Hey did you know there are parents out there who say ‘no’ to their primary kids doing homework!
I mean, can we really do that? Could I have said that? I wish I had. It certainly crossed my mind a few times. Homework, families and primary school kids has been a hot topic recently in mainstream newsprint. One article below from the Sydney Morning Herald is both shocking and unsurprising at the same time; we kind of new homework for kids didn’t achieve anything as we banged our heads on the dining table way past their bedtime each night.

Check it out:"Most researchers conclude that for primary students, there is no evidence that homework lifts academic performance"...

…Education academic Mike Horsley, who co-wrote the book Reforming Homework, said there was a "fair degree of difference" in how parents and teachers valued homework. "For some parents, homework presents specific challenges in the modern lifestyles, so with the changes in the workplace and living arrangements, more traditional types of homework presents challenges and in some cases these challenges have turned into a fair bit of family conflict," Professor Horsley said.

For the full article try: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nsw-primary-schools-allow-parents-to-permanently-excuse-children-from-homework-20150314-14380k.html

I remember my first child going through kindergarten and coming home with homework one day. I was dumbfounded.  She’s 6! Are you for real!  This event repeated itself for my other kids and I felt a little frustrated and powerless to alter this premature onset of 'parental anxiety' about the HSC. Have you ever felt this way? Did you come up with any strategies to combat the issue?

One year my eldest daughter had to do that speech writing thing all schools do. Three minutes on your feet in front of the class. The teacher gave them 4 or 5 topics to choose from, my daughter chose, ‘Should kids do homework?’ Wooohah Woohohah. Now this is one piece of homework I’m definitely up for. I had to be careful though, as the temptation to turn up in my daughter’s place was strong.
She’s actually fine at writing her own work and didn’t really need my help as it turned out. She took the negative side, sighting arguments against homework such as:
-kid’s need playtime
-kid’s parents often can’t help them and have other parenting things they need to do.
-it stresses the family all out
-kid’s learn through other things and need time for drama, music and things like gymnastics or netball.

All top reasons. But I threw in one illustration that I ended up asking my daughter to not use, but she liked it so much she used it anyway. Here it is for your own consideration next time you’re affronted by premature, HSC anxiety syndrome, homework:

If you hire a brick layer to come and build a wall for you, he’s not going to leave at the end of the day and say, ‘be great if you can finish this bit tonight and I’ll carrying on with the rest of the wall tomorrow, cheers!’. No. The bricklayer is expertly trained to brick lay. So why would I want to finish the wall myself? I have a great bricklayer, so I’ll leave that to him.

So teachers, you are the expert in teaching the curriculum, so don’t ask me to finish your work for you. I reckon primary kids, especially in kindergarten and infants, either do it themselves and it’s enjoyable learning for them with no pressure on families, or they don’t do it at all. I don’t have the expertise or the time or energy to fight with my kids after a long day at school or work. I want family time. I want downtime. I want time to feel free to take my kids to music lesson, for a swim or a walk.

Recently we had the triple burden of three kids with three major projects on at a similar time. So for two weekends straight we were in lock down mode. Parents be warned…don’t dream of doing anything…the kids have all got homework and need help. Forget the beach, forget relaxation.

I loved the story of one guy in my local rag who is both a parent and a psychologist but who banned his own primary kids from doing homework. Apparently every year he sends a detailed letter to his kid’s teachers explaining why they won’t be doing homework!

http://www.theleader.com.au/story/2931735/has-homework-become-a-burden-on-families/

I love it! Can I have a copy of the letter? I’ll cut and paste and put my name and kids on it.

Apparently a 2002 study found homework created anxiety and other mood disorders. Plus there wasn’t any research showing a positive outcome on children’s learning from homework. Take that.

Now apparently it may not be the obsessiveness of teachers but the insistence of parents to set homework so their talented little kids can really excel. So the HSC begins in Kindy right? We start the worry tree early don’t we?  As parents we want to make sure our kids will have enough food, clothes, and opportunities.  It’s why Jesus’ words to the crowds in Palestine apply today as much as they did 2000 years ago:

“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes [and the mind more important than the HSC!!!]? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-27).

The trouble is it’s likely to be hard on your kids to step away and be ‘left out’, not doing the homework. I can’t see how they won’t feel bad or slightly ‘odd’ or they might even end up bullied as they mark themselves out as different from the pack that are doing the homework.  
It would be great if more parents questioned homework and placed more value on relationships with their kids and development of things school doesn’t cover or offer.

It would also be great to see more research done to demonstrate what exercises and activities outside school hours actually benefitted children at this age. As it stands I think all this homework is unnecessary, anxiety inducing, HSC ‘creep’ fueled by parents who worry that life is no more than ‘what you eat, drink, own or wear’.

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