Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on October 18, 2007 - 15:00.
As a parent first and a school librarian second I abhor the idea of explicit parent homework. In high achieving school districts it is implicit. How was my third grader supposed to write a 20 page paper including charts, graphs, illustrations and proper bibliography, if I as a parent did not help him? My children attend a very competitive public school wherein 99% of the students go onto college. They even have a web service that parents can follow their children's progress in school without the child even knowing. It was designed so that parents can be involved with their children. I am a high school librarian in a school district that is just the extreme opposite to where I live. Explicitly assigning homework to the parents would be just as ridiculous as the other school district. These parents work (sometimes three jobs), or are in jail and their children live with relatives or in group homes, or don't care or just have enough problems trying to help their children out of gangs. The parents may not be able to do the assignment either, thereby reinforcing the "stupidity" of school. If the parent can get along without knowing this stuff, why not the kid? The only outcome of parental homework is giving more work to the teacher to dream up. This idea sounds like the person who thought up this sat at a desk, never even bothered to step inside of a classroom and I bet never even bothered to ask his or her son or daughter what he or she was doing in school.
Parent Homework
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on October 18, 2007 - 15:00.
As a parent first and a school librarian second I abhor the idea of explicit parent homework. In high achieving school districts it is implicit. How was my third grader supposed to write a 20 page paper including charts, graphs, illustrations and proper bibliography, if I as a parent did not help him? My children attend a very competitive public school wherein 99% of the students go onto college. They even have a web service that parents can follow their children's progress in school without the child even knowing. It was designed so that parents can be involved with their children. I am a high school librarian in a school district that is just the extreme opposite to where I live. Explicitly assigning homework to the parents would be just as ridiculous as the other school district. These parents work (sometimes three jobs), or are in jail and their children live with relatives or in group homes, or don't care or just have enough problems trying to help their children out of gangs. The parents may not be able to do the assignment either, thereby reinforcing the "stupidity" of school. If the parent can get along without knowing this stuff, why not the kid? The only outcome of parental homework is giving more work to the teacher to dream up. This idea sounds like the person who thought up this sat at a desk, never even bothered to step inside of a classroom and I bet never even bothered to ask his or her son or daughter what he or she was doing in school.