Friday, December 8, 2006

If you think the best thing about winter vacation is not having any homework, you'll love Alfie Kohn. He's written a book called The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing. He used to be a high school teacher, but now he writes and gives speeches about how to make schools better. He talked with Book World Senior Editor Ron Charles from his home in the Boston area.

Nobody's making you do homework anymore, so why do you care about it?

Because it's painful to watch kids doing stuff that isn't helpful to them and only causes frustration and exhaustion -- and may make them less excited about learning.

But everybody has to do homework, don't they? That's just part of going to school.

The myth is that kids need homework to learn better. But no scientific study has ever found any benefit to making kids do homework before they're in high school. It's all pain and no gain.

What would you tell somebody who really hates homework?

It's important for kids to know that if they're having trouble with homework -- if they see it as too hard or too dumb or they just can't see why they have to do more assignments after spending the whole day in school -- the problem isn't with them, it's with the homework. It's not like kids are vending machines where you put in more homework and get out more learning. Kids know that, but a lot of grownups have trouble understanding that.

Are there any good homework assignments?

If kids decide together with the teacher that a certain thing should spill over into the evening, then kids are more likely to get something out of it -- because it was their choice. Also, reading books that kids choose is a great idea, as long as the experience isn't ruined by making them write reports about the books or outline the chapters. That kills the joy of reading.

But come on, if kids didn't have homework, wouldn't they just watch more TV and play more video games?

That is one of the most depressing and insulting arguments that adults can make. Grownups need a chance to chill out after spending a whole day at work, so why shouldn't kids?

What would school be like without homework?

Some of the best schools in the country don't give homework, and their kids are doing great! They find that kids do all kinds of thinking and learning -- even if it doesn't always look like schoolwork -- on their own time.

Are any teachers listening to you?

A few teachers have said they're considering stopping homework for at least a while to see what happens. And some teachers are using my book to read together and talk about homework. It takes some courage to rethink what you've always done.

For more information, check out www.alfiekohn.org.