Homework – especially at the elementary level – is useless. It neither improves retention nor helps learn new material. There is no good reason for it.
Finland has 190 days of school a year compared to our 120. They have more breaks during the day, but less time with no lessons at all means that less of their school year is reteaching what they forgot over the break. And frankly, neuroscience supports their practice of more than 5 minutes between new lessons (say, language arts and math) because it lets the brain process the information into longterm memory before working and short-term memory are refilled. Lastly, because struggling students in the US have less access to one-on-one aides (with more education than the teacher’s Masters)… well, I learned math at home, not at school. I was ahead of my peers in every other subject until the sciences reached the math-heavy levels, but couldn’t process math at the speed and in the ways the teacher taught.
Templo S.U.D. almost 9 years ago
I don’t want to know on the kids’ homework trouble, do I?
cdward almost 9 years ago
Homework – especially at the elementary level – is useless. It neither improves retention nor helps learn new material. There is no good reason for it.
Comic Minister Premium Member almost 9 years ago
Sorry to hear that Baldo.
locake almost 9 years ago
She can always read on her own after she finishes her homework. Learning is never limited to school.
abbybookcase almost 9 years ago
love how the siblings can be such opposites, you can’t figure out how they were produced by the same parents. so true
kattbailey almost 9 years ago
Finland has 190 days of school a year compared to our 120. They have more breaks during the day, but less time with no lessons at all means that less of their school year is reteaching what they forgot over the break. And frankly, neuroscience supports their practice of more than 5 minutes between new lessons (say, language arts and math) because it lets the brain process the information into longterm memory before working and short-term memory are refilled. Lastly, because struggling students in the US have less access to one-on-one aides (with more education than the teacher’s Masters)… well, I learned math at home, not at school. I was ahead of my peers in every other subject until the sciences reached the math-heavy levels, but couldn’t process math at the speed and in the ways the teacher taught.