Increasingly, parents are complaining that there is entirely too much homework given to kids today. When do they get to play, spend time with family,etc. Well, I am one of them. The amount of homework stems from the fact that as teachers in CA, we are required to teach something called the "content standards", a comprehensive list of what students should know by subject and grade level. You can find them on-line (type in "CA content standards" in Google). These must be taught and students assessed all prior to the standardized testing that takes place in the Spring. To make matters worse, the social science standardized test for 8th graders covers the standards for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. Mind Numbing , I know. So, now back to my original statement ("I am one of them"). With our schedule chage here at BYMS (we are now out at 3:30PM daily), how is a child supposed to get home, get to soccer/volleyball/baseball/basketball practice, and ever find time to do their homework? I understand. I struggle with this in my own home. So, as a result, I am on a mission. It's back to the traditional way of doing things in my class - Class discussions and notes with an occasional piece of review work. I have already begun reducing the amount of homework and have seen positive results - both for my students and for me.

 

How do we solve the problem in more places?