This holds especially true for students in grades k-3. I’ll repeat that again: Homework is NOT for me, the teacher!įor me, homework is for the student and parent. So I justify it by thinking…homework is that it is not for me. How can I be upset with that student?īut, my district has a homework policy and, as the ever model teacher, I assign it. Is that work on the paper even theirs? Or worse, I’m punishing a student who goes home to an empty house all afternoon and has to watch their younger sister and possibly cook dinner. I want kids to run outside and play when they get home, not be slumped over the kitchen table as they brood over their continued lessons of the day. Didn’t they just spend the last six hours doing that?Īlso, in the early grades, teachers know the majority of homework is spent with a parent acting as a task manager. I’m a big believer in letting kids be kids. I’ve written about that topic before ( here). Ludicrous, I know… You’re ready to aim! But hear me out on this one! If a kid tells me he didn’t do his homework, I give a look and ask them to be more responsible. They don’t sit out at recess, they don’t lose points. I also don’t “punish” my students for not doing their homework.

I don’t spend hours looking over papers from the night before.

As in… I have a checklist of students that I have a parent volunteer or student check off, but that’s pretty much it. Not only do I NOT grade homework… I barely look over it. Now don’t throw tomatoes at me! Hear me out on this!

Homework for 2nd graders