Hit the Books

The Michigan data say that elementary school children are doing about 22 minutes of homework a night on average, although both my parental and professional experience tell me that can vary greatly. Some homework critics, such as Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, whose book, The Case Against Homework, also will be out in paperback this month, believe the burden on many young children is much greater than that. "Parents are sick of how every night brings another crushing load and another power struggle," they say in their book.

Think of how much we could learn by discarding that weight. Keep in mind there is no research to indicate that anyone's chances at getting into med school would be hurt by holding off on formal homework until middle school.

My new policy will upset many parents who think homework is a good habit to develop in small children, so they can adjust easily when it becomes important in middle school. In some neighborhoods, including mine, kindergartners are eager for homework as a sign that they are big kids now. Cooper says he thinks that my idea is "pretty extreme" and that even the few schools that have banned homework still ask students to prepare at home for tests.

But the anti-homework people are considering a statue in my honor. A ban on homework for young children would be "fantastic," Bennett says.

I wish I could venture back in time with my daughter and sample life in Nohomeworkland. Would it have been a happier, more relaxed place, with families closer together? Instead, I'll imagine an evening with a future grandchild.

Okay, Sammie, what should we read first? Richard Scarry? No way, the man's a bore. Florence Parry Heide's The Shrinking of Treehorn? That's more like it. Get the book.

Jay Mathews covers schools for The Post. He can be reached at mathewsj@washpost.com.