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Teacher's No Homework Policy Goes Viral
We were really interested to hear your thoughts Monday on our Facebook post when we shared a note sent home from a teacher saying:
Dear Parents,
After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your child did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year.
Research has been unable to prove that homework improves students preformance. Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early.
Thank you,
Mrs. Brandy Young
The response from our members was generally in agreement with this while a few moms voiced their issues with a no homework policy. So when our friends at WTSP 10 News saw our post and it got the entire news room talking, reporter Phil Bcuk decided to dig a little deeper and here is the report on it.
See the Video on 10 News Here!
LUTZ, Fla. -- Thousands of people rallied behind a no-homework policy after a Texas teacher's letter to parents went viral.
The second grade teacher’s letter told parents: “Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year."
The teacher went on to ask parents to spend evenings eating dinner as a family, reading together, playing outside and getting their kids to bed early.
The letter, which was posted on social media, drew a massive response from people weighing in on the topic.
"I think parents are getting frustrated,” said Steffany Rodriguez-Neely, owner and creator of the Tampa Bay Moms Group, after posting the letter on the group's Facebook page.
"It's something, I think, speaks to a lot of parents,” added Rodriguez-Neely. "We barely have time to spend with our kids because, by the time we're done cooking and they do their homework there's no extra time left for family time and bonding."
"I remember, when I was going to school it wasn't like this,” said Dianolys Denizard, a mother of first- and second-grade students. "I think it's a little bit too much."
"Spelling and vocabulary, math, everything. I think homework is definitely a good thing,” countered Tamara Ponce, another parent at the same school. "I don't know what it's going to be like in middle school but in elementary school I don't think an hour and fifteen minutes is too much in the evening, and thirty minutes of reading so. ... It might be a little more than an hour and fifteen."
But for Rodriguez-Neely, it was an issue of teaching kids what's most important.
“The homework gets more and more extreme. It’s a lot and it seems like it’s starting earlier and earlier,” she said. "Families don't sit down to have dinner like they used to, we're just becoming very disconnected and this is just another way to divide our time against our other obligations and responsibilities."
