What We Learned About Homework From 2nd Grade

I’m happy to wrap up the Scaling Down the Homework series, and even happier that the 16th was the last day of school! If you missed our 4-part series Scaling Down the Homework, click the links below to check it out:
Scaling Down the Homework (Part 1)
Scaling Down the Homework (Part 2)
Scaling Down the Homework (Part 3)
Scaling Down the Homework (Part 4)
Even though school is out for summer, we’re ready with our homework plan of action when fall rolls around. Homework (and education in general) is a very sensitive subject. Mel at Tuttle Family Adventures, who is a teacher, talked about it in her article Saying Goodbye to Homework (check it out -it’s a great read). She also left us this great comment:

Mel said…
“As a teacher I feel the same way. I require my students to read 15 minutes a night and record a title, author, and short summary (we are talking maybe three lines) and then get a parent signature. They also have one reading assignment that they receive on Monday and is due on Friday so they can decide how to break it down due to family commitments. I have had many parents complain over the lacking of homework and others thankful for the break. I just feel that just as we don’t want to put in a full day and go home to work a couple hours more, why should a kid. I think it is sad that our kids do not have time to just be kids any more!”

It was great to read her thoughts, which mirrored mine almost perfectly. I admit it was a bit surprising since she is a teacher; I expected that teachers were more likely to favor homework. Now, enough about homework – it’s SUMMER VACATION!