Homework Or No Homework? What Some Educators, Parents Are Saying

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Getting her children to do their homework is Rayna Furman's least favorite part of the day at her Simi Valley home.

The full-time working mom to 10-year-old Logan and eight-year-old Caleb said she spends her late afternoons struggling with her kids to get their homework done.

So she questioned whether homework is even necessary. "I just don't know if doing all this work and having it be all work all the time is healthy," Furman wondered. "I don't want to say that it's not good to have responsibilities, but I feel like they can get them elsewhere."

First-grade teacher Nicky Hansen at Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas agreed. So this year, she proposed to do away with traditional homework.

"The kids just need a break. They need time to unwind just like we do at the end of a long day of work," Hansen said. "They need time to spend with their friends and family and do something they're passionate about."

Hansen believed she found a plan online called UnHomework. It's an outside-the-box way to get kids to continue their learning at home.

Assignments range from taking an outdoor walk and interviewing a family member to picking a favorite song and coming up with dance moves to it.

"So you've got movement and social interaction, and it's something the kids are excited about," Hansen said.

The other three first-grade teachers have also adopted the plan.

Principal Steve Scifres said reaction has been mostly positive. "For the majority of families, this was a welcome addition and much appreciated. For some, the question is: 'Is my child missing out on that practice?'"

Educator and homework expert Oona Hanson said no.  The mother-of-two has consulted with local schools on their homework policies and said "we don't have any compelling research to support the kind of homework most elementary kids are bringing home."

Instead, Hanson said traditional homework in elementary schools can cause kids to burn out and dislike school.

"It's taking away time from things that actually do help them grow and develop - having chores, taking care of a family pet, helping with dinner, playing outside. And reading for pleasure is the one thing that benefits kids academically, even at a young age."

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest school district, homework is recommended starting in kindergarten.

"LAUSD's homework policy is 10 minutes per grade level, per day, four days a week" - a guideline supported by both the national PTA and the National Education Association.

The district's Administrator of Instruction Dr. David Baca, believed as long as it is not excessive, homework has its benefits.

"In general, it's reinforcing the learning that took place that day and beginning to teach student's responsibility," Baca said.

Over at Bay Laurel, the first-grade teachers report that their students are keeping up and complaining less.

Furman said she asked her sons' teachers for less homework, and they are still on the honor roll.

"Both my kids are on the honor roll. They're A's and B's. And this is with reduced homework. They're doing fantastic."