Homework? In the 21st century? Surely it’s time we realised that it’s a thing of the past.
The days of bringing home a homework booklet for the week are numbered. Schools hate making them, children absolutely hate doing them and teachers hate marking them.
They serve one purpose. To keep our children busy whilst simultaneously turning our children into educational zombies stealing every blessed evening.
The world, life and nature should be our children’s homework each and every night. For it is here where the rich learning of life takes place. Here’s what I think constitutes homework;
1. Being bored. When children are bored they become creative, making games, role playing and inventing things.
2. Building – allow children to build a tent from sheets, a den in the garden or a robot from cardboard boxes.
3. Reading a book – read a book at home together then go for a walk and talk about it, what happened and why? Build a bond.
4. Visiting a friend – spend time to visit friends and offer help is any is required.
5. Making dinner – measuring ingredients, counting, timing and baking are all valuable skills.
6. Helping with the housework – give your child specific roles in the house on each day. Their payment is that they contributed.
One Response
Well said!
I feel if we just create the perfect atmosphere in the classroom and inspire students enough they would love to explore the subject on their own in their free time. So, why force them instead with a homework.
It’s like gardening. All we need to do is take care of the soil, manure, and such factors, the seed shall germinate on its own. We need not pull the fruit out of the seed forcefully! If classwork is done whilst maintaining quality, homework is unnecessary. The kid can rather explore the world like the way you have described!