by Joan Inong

Created on: May 09, 2009

Homework's relation to education is often misinterpreted. Many students think that they get too much homework, and most parents agree. Whatever the case, students should receive a well-balanced amount of homework.

First, one of the reasons why children complain about receiving too much homework is because they believe that they have other "better" things to do. They would rather be outside, or playing with their friends, or playing video games, or watching television.

But at the same time, children do not want to do something as "boring" as homework. And, unfortunately, homework is usually boring. Children often don't see how their homework relates to what they have just learned in the classroom. As a result, they breeze through their homework, not realizing how it is supposed to be helping them extend their learning experience.

Sometimes, children do receive too much homework. But, what is "too much" in this case? For some children, too much means taking too much of their play time. That is actually not an unreasonable excuse. Children should be enjoying childhood. However, at this point in their lives, they should also be learning how to become good diligent students. So, even if their homework takes two hours to complete, does that mean that it is really "too much"?

Too much homework should mean that, even though the child has spent a couple of hours on his homework, he is still not finished. That, when he opens his math book, he realizes that he has to calculate a problem set of fifty questions. If those fifty questions are not all relevant to his learning experience, then that is a good example of too much homework. For example, fifty questions will not contribute more to the learning experience as compared to thirty questions. If those fifty questions are filled with thirty questions that are relevant, and twenty that are not, then what is the point of doing the twenty that are irrelevant? Some teachers like to give these "filler" questions, and as a result, children know that they are getting "too much" homework.

Surely, children are supposed to be enjoying childhood, and playing outside and with their friends. But, they also have to have an education. These two actions are almost opposite to what a child wants to do, but, that does not mean that they cannot go together successfully. If homework can be made "fun" and if homework can be made so concise that children don't have the chance to think, "This shouldn't even be part of homework," then, homework will not become a childhood enemy but instead a friend.

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