The core intention of giving kids homework is allowing them an opportunity to go through what they were taught in class to increase information retention. And this only works when they’re given a reasonable amount of work that won’t result in overworking.
Unfortunately, kids have been complaining about too much homework for far too long and no one seems to take them seriously. In fact, most kids perceive homework as a punishment because it’s more challenging than it’s helpful.
Giving kids excessive homework sets a bad precedent because over time, they start resenting studying at home. What’s worse is, they’ll rush through the heavy workload and learn nothing in the process because they can’t wait to get over and done with it.
A child who is overwhelmed with homework will not only perform badly in school but they’ll also hardly get any time to enjoy playing at home. It’s about time educators start analyzing the benefits of less homework and come up with new stipulations that are in the best interest of the kids.
Read this article to explore nine reasons why kids should have less homework.
- Get Kids to be Passionate About Learning Again
If a child is perennially complaining about their academic workload, chances are, they’ll grow up disliking academics because too much homework conditioned them to think that learning is hard. It’s about time educators reduce kids’ academic workload to what they can manage with the time available and the resources they have access to.
- Allow Kids to Enjoy Play Time at Home
Kids continue to interact with the world through play even after they start going to school. This means that at the end of the day, they should be allowed to catch up with their friends before calling it a day. But that’s impossible if the entire evening is spent working on an endless list of homework assignments. Teachers should make it easy for parents to raise their kids by ensuring the homework offered doesn’t eat into the kids’ play time.
- Increase Kids’ Information Retention
A child is more likely to remember a concept they’ve learnt if they take their time to do homework. But taking the time to answer homework questions can be impossible when there are so many questions to be answered within a short time. Every evening, students are running against time and losing their information retention and something should be done to rectify this.
- Alleviate Anxiety in Kids
Did you know that too much homework causes anxiety in children? When a child is constantly worried about completing their academic work, they’ll be desolate and under pressure all the time. Reducing their homework alleviates their anxiety.
- Allow Kids to Enjoy Childhood
Understanding that the academic capacity of a young child is quite different from that of an adult is the secret to offering balanced homework throughout the education system.
- Give Teachers an Easier Time Teaching
It must be challenging to go through loads of homework every morning. So, reducing homework also stands to benefit educators.
- Improve Kids’ Performance
If a child is given bite sized homework assignments every day, their academic performance is bound to improve gradually.
- Allow Kids to Make Friends
If a child spends all weekend doing homework, when will they ever interact with their peers? Reducing homework allows them to step out of the house and make friends.
- Get Kids Excited for School
When doing homework is fun, kids will be excited to report to school the next day.
Wrapping Up
Since the disadvantages of too much homework are so obvious, we hope educators will make the necessary changes to make learning more fun.