Parenting
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. I remember my own childhood vividly, a time when I was a self-proclaimed bookworm longing for homework. Unfortunately, it didn’t arrive until fourth grade, leaving me feeling utterly cheated.
Fast forward to my first experience as a parent, witnessing my child come home with homework in kindergarten. I always believed homework was meant to teach children how to work independently, a skill not yet mastered by five-year-olds—prodigies aside, of course. It struck me as odd that the assignments often felt like they were directed at me, the parent, who completed kindergarten many years ago.
Then there was the time my second child was in first grade. At a parent-teacher meeting, the instructor suggested we use flashcards to assist our daughter with… well, I can’t quite recall the specifics. What I do remember is the urge to respond, “How about you handle the flashcards while I focus on keeping her nourished, bathed, and cherished? When I return from work, I’d prefer to share stories about her day or even relax together watching TV, rather than drilling flashcards.”
As my children advanced in age and the complexity of their homework escalated, I found myself among a tiny fraction of parents who don’t dive into my kids’ assignments. I’ve noticed fellow moms in my local Facebook group expressing frustration over the absence of standardized textbooks for their high schoolers, making it tough to keep up with assignments landing on assorted scraps of paper. I refrained from commenting, “Why are you even involved in your child’s homework?” but that thought lingered.
When did homework become a family affair? Why are children given assignments they struggle to complete independently? Thankfully, it seems that kindergarten homework isn’t going to have dire consequences—at least not until college applications roll around and those flashcards come back to haunt us.
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In summary, while homework can be an important part of learning, it often places an unnecessary burden on parents, leaving us to wonder about its true value and purpose.