When I was a kid, my mother opened up the door and out my brother and I went. Being free-range children, we had time, so much time. I could sit with my friends for hours talking about nothing or everything. As an adult one rarely has that kind of unlimited time, but as children we had time to make long and lasting friendships, some of which are still going strong.
My daughter’s life is very different. She is scheduled within an inch of her life, and while she is reaping benefits from her activities, it certainly comes at a cost. Because Kay wants to study musical theater in college, and because neither one of us wanted her to ship out to a performing arts boarding school, she has to take dance and voice lessons on top of an already hectic schedule.
Kay leaves the house everyday at 7 a.m. so that she can eat a hot breakfast at school. A day student at a boarding school, she is able to eat all her meals there, a luxury for me and a convenience for her, though she often comes home for dinner. She wants to study both French and Latin, so she takes the most classes allowed. Kay sings in the school’s a cappella group, represents her sophomore class on the student council, belongs to the chemistry club and a dance club, and recently ran the breast cancer awareness table at the school’s family weekend. Oh, and she is in theater, which takes up most afternoons until dismissal at 6:15 p.m. When there is a performance, she lives at the school, because tech week keeps her there until about 9:30 at night.
I am exhausted just writing this out. She is exhausted. And yet if Kay had time, she would sign up for more. She is a born leader and is always curious, a fantastic combination for any teen, but she has yet to learn balance. I finally told her she could not join any more committees or sign up for anything else because on top of all that, there is the homework.
The homework makes me crazy. I have complained about it to the school, just as I did to her last school, another private institution she attended from kindergarten through eighth grade. The answer from the last school was honest, if annoying. I was told that it could cut back on the homework, but then the students would not be prepared for high school or college because other schools would continue to give out a lot of homework.
Kay is not supposed to have more than 20 minutes of homework a night from each teacher, but even if you multiply that by the number of subjects, it comes to quite a lot of time. Not every teacher gives her homework every evening, but most give more than the allotted amount, and studying for tests and quizzes is not factored into that time frame, so Kay often spends three to four hours a night hitting the books. She is very tired.
Frankly, I don’t know what to do about it. I have read, and keep reading, that excessive homework doesn’t really do the kids any good. Finnish students, who get the least amount of homework, fare about as well as Chinese students on standardized tests, even though the Chinese children get the most homework every week. Teachers in Finland are highly regarded and respected, and the country takes a broader, long-term approach to education that I wish American educators would study.
One intriguing article laid out the mindset taken by the Finnish people and their approach to education: Days are shorter, classes longer, not all kids are put into the college pipeline, and outside activity is required. I think that last item is the most important. American children generally don’t go outside the way we did; they have less or no time to daydream and rest their brains. Sometimes thinking about anything but algebra is more helpful than hours of cramming.
I realize that part of my daughter’s time-crunch issues come from her doing too much, but even if we cut out some of the activities, she will still be looking at three to four hours of homework a night, and I know for a fact that she is not the only one burning the midnight oil. I believe, however, we can revamp our education system, just as we have come out with different food pyramids and we’ve all learned to be better prepared for colds and flus by covering our mouths and washing our hands. As a country we can fix this, but who is going to be the brave soul to start the revolution?
