Is Homework Bad?
Is homework being overassigned in the primary grades? More and more education experts are saying yes. Two new books on the subject are out now, including the latest endeavor by education expert Alfie Kohn. Instructor magazine recently ran an excerpt from the highly anticipated book. "There is no evidence to demonstrate that homework benefits students below high school age," Kohn argues in the book. "Even if you regard standardized test results as a useful measure (which I don't), more homework isn't correlated with higher scores for children in elementary school."
Even at the high school level, Kohn says, the benefits of homework are debatable. "Some studies do find a relationship between homework and test scores," Kohn says, "but it tends to be small. More important, there's no reason to think that higher achievement is caused by the homework."
Opponents of excessive homework argue that it forces parents to sacrifice already scarce family time for the sake of completing assignments, not because they are necessary for students to grasp concepts but because the schools have decided in advance that children must do something for each subject every night whether it's necessary or not.
So as you welcome students and parents back to school this year, do your own homework. Take a look at the new homework books out there and be prepared for those who have read them too. The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn, and The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalisha, are both available now.
- Teacher Store
-
Foxcraft #1 TR
The Teacher Store 
Foxcraft #1 TR
by Inbali IserlesThe first book in a thrilling fantasy trilogy starring one of the animal kingdom's most hunted heroes. Foxcraft is full of excitement and heart, and a touch of magic.
$34.99
Isla and her brother are two young foxes living just outside the lands of the furlesshumans. The life of a fox is filled with dangers, but Isla has begun to learn mysterious skills meant to help her survive.
Then the unthinkable happens. Returning to her den, Isla finds it set ablaze and surrounded by strange foxes, and her family is nowhere in sight. Forced to flee, she escapes into the cold, gray world of the furless.
Now Isla must navigate this bewildering and deadly terrain, all while being hunted by a ruthless enemy. In order to survive, she will need to master the ancient arts of her kindmagical gifts of cunning known only to foxes. She must unravel the secrets of foxcraft.
Audio CDs | Grades 3-7
Grades 3-7 $34.99
- Teacher Store
-
39 Clues, The: Doublecross, Book 1 LIB
The Teacher Store 
39 Clues, The: Doublecross, Book 1 LIB
by Jude WatsonConfidential until February 24, 2015!
$49.99
CD | Grades 3-7
Grades 3-7 $49.99
