HOMEWORK: EDUCATORS SAY PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Homework, one of the most hated chores of students, is an important part of education.

The whole idea behind homework is to give children an opportunity to practice the skills they learn in school, said Dr. Charles Ireland, acting chair of elementary, early and special education at Southeast Missouri State University.

"Homework should provide enough repetition that skills are learned," he said. "Homework is especially important at the elementary level for learning."

Nancy Propst, a math and science teacher at Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau, supports the practice of homework.

"In dealing with math, I definitely think students need extra practice," she said. "By doing problems just in school they can't get them down well enough."

Propst says that her students' science homework usually involves reading assignments. Students can't just sit in class and read all the time, she said, so it must be sent home. Propst would rather spend class time doing experiments and explaining concepts.

Dr. Scot Pringle, a Cape Girardeau obstetrician-gynecologist, has written an article on homework for the Cape County Medical Journal. He says time spent studying is constructive, while some activities that might take the place of homework are destructive.

"Kids waste too much time watching TV and playing video games," Pringle said. "This is passive brain activity, and it's not helping kids in any way. Eventually, the country will suffer."

Pringle says the problem in schools is that people need to realize it isn't teachers' jobs to ensure children are educated.

"Kids learn because their parents want them to learn," he said. "Parents need to help kids want to be good students."

Some people think school-related work should be kept in school. Many people opposed to homework are frustrated because of battles with children over homework, Ireland said.

"People that don't think homework should be used outside the school setting fail to acknowledge that what we learn in school should be applied to all roles of our world," he said.

When homework is used incorrectly, it leads to frustration between parents and their children, Ireland said. This occurs when homework is assigned with the intention of teaching students things they haven't learned.

"I would get so frustrated," he said, "when my kids didn't have the foggiest idea of how to do homework because the teacher only touched on the topic. Essentially, the teacher is saying, 'I tried to teach your kid this and couldn't, so you try.'"

When homework is assigned correctly it helps students. But a lack of homework gives kids time to do things they shouldn't, which leads to problems, Pringle said.

"Kids that do good in school are kids that have their parents behind them," he said. "Kids that get into trouble have parents that do not show support or interest in their child's education."

And homework can benefit the entire family. "Homework gives parents a chance to interface with their kids," Pringle said. "Twenty to 30 minutes of time spent together working on homework is worth a lot more than hours of watching TV together."

Another benefit of homework, Pringle said, is that is helps students to learn how to study efficiently. This will help kids do well in college, he said. Students that cram for tests and write papers hours before they are due, he said, won't do as well.

Jeremy Bratton, a senior at Notre Dame High School, agrees.

"There should be work outside of school," he said, "because it helps prepare you for the studying required in college."