<p>Here's a question for Parents...S's AP Psych teacher is exempting him from homework...he is not particularly diligent about homework anyway - does it sporadically - however, she says he participates lots in class, obviously understands all concepts, and sets the curve on every test...she will NOT exempt him from any projects or term paper that she may assign. Obviously, this "exemption" will only last as long as he continues top performance...
What do you parents think about this? My husband thinks homework should be required of him like everyone else - he should get the idea he is "special"; I think it 's the teacher's right to handle her class the way she wants...if he's "getting" what she's teaching and thinks is important, should homework be his downfall? (He is not the only one she is doing/has done this with).<br>
Interested in all your excellent opinions.</p>
<p>As long as he's understanding the concepts and performing well on tests, there's absolutely no reason for him to have to suffer through busy work every night. I commend his teacher for finally realizing that some kids just don't need to do homework for an hour to understand things, and for being reasonable enough to exempt him.</p>
<p>I don't think your S's teacher is doing your son any favors. Hopefully, he does not have a problem with homework like my boys did. I think they needed every bit of reinforcement of how important homework and attendence are because when S1 went off to college, his college did not care a bit about homework, but if you did not do it, the chances were very high that you would flunk the course as it was really the only way to monitor your understanding of some challenging material as you checked your answers and understandings at what they called "Recitation" where the grad student went over the homework. No grade were given for homework, no attendence was taken at the Recitation. Grade was usually a paper and an exam or two exams for many of his courses. Fortunately for him he had years of admonitions about doing homework, going to class ringing in his ears because kids who were a lot smarter and better prepared for the courses flunked them much to their surprise. S barely squeaked by himself, and he will admit that his tenacity in getting an explanation for every single question ever assigned in the course was the only reason he passed a few of those courses. </p>
<p>When I went to a college with a "tough" academic reputation, I saw a lot of kids drop out or get into academic trouble. It was never because the kids were incapable of doing the work. The lack of study habits, not doing the homework, not showing up that killed them. If your son on the path of minimizing his work, this probably is not a good thing, as it just reinforces the bad idea that homework is not important. If he is the type of kid who has always done his homework, and is a hard worker so that this class is a true fluke in his schedule, then it probably won't make any difference. The problem I have with the "pass" is that kids this age often get the wrong idea when they are give breaks like this.</p>
<p>I agree with Elizabeth. The point of homework is to help students master the materials, not to be doing homework. If students can master the materials without homework, why assign any? Of course, the teacher could try to give more challenging assignments.</p>
<p>Sounds like a great teacher to me. A lot of homework is busywork, and if your son is learning the material, then I think that's fine. My son has never liked that he has to do 20 math problems when he understands it after doing 2. Good students will police themselves in regard to how much work they need to do.</p>
<p>I can tell you that I have seen many kids who are so smart, so advanced that they can do very, very well without doing the homework. Just by reading the material, doing a few samples and listening in class, the osmosis method works very well for them. If these same kids get too used to this, however, they may be in for a rude shock when they finally get some challenging courses in college, particularly if they never learned to study, keep a notebook, take notes. I was an excellent highschool student who really was never that challenged in highschool and, in fact, tested out of a lot of freshman courses. I had my head handed to me first term when I was finally faced with a tough load of courses that required vigilence. Even though I was not lax by design, and had always done my homework, I really needed to step it up, and did not do so quickly enough. But thank God, I always knew that I had to do my homework, as it was a pretty good litmus test on how well I knew the material.</p>
<p>Bravo for the teacher. It shouldn't be busywork. What a great way to reinforce that the purpose is learning.</p>
<p>I have to side with jamimom. It's not enough to understand the material, you have to know how to understand the material as she/possibly he? very eloquently said.</p>
<p>I agree that good study habits are important. But I still say that busywork is unnecessary. In fact, it can generate bad habits of its own as students learn to blow it off and are careless. My S always does worse on busywork. That's why when my S was in unchallenging classes, I made sure that he had extra assignments that actually challenged him.</p>
<p>Really appreciate everyone's input - and glad to see that the opinions are split - like DH and myself LOL - I am frankly not sure what the homework consists of...but she is requiring he do any projects she assigns (he has one on Child Development due soon). Jamimom - I am a little concerned that he has not developed good habits...but he'll just have to figure it out on his own once he gets to college. None of our parental direction, etc. has had any effect over any extended period of time, and homework has frequently been the bugaboo that hurt his grade...many battles over it...he knows what to do, just won't due to the "busy work factor" - I suppose he'll sink or learn to swim in college, as many of us did...and it may be painful...</p>
<p>If a student has too much busy work to do and not enough challenging work, the parent might want to step in and reevaluate the program, the school and the child's placement, particularly in the earlier stages of education. The later years of highschool may be a little late for that sort of intervention, though early graduation and taking college courses are one remedy. But there is a point where busy work becomes important too. Much of my work is busy work and to ignore it can lead to major problems. The reason the kids I tutor do so well, is because I don't ignore the details and the little mundane stuff, but for every detail. When I work with anyone, I look at every little thing instead of painting with a wide brush. I end up netting far less per hour than many people because of the detail work I do and looking at every unimportant thing. I don't think I am more brilliant than most people, but when I am doing a job, I do the busy work thoroughly, and that is where I find some interesting, overlooked things. </p>
<p>In the whole big picture, not doing AP Psychology homework is not big deal, and for my girls, I would not blink an eye. But for someone who already does not think homework is so important, it can reinforce a pretty deadly direction of thinking. Some of these kids dislike the mundane, busy work so much that they really never learn the discipline of doing it which can end up being their Waterloo even though they may be very bright. Sometimes you don't find out that you should have done the homework until you get a test that covers something you don't understand or cannot do the way the teacher wants it done. In college when the grade can be based on just one or two tests, you can really take a fall on something like that.</p>
<p>Sounds like a terrific teacher to me! Homework (with the exception of long term papers and projects) should be reinforcement or practice of learned material. If a student has the material mastered, the homework would be nothing but busywork. I can't tell you how many times my kids did things that were busy work because "the whole class got the assigment" even though the skills had long since been mastered. It seems to me that this is a wonderful accommodation for your child.</p>
<p>ckr:</p>
<p>Is your son a senior? He sounds to me like a gifted, unchallenged student who is at risk of being labeled an underachiever because his unwillingness to do busywork lowers his grades. Colleges are chary of underachievers. So either he buckles down and do the busywork or he is given more challenging work that engages him and enables him to get the good grades colleges are looking for. I was personally concerned that my S would become an underachiever, so I insisted on extra projects. He never minded because the projects were so much more interesting than the regular assignments.</p>
<p>The situation you describe is nonsense, as is grading on a curve. Your son is being coddled, plain and simple.</p>
<p>at my school, science and math teachers usually assign about 5 problems, and recommend like 15 more to do if you need extra practice. i think its pretty good, because you dont end up doing repetitive busy work if you don't need to in order to understand the material, but you know what problems will ehlp if you do need more practice.</p>
<p>Marite - I would say he is definitely an underachiever..your solution w/ your son is a great idea...wish we had thought of it...he is a senior...ADHD and a bit immature to boot...community college may be the road for him until he grows up a bit...or he may blossom if he has the opportunity to go away from the nagging parents and build his confidence in a challenging atmosphere...it's hard to say...
MMboys - maybe he is being coddled - but to what end? What's in it for the teacher, other than less HW to look at?
At his school it seems that what is foremost is getting the most kids to pass the AP's and get into the UC's...
BTW I really appreciate everyone's comments...it's interesting to see different perspectives.</p>
<p>Ckr, my oldest son really did not settle into doing his work until he went away to a challenging college where if he did not bite the bullet and study, he would have been out on his tush. And he was astute enough to recognize that. He complained bitterly that he made the wrong college choice, and caused me some heartache as a mom who really wants her children to be happy. He had some college choices where he would not have been so strapped academically, but now in retrospect, he might have just gone too far in not doing the work. It may have been his saving grace that he had to do the work or sink , in his case. But he had heard the drill about busywork, homework, note taking, studying, organization enough through school that he was able to eke through when the time came. Had he been permitted to get through highschool without doing mundane work, sitting through some boring classes,lectures, teachers, because he was so bright, so special, I would hate to see what his attitude these day would be. He has a full understanding that he has to go through the drills like everyone else.</p>
<p>ooh no, i love teachers like your child's. my poor ap psychology teacher is still badgering me because i get 100s on all the tests but have missed 5 classes. oh, woe, woe is me!</p>
<p>meanwhile the girl who cuts class every day to do coke outside our classroom is coddled. today my teacher said "poor michelle, she is so stressed".</p>
<p>yea, shes stressed! try applying to 18 schools, 15 credits at college, 3 classes at high school, internship, extracurriculars - all WITHOUT cocaine.</p>
<p>bejesus. thanks for letting me vent. i think ive gone mad.</p>
<p>Jamimom - I totally agree (BTW I do alot of lurking here and find you to be one of the most valuable resources...you have dealt with a wide variety of personalities and abilities with your children) and I'm sure S understands... I do think maturity has something to do with his performance (or lack thereof) as well - making that hard decision to do what has to be done rather than what would be more "fun" or "immediately gratifying" - S seems to do the HW when he finds it to his benefit...when it's busywork, in HIS opinion, wild horses won't get him to do it...we have fought this battle for many years...and nothing (reward/punishment, etc) we have tried has had any effect for very long...S may have a very rude awakening and some hard knocks coming...as I have told him...there is nothing he "can't" do - the question is "will he do it"? In the end, only he can make that decision..</p>
<p>My son talked as many of his high school teachers as possible into exempting him from homework -- almost all did once they saw how well he did on tests. It was a waste of time for him, and in some cases he used the extra time to do outside or extra reading in the subject. His main argument to high school teachers was that college grading was by exam or project/papers only - so that it would be better college prep to NOT be having homework grades thrown into the mix. My son had a few issues in college, but I don't think it was related to his homework habits -- he did very well in classes where he had high interest, even classes requiring a lot of study and practice, like studying a new foreign language.</p>