The Case Against Homework

Author: Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish
Genre: Nonfiction, Education
Grade: B+

This is a much needed look at the growing homework epidemic. While our children do more homework than ever before our international standings in reading, writing and math continue to slip. Why the disparity? The book shows the cold, hard research behind one of the many problems with our current educational system.

The reason it didn't get an A is what I felt wasn't examined, which is why our schools have to tackle more and more issues and subjects every year. Why are classes like art and music graded even for young children and allowed to give homework? And how much do politics hamper teachers abilities to teach? Most schools aren't run on best practice scenarios but on what is best for parents and teachers, not students.

Also not discussed is the working mother phenomena. Few books address this change. While they will all point to the past and show how test scores were better back in the day none of the books I have read have tackled the difficult and controversial issue of how having two working parents has affected children or education. I don't want to see them blast working mothers but I do think societal changes need to be addressed. It doesn't do to just blame the schools when changes in family dynamics may share part of the blame. It doesn't mean we yank jobs away from women and make them go home. It just means we need to look at what changes we may (or may not) need to make to accommodate our changing world.

Finally, I think they presented working with the school as a tad bit easier than it actually is. I knew one mom who had to go to the school board just to have a teacher reprimanded for consistently showing up to work fifteen minutes after school started. (Yes, I am dead serious. Her kids were often standing in the hall while the rest of the school had begun.) I can't imagine how big a fight she would have had had she not already been backed by existing school conduct codes.

Those quibbles aside, this book contains some really, really important information. I hope many, many parents and teachers read it.

Tea: How about a bit of tea education? This site tells you what an English tea set should like, in case you are ever disposed to own one :-) http://lifestyle.ezineseeker.com/what-is-an-english-tea-set-14fac57951.html