Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs Paperback – Import, 2 July 2009

I love it! This book is in excellent condition! Thank you.

It never occurred to me to question whether or not a child should do their homework. Until my kindergartener got saddled with hours of homework every night. All parents, educators and grandparents need to read this book. Just because a school avalanches a kid with homework, doesn't mean that the homework is appropriate or beneficial — or that all of that homework means that it's a better school. It's up to parents to decide if mountains of homework are robbing their children of sleep, socialization, developing sports skills, or family harmony — and work with the child's teacher to minimize the amount of time spent doing homework while helping the child still meet their educational milestones.

Homework as a way to extend student learning can help to close the achievement gap when it is meaningful and doable by a student. Lots of practical ideas are given to help teachers structure the homework they assign to align with learning goals. Also lots of strategies to use when homework is not being completed.

There are many pros and cons dealing with homework. Although this is a "tradition" in American public schools, there continues to be a debate over its purpose and whether it is effective. Many great points are made from the perspectives of the struggling learners, economically disadvantaged students, to the very active and overacheiver student. All have their own issues and it is interesting to read the diversity each population faces. A must read for educators who always feel like they are chasing homework!

This book raises philosophical and educational issues that basically forced me to change my view of homework. I have been teaching high school for 20 years without really examining in depth why I treat homework the way I do in terms of what I assign, how much I assign, and how I incorporate homework into grades. If you are fed up with how homework is working in your class (or for your own children), this book will give you lots to think about and suggestions/options as to how you might change things.