The 10-Minute Homework Rule

Have you ever thought “why a large number of student’s blood run cold in the name of the school?”. Here is my take on this issue. Students often procrastinate not to be present in school. The reason behind is not lack of interest, but homework. It is tempting to believe that unfinished homework is the reason behind absenteeism. Finding a school that does not assign homework is impossible. Works assigned to be done after school, at home is homework. Homework has been a controversial topic among educationists. But it carries pros and cons in different amounts. There are students as well as teachers who find benefits out of it. But also there are students who are in favour of banning homework.

Why homework should be banned?

Six hours of the crowded classroom with long lectures are tiring. Students feel bushed by the end of the day. They have no impulse to look at the same notes again at home. It adds pointless stress in their life. Because they are forced to do their homework, which adversely affects mental and physical health by stealing sleep. They are left with little time and don’t get to spend time with peers, parents, cousins as there is too much on their plate all the time. Due to the home assignment, they miss out leisure activities and restrict themselves to books. Hence they cannot explore themselves, learn new skills, practice hobbies. They never get time to comprehend the world around, scarily.

Why homework should be given?

Every school, every teacher assign homework considering the fact that that there is no time limit a student can spend on education. Students are meant to study. Forgetting that a student is not only a student, but also a child. Also, some teachers believe that after school student just go home and play games, watch TVs; to keep them engaged, homework is a technique. There is value proposition attached to what one learns from. TV does not feature in it, books do! Irrespective of all the theory around the world for ages now on learning styles. Keeping aside the belief, homework is beneficial for students as it motivates students to relook the topics covered in class. Homework is also an approach for the parents to keep a check on their child’s routine (read playfulness).

The purpose of homework is to excite the interest in education, not to pressurize the students.

So homework should be given which will spark interest among them, right? Teachers should assign homework that will help the students stretch their horizon. It should be crafted in a way to spark the creativity by including interesting articles, more vitally, life skills. Coming to the issue of how much work is to be done at home, has attracted the attention of many educationists. Many argue that it should be less so that children will get time to develop their self. To add to the solution, Prof. Harris Copper of Duke University have suggested something called 10-minute rule. According to him, the amount of homework depends on the standard of the child. If a student is in first grade, he/she should exercise 10 minutes of homework; and if she/he belongs to seven grade then 70 minutes of homework. The grade of the student multiplies 10.

As summer vacation is approaching, there are some of the home works we have designed to assign to the parents.

• Morning exercise: Start your day with yoga, meditation. Make it a habit for your child.
• Let your kids help you in cooking and gardening: Allow your little one to assist you in preparing foods. Teach them how to cut vegetables, fruits. Let them bake cakes. It will help them knowing even cooking food needs effort. Take them with you to the garden. Let them plant trees, grow vegetables. Let them know the pain of farmer in the scorching sun and in the bitter cold.
• Take them to the local market: Don’t forget to take them with you, while going to buy vegetables. But avoid going to malls.
• Teach a new skill every day: Design a list of activities that you think your child should learn to live. Teach one skill every day, whatever tiny may be. Include DIY crafts, best out of waste in your list.
• Spend time with your little one: You must not get time to have a meal with your child because of tight schedule. But in this vacation try to have your breakfast and dinner atleast with your little ones. Tell your stories as a child. Share your childhood experiences. Be a friend with them.
• Let them spend time with grandparents: Leave your little one with grandmother and grandfather. Let them hear stories, build an attachment with them.
• Don’t give them electronic gadgets: Make the vacation a special one for your child. Do not let them engage with TV, mobile or tablet. Allow them to make friends, play in the ground.
• Read books with them: It may be story books like Panchatantra, informative books or comic books. But do not give textbooks. Engage in reading with them. They will enjoy it. Get them out of the textbooks.
• Visit relatives: Visit your near and dears. Tell the importance of relationships. Let them have fun with cousins.

Get your child out of the box. Let them experiment with different things. This is the way they will learn and experience things. This time you as a parent do your homework well.

*** Reference – http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm