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It is that time of year again! Time for me to become THAT mom. I am close to finished with my "homework letter", but I would appreciate it if y'all would take a look at it and offer criticisms and suggestions for change, if necessary.
September21, 2011
Teacher X
_________ School
__________ Drive
_________,FL _____
DearMs. __________,
First,let me begin by letting you know how much I admire your dedication toeducation, and in particular to teaching young, gifted students. I come from a family where education isconsidered to have the utmost value and importance. My father was a high school math teacher for28 years before retirement, and my mother is an elementary educator. She taught 5th grade for a numberof years before taking a position in which she guides, directs, and mentorsseveral student teachers in their internships at the elementary schoollevel. I know that teaching is often athankless and difficult job with not only a lot of children to manage, but alot of parents to manage as well.
I amwriting this letter, not as a criticism or to try to make your job moredifficult, but to convey my point of view. I hope that you will understand my concerns, and we can come to areasonable solution regarding homework.
I amnot a particular fan of homework, especially at the elementary school age. I don’t know about you, but when I wasgrowing up, I didn’t have any. Still, Isomehow managed to make it through a baccalaureate degree, and I am currentlyenrolled in post graduate courses. Myhusband, too, did not have any homework to speak of in elementary school andnow has a doctorate degree. Our childrenare expected to be life-long learners and pursue education at the highestlevel. Alexia has a lot of educationleft to go, and I find homework to be a tedious, difficult battle that haslittle to no benefit.
Ihave personally read many studies and books about homework. In particular, HarrisCooper of Duke University looked at all the research studies on the effects ofhomework from 1987-2003. Dr. Cooper is a proponent of homework, yet even as achampion of it himself, could not find a strong correlation between achievementand homework for young children. In fact, in his 2006 study, he states “Forstudents in elementary school, the average correlation between amount ofhomework and achievement was nearly r = 0.” This research indicates that thereis no relationship between achievement (scores) and amount of homework forelementary school students.
Asopposed to homework, after school and on weekends, I would like my daughter tobe involved in sports, the arts, family life, free play, and other childhoodventures. She is currently taking a hiphop dance class and wants to do cooking classes, swimming, and piano (not thatshe will – I can’t fit that all in!). She enjoys playing with neighborhood friends, is learning about familyresponsibilities, goes to Disney with us, and cheers for her brother in golfand baseball. In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that “freeand unstructured play is healthy and – in fact – essential for helping childrenreach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones aswell as helping them manage stress and become resilient.”
Furthermore,American children are spending too much time indoors and in sedentaryactivities. Obesity is a growing problemthat our children are faced with. I likemy kids to spend a great deal of time outdoors, to not only keep their bodiesmoving and in shape, but to foster a sense of life-long commitment tohealth.
Asyou can imagine, the amount of pressure on parents to get homework accomplishedin the few short hours between when we arrive home from work and it is time forbed (7:30 in Alexia’s case – she requires a lot of sleep) is enormous. In that time, I also want to have dinner as afamily as often as possible and do all the other things I mentioned in theprevious paragraphs.
Iassure you that Alexia does a great deal of free reading, but recording thebook titles and authors and pages and time spent is frivolous. Whatever happened to reading for the sake andpleasure of it?
Forall the reasons stated above, my first wish and desire is that we not berequired to do any kind of schoolwork at home at all. If you must give failinggrades to my daughter for her lack of “participation” in homework, then I don’tknow that it will change anything. Shewill not be doing more homework, and I will not be signing binders or readinglogs. If she is unable to pass classesbecause of this, I don’t know what I will do, but I am firm in my belief thathomework is not right for my daughter. Ihope that it doesn’t have to be that way and that we can come to anunderstanding.
Ihope you can understand my concerns and position. In the meantime, I encourage you to look atthe following book titles:
The Case Against Homework: How Homework IsHurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and NancyKalish
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get TooMuch of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn
The End of Homework: How Homework DisruptsFamilies, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by Etta Kralovec and JohnBuell
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. If you wish to speak with me further aboutthis, I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience.
With High Regards,
Heidi Lamoreaux
September21, 2011
Teacher X
_________ School
__________ Drive
_________,FL _____
DearMs. __________,
First,let me begin by letting you know how much I admire your dedication toeducation, and in particular to teaching young, gifted students. I come from a family where education isconsidered to have the utmost value and importance. My father was a high school math teacher for28 years before retirement, and my mother is an elementary educator. She taught 5th grade for a numberof years before taking a position in which she guides, directs, and mentorsseveral student teachers in their internships at the elementary schoollevel. I know that teaching is often athankless and difficult job with not only a lot of children to manage, but alot of parents to manage as well.
I amwriting this letter, not as a criticism or to try to make your job moredifficult, but to convey my point of view. I hope that you will understand my concerns, and we can come to areasonable solution regarding homework.
I amnot a particular fan of homework, especially at the elementary school age. I don’t know about you, but when I wasgrowing up, I didn’t have any. Still, Isomehow managed to make it through a baccalaureate degree, and I am currentlyenrolled in post graduate courses. Myhusband, too, did not have any homework to speak of in elementary school andnow has a doctorate degree. Our childrenare expected to be life-long learners and pursue education at the highestlevel. Alexia has a lot of educationleft to go, and I find homework to be a tedious, difficult battle that haslittle to no benefit.
Ihave personally read many studies and books about homework. In particular, HarrisCooper of Duke University looked at all the research studies on the effects ofhomework from 1987-2003. Dr. Cooper is a proponent of homework, yet even as achampion of it himself, could not find a strong correlation between achievementand homework for young children. In fact, in his 2006 study, he states “Forstudents in elementary school, the average correlation between amount ofhomework and achievement was nearly r = 0.” This research indicates that thereis no relationship between achievement (scores) and amount of homework forelementary school students.
Asopposed to homework, after school and on weekends, I would like my daughter tobe involved in sports, the arts, family life, free play, and other childhoodventures. She is currently taking a hiphop dance class and wants to do cooking classes, swimming, and piano (not thatshe will – I can’t fit that all in!). She enjoys playing with neighborhood friends, is learning about familyresponsibilities, goes to Disney with us, and cheers for her brother in golfand baseball. In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that “freeand unstructured play is healthy and – in fact – essential for helping childrenreach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones aswell as helping them manage stress and become resilient.”
Furthermore,American children are spending too much time indoors and in sedentaryactivities. Obesity is a growing problemthat our children are faced with. I likemy kids to spend a great deal of time outdoors, to not only keep their bodiesmoving and in shape, but to foster a sense of life-long commitment tohealth.
Asyou can imagine, the amount of pressure on parents to get homework accomplishedin the few short hours between when we arrive home from work and it is time forbed (7:30 in Alexia’s case – she requires a lot of sleep) is enormous. In that time, I also want to have dinner as afamily as often as possible and do all the other things I mentioned in theprevious paragraphs.
Iassure you that Alexia does a great deal of free reading, but recording thebook titles and authors and pages and time spent is frivolous. Whatever happened to reading for the sake andpleasure of it?
Forall the reasons stated above, my first wish and desire is that we not berequired to do any kind of schoolwork at home at all. If you must give failinggrades to my daughter for her lack of “participation” in homework, then I don’tknow that it will change anything. Shewill not be doing more homework, and I will not be signing binders or readinglogs. If she is unable to pass classesbecause of this, I don’t know what I will do, but I am firm in my belief thathomework is not right for my daughter. Ihope that it doesn’t have to be that way and that we can come to anunderstanding.
Ihope you can understand my concerns and position. In the meantime, I encourage you to look atthe following book titles:
The Case Against Homework: How Homework IsHurting Children and What Parents Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and NancyKalish
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get TooMuch of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn
The End of Homework: How Homework DisruptsFamilies, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by Etta Kralovec and JohnBuell
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. If you wish to speak with me further aboutthis, I would be happy to meet with you at your convenience.
With High Regards,
Heidi Lamoreaux
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