Homework has been given to kids ever since school really started. It just seemed like a good idea to educators and teachers to give their students what they saw as a “Review” of what was more like an extra task. But lately, it seemed like the kid’s complaints about how long and frustrating homework can get suddenly snapped into our teacher’s and parents’ minds. Now, schools across America are eliminating or reducing homework. But the overall question is: Why? Even better: Why now? To answer those questions, we are going to have to do homework on the history of homework. (Sorry Readers!)
Our main culprit here is Roberto Nevilis, an instructor from Italy who tended to keep a close “eye” on his students. He had a notebook where he made studies conducting how well his students were taking in what he was teaching, and he was baffled. The hours he spent teaching his kids seemed to have no effect on their learning progress. In other words, whatever he would teach on, let’s say Monday, the kids would forget everything he would say the next day. He decided to create a newfound way where he could instill memory in his students. And that’s how homework started.
Okay, let’s get back to the main point: Why Now? Well, the battle between homework being eliminated and homework staying in schools has been clashing for a long time. Both sides have their reasons, yet lately, it seems the eliminating side has better argument points. Basically, what they’re saying is:
- Homework has been proven to have no effect on student’s learning.
- Kids spend way too much time being frustrated at their work than getting anything “done.”
- Homework is supposed to be a review, so why is it being graded? We shouldn’t have homework if it’s going to affect our children’s grades.
So, as you can see, they have pretty good points. What do you think of all of this? Should we keep or not keep homework? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!