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United Kingdom Elementary school homework not very useful
Four out of five parents help their kids with their homework for about 15 minutes a day. The older the child gets, the more help he/she receives. Experts say that parents bear high expectations, and find homework very important.
“Nevertheless, research clearly shows that homework results in better school achievements in no more than 15 percent of children between the age of six and nine. In older pupils, the figure climbs to 25 percent, but that doesn’t make it worthwhile,” says Ghent University education expert Martin Valcke. Many schools are putting the question on the table, but changing homework policy isn’t easy. “Homework is part of the job the same way chalk dust is.”
Other remarkable findings from the VRT-Het Nieuwsblad questionnaire:
- Elementary school children spend a daily average of 30 minutes doing their homework. The amount of time increases as the pupils’ education advances: it’s at 20 minutes in the first year, against 40 minutes in the final year.
- Homework causes tensions in one out of three families.
- Four out of five parents feel that homework helpsstay up-to-date on what their child is learning at school at any given moment.
- One out of five parents thinks homework is unnecessary, dispensable, and a nuisance that gets in the way of hobbies.
- One out of five (mostly very work-busy) parents don’t help their children with their homework.
Flandersnews.be / Expatica