We want our children to finish high school as literate and passionate Jews, proud of their heritage as Jews and as Americans. We want them to be knowledgeable about our sacred literature, observant of our Jewish traditions, well-rounded in math and history, the sciences and computer technology, and perhaps some poetry and literature as well. The ability to write grammatically correct English prose, to converse in Hebrew, and to think critically is a bonus.
We also want our children to take part in extracurricular activities, team sports, dance, music and chesed projects. These are wonderful hopes and aspirations that our educators try to squeeze into each school day. It is a wonder that our children are able to learn so much. In fact, it has been reliably reported that our dual-curriculum day-school graduates find college to be a breeze, at least in terms of time management.
We cram so much into a school day and still require homework. Is there a better way?
On April 30-May 1, 2018, the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University hosted a conference titled “Inside Jewish Day Schools,” where educators in the field and researchers studying it got a chance to hear from each other. Based on one of the sessions, Tikvah Wiener, head of school of The Idea School, a Jewish, co-ed, project-based learning high school opening at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in September 2018, raised the following questions in a recent post: “Our obsession with grades and our society’s competitive college-admissions process have led to cottage industries around shadowing schooling. Parents and students have learned to fight for every point on a test, and schools feel increasingly pressured to inflate grades. What does this race to nowhere do to actual learning—and to the moral, spiritual and intellectual health of our communities? … Middle schoolers killing themselves literally and figuratively because of schoolwork; a college-admissions process designed to bring out the worst in students, parents and schools; and parents and kids feeling lost and alone, navigating a system designed to rob children of their childhoods… One immediate fix I wanted to give the school system…was a homework overhaul. Why are kids required, as one former student of mine said, to do a day of school after their day of school? A good question indeed.”
The problem is real. Early morning and early evening on the bus, then homework, and the cycle starts all over again. Even worse for those on sports teams, who have even less time for homework after practices. There have been many studies about teen-aged sleep deprivation. Add to this mix how much time is spent on the phone and/or computer and the time is even more compressed.
Competition for grades is fierce and starts early. So too with building a college-application resume. It is easy to formulate the questions. The answers are not so readily available or implementable. I know one mother who makes her daughter sleep in and stay home every so often just to catch up. Her daughter would come home by bus and allow herself so many minutes for a snack, a few more for computer and phone time, 22 minutes for supper, 12 minutes for a shower, and the rest of the night for homework. And the cycle repeats five times a week. When I was in high school I didn’t get home until almost 7 p.m. By the time I ate dinner I was exhausted, I went to sleep by 9 p.m., got up at 3 a.m. and did my homework then.
Alfie Kohn in “The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing” writes: “The negative effects of homework are well known. They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved. Parents who watch a torrent of busywork spill out of their children’s backpacks wish they could help teachers understand how the cons overwhelmingly outweigh the pros. And teachers who have long harbored doubts about the value of homework feel pressured by those parents who mistakenly believe that a lack of after-school assignments reflects an insufficient commitment to academic achievement. Such parents seem to reason that as long as their kids have lots of stuff to do every night, never mind what it is, then learning must be taking place.”
A homework overhaul is necessary, but how? Eliminate homework and just have a longer school day? Eliminate homework and extend the school year? Be more judicious in how homework is assigned and avoid busy work? Bear in mind that memorizing multiplication tables and poetry has value, and students need to do reading assignments at home.
Our children need time to be children and not student automatons. Creative solutions need to be found.
By Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene
Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene has had a distinguished career as a day-school educator, administrator and consultant.
