. (That one came from Duke University, Harris Cooper.) These are all valid reasons to support my position. However, my reason is quite simple. I hate feeling stupid.
First some background. I graduated from high school some twenty years time ago. I’ve even graduated from college. I’m not trying to impress anyone by writing this. I’m trying to reassure myself that I’m not an idiot.
Some of these homework assignments can make an adult question t heir own intelligence. Picture this: Diva is in middle school. Her Language Arts class gives weekly STEMS test. In case you are wondering, STEMS can best be described as parts of words. For example, archy = government, cede = go and ard = always. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned vocabulary words. We used to get a list of words and a dictionary. We wrote the list by ourselves. Now Diva has this weekly assignment and insists I take part in it. I’m her “study buddy” she says. Did I ask for this honor? No. But what can I do?
I think kids should focus on spelling. Remember the spelling bee? Now that’s something that should be brought back to the classroom. This “text first, talk never” generation could use a refresher. They abbreviate everything. I had to instruct my kids to write complete words when they text me.
I’m not even going to get started on the subject of math. I’ve been unable to help with that since elementary school. Good thing Princess is good in math or Diva would be in trouble.
To my kid’s school district, I’m begging. Stop with the homework. Think of the countless of parents who risk looking stupid in front of their kids. Let’s leave school work at school. Save the family.