There is a debate going on concerning the amount of homework teachers are giving our kids. With U.S. education falling behind in the world, some believe our kids should be getting more homework. But is that the answer?
Before getting into a possible solution, consider the following...
For more than 60% of the population, families live in rural areas. In such areas, everyone in the family is required to help out with chores if the familiy is to survive. Farms are a good example. When growing up in such an area, I, along with my siblings were all required to perform chores. In most cases, those chores would take up at least 1-2 hours of each weekday, and as much as4 hours or more on each weekend day. And this was the case from the age of 5.
Also, in rural areas and in other areas where schools have been consolidated, the average student can spend upwards of two hours each day on a schoolbus.
And of course, the school day is roughly 7 hours long.
That said, many, if not most of all students are automatically putting in a 10-11 hour workday - more than most adults are putting in. But there is more...
Beginning around age 14 (I was 9), many students find it necessary to work a part-time job, to earn money for college their parents cannot afford, or to help support the family. In most cases, a part-time student job is at least 4 hours per day. (I know many school-age waitresses who put in much more).
And if a student participates in intramural sports? Add hours for practice and games.
So now a student can be putting in a minimum 14-15 hour workday.
And if you give that student an hour to eat breakfast and dinner, and jump in the shower, the student puts in 16 hours a day, leaving 8 hours for sleep.
This not only leaves no time for homework, but also no time for just being a kid, enjoying their childhood.
Lucky for you if your child does not need to do chores, does not spend hours on a bus and does not need a part-time job. Good for you. But most are not that fortunate.
So, what IS the solution? For fear of risking ridicule fror such a simple answer, it really is simple - increase the quality of the education, not the quantity.
The best teacher I ever had, Bob Gauthier, started the school year each year by saying, "I'm not here to teach you what to think. I am here to teach you HOW to think. If you know how to think, you can figure out what to think all by yourselves." And that is the core, the essence of education - giving our kids the tools to be able to figure things out for themselves. As adults, that is the only road to success. Teach them HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
We can start by getting rid of all the "feel good" subjects that are wasting school time -- courses that include the various sexual relationships; studies that teach students how to hate America (yes, there are such courses of study); and topics like "How Art Changes Our Culture" all waste education time. Such studies are 1) unnecessary, 2) do nothing to actually educate our children - it brainwashes them, and 3) they are studies that should be relegated as "extra-curricular" in nature. Our schools are not supposed to be mirror images of liberal arts colleges. More important, our schools should be teaching our kids HOW to think, not WHAT to think.
Teach our students what they need to know - mathematics, U.S. & World History, Geography, Civics, Spelling, Reading and Writing. Concentrate on the basics, as most children with solid basics can then fill in the blanks on their own - as children have done for the last 250 years of American history. With the basics soundly in place, students are equipped to figure out everything else on their own - and they should. If we keep heaping on classes that "figure things out for them", our children will not only be uneducated and unable to think for themselves, but will be brainwashed in the process.
By concentrating on the necessities of education - teaching our kids to think, and providing the basic knowledge that allows it, teachers will not have to give out as much homework. And in most cases, the homework that is given can often be competed at school, in study hall. I never once brought homework home, or carried a book home from school - not once. Yet I got a very good education, graduated with honors, went on to get three degrees and succeeded reasonably well (I "retired" from having to earn a living at age 38).
Is it any wonder our scholastic abilities are falling when schools heap unnecessary "social" courses on our kids, rather than concentrate on teaching them HOW to think instead of WHAT to think?
As parents, you NEED to get involved. You need to get together with other parents and let your school boards knowyou do not want schools toteach your kids what to think, but rather how to think for themselves. Force them to eliminate studies that teach "social" issues, as all of them do nothing more than brainwash kids into thinking there is only one way to view them.
Getr involved. They are YOUR kids and grandchildren. If you don't take a stand on their behalf, what makes you think anyone else will?
/
No comments:
Post a Comment