We’ve all heard how Finland schools rank at the highest in the world in public education. They are also famously known for not giving homework to their youngest students. One New York City school has decided to do the same thing. P.S. 116 has declared to ditch homework altogether for its students from pre-K to fifth grade. Why? After a year of accessing whether math and essay homework was effective, the school decided it was a waste of time. This is a monumental move for an NYC school, especially in light of the Common Core Standards and the emphasis on test taking. EducationNews.org reports that in a letter to parents, “Principal Jane Hsu encouraged letting kids have free time for reading, playing outside, or doing activities they enjoy, while limiting TV time, video and computer games.”
Some parents are welcoming this bold move, while others disagree. The latter cite that children will have a lack of focus and their academics will fall behind. Experts cite that homework for young children should take no more than 20 minutes a night, and for grades three through six, no more than an hour a night. However, the Brookings Brown Center reports that 60 percent of third and fourth graders are spending as much as two hours on homework a night.
Interestingly enough, experts also report that both students and their parents do not like the nightly homework load. Parents feel pressured to help their kids with schoolwork, but experts advise to stop helping. Parents should instead focus on quality time with their children and running their household.
Only the future will tell how this education experiment will work for P.S. 116. If it is successful, it is likely other elementary schools will model it. Education is important to us at Qthinker. If you are a private school or education business who wants to increase their business, please contact us at Qthinker. We’ve had years of expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), social media, content creation, and management of websites, especially in regard to top search results in Google. Please contact us at 617- 816-2969 or use our contact form.