why do i have homework over break

My High-Schooler Has So Much Work to Do Over the Break. How Can I Keep It From Ruining Family Time?

By Jenn Osen-Foss, MAT

Question: My high-schooler has so much work to do over the holidays. Winter break doesn’t feel like much of a break! What can I do to keep my daughter’s homework from ruining our family time?

For starters, it’s a good idea to explain to your child why she’s being assigned homework over the break. I teach high-schoolers, and I’ve been known to make my classes do some work during the holidays. Why? Over a long break, homework can be very good for students because it:

Limits the loss (or “regression”) of new skills. When it comes to student learning, there’s definitely some truth to the saying, “Use it or lose it!”

Provides a way to improve academic grades. Teachers will sometimes offer grade-boosting opportunities over the holidays like make-up work or projects that can be completed for extra credit.

Helps teens prepare for college and career by having them work on their time-management skills .

Gives the teacher time to catch the class up on an assignment or two if it’s behind schedule. Doing these assignments over the break can be less stressful than trying to squeeze them in during the second half of the year.

Understanding why homework is being assigned can help improve your child’s attitude about having to do it over the break. As a parent, you can assist your teen in deciding when and how to tackle these assignments . Here are some practical tips:

Pick the best time of day. What time of day is your teen the most productive? Ask her when she thinks she can get the most work done. If she works best in the morning, help her plan a couple of mornings to work over the break.

Make good use of travel time. Do your holiday plans include a long car ride? Traveling by plane? Have your daughter pack homework in her carry-on so she can do it on the plane or in the airport if your flight is delayed. Long car rides can be a great time to listen to an audiobook.

Don’t procrastinate. Taking the first day off to rest has benefits, but encourage your daughter to finish her work sooner than later. Talk about how stressful it will be if she tries to cram all of her homework into the last night of her vacation.

Take a break. Carve out some time away from homework! Your daughter should take a day off to be with family, a day off to be with friends or any other special days she designates.

If you help your teen come up with a game plan for completing assignments and she still seems overwhelmed with work, it’s OK for you to reach out to her teachers with your concerns. But keep in mind that even though holiday breaks may seem very busy to you , there are also lots of times when your teen will have nothing to do. Encouraging her to use those downtimes efficiently can make winter break more enjoyable for everyone.

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Should students have homework over breaks, a year of remote learning has put many students behind in school. is homework over the holidays the answer to getting teens back on track  .

The holidays are nearly here! It’s time to enjoy your favorite treats, visit with family and friends, and maybe even unwrap a big pile of . . . homework?

Assignments over winter break probably aren’t on your wish list. But some educators believe giving homework during school vacations is necessary to help students stay sharp—especially now. 

More than 70 percent of U.S. students in grades K-12 attended classes remotely for at least part of this past school year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Months of school shutdowns and virtual classes have caused many teens to fall behind. Doing homework over winter break, some experts say, could help kids catch up.

But others argue that hitting the books over the holidays isn’t the answer. They say students need downtime—and that homework serves little purpose anyway. 

Should students have homework over school breaks? Keep reading, then decide what you think.

Homework Is Helpful

Many people across the U.S. are concerned that teens’ grades are suffering because of the pandemic. They support homework during winter break to help kids get back on track. But plenty of others are in favor of assignments during vacations even during normal school years. They say homework helps prevent students from forgetting what they’ve learned. Plus, they add, teachers shouldn’t have to spend time reviewing old lessons when classes start again. 

Homework over the holidays also helps students practice their skills, explains Janine Bempechat. She studies human development at Boston University in Massachusetts. 

“Consistent practice is essential for learning and growth,” she says.

Average time U.S. teens spend on homework per day 

SOURCE: Pew Research Center

Brian Platzer, a teacher and co-author of Taking the Stress Out of Homework , agrees. Putting in some time on tricky concepts over vacation lets students “hit the ground running when they return.”

Supporters of homework over winter break say assignments don’t need to involve detailed worksheets or reports. For example, students could read a book of their choosing and keep a response journal. Reading, experts say, may help students recharge after a tough year. 

“Getting lost in reading,” says Bempechat, “is a wonderful way to reduce stress.”

Lessons From Around the World

CHINA: Under new rules to ease pressure on kids, middle school students are limited to 1.5 hours of homework a night.

FINLAND: High school students attend school for five hours per day and have about three hours of homework per week.

AUSTRALIA: Some government officials have asked schools to reconsider heavy homework loads so kids can relax.

Kids Need Rest

Others, however, are quick to point out that today’s students are already facing high stress levels, and the last thing they need over the holidays is more assignments. 

Homework over winter break is unnecessary, says Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth . In fact, kids probably don’t need to do homework ever .

“Everyone knows homework can be frustrating and exhausting,” he explains. 

Some school districts across the U.S. have reduced or even banned homework. One reason is that not all kids have access to the same resources outside the classroom. For example, 15 percent of households with school-age children do not have high-speed internet, according to the Pew Research Center.

Share of teens who cite homework as a source of stress 

SOURCE: Challenge Success 

After her school district discouraged assigning homework over the holidays, eighth-grade teacher Christina Torres of Honolulu, Hawaii, altered her lessons. Now her students complete important projects before enjoying time off. 

“Taking the stress of homework out of my students’ holiday breaks is important,” she wrote in Education Week . “They deserve an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate as much as I do.”

Think It Over

Consider the pros and cons of having homework during school breaks. Then ask yourself: Should teachers give assignments over the holidays? Or are there other, less formal ways to continue learning when school is not in session? 

Write About It! Should students have homework over breaks? Write an essay that includes evidence from the article.

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Teachers see pros and cons of homework over break

Kentucky School for the Deaf senior Sasha Jones looks for her ornament on the Christmas tree at the Governor’s Mansion Nov. 30, 2010. Photo by Amy Wallot

By Susan Riddell

Whether high school students need to finish a term paper for U.S. History or primary students need to write a book report, student learning can easily continue over the holiday break.

The questions many teachers face, however, are how much homework do they assign and what are the best methods to make sure students still are able to focus on family time over the break.

Lois Conely is in her 28th year as an educator and her eighth year as a middle school teacher at Anchorage Elementary School (Anchorage Independent), a K-8 school.

She said keeping students consistently learning over break is important but doing so should be handled delicately.

“It helps students use and practice their skills and stay somewhat engaged with and connected to content,” Conely said. “Especially during holiday breaks, students may have family gatherings or special activities or they may travel. The students and their parents don’t need to worry about homework assignments during these times.”

Conely suggests handing out an assignment in the days leading up to the break, not the day before one starts.

“I have found it helpful to make assignments a few days in advance of the break and not due for a few days after the break so that if a student wants or needs the extended time, it is available,” she said. “In addition, if you post the homework assignment on your school website and/or notify parents via e-mail that an assignment is due, it helps students who might be unclear with directions or who need the actual assignment.”

Anchorage school district’s holiday break – like many others in the state – lasts two weeks. Conely said she doesn’t normally hand out homework strictly for the break but will offer links to websites. “I don’t do something that’s only online because some students travel and will not have access to a computer,” she said.

In past years, she has assigned a family history project that involved students interviewing family members and gathering photographs and primary source documents over the holiday breaks.

“The project was assigned several weeks prior to the break so that they could plan ahead and then use the time during holiday gatherings when they would see relatives they didn’t ordinarily see,” Conely said. “The actual project was not due for a couple of weeks after the holiday break so they had time to compile and format their work.”

Suggested Reading: How to Handle Holiday Homework

Teresa Hinton has been a 5th-grade grade teacher at Calhoun Elementary School (McLean County) for 13 years and primarily teaches mathematics. She feels strongly that students “need to practice math often to retain those skills” but said that she tends to choose not to hand out homework over the break.

“From experience I have found that most likely the only students who would actually do the assignments would be the students who don’t need the extra practice,” Hinton said. “The struggling students tend to be struggling because they rarely complete daily assignments. I consider the break a ‘break’ and remind the students that we will be ready to start back at an intensive level when we return.”

Hinton said it’s important to emphasize to students that once the break is over it’s time to really focus on learning.

“On the first week back from our break, I stress repeatedly to the students that we are going to be working hard and focusing on what needs to be learned before the end of the year,” Hinton said.

“I try to do a review-type activity when we first come back to help them get back into the flow of things. This also serves as a confidence boost to do something that they should know how to do. Sometimes, especially in math, confidence is half the battle. If the students feel that they can be successful, often times they work harder to continue to feel that success.”

MORE INFO … Lois Conely, [email protected] , (502) 245-2121 Teresa Hinton, [email protected] , (270) 273-3264

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Why Do Some Professors Assign Homework Over Spring Break?

Professor David Bates teaches in the classroom on April 28.

Anna Kuschel May 3, 2023

As the bus left the hotel in Minnesota at 6 a.m. on day seven of the Wind Symphony’s Spring Break tour, freshman Kierra Mohalley took out her iPad to work on assignments due the Monday after break. 

Though the exhaustion from the tour was overwhelming, Mohalley knew that if she didn’t put time into her homework while on the bus, she wouldn’t have it finished by Monday morning. The Wind Symphony wasn’t scheduled to return to CUC until late Sunday evening, leaving little time for homework. 

“I had art projects for my 3D Basic Studio class I had to do in person once we got back to CUC,” said Mohalley. “This motivated me to keep doing my homework despite feeling tired and a bit carsick.”

Many CUC students don’t go home over spring break, as athletes travel for games or stay on campus for practices, and musicians in Wind Symphony and Kapelle go on their spring tour. Though students choose to be part of these activities, it can be difficult to return to school after break without getting the chance to relax.

“For students, I see break as a time to take a breath, rest, regroup and make a mental plan for how they want to push to the end of the semester once they get back to campus,” said assistant professor of business Donald Grenholm. “Students have a lot to juggle during the school year, so break allows them to reconsider their priorities and time management while there is still time to improve their standings in the course.”

Having homework that is due either over break or on the first day of classes following break is challenging as well, as students may not have time to complete these tasks. 

“I see students struggle to get back into things after break,” said David Bates, Ph.D., an associate professor of history. “I have always found March to be the most difficult month in the spring semester, because everyone is dragging a bit.” 

Historians trace the origins of spring break all the way back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, according to a 2013 article in The Atlantic. They dedicated three days during the spring to honor Dionysus, the god of wine. They celebrated the arrival of spring, the season of fertility and awakening. 

The idea of the modern spring break was introduced when swim coach Sam Ingram from Colgate University in New York brought his swim team to Fort Lauderdale to train at an Olympic-size pool there. The city saw this as a great economic opportunity, and hosted the first College Coaches’ Swim Forum in 1938. From there, the idea of a modern spring break grew, one that we are still observing today.

Though CUC students have a spring break, it can often be a time filled with tests, papers, and other assignments that distract from the idea of taking a break from school work and relaxing. Additionally, students who are on school trips are often following a very demanding schedule that leaves little time to do homework. 

“I think spring break should be a time for students to recharge without assignments hanging over their head,” said Bates. “I’m not sure how students would be able to get additional work done anyway, if they are traveling the whole time.” 

Senior percussionist Adam Schweyer had to complete a midterm for his Lutheran Teacher Vocation and Methods course while on Wind Symphony tour over spring break. 

“I usually try to get homework done before spring break, but that didn’t work for me this year,” said Schweyer. “I would say this was a reasonable amount of work, though it was especially stressful because we were on the Wind Symphony tour.” 

Though Schweyer found time to finish the midterm on the bus, he said the lack of quality internet connection while on the road could have been a big problem if he had more homework to complete. 

Schweyer’s midterm was assigned by Professor Jared Stiek on Tuesday, Feb. 28, before spring break began. Students had until the end of the day on Saturday, March 4 to complete the assignment. 

Stiek set this deadline to give students flexibility and allow them extra time to complete the essay exam. He hoped to alleviate stress, and did not want students to have to work on this assignment over break. 

“Every student has to balance their schedule to accomplish their schoolwork,” said Stiek. “If a student waits to complete this work until hours before the deadline, then the work can be stress-inducing.” 

Stiek understands the demands of tour, as he was a student musician as well at Concordia University Nebraska. Because of this, he aims to set deadlines for assignments in a way that gives students the chance to avoid last-minute stressful situations. 

Even when teachers assign homework over break, many are conscious of what students have going on in their lives, and try to make it manageable for them. Some teachers avoid giving work over break, while others choose to assign a bit more homework than usual the week before spring break. 

“This means the week before spring break can be stressful, but that is the nature of midterms,” said Mary Goetting, Ph.D., a professor of mathematics.

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Should teachers assign homework over school breaks?

Most students in school – whether public, private, or international –  can relate to the feeling of looking forward to a lovely break only to have a mountain of homework to complete.

The more diligent will complete it during the first few days so they can enjoy the holiday, but there are several who will wait til the last minute!

But should there really be homework during a school holiday? One teacher known as Sarah recently wrote on BoredTeachers how she believes that it is a mistake to assign homework over the break, even though she used to do it herself.

She wrote, “It’s taken a lot of experience and personal reflection, but after seventeen years of teaching high school students, I am firmly in the “not to assign” camp.”

She said that there was a time when she felt differently, especially when she couldn’t finish teaching a particular unit before a major break or felt like she wasn’t challenging her students enough, so she would assign some short papers or reading over the holidays.

“This was especially true when I personally wasn’t doing anything special over the break except staying at home. I guess I selfishly reasoned that if I was going to be spending part of my time off grading the work that I had already assigned, then they could be spending part of that time off doing homework for me.”

Are students spending the bulk of their school holidays finishing homework? Source: Shutterstock

But what Sarah realised is that she wasn’t the only teacher assigning homework, or who felt pressed to finish teaching what they’re supposed to before the break, which leads the homework to pile up for the kids.

“I was trying to do “all the things”, and assigning work over short breaks allowed me to fit more learning into each semester. Instead of focusing on increasing the quality of what I was assigning, I became more concerned about the quantity, convincing myself that the more I assigned, the better a teacher I became.”

Is homework just busy work?

When Sarah went on to become a Graduate Teaching Assistant at university while studying for her Master’s, she found herself on the other side of the desk and began to realise what was really expected of college students.

“All of my years of telling my students “in college you will need to be able to do this” felt like a lie. Yes, there were skills that I expected from my students that they did need to master to be successful in college.”

“However, skills were more important than me imparting all of the knowledge that I could and having them read everything that was humanly possible, in a single school year. In the end, cutting out a novel or short story was not going to break them, something I slowly realized as I made my return to the high school classroom.”

Both kids and teachers should be allowed to enjoy their breaks and use it as a time to relax and recharge. Source: Shutterstock

Becoming a mother also altered her views on children and the pressures they face in school. She wrote, “Parenthood changed the way I viewed my students. I no longer saw them as just students. They were sons and daughters with parents who were watching their babies grow into adulthood.”

Reality really hit home when her daughter started bringing home homework from kindergarten which seemed more like busy work rather than encouraging real learning.

“When she could have been playing or we could have been reading together for fun, she had to do homework for which I saw no academic value. More than before, I started to critically consider the homework that I assigned and reconsider the value and importance of each assignment.”

“These are the questions I have started to ask myself through every unit: Is this worth my students’ time? Is grading that assignment worth my time as well? What is the ultimate benefit of a given assignment and does the benefit outweigh the cost to both teacher and student?”

Sarah urged other teachers to realise that they are allowed to take well-deserved breaks, and in turn, allow students to enjoy those same, well-deserved breaks.

“We have to ask ourselves how much of a difference that extra work is going to make in the end. I know that some of my fellow educators, especially those teaching high stakes courses in a single semester, will struggle to cut back, and that is understandable.”

“But maybe the rest of us can take a moment to invite our students to enjoy the quiet, teaching them to practice the self-care that so many of us struggle with so that they can return to us after a break renewed and refreshed with hearts and minds open for learning.”

Homework can be good, but not too much 

This week’s homework for parents is making an Easter bonnet and a garden shoe box. What homework has your school set you? pic.twitter.com/Qw1NJcuvGj — Becky Allen (@profbeckyallen) April 1, 2019

However, in a study done by Duke University, researchers found that homework does actually have a positive effect on student achievement, especially for younger children.

Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and director of Duke’s Program in Education, said, “With only rare exception, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant.”

But it is noteworthy to mention that despite the findings, the analysis also showed that too much homework can be counter-productive.

He said, “Even for high school students, overloading them with homework is not associated with higher grades.”

“Kids burn out. The bottom line really is all kids should be doing homework, but the amount and type should vary according to their developmental level and home circumstances.

“Homework for young students should be short, lead to success without much struggle, occasionally involve parents and, when possible, use out-of-school activities that kids enjoy, such as their sports teams or high-interest reading.”

Therefore, assigning homework over breaks is not necessarily a bad thing. But teachers should re-evaluate if students are really learning through them, or they would be better off enjoying a rejuvenating holiday with some light reading or a fun project instead of hours spent poring over difficult homework.

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Should Students Have Homework Over April Break?

Catherine Olohan '22 , Copy Editor | April 6, 2021

(Credit: Adam Richins Photography)

As April Break nears, the omnipresent question yet again takes hold of every student’s brain for another round of back-and-forth debate and conversation: “Should teachers give homework over break, and if so, how much?” 

When I asked around, the first reaction of the majority of students was to respond with a quick and affirmative “no.” Because of course, what middle/high schooler wants to sit inside during their first week off of school in spring completing work, rather than taking advantage of their time off, enjoying the fresh air and the company of their family and friends? I think most would agree that the ideal situation would be to take that “no” and run with it, giving both teachers and students much-needed time off. But how realistic is that? Because of the pandemic this year, Montrose teachers have had less class time to cover the material they need to. April Break falls at the beginning of the end of the year, when the curriculum culminates, the end is in sight, and AP classes are gearing up for exams. It’s reasonable then, to say: “Ok, we can’t take an entire week off from school, but how much homework should teachers give?”

Teachers need to be mindful of the fact that, while students need to complete work, it is equally important for them to take a break and recuperate from long weeks at school. Colleen Casey ‘22 said: “I would prefer to have no work, but if teachers felt like they needed to I would recommend just the equivalent of one night’s work. I wouldn’t suggest any big projects because that takes too much time away from our break.” She went further to say that, when teachers assign too much work over break, she feels like she benefits less from it because she rushes in order to get it done so that she can enjoy time off. Others reiterated that they thought a reasonable workload for each class would be the same amount of work teachers would assign for one night. However, if all teachers assign a night’s worth of homework, the work can pile up. There’s also a case to be made to refrain from work and allow students a deep rest and a more energetic return to their studies following break.

On the other hand, AP classes presented another debate for the answer to the question. Many high schoolers conceded that, while no homework would be ideal, they resigned themselves to a higher workload when they enrolled in AP classes. But, again, the work shouldn’t be so excessive that student’s feel like their break is overflowing with assignments. Grace Marino ‘22 said: “It’s tricky to figure out what to do with AP classes because I know they have to get a set amount of material covered, but girls with one or multiple APs need a mental break too. So maybe if they offered review, or just a video to watch, or take notes on that would be best.” I think that if AP teachers wanted to assign something big, such as completing a chapter in the textbook or taking a full AP practice test, they should give students a wider breadth of time to complete them. For example, Mrs. Whitlock is giving her AP Lang students a copy of a full AP Exam on April 6, not expecting it back until the first class after April Break. The AP Lang students are now at liberty to manage their own time and decide whether they want to take the test before break or during it. This is ideal because students are still benefiting from the work, but if they have plans over April Break it’s not taking away from their free time. This solution is applicable to other classes besides APs as well. 

This question of homework over April Break is not exclusively a high school phenomenon. Middle schoolers, too, have strong opinions about homework over April Break. Gabby Hasenjaeger ‘27 said that having homework over breaks makes her inclined to put it off until the last few days of break, and then she gets tired again before school even starts. As a proposed solution she said: “Little to no homework, but if you wanted some extra credit, or needed someone to explain it then that should be available.” 

One of the main threads I saw in my conversations with people about homework over April Break is that they didn’t want to be overburdened with so much work that it took away from their time off. Breaks from school are designed so students can step away from stress, relax, and recover from potential burnout they may be feeling. Cecilia Ashenuga ‘24 said: “I think it’s important for teachers and faculty to communicate what each are giving their students for break because, when you have six or seven classes, the work can pile up really fast… So from a teacher’s perspective, two to three hours of work might not seem like a lot, but if all your classes assign that much then your break won’t be much of a break at all.”

What I’ve concluded is that teachers need to be mindful of students’ time off, and students need to be mindful of their teachers’ efforts to help them learn and complete all necessary material. There is no one and done answer to this question (no matter how appealing that “no” may sound). Both teachers and students want to relax over April Break, and in order to do so, work must be balanced with leisure. Communication between teachers and students must take place so that everyone is on the same page about the pros and cons of homework, and how to get the most out of April Break, in regards to both academics and relaxation. 

Catherine Olohan ‘22, Copy Editor 

[email protected]  

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20 Reasons You Shouldn’t Assign Homework Over The Holidays

20 Reasons You Shouldn’t Assign Homework Over The Holidays by Miriam Clifford Many students agree that homework over the holidays really is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Upon returning from winter break, you’ll probably have a handful of students saying the dog ate their homework or it got blown away in a winter…

by Miriam Clifford

Many students agree that homework over the holidays really is a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Upon returning from winter break, you’ll probably have a handful of students saying the dog ate their homework or it got blown away in a winter storm. But you’ll probably be surprised to learn that some research suggests too much homework can be a bad thing.  A 2009 article in the Los Angeles Times , suggests that some districts have cut back on the amount of homework in the effort to consider children’s social development. In fact, the San Ramon Valley district modified its homework policy and no homework is allowed over weekends and holiday vacations, except for reading.

The US  National Education Association  recommends no more than ten minutes (of homework) per grade level, per night.

Homework has fallen in and out of favor over the decades.  California even established a law in 1901 limiting the amount of homework teachers could assign. Homework is highly in favor now a days.  With recent trends of information overload, packed activity schedules, and childhood obesity, it’s no wonder educators are reconsidering their stance on homework.

1. Students are learning all the time in the 21 st  century.  According to a recent article in MindShift traditional homework will become obsolete in the next decade.  Thanks to computers, learning is occurring 24/7.  With access to software programs, worldwide connections, and learning websites such as the Khan Academy, learning occurs all the time. According to Mindshift, “the next decade is going to see the traditional temporal boundaries between home and school disappear.”  Try to see if you can bridge the gap between school and home by getting students interested in doing their own research over holiday break.  Rather than assigning homework, create a true interest in learning.  They will often pursue learning about topics they like on their own.  After all, this is the way of the 21 st  century and information is everywhere.

2. More homework doesn’t necessarily equate to higher achievement . Yes, too much homework can actually be a bad thing.  A 1989 Duke University study that reviewed 120 studies found a weak link between achievement and homework at the elementary level and only a moderate benefit at the middle school level. In a similar recent review of 60 studies,  researchers at Duke U  found homework was beneficial, but assigning excessive amounts of homework was counterproductive. The research found homework was more beneficial for older students than younger ones. The study was completed by Harris Cooper, a leading homework research and author of “The Battle over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents”. Cooper suggests that teachers at the younger level may assign homework for improving study skills, rather than learning, explaining why many studies concluded less benefit for younger children.  Many teachers do not receive specific training on homework. Cooper suggests that homework should be uncomplicated and short, involve families, and engage student interests.

3. Countries that assign more homework don’t outperform those with less homework.   Around the world, countries that assign more homework don’t see to perform any better.  A  Stanford study  found that in counties like Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic little homework was assigned and students outperformed students in counties with large amounts of homework such as Greece, Thailand, and Iran.  American and British students seem to have more homework than most counties, and still only score in the international average.  In fact, Japan has instituted no homework policies at younger levels to allow family time and personal interests.  Finland, a national leader in international tests, limits high school homework to half hour per night.  Of course, there are other factors not taken into account in the study, such as length of the school day.  But in itself, it is interesting to see this issue from a world perspective.

4. Instead of assigning homework, suggest they read for fun.   There are great holiday stories and books you can recommend to parents and students.  If you approach the activity with a holiday spirit, many students will be engaged.  They may want to check out the stories on their own.  You can start by reading the first chapter in class and leaving them intrigued.  For instance, you can read the first chapter of  The   Gift of the Magi  and suggest students read it over winter break.   With younger students, you might promise roles in a play for students who read over break.

5. Don’t assign holiday busy work.   Most academics agree that busy work does little to increase learning.  It is best to not assign packets of worksheets if they do nothing to add to student learning. You also don’t want to waste valuable time grading meaningless paperwork.  Some studies show that much homework may actually decline achievement. Assigning excessive amounts of homework may be detrimental. In fact, a  2006 study by Yankelovick  found that reading achievement declined when students were assigned too much homework.  Actually, interesting reading such as  Harry Potter  produced higher reading achievement.

6. Have students attend a local cultural event.   You can let parents know that instead of assigning homework, you are suggesting students attend a particular event that relates to your classroom.  For instance, if you are reading Shakespeare, they might attend a related play or ballet.

7. Family time is more important during the holidays .  Assigning less homework makes it easier for families to have time together. Family studies at the University of Michigan, show that family time is extremely important to achievement and behavior.  Studies on family meals, suggest that students who have dinner with their family have better academic scores and behavioral outcomes.  Perhaps this is only a correlation, but family time is undeniably important to child development. Students spent most of their days at school while parents are at work. When all is said and done, remember what it was like being a kid.  The things you remember most about the holidays aren’t the assignments you took home, but the time you spend with family and friends.

8. For students who travel during the holidays, homework may impede learning on their trip . The Holiday time is the one time of year that many families reconnect with distant family members or travel.  I remember having to pack hoards of books over some holidays to Spain and it was not fun.  I wanted to enjoy the time with family and experience the country fully.  Traveling in itself is a learning activity.  Let students experience their travels fully.

9. Kids need time to be kids.   A recent article from Australia’s Happy Child website,  “What is the value of Homework: Research and Reality”  considers this issue and explains how children need unstructured play time.  Homework can have a negative influence on early learning experiences.  Suggest students use holiday time to do physical activity, such as ice-skating or sledding.    Many kids don’t get enough exercise.  Childhood obesity is a major problem in the United States.    Suggesting students play outside or participate in a sport is a good way to get them to value physical activity.  The holidays are a great time for kids to go sledding in the snow or play with friends outside.  If no one has homework, classmates might exchange phone numbers to play together.  You can suggest this to parents.      If the teacher thinks physical activity is important, students will too.

10. Some education experts recommend an end to all homework .  Etta Kralovec and John Buell, authors of   The End of Homework:  How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning ,  controversially suggests that homework may be a form of intrusion on family life, and may increase the drop-out rate in high schools.  The authors blame homework for increasing the achievement gap due to socio-economic differences in after-school obligations. Consider challenging your own views of the benefits of homework and try to create a level playing field when considering assignments.

11. Send a letter to parents explaining why you are not assigning work.   You might want to take the Christmas holiday as a chance to engage parents to play a learning game or do some art with their kids.  If families know there is an intentional purpose to not assigning work, they may take the chance to spend more one-on-one time with their child.

12. You can make the holidays a time for an “open project” for extra credit.   Students might take this time to do something related to the curriculum that they would like to explore on their own terms.  Before the holidays, you might talk about topics or provide books students for students to take home.  Learning for fun and interest, might produce more meaningful engagement than assigned homework.

13. Suggest they visit a museum instead.   With families at home, the holiday time is a great time for students to see an exhibit that interests them or do a fun activity at a nearby museum.  Sometimes encouraging these field trips may be more beneficial than assigning homework.  You might want to print coupons, a schedule, or a list of upcoming exhibits so that families have the information at their fingertips.

14. Encourage students to volunteer during the holiday time.   The holidays are a great time for students to give back.  Students might volunteer at a local soup kitchen or pantry.  Volunteer organizations are often at their busiest during the holiday time.  Plus, students learn a lot from the experience of doing community service.  I remember visiting a group home during the holiday time in high school and helping kids wrap Christmas gifts for their families.  This is a great alternative to assigning homework, especially for Generation Y who highly values civic involvement.

15. Develop a class game.   You might have the class play a learning game the week before vacation and have them take it home to show their family.  My fourth grade teacher had hop-scotch math.  We often drew with chalk outside to replicate her game at home.  Try to think of a holiday-themed game or one that the whole family can get involved in.

16. Students might learn more from observing the real world.  Learning isn’t just about paper and pencil activities.  Teachers should also inspire students to seek ways to learn from real-world experiences.  They might cook with their parents and practice measuring.  Or tag along with a parent who is putting up holiday lights or building a shed.  Ask students to observe a job around the house or ask their parents about their job over holiday break.  They might be enlightened to learn more about the real world and different jobs they might pursue in the future.  Perhaps some students might be able to go to work with their parents instead of a formal assignment.

17. Go on a hike.   Students learn a great deal from nature.  Tell students to go outside on a walk and be ready to share their experience when they get back.  Did they observe natural phenomena you talked about in science class or different types of rocks you discussed in geology?  Or can you tie their walk into a discussion of poetry?

18. Tell students to visit an amusement park.   If you are teaching physics or math, amusement parks give ample room to explain the laws of physics and mathematical probability.  This outing would allow students to think about the real world implications of science.  You may want to even plan a lesson beforehand that ties this idea in.  On another level, it allows students to create a lasting memory with their own families.

19. Kids need rest!   Everyone needs a mental breather and the holidays are the best time for students to play and take a break from school.    Kids need a full ten hours of sleep and adequate rest.  The vacation time is a great time for students to take a mental breather from school.  With many family outings and vacations during the holiday time, they will have less time to complete homework.  They will come back to school feeling re-energized.

20. Many parents and students dislike holiday homework.   You want parents to buy-in to your classroom community and support your endeavors with students.  Assigning holiday homework is usually unpopular with parents because it may the one time of year they have to give children their undivided attention.  Instead, you might want to take a survey to see if parents agree with the idea.  You can then send a letter with the survey results.  Taking parents’ perspectives into account shows you value their opinions and feedback.  Students prefer some free time too.  Not surprisingly one student created a Facebook page, titled, “Why do teachers give us homework over the holiday.”   If the students know you are giving them a break over the holidays they may work harder for you when they get back.

If you’re still not convinced, check out this  fact sheet  based on  The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It  by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish.  If you are still going to assign some holiday homework, at least keep in mind some guidelines.

The US  National Education Association  recommends no more than ten minutes per grade level, per night.  If you must assign homework make sure it is meaningful and doesn’t take away from time with families.  And most of all, remember what it was like being a kid during the holiday time. Homework is generally not a part of those memories, nor should it be. Those days playing outside and spending time with family are lifelong memories just as important as school.

Childhood is over in the blink of an eye.

This is a cross-post from opencolleges.edu.au

TeachThought is an organization dedicated to innovation in education through the growth of outstanding teachers.

Do We Really NEED to Assign Homework Over Breaks?

by sarahstyf

It comes up a couple times a year. After being assigned summer reading and papers and a non-stop flow of reading and writing assignments since the first day of school, as we approach any set of extended days off my students will ask:

Mrs. S, do we have any homework over break?”

It is a legitimate question. I know fellow teachers occasionally assign homework that is due right after scheduled breaks and it is a question that I see all over social media with educsators, especially in the AP/Dual Credit world: to assign or not to assign.

It’s taken a lot of experience and personal reflection, but after seventeen years of teaching high school students, I am firmly in the “not to assign” camp.

There was a time when I felt differently. During those times, when I couldn’t neatly wrap up a unit before a major break (Thanksgiving, Spring Break, or Easter) or when I felt like I wasn’t challenging them enough, I was more than happy to assign short papers and reading over the breaks. This was especially true when I personally wasn’t doing anything special over the break except staying at home. I guess I selfishly reasoned that if I was going to be spending part of my time off grading the work that I had already assigned, then they could be spending part of that time off doing homework for me.

Except chances are, they weren’t just doing homework for me. I wasn’t the only teacher on staff that felt my classes were important and who felt pressed to fit everything into the limited time we are given during the semester. Since my third or fourth year teaching, I have struggled with the balance of finding more things that I want my students to do and deciding if I was assigning too much. I was trying to do “all the things”, and assigning work over short breaks allowed me to fit more learning into each semester. Instead of focusing on increasing the quality of what I was assigning, I became more concerned about the quantity, convincing myself that the more I assigned, the better a teacher I became.

I’m not sure what started to change my mind about assigning homework over breaks. I think I started to change my mind about break homework when I temporarily left teaching high school to start working on my Master’s degree in English. After eight years of teaching high school, for two years, I worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, teaching freshman composition classes to incoming college freshman. Suddenly, I was sitting on the other side of the desk and began to realize what was really expected of college students.

All of my years of telling my students “in college you will need to be able to do this” felt like a lie. Yes, there were skills that I expected from my students that they did need to master to be successful in college. However, skills were more important than me imparting all of the knowledge that I could and having them read everything that was humanly possible, in a single school year. In the end, cutting out a novel or short story was not going to break them, something I slowly realized as I made my return to the high school classroom.

At the same time that I was starting graduate school, I was the mother of a toddler and pregnant with my second child. While my experience as a college instructor changed the way I looked at college preparation, parenthood changed the way I viewed my students. I no longer saw them as just students. They were sons and daughters with parents who were watching their babies grow into adulthood. This reality hit home when my daughter was in kindergarten and started bringing home homework assignments that seemed more like guided busy work than meaningful learning. When she could have been playing or we could have been reading together for fun, she had to do homework for which I saw no academic value.

Our quality family time was stolen by meaningless schoolwork. If I felt that way as an educator, how did parents who weren’t educators feel about it? If I wanted that precious time with my own children, perhaps the parents of my high school students also wanted the opportunity for valuable family time before those family dynamics drastically changed when their children headed off to college.

More than before, I started to critically consider the homework that I assigned and reconsider the value and importance of each assignment. These are the questions I have started to ask myself through every unit: Is this worth my students’ time? Is grading that assignment worth my time as well? What is the ultimate benefit of a given assignment and does the benefit outweigh the cost to both teacher and student?

My dear teaching colleagues, we are allowed to take breaks and we are allowed to give our students those same, well-deserved breaks. While I still assign summer reading to my Pre-AP and AP students, I make it perfectly clear that if they give me their all during the times that we are meeting together as a class during the school year, I will respect their time during planned breaks. In return, I ask that they also respect my time during breaks so that I can spend that time with my own family (when I’m not grading or lesson planning, that is).

We have to ask ourselves how much of a difference that extra work is going to make in the end. I know that some of my fellow educators, especially those teaching high stakes courses in a single semester, will struggle to cut back, and that is understandable. But maybe the rest of us can take a moment to invite our students to enjoy the quiet, teaching them to practice the self-care that so many of us struggle with so that they can return to us after a break renewed and refreshed with hearts and minds open for learning.

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Homework Struggles May Not Be a Behavior Problem

Exploring some options to understand and help..

Posted August 2, 2022 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• What Is Anxiety?
• Take our Generalized Anxiety Disorder Test
• Find a therapist to overcome anxiety
• Mental health challenges and neurodevelopmental differences directly affect children's ability to do homework.
• Understanding what difficulties are getting in the way—beyond the usual explanation of a behavior problem—is key.
• Sleep and mental health needs can take priority over homework completion.

Chelsea was in 10th grade the first time I told her directly to stop doing her homework and get some sleep. I had been working with her since she was in middle school, treating her anxiety disorder. She deeply feared disappointing anyone—especially her teachers—and spent hours trying to finish homework perfectly. The more tired and anxious she got, the harder it got for her to finish the assignments.

One night Chelsea called me in despair, feeling hopeless. She was exhausted and couldn’t think straight. She felt like a failure and that she was a burden to everyone because she couldn’t finish her homework.

She was shocked when I told her that my prescription for her was to go to sleep now—not to figure out how to finish her work. I told her to leave her homework incomplete and go to sleep. We briefly discussed how we would figure it out the next day, with her mom and her teachers. At that moment, it clicked for her that it was futile to keep working—because nothing was getting done.

This was an inflection point for her awareness of when she was emotionally over-cooked and when she needed to stop and take a break or get some sleep. We repeated versions of this phone call several times over the course of her high school and college years, but she got much better at being able to do this for herself most of the time.

When Mental Health Symptoms Interfere with Homework

Kids with mental health or neurodevelopmental challenges often struggle mightily with homework. Challenges can come up in every step of the homework process, including, but not limited to:

• Remembering and tracking assignments and materials
• Getting the mental energy/organization to start homework
• Filtering distractions enough to persist with assignments
• Understanding unspoken or implied parts of the homework
• Remembering to bring finished homework to class
• Being in class long enough to know the material
• Tolerating the fear of not knowing or failing
• Not giving up the assignment because of a panic attack
• Tolerating frustration—such as not understanding—without emotional dysregulation
• Being able to ask for help—from a peer or a teacher and not being afraid to reach out

This list is hardly comprehensive. ADHD , autism spectrum disorder, social anxiety , generalized anxiety, panic disorder, depression , dysregulation, and a range of other neurodevelopmental and mental health challenges cause numerous learning differences and symptoms that can specifically and frequently interfere with getting homework done.

The Usual Diagnosis for Homework Problems is "Not Trying Hard Enough"

Unfortunately, when kids frequently struggle to meet homework demands, teachers and parents typically default to one explanation of the problem: The child is making a choice not to do their homework. That is the default “diagnosis” in classrooms and living rooms. And once this framework is drawn, the student is often seen as not trying hard enough, disrespectful, manipulative, or just plain lazy.

The fundamental disconnect here is that the diagnosis of homework struggles as a behavioral choice is, in fact, only one explanation, while there are so many other diagnoses and differences that impair children's ability to consistently do their homework. If we are trying to create solutions based on only one understanding of the problem, the solutions will not work. More devastatingly, the wrong solutions can worsen the child’s mental health and their long-term engagement with school and learning.

To be clear, we aren’t talking about children who sometimes struggle with or skip homework—kids who can change and adapt their behaviors and patterns in response to the outcomes of that struggle. For this discussion, we are talking about children with mental health and/or neurodevelopmental symptoms and challenges that create chronic difficulties with meeting homework demands.

How Can You Help a Child Who Struggles with Homework?

How can you help your child who is struggling to meet homework demands because of their ADHD, depression, anxiety, OCD , school avoidance, or any other neurodevelopmental or mental health differences? Let’s break this down into two broad areas—things you can do at home, and things you can do in communication with the school.

Helping at Home

The following suggestions for managing school demands at home can feel counterintuitive to parents—because we usually focus on helping our kids to complete their tasks. But mental health needs jump the line ahead of task completion. And starting at home will be key to developing an idea of what needs to change at school.

• Set an end time in the evening after which no more homework will be attempted. Kids need time to decompress and they need sleep—and pushing homework too close to or past bedtime doesn’t serve their educational needs. Even if your child hasn’t been able to approach the homework at all, even if they have avoided and argued the whole evening, it is still important for everyone to have a predictable time to shut down the whole process.
• If there are arguments almost every night about homework, if your child isn’t starting homework or finishing it, reframe it from failure into information. It’s data to put into problem-solving. We need to consider other possible explanations besides “behavioral choice” when trying to understand the problem and create effective solutions. What problems are getting in the way of our child’s meeting homework demands that their peers are meeting most of the time?
• Try not to argue about homework. If you can check your own anxiety and frustration, it can be more productive to ally with your child and be curious with them. Kids usually can’t tell you a clear “why” but maybe they can tell you how they are feeling and what they are thinking. And if your child can’t talk about it or just keeps saying “I don't know,” try not to push. Come back another time. Rushing, forcing, yelling, and threatening will predictably not help kids do homework.

Helping at School

The second area to explore when your neurodiverse child struggles frequently with homework is building communication and connections with school and teachers. Some places to focus on include the following.

• Label your child’s diagnoses and break down specific symptoms for the teachers and school team. Nonjudgmental, but specific language is essential for teachers to understand your child’s struggles. Breaking their challenges down into the problems specific to homework can help with building solutions. As your child gets older, help them identify their difficulties and communicate them to teachers.
• Let teachers and the school team know that your child’s mental health needs—including sleep—take priority over finishing homework. If your child is always struggling to complete homework and get enough sleep, or if completing homework is leading to emotional meltdowns every night, adjusting their homework demands will be more successful than continuing to push them into sleep deprivation or meltdowns.
• Request a child study team evaluation to determine if your child qualifies for services under special education law such as an IEP, or accommodations through section 504—and be sure that homework adjustments are included in any plan. Or if such a plan is already in place, be clear that modification of homework expectations needs to be part of it.

The Long-Term Story

I still work with Chelsea and she recently mentioned how those conversations so many years ago are still part of how she approaches work tasks or other demands that are spiking her anxiety when she finds herself in a vortex of distress. She stops what she is doing and prioritizes reducing her anxiety—whether it’s a break during her day or an ending to the task for the evening. She sees that this is crucial to managing her anxiety in her life and still succeeding at what she is doing.

Task completion at all costs is not a solution for kids with emotional needs. Her story (and the story of many of my patients) make this crystal clear.

Candida Fink, M.D. , is board certified in child/adolescent and general psychiatry. She practices in New York and has co-authored two books— The Ups and Downs of Raising a Bipolar Child and Bipolar Disorder for Dummies.

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My 8-Year-Old’s Teacher Wants Him to Do Schoolwork Over Spring Break

Care and Feeding is Slate’s parenting advice column. In addition to our traditional advice, every Thursday we feature an assortment of teachers from across the country answering your education questions. Have a question for our teachers? Email [email protected] or post it in the  Slate Parenting Facebook group .

My second grader has been doing hybrid for most of this year, and his school is getting ready to return to full-time, in-person instruction after spring break. Despite the challenges, I think he’s been doing well. At times it’s a struggle to get him to focus, but I think that’s pretty normal for an 8-year-old. He’s been feeling pretty emotional, though, and he’s been pretty hard on himself whenever he makes mistakes.

He’s in the gifted program, and his gifted teacher tells me that he can be a perfectionist. His grade level teacher, however, told me at a conference that she doesn’t think he’s making enough effort, is easily upset and frustrated, and that he hasn’t made as much progress as she wants him to. She gives the students quotas for how many lessons they should complete, and she suggests that students who don’t get them done should work over spring break.

My son is a good student, but he hasn’t met her quota, and I feel like kids should be able to enjoy their time off. I know his teacher is just trying to keep kids on track, but I’m concerned about how much pressure she’s putting on my child. I know he’s working hard to keep up with the amount of work assigned. I know I’m not the only parent who worries about the workload. Should I approach his teacher with my concerns, or let it go and privately tell my son to just do his best and not worry about it? I’m worried all of this will even be more to handle when he’s back at school full-time—my son has already told me he’s fed up with this teacher.

—Isn’t Our Best Good Enough?

Dear Isn’t Our Best Good Enough,

Yes, it is.

Tell the teacher that you’ve decided to give your child the vacation he deserves. Your son is far too young to be learning that vacations are only partial escapes from the demands of the workday. This is always the case but never more true than in the midst of a pandemic.

I would thank your son’s teacher for her concern but inform her that vacations are a time for human beings of all ages to rest, relax, and recharge. That is what your son will be doing because that is far more important than any arbitrarily determined quota that your district has assigned.

Then, release yourself of any worry or guilt over this decision. It is unquestionably the right thing to do.

—Mr. Dicks (fifth grade teacher, Connecticut)

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I am a high school English teacher, and this is my fifth year teaching. I’m wondering if you have any advice about classroom management in a virtual space. My school is hybrid this year, but I have some students who attend school entirely virtually.

When online students don’t participate or don’t meet expectations, I try to check in with them via private chat, but I often don’t get a response. If they don’t respond, I email them, and sometimes their parents, after class. I struggle with these emails. For example, if a student hasn’t participated in a breakout room or responded when I send them a private message, I may try to follow up with them later.

I haven’t met many of these kids in person, and while I try to establish a good rapport with them online, it’s not the same as having them in my classroom. I worry that I am being too harsh or that the proper tone isn’t coming across. If they were at school, I would pull them aside after class and could have a quick conversation, but having to comment on their behavior or participation over email seems to drag the issue out, and I worry that it gives students more anxiety since it’s in writing. If I email parents, it often becomes a game of tag between communicating with the student and parent. Any tips on how to make this less stressful and more effective for me and my students?

—Anybody Out There?

Dear Anybody,

You have my sympathy—I relate to this problem and so does every other high school teacher I know. My advice? Stop emailing and put your energy toward trying new breakout room strategies and building relationships.

There are lots of great ideas out there for how to manage breakout rooms (like here and here ). I have found many of these tips to be successful, such as assigning a clear task for the group to complete and then share when we come back together as a whole group. Some of my colleagues have had success letting students choose their group-mates (with your approval, of course) and then setting up permanent breakout rooms . That said, temper your expectations. There will still be students who log in to Zoom and then fall asleep, leave the room to go make a snack, or watch YouTube instead of participate. And there will also be some students who cannot participate through no fault of their own (their audio isn’t working, their connection is slow, their Chromebook crashes, etc.). Don’t beat yourself up. Just keep doing your best to offer good instruction.

While managing participation in Zoom is challenging, building relationships can feel even more daunting. Yet, as I’m sure you know, positive student-teacher relationships are the bedrock of learning. One strategy that has worked well for me is creating individual breakout rooms so that I can talk with students one-on-one. For example, my students recently wrote an essay, and I made individual breakout rooms so we could have writing conferences. I always start the conversation with small talk (“How was your weekend? How did your debate tournament go last Friday?” etc.) before moving into the academic conversation. These discussions help me to get to know my students and build rapport. While some students are still reticent, most will open up when I’m the only one listening.

Pick a new strategy and give it a go! Afterward, get feedback from your students on which of these strategies is working for them. At the end of the last semester, I gave students a survey and received lots of great information; some students also shared what other teachers are doing that they find helpful.

Finally, don’t underestimate Zoom fatigue. It’s OK to mix it up, especially with older students. Sometimes we stay together in Zoom for the entire block, but there are also days where I do a short Zoom lesson and then give the students asynchronous work (which also allows time for me to have those individual conversations). My students told me they appreciated having a change of pace on the aforementioned survey.

Hang in there! Summer will be here before we know it, and I am hopeful that next fall will bring more normalcy.

—Ms. Holbrook (high school teacher, Texas)

My grandson is 12 years old and has an IEP. He used to have seizures, but is now on medication and so hasn’t had a problem with seizures for a year. But because of his seizures, he has forgotten much he learned at school. His reading is a struggle, and spelling is even more of a struggle. What can I do to try and help him with this? I’ve tried tutoring for him, but I haven’t found anyone with enough patience.

—Forget-It-Not

What can you do? Connect him with experts. Folks who are not trained in this specific disability will not be able to handle your grandson’s needs.

Memory loss is a medical consequence of seizures, so your first stop should be your grandson’s doctor. The doctor may prescribe medication to help but will likely also refer him to a neuropsychologist, who will give him tests to determine the breadth and scope of the issue.

Once the neuropsychologist understands the roadblocks to your grandson’s memory, you can work together to remove them. The neuropsychologist might suggest your grandson see a psychotherapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, and/or tutor who is trained in exceptional children, or EC. These experts can determine which strategies will help improve his memory and offer you exercises you can do with him.

Speaking of EC, I assume he has an individualized education plan at school. If not, request testing for learning disabilities posthaste. He should be receiving specialized education, push-in services, pull-out services, accommodations, test modifications, etc.

Most importantly, tell your grandson that this challenge is extremely common in patients who have seizures—he’s not alone. Remind him that his memory problems don’t mean anything about his intelligence. If he’s doing the best he can with the hand he’s been dealt, that’s enough.

—Ms. Scott (eighth grade teacher, North Carolina)

My daughter is in second grade in a large, urban public school that’s been fully remote since spring. In first grade, she tested as an advanced learner overall but especially in reading/verbal aptitude. We got the results a few weeks after schools went remote, and she hasn’t received any specific advanced learner programming. She’s doing well, though she has a tendency to do the bare minimum. For example, when she does a reading worksheet she’ll answer questions using the shortest possible sentences, then read a chapter book until the next lesson starts.

I’m not too worried about her not pushing herself, since she reads constantly and her teachers say she’s on track. But there are areas where I think she is behind. Her work is all done online, so she rarely writes anything by hand. Her handwriting is awful and slow (she makes each part of a letter shape by shape and hasn’t progressed to more fluid writing). Occasionally she still makes some letters backward, and her writing is a mix of upper- and lowercase. I would love to work with her on these things, but by the end of the day she’s burned out and extremely resistant. I’ve encouraged her to write letters to friends, and she does occasionally, but it takes a lot of nagging.

Should I be making her practice? Ideas for how to get her on board? There are other areas, like telling time, where she also needs more practice and is similarly resistant to my teaching her, so general strategies would help too. But writing seems the most pressing.

—Pencil Pusher

I think that one of the biggest goals that parents of young kids undertaking an extended period of virtual learning should have is to support them in getting through it with their confidence and interest in learning relatively intact. It sounds like your daughter is, generally, doing fine, and under the circumstances, fine is great. All you can ask for, really. Nagging, resistance, and conflict is not what either of you needs right now, especially if it might sour her on an educational experience that sounds like, all things considered, is going pretty well. So in general, I’d follow her lead and tread lightly. I do think there are a couple of things you can try, but in going forward with them, I’d make sure to keep it light and low-pressure.

Since she’s doing everything online right now, it wouldn’t surprise me if her fine motor skills have lagged some, which is probably contributing to the laboriousness of her writing. Fortunately, there are lots of fun activities you can offer that will help strengthen the small muscles in her hands and fingers and improve her general dexterity without her ever cluing in to the fact that she’s doing a therapeutic exercise. She could try making jewelry—stringing beads, tying knots, and braiding bracelets with embroidery floss are all great. You could offer her a book of sticker mosaics, a Lite-Brite (those are back now!), or a relatively simple diamond puzzle, which will have her carefully placing and arranging small objects with accuracy. Legos, clay, playing Jenga—really, whatever floats her boat and gets her to practice skillfully manipulating things with her hands would be great to encourage.

I do think you can prompt her to keep working specifically on letter formation, but there are a lot of ways to do so without making it a chore. (You definitely don’t want to sit her down with a page of handwriting drills at the end of her school day when she’s drained and resisting!) I would offer some interesting materials—bath crayons, shaving cream, a bit of paint squished around in a plastic baggie, the black paper you can scratch to reveal colors underneath, even dragging a paper clip through Play-Doh or slime—and prompt her to try some letters, especially if you can model it for her. I wouldn’t ask her to practice any more than five to seven minutes at a time—quit while you’re well ahead, and then just let her play. I think that some consistent but quick practice that she enjoys will, in the long run, get you further than a real nose-to-the-grindstone work session that she fights the whole time.

I’m crossing every extremity that your district reopens in the fall. You can definitely raise your various concerns with her teacher then, and perhaps ask for an evaluation by an occupational therapist—but also know that it is not possible for kids or teachers to be hewing to the typical benchmarks right now, and everyone’s going to need extra support in something or other by the time this is all over. She’ll be OK.

—Ms. Bauer (middle and high school teacher, New York)

More Advice From Slate

My daughter is a freshman in high school, and she recently got an assignment in life sciences that seems inappropriate. The assignment is for the kids to identify someone in their family who died of cancer, and then students are supposed to research that kind of cancer and create a poster presentation to display for the entire school. This seems like a terrible idea, and an invasion of privacy. Should I talk to the teacher?

Should kids get summer homework?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: June 12, 2023

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Jill Notte’s daughter Sara is a straight-A student, and she’s taking five advanced-placement courses this fall. It’ll be her senior year.

This ambitious undertaking may prove Sara’s undoing — at least if the 17 year old wants to enjoy her summer vacation. Somewhere in between spending a week at a Girls State program, a month at the New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology at Rutger’s University, and visiting a few potential colleges, Sara must complete the following workload before school starts:

• Read five novels for AP English • Read one book for AP History • Complete a packet of assignments and problems for AP Calculus • Complete a packet of assignments and problems for AP Chemistry • Write several summaries of scientific principles for Honors Physics

Oh, and her English teacher recommends that she attend Shakespeare performances at the local college to supplement the many plays she’s required to read as part of AP English. “I try to put a positive spin on it,” says Sara’s mother, Jill. “I told her, ‘Summertime’s a great time to read Shakespeare!'” But, admits Jill, it’s not so easy to put the same kind of “fun” spin on the stack of mind-numbing calculus and chemistry books hefty enough to take down a Yellowstone grizzly.

Forget languidly balmy weeks unwinding from the stress of an intensive school year. Goodbye, as well, to working her usual summer job as a lifeguard, which Sara unhappily has to forgo — along with the money she hoped to save for college. As her mother puts it, “Summer homework is a full-time job.”

A working vacation

Sara’s not alone. The oxymoronically named “vacation work” is on the rise. Sara’s older sister had only a few books to read over the summer when she was in high school — and that was just eight years ago. Jill, who like her daughters was a high achiever in the top five percent of her class, remembers completely homework-free summers.

Many parents remember their own childhood summers as true respites from school, devoid the rigor and rigidity of academic life. Summer was a sprawling mass of unstructured time that ranged from idyllic laziness to stupefying boredom to invigorating camps and family vacations, not scores of math worksheets, science packets, and lists of “good-for-you” classics that hardly qualify as light beach reads.

Harris Cooper, chairman of the department of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and America’s leading homework scholar who co-authored the landmark meta-study on homework , says that while there exists no formal studies on the rise in summertime homework, he’s witnessed a particularly sharp increase over the past two years — probably a response “to high-stakes testing and accountability issues for schools.”

Just say no?

Some parents argue summer homework is nothing more than bland busywork that saps the joy and spontaneity from summer. So says Sara Bennett, founder of StopHomework.com . “Even if there is a summer slide, I don’t think homework is the solution,” Bennett says. “Kids don’t have enough downtime during the school year. I think they need that freshness during summer.”

Here’s a revolutionary approach for vacation purists who say kids deserve a good, old-fashioned summer free from intense brain-strain: Just say no. That’s what Bennett suggests a parent do in the fall if a child is averse to doing the packet. “I’d send it back and say, ‘I’m sorry, my child didn’t have a chance to do it.’ ” (A parental dispensation only possible for kids who haven’t entered the high-school pressure cooker where — as with Sara Notte — summer homework is graded and can directly affect a student’s chances to enter a top-tier university.)

Protecting young minds from melting

On the other side of the summer homework debate are the moms and dads who, when the school doors slam shut, ramp up the supplemental brain work, even if the teachers didn’t provide it themselves. Most parents, though, fall somewhere in the for-better-or-worse-summer-homework-is-here-to-stay camp.

So if the kids have to do it, can we at least be reassured that it’s a magic bullet to protect young minds from melting? “We can’t say that with any objective data,” Cooper says. “But we would make the assumption if students are continuing to flex their mental muscles over the summer, this would have a positive effect on how much material they retain when they return.”

No buy-in from the kids

“There definitely is a lag — I’m not denying that,” says Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success , a research and student-intervention project. “I absolutely agree that three months is a long time to not do anything. That said, I’m not sure this idea of giving workbooks and pages and pages of handouts works.”

The reason it doesn’t work? “There’s not a buy-in from the [kids],” Pope argues. “In order for any learning to be retained, there has to be engagement on the part of the students.” Pope explains that students need the “ABCs of engagement,” which means they’re engaged affectively, behaviorally, and cognitively. “If they’re intrinsically motivated, then they’ll want to do it.”

“I know kids who get these huge 40-page math packets,” Pope says. “It’s because [teachers] want [kids], over time, to have systematic practice. The problem is that this requires an adult to monitor this kind of disciplined work. It’s not like a kid can do that on his own. So it puts a burden more on the parents.”

Year-round homework blues

So, alas, those nightly angst-ridden homework dramas that run from September through June now get year-round billing. The other problem, Pope says, is that summer homework packets (frequently put off until the last unhappy week before school begins), often seem to fall into an academic black hole once they’re turned in — with no feedback from teachers and no effect on kids’ grades.

As for the work that Pope’s three kids — ages 10, 12, and 15 — get handed at school’s end, she tells them, “‘I won’t bug you about this at all. I won’t be the police.’ We look at the assignments they get for the summer and I say, ‘How long do you think this will take? Do you want me to remind you to do it?’ ” But if they leave it until the tail end of the summer, Pope says, well, that’s their choice. It’s their vacation, after all.

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Should Schools Assign Summer Homework? Educators Weigh In

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School’s almost out for summer. Should students clear out their lockers and leave empty-handed—or laden down with stacks of math problems and required reading lists? Will teachers warn of repercussions for failing to turn in summer work assignments upon returning to school in the fall, or simply advise students to have fun and stay safe?

It depends on whom you ask.

It turns out that not all educators share the same perspective on whether to assign summer homework, who needs it most, what it should consist of, and how to make sure it gets done. Education Week put the question to state teachers of the year and representatives of statewide principals associations. Here’s what they had to say.

Play and pleasure reading prioritized by many educators

Play and pleasure reading topped the list of responses to the question: What summer homework should students be assigned? Teachers (of both young and older students) were more likely than the principals who responded to suggest that kids need a break in the summer.

“For young children, specifically pre-K to grade 3, I feel that over the summer children need to have their summer break and be provided with the opportunity to explore, get plenty of physical activity, and play. Children learn from play. Play teaches children about problem-solving and social interactions,” said Tara Hughes, a pre-K inclusion teacher at the Nye Early Childhood Center in Santa Fe who was voted 2023 New Mexico State Teacher of the Year.

“Students should have no formal ‘homework'—worksheets or practice books,” said Lori Danz, who is Wisconsin’s 2023 State Teacher of the Year. She teaches high school biology and serves as a school forest coordinator, overseeing outdoor learning. in the Superior school district in the northern part of the state. “I think it’s good for students and families to get away from that, and learn in authentic ways: hiking, cooking, fixing things. So much learning happens that way. We forget that it’s learning.”

Danz acknowledged that not every family has the same amount of free time or resources available to them during the summer. But she added that many districts, including her own, offer free enrichment activities at local schools during the summer that provide activities such as sports, crafts, and physical fitness.

While “play” was a popular response to the question of what type of work kids should be assigned in the summer, some educators suggested that students of all ages read during break to stay sharp.

“Reading for pleasure authentically enhances many academic skills such as cultivating a love for reading, improves reading and writing skills, develops concentration, encourages creativity and imagination, and allows children to be more open to differences and perspectives,” said Krystal Colbert, a 2nd grade teacher at Mitchellville Elementary in Iowa’s Southeast Polk school district, and another Teacher of the Year.

One teacher took the reading directive a step further. Brian Skinner, a high school special education teacher with the Newton Unified school district 373 in Kansas and the state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, said he thinks students should spend time regularly writing and reading for pleasure. “Not only that, but I believe it is important to read from actual books versus phones or other technology,” Skinner said. It’s a belief shared by some literacy experts , too.

Which students most need summer work?

Educators offered a range of opinions when asked which students most need summer work. Principals interviewed for this article were more likely than teachers to feel students should be doing summer work.

“How good is a golfer that takes a three-month break with no practice? Even if you do not play nine or 18 holes regularly, you can go the range, you can chip, you can practice putting,” said Jerald A. Barris, a high school principal at the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, Pa., and a regional representative for the Pennsylvania Principals Association.

Ed Roth, the principal of Penncrest High School in Media, Pa., believes in math homework over the summer for high school students. “In mathematics, it is important for students to have some review and skills practice so that they do not need to spend the first marking period reviewing prior learning, therefore taking away their ability to cover all necessary content for their current course,” he said. Roth’s perspective, which suggests the loss of skills during summer break, has been well-documented in recent research .

But other educators favor a more tailored approach to summer work.

Danz, the Wisconsin high school biology teacher, said that she believes all students need a break from homework but added this caveat: “You can always find exceptions…students who may need remedial practice.”

Fabiana Parker, the 2023 Virginia Teacher of the Year, agreed. A teacher of English learners at Thornburg Middle School in Spotsylvania County, Va., Parker said “it is essential to take into account the unique needs of each student” when it comes to summer work. She elaborated with an account of her own children, recalling how she established a routine of daily math practice during the summer but only for her daughter who struggled with math and, in Parker’s assessment, needed the additional support.

Other educators said they are more likely to assign summer work to students on an accelerated track. Such is the case for Michael Ida, Hawaii’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. He teaches at Kalani High School in Honolulu. Ida said that, for most high school students, he recommends no summer work other than reading for pleasure. But he makes an exception for students who choose to enroll in more rigorous courses.

“I teach AP Calculus, and those students do have some required review work to complete over the summer,” Ida said. He gives them math problems that he has created—both routine review problems and more substantial problem solving exercises that emphasize logical thinking and communication.

A creative approach to summer work

Summer should be synonymous with creative learning, some educators emphasized. “Summer is a time to continue learning in the way that every child in every classroom should be taught, with a focus on each child’s passions and strengths and in the way that is most effective for them,” said Catherine Matthews, a pre-K special education teacher at Hyalite Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont., and the state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

“If a child is struggling with fractions but loves to cook, allow them to practice their math skills while doing something that they love. If they need to practice their reading fluency, allow them to choose books of personal interest,” Matthews added.

Second grade teacher Colbert expressed a desire for kids to experience the type of old-fashioned summer that, for countless students, no longer exists. “My wish is that all kids are outside exploring the beautiful world around them, interacting with their friends and family, growing their inquisitive minds, fostering their creativity, and limiting the use of technology,” she said.

Who’s responsible for making sure summer work gets done?

Assigning summer work is one thing; monitoring its completion is another.

Pennsylvania high school principal Barris said parents are ultimately responsible for making sure their kids do the work. “I believe it should fall on the parents for the most part with opportunities, suggestions, and strategies provided by the school in concert with the community where the child resides,” he said, while acknowledging this challenge. “That said,” he added, “getting my 11-year-old to read and practice his skills in the summer is easier said than done.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 14, 2023 edition of Education Week as Should Schools Assign Summer Homework? Educators Weigh In

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Please Don’t Assign Homework Over Winter Break

It sends the wrong message, period.

“Seven more school days til break!” Teachers and students alike have been counting down the minutes until holiday break. We are all ready for a rest from the stress and daily 5:30 am wake-up calls. Students are all looking forward to sleeping in, seeing friends, watching TikTok, and generally resting from the pressures of one thing: homework. Yes. Homework. Schools across the country still give homework over winter break, but here’s my take: Students need a complete break from all school work, and teachers do as well. Why?

Breaks increase productivity and creativity

Teachers need to take a break over the holidays. This has been one of the most stressful years, and we are all suffering from burnout or considering leaving the profession . A true break will hopefully replenish you while also leading to more creative ideas. Once you detach from the daily grind, you can spend time finding inspiration from the world again: through things you read and see for fun, cultural traditions and events, and conversations with family and friends. In addition, b reaks increase productivity in the long run for students and teachers.

It creates space for pleasure reading

Ask high school students when they last read a book for fun, and many will name something they read in junior high or even late elementary school. This isn’t necessarily because the student doesn’t like reading or prefers to play video games. Often it’s because books have become another thing to study in English class and not something to pursue on their own time. English teachers around the country have a great opportunity to “assign” reading for pleasure, without the obligation to take notes, annotate, track pages, and do other school-like tasks. When they return, converse with any students who  read over break, and you may be surprised by the authentic conversations that came with the opportunity to read for fun.

The final product isn’t worth it

Homework, in general, has come under fire in the past few years as not only unnecessary, but possibly harmful. Harris Cooper writes in The Battle over Homework : “Too much homework may diminish its effectiveness or even become counterproductive.” If this is the norm during the school year, we can infer that homework over winter break is going to be even less productive than normal, as students and their families are pursuing rest, relationship-building activities, and preparing for the holidays. Let’s think ahead a few weeks to what type of essay, worksheet, or project quality you will receive in those early weeks of January.

Start fresh for renewed motivation

Some schools use the holiday break as a natural space between the two semesters, as finals have just ended for many high schools and quarter three begins in January. Students are well aware that this break between quarters means you are not in the middle of a teaching unit, so assigned work can come off as extra or unnecessary busywork. They are called finals, after all, and students need a clean break between the successes or failures of the first semester and the beginning of the second. Work assigned between the two may be given without much context (are you really going to be able to present a fresh unit on their way out for break to contextualize homework you are giving?).

It sends the wrong message about work-life balance

Assigning work over break tells students and families that you don’t value their time together, learning outside of the classroom, or cultural traditions. Most teachers don’t feel that way, so don’t let your potential zeal to make it through the curriculum map create that perception. Model balance yourself by talking to your students about your plans over break and asking about theirs. Discussing the power of sleep, exercise, breaks, and quality time with loved ones both in this season and throughout the year might be the most important thing you teach them.

We’d love to hear—will you assign homework over winter break? Why or why not? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, why we shouldn’t assign work on snow days, either..

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