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Homework was the bane of my childhood, so how will I persuade my children it's necessary, asks Jemima Lewis
One of the things I dread about eventually sending my son to school is the prospect of homework. As a child, my hatred of homework went far beyond the usual. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to do it – I was naturally obedient – but that my entire being rebelled against the injustice of it. I had only to open a textbook after school hours to slip into a state of suppressed rage, from which I would emerge, three hours later, into one of sickening fear. My entire academic life was blighted by lies, disappointed teachers and detentions, all because I would not – could not – do my homework.
How, then, am I to persuade my son to do his? It's not as if, in adulthood, I have come round to the idea. Several recent studies have suggested that homework has little or no beneficial effect on academic performance. And now that I have tasted the pleasures of a self-contained working day, it seems to me even more of a monstrous imposition on a child's free time.
Read more here.
One of the things I dread about eventually sending my son to school is the prospect of homework. As a child, my hatred of homework went far beyond the usual. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to do it – I was naturally obedient – but that my entire being rebelled against the injustice of it. I had only to open a textbook after school hours to slip into a state of suppressed rage, from which I would emerge, three hours later, into one of sickening fear. My entire academic life was blighted by lies, disappointed teachers and detentions, all because I would not – could not – do my homework.
How, then, am I to persuade my son to do his? It's not as if, in adulthood, I have come round to the idea. Several recent studies have suggested that homework has little or no beneficial effect on academic performance. And now that I have tasted the pleasures of a self-contained working day, it seems to me even more of a monstrous imposition on a child's free time.
Read more here.