Homework is one of those words that instils a variety of emotions in both parents and teachers. When I talk about homework let’s assume I’m talking about school work to be done at home, except reading as reading should be a daily exercise for every person, but particularly every child in a primary school because it is providing the foundational literacy skills that children need to learn and live and engage with the world. When I talk about homework I might be talking about basic number facts, I may be talking about project work, I may be talking about writing sentences, I may be talking about doing some mathematics as children get a little bit older.
In primary school the value of homework it can certainly be questioned. Research would suggest the impact of homework on a child’s academic progress is minimal, in fact it may be negligible for children in primary school. As a principal I advise families that we give children homework to consolidate their learning, not to be doing anything new. And we certainly don’t give homework that requires the parents to be teaching their children. Homework should be following up work that children have already done in class. It should be opportunity consolidate a new concepts. It should be the opportunity to practise the skills they have already been taught and learnt.
Homework which should not be a stressor for families or the student. However the reality is that homework is one of those topics that causes grief for families and is often cause for great stress and anxiety for students. And if it causes the students’ stress then it also causes the parents stress. And then if students don’t do the homework it is up to often up to the teachers to them provide the disciplinary actions for those students. Which begs the question – “Why would a teacher be the disciplinary of a child for not doing something at home when they’re under the supervision of their parents?”
At a primary school the parents need to be supporting the teachers with following through the expectations the school set regarding activities like homework. It’s not uncommon for schools to set rough guidelines about the amount of time students should be spending on homework each day and that goes right through to high school. Once again I stress we are not talking about reading, we are talking about all the other activities associated with school work that children are asked to do at home.
Western Australian educator Ian Lillico many years ago produced a book called “The Homework Grid” and it was basically a table that had approximately 9 cells and each cell at had something to the child would do at home during the course of a week. Some of a activities were academic school work following on from the class work; some of it was about home chores; some of it was about engaging with their parents and playing games; some of it was about experiencing life outside of school. These activities were designed to enhance the child’s learning through academics but also through a lived experience. It was also meant to engage the parents in the learning journey of their children and hence giving the children experiences that they can share with their parents to develop certain skills. Many schools embraced the homework grid and it was an opportunity for a child to do work at home not solely following on from schoolwork.
We don’t want homework to be a necessary evil. We want homework to be an engaging activity that the children can do mainly independently, with a little bit of supervision from their parents, as it does give the parents the opportunity to see what the children should be doing at school. With the introduction of 1:1 laptop programs, some parents of express their concern that it’s more difficult to track their children’s work without being able to see the book work. However the one to one program does allow more immediate feedback to the teacher when the children can submit their work online and get feedback not only from the teacher but also from their peers. The parents still have the opportunity to track their child’s progress if they ask the child to share what they’re doing on the one the one device.
So is homework a good idea in primary school? That’s a very relevant question. The research would suggest it’s of little academic value. However I would suggest in the upper grades of primary school, it is important that children develop the study and behavioural skills and the discipline to know that when they are at home they will be expected to do some form of school work. Certainly in high school they would be expected to do significant amount of school work in their own time at home. In the early years there is some value in homework. I suspect that families and teachers would suggest it is a good way for families to engage with a child’s learning journey, and for children to consolidate things like sight words and basic facts which children need to master so that they can continue on their learning journey with a degree of confidence.
Is writing a lists of spelling words of great academic value? Probably not. Is writing out sentences with particular words in them of great academic value? Possibly but only if they used in contexts. Are learning basic facts off by rote of academic value? Certainly in upper primary school I would suggest yes as they need to know suck computations, and ideally they understand how those algorithms actually work.
So let me go back to the question – “Does homework have a place in the life of a primary school aged child?” I would suggest homework does not add academic value. However homework does provide a means to involve the parents in their child’s learning journey, to consolidate the learning they have learnt at school; to build discipline and appropriate study skills in upper primary school; and to reinforce concepts that that should have done it in a class setting.
The schools that have chosen to eliminate the stress of homework by having a policy whereby homework is not done in a primary school, certainly had no detrimental effect on a child’s academic progress. The time usually spent on homework was then available to do other creative pursuits after school hours. That may involve play, it may involve sport, music, art.
So the time spent doing homework needs to be monitored very closely and it needs to be of particular value not necessary academic value but it needs to be of social value if you like consolidating learning value, or engaging mum and dad value, developing different skills, so children can grow up to be confident contributors to the society in which they will grow and learn.