What’s with all the homework? I’m going to just be honest. I despise homework. Like many parents, I work all day and when I finally get my son picked up and home the last thing I want to do his help him with homework. I’m tired and so is he.
Is it really necessary? That obviously is up for debate but when I talk to and text back and forth with my twins who just started college this fall, it seemed to have helped them this semester in college. My 6th grader attends the same school my twins graduated from and he has approximately an hour of homework each night.
In speaking with my twins, they are more prepared simply because they have good study habits. Over the course of high school, they consistently had two-three hours of homework and they studied daily. It was tough, especially since my son played sports and my daughter was a dancer. There were definitely some late nights these past four years and the late nights of studying have continued into their college life. They are only a month in, but they have expressed gratitude for the amount of homework they had during high school.
So as I cringe when checking my son’s Moodle page every day to see what homework awaits us each day, even on Fridays. I know it is necessary and if I wasn’t convinced a recent conversation with my daughter drove the point home.
She told me that she emailed her high school British Literature teacher and thanked him for all of the work he had them complete. She said many of her current college classmates cannot find credible sources or compose a work cited page. The hard work paid off because she earned 102% on her first college presentation and 96% on her first college paper.
My children in college gave me perspective. They reminded me how much homework teaches study skills, which are important for success when pursuing post-secondary education.
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