My child's homework is too hard???

Which is why I'm writing about it.

We are a few weeks into term three and I’m shattered. My eldest went into one hundred days of learning with trepidation and to be honest, I did too. One thing I’ve been struggling with is homework. I have steadfastly believed that homework is not appropriate for under 16 year-olds for some time. I have especially argued against homework in primary school. I wondered if my child being in intermediate changed my views….

I suppose one of the benefits of having a parent who is a leftie snowflake Marx lover is that they won’t make you do homework. After all, I am of the view that a child spends six hours a day at school, (plus one hour travel time), and in much the same way I advise people not to work outside of work hours - I believe people of all ages need their rest.

Do I take this advice? No. I very rarely switch off and I work all hours and always have. This is a strictly ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation. My neurodivergent child also learns for fun - so he’s an outlier. He will happily research for hours when he gets home from school, but that’s because he finds it relaxing.

My eldest, like all of his friends from what I’ve observed and what they’ve told me, is absolutely EXHAUSTED by intermediate. He is shattered. Yes, part of this is having a chronic illness, but also - going from a play based primary school to a rigid intermediate school is a massive change.

So, when he informed me that he had homework I was quite shocked. Even more so when I started helping him with it. It was so hard! And it took hours! There was no way this could have been completed in school time as it was just on one subject.

Is the curriculum so stacked that it can’t possibly be fulfilled in a 30 hour week? Is this homework for homeworks’ sake? Is he even taking it in when he’s been up since 7am, has been in school all day, and it’s now eating into his dinner and relaxing time? Is the homework stress causing him stress that carries onto the next day when he’s meant to be learning?

Ummm maybe, maybe, no, yes.

The homework debate isn’t new. I’m sure I’ve probably even written about it before. But it is a debate that continues to revive itself based on age and stage. My son is 11 and I tend to not believe it’s possible for him to ‘fall behind’ because he’s 11. I do think there might be some credence to the idea that homework teaches time management skills and responsibility - but I also think having a chronic health condition already taught my kid that.

Some studies have suggested that homework highlights educational inequalities. I was working from a young age because I had to be. My son won’t have to - but I’d rather see him volunteering than doing homework.

The American Psychological Association echoes this.

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at afterschool jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

If you’re a child who comes from an economically disadvantaged family you will have a higher stress level than the child sitting next to you who is from more financially stable family. Why add homework to the mix?

But what do I know? I didn’t ever do it and I didn’t finish high school and some people on the internet think I’m a dumbass.

So I talked to some teachers. I was surprised to find almost all were against homework. Maegan Coburn, a teacher of 15 years with a masters in inclusive education, was clear in her view of homework - “I don’t think homework is ever useful!” she said.

“I see much more benefit in children of all ages going home and having experiences they can then attach their formal learning onto rather than token homework activities.”

So what experiences would that be? Coburn suggests things like baking, community service, or helping a neighbour. “These activities can lead to some interesting experiences and discussions but otherwise both my experiences and the research say there is little to no benefit of homework”.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne

From an inclusive education perspective, Coburn says homework can be very elitist.

“The tamariki who tend to have more socially and educationally accepted homework tend to be the ones with a parent at home who can invest time into supporting them, they’re the ones without any worries about food, housing, or safety.”

If your child is already struggling adjusting to school, homework just adds another layer in which education doesn’t meet their needs and sees them “fail” and become disengaged.

“For our neurodivergent tamariki, school can be such an intense experience and we’re ostracising them further with homework. Going to school all day when you have dyslexia and have the twice the cognitive load of your neurotypical peers is exhausting and then going home to more school work is so disheartening and in some instances soul destroying.,” Coburn says.

“You “fail” all day to do what the others around you do and then go home for more of the same,” she says.

One teacher who didn’t want to be named said teaching through sending homework home was due to our overcrowded curriculum. “I worry when teachers are blamed for setting homework. Most of us don’t believe in homework”.

Rachael, a teacher who didn’t want to give her last name, said she doesn’t send homework home for her intermediate students.

“I know a lot of students are at cognitive overload by the time they finish school for the day. We have optional challenges that are student directed that they can complete over the year,” she says.

“Often at year seven or eight it’s more hassle for parents if we send home set homework.” Rachael says most of her class doesn’t complete their maths tasks at home.

“Some families have device free time at home. Some just don’t value school. Some inquiry work is complete at home sometimes”.

All teachers I spoke to encouraged reading to your children over homework. Yes, even when they’re sulky tweenagers (which is in my opinion somewhat difficult).

The expectation that teachers set homework was often pushed by parents of students who expected it. But there are plenty of ways to continue your child’s learning if you think they need it.

It’s no surprise to me that value is placed on volunteering or as Rachael says “doing something nice for someone”. Ultimately, I think most of us here want to encourage our kids to be life-long learners but also committed and kind members of their community.

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways we can work on that with our tamariki - and none of those ways involve hours of math problems.