The End of Homework

I don't know about you, but I have always regarded homework as a waste of my time and that it was pointless. I thought maybe as an adult I would feel different and maybe in hindsight see a need for it. Especially, in the massive doses that all the teachers seem to like to hand it out in. Well, here I am an adult with children and I still find myself loathing even the thought of homework. Therefore, I decided to homeschool my children (just one of the MANY reasons, a big one though). Anyway, I am reading this very well written and insightful book titled, 'The End of Home Work' by Etta Kralovec and John Buell. There is a passage in there that I just love and wanted to enter in to my treasure trove of goodies to keep. So here goes;

"Last, but perhaps most important, we need to ask about the relationship between the family and the state. We should question whether homework may not represent an intrusion by the state into our private lives. We would hardly stand for a government mandate that we spend an hour each night on citizenship training; the very thought evokes Big Brother. But in essence, that is exactly what the homework ritual is. The school, as an instrument of the state has invaded our family time with agenda. Americans cherish their privacy and their individuality. The state can and must establish minimal conditions under which we can thrive as individuals, but it should also allow us a great range of privacy and individuality as possible. Homework flies in the face of both criteria, becoming a kind of microregulator of the time and content of our interaction with our children. It puts every American family in the position of being servants of the state. Parents are expected to do the unfinished work of the teacher; we are told what we must teach our children and the amount of time we must spend on that teaching. This work is unpaid, and often we are unprepared for it.
The kitchen table has become the landing site of the state mandated curriculum and locally mandated homework policies. The police need a search warrant to enter your house, and in some states you can shoot someone who comes uninvited into your home, but homework finds its way in on the backs of our children and mediates our most intimate time with them. It dictates what we must talk about with our children. Rather than connecting us in a meaningful way with the school, it often alienates us from our children as they are forced to take on their role as student while we don the teacher's cap."

Well said, well said! I just love that excerpt, it is provocative, and has now reaffirmed my feelings and thoughts on homework- RUBBISH!



(1) The End of Homework, by Etta Kralovec and John Buell
pages 24&25; copyrighted in 2000