Race To Nowhere - General Discussion

I have heard many times that if you do ur hw then u get better grades so, I looked into it and turns out that from what I have heard kids who have less hw get the highest grades on tests. With that being said I would love it if someone could clear this up and give some more info.

Homework started for us in Kindergarten (insanity). My two girls have struggled with homework all through elementary, and now it's even worse in Middle School. My Middle School daughter gets straight A's but hates school (and it's not a social issue, it's homework!) I learned too late that homework in elementary school is basically optional. If you take the time to meet with your teacher and explain the stress that is occuring with your child, they will work with you. I was given control to reduce the homework by 1/2 or more on days my daughter was struggling with a given subject (usually math). It's good to reinforce what they learned in class with a few problems but not to stress them to the point of hating a subject and 20+ problems is brain overload. If I was starting over again with what I know now, neither child would have done ANY of that "busy work" homework, and I'm 100% certain they would still be getting excellent grades. Going outside to play make believe is so much better for their heart AND mind.

I am wondering if someone who has been able to achieve "no homework vacations" in their school district will share how they went about it. We have met with principals of individual schools, approached teachers, but can't get any further. Any suggestions would be welcomed! Thanks.

No one student learns the same way, as future Special Education teacher I see this first hand very day I am helping in a class room. So why are we telling out children to take the same, standardization of classes and tests. To tell they that is the only way they will be able to be 'successful' in life if is nothing else , a lie. A young man or women right out of college who is depressed and no longer wants to work or do anything is a growing concern. We need to have outlets, and new ways to teacher our kids, and future work force. In-side the box thing will get us to a dead end fast than we can blink. In the end all we are doing it shooting our self's in the foot. Grow up, do something new, and be happy.

Where to start?

My daughter who is a high school junior taking almost all AP classes just had her six month dental check up. We discovered that she has begun grinding her teeth in her sleep. It is so bad the dentist said he usually sees that level in 40 year olds. When we asked what the cause could be he said it is usually stress induced. I knew that she had a great deal of homework and that she was still up long after everyone else had gone to bed but I had no idea it was creating that much stress for her. I started to think about everything she does and realized that she gave up playing recreational softball because she had to much homework. She doesn't have time to do things with us because she is always working on some project that is due on Monday. There have been several times when the teacher has forgotten to give the directions for the project until 1 or 2 days before it is due. Now I am wondering what I can do about it. Do I pull her out of AP classes? Will she be able to get into college if I do? Do I send a note telling her teachers telling them that we refuse to do projects when adequate time has not been alloted for it to be completed? I want her to do well, but now I think to myself "I can see the damage to her teeth what other damage is being done to her body that I can't see?" She doesn't complain and she works hard but at what cost.

I just wondering what is the priority of students in USA?? Sport or after school activities or Education?? How can a student learn without doing homework and studying at home?? How can they have strong foundation in Math, Science and Language without working hard in their studies? We Americans already fall behind in Math and Science than a lot of developed countries and we have already outsourced a lot of technical work to other countries. Please rethink again before encourage the educators and parents to stop homework!

We viewed the movie at our school last night. During the open discussion afterwards many of the parents stated that there is to much homework given to the students. The real problem from viewing the movie seems to be the amount of pressure put on the children by their parents. The over load of after school activities is over the top. The boy in the video who was on wrestling until ten o'clock at night. The parents should have never allowed that and to be told if he's able to drink water or eat depending on his weight is borderline abuse. Things need to be changed full circle. We don't want to lower are standards in school in order to accomodate after school activities. If the homework load was lightened most of these children would not be having family time or down time, they would be running from field to field and then to their face book accounts. We need to change things full circle at home and in school.

I understand the pressure of homework, AP, Grades, 5.0 GPA, Top Ten,and so on. But there has been no topic about what we should do to end this or minimize this.

I am the only parent standing up against weekend homework at my children's school. Parent don't want to complain in fear that their children will be treated unfairly as a result. The school administrators actually said that my complaint was the only one. I know that other parents have the same concerns. Any ideas out there on how to motivate and rally the parents to speak out?

I feel that by using the "no homework" concept will give the wrong idea to the kids. Because kids are immature in their thinking, I think that they would feel that they were off the hook of learning and resort to video games and tv etc.....all the things we don't want them to do. Parents should manage this but with their busy schedules with multiple children and/or their jobs, they rely on the schools to help. "Meaningful homework" as mentioned by someone here sends a much more positive message about learning. Maybe teachers should assign a life experience project on the weekends or after the holidays, an assignment that does not require reading or writing or computation but rather something that will inspire their critical thinking skills and the skills that were taught during the week in the classroom. This assignment can be reported on Mondays to the class and then maybe put in some type of class newspaper that everyone can work on during the school day. This way the teacher can assess the types of skills that were expected to be used were actually used.

My middle child (5th grade) does not handle pressure well. My 8th grader does better. Both my girls are artistic, both have had no time of inclination to do anything artistic since school has started. This past week I informed my 5th grader (who was melting under the pressure) that I will not allow her to do any more homework. As soon as she came home, I confiscated it. In two afternoons she made a beautiful big drawing, played a card game with me, read Shel Silverstein, constructed a fairy house from model magic, and played outside. My 8th grader worked for 2-3 hours after school, ate dinner, sat in front of the TV like a zombie (out of sheer exhaustion) and went to bed, only to repeat this pattern the next day. I am fed up with how the educational system is chewing up my children. Our school district announced last year that they were going to jump ahead 2 years with the math curriculum so that 6th graders did 8th grade math etc. And Race to Nowhere has been screened twice in our town. Go figure.

I believe pressure to get better grades and head for a top college leads to cheating, depression, substance abuse and a general malaise rather than developing a love of life and inner strength.

I am not against this concept, however, as you address such issues to improve the learning envronment for children I would appreciate your also addressing the parental areas that would do the same. They might include talking children on vacations, trips, ballgames, dancing performances, etc. during the instructional day and year. There are many things we should be discussing as the educational process is not the responsibility of the school/teachers alone.
Thank you,
Bill Walters

This past weekend, I saw about a dozen kids ages 3-12 running through yards and playing games together. No parent involvement, just kids being kids. But how often do you drive by a park and see a pick-up football or baseball game of 10-12 year olds? I am Gen X, and I believe organized group athletics started around 8 years old, with hockey being an exception, although five year olds were not encouraged to focus only on hockey at that point, unlike some places today. Otherwise, we just played. I have a five year old who we have not put into soccer, or flag football, or basketball, or a foreign language (yes--all of these for 4 year olds!), but who, after a full day of kindergarten, prefers and NEEDS her downtime to just be a kid and absorb the day. We are in the absolute minority on this, but I hope in the real race that is a marathon, not a sprint, that we come out winners. It is sad and scary what our future holds with the way so many parents manage their kids' lives.

I feel like the only parent who is standing up against Kindergarten homework. Why is it that the parents do the homework? Why are they willing to participate in this this craziness? When I ask it is because the school classroom environment IN KINDERGARTEN is high pressure. Shames the kids who do not turn in all and extra assignments. Also, the parents want to look good. Image is a big deal. Many eat organic, yet fail to see the damage being done to their child and the family by engaging the homework. My son does what he likes. No pressure from me. I know one 5 year old who (in October of Kinder) is required to write three sentence responses. SHE CAN'T. Mom has too....It is homework for the parent. Shame on the school. And although my friend, I would say shame on the parents for not fighting back.

Thankfully, with the direction of an educational consultant, we ended up at Alpine Valley School in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This is a Sudbury Model school where the students run the school and are in charge of their learning--100%. Having met many of the school's alumni, I am so impressed, at peace with this joyful learning style, and thankful for this incredible community. Gone are the constant headaches, sadness, frequent illness and endless homework. Now my child loves attending school, is healthy, happy and constantly passionately engaged in learning of his choice--computer programming, movie scripting, foreign languages, history, science and on and on it goes. He loves being at school and is like a different person. www.AlpineValleySchool.com .

i graduated school in 1979, before all this craziness began. AP classes were just coming into vogue. i loved school. i excelled (graduated 20th in a class of 998, but rarely felt the pressure that my 10 and 13y/o feel today. i didn't have hours of homework, but i developed a love for learning and more importantly i developed excellent critical thinking skills. i also learned how to write a research paper, take notes and learned how to study to comprehend not to memorize simply for a test. NOW... I hate school!!!! i dread the long hours of homework my kids have and the endless projects. we have to plan all family activities around school homework and projects! the kids school has invaded our home like a criminal...holding our entire family hostage! of course, just like many parents, my kids know they have to do well just to get into a good middle school and then a good high school and ultimately a good college. we live in Miami, florida. the kids have to pass the FCAT (florida comprehensive assessment test). a politicians ridiculous idea to look at test schools as tool for measuring learning!!! we have Magnet schools in which kids apply to high schools with a specific theme (i.e. engineering, art, music, International Baccalaureate, robotics, etc). even getting into a Magnet is competitive. my kids have been indoctrinated into academic competivenss since they were 1st graders. all this just to get into a state college. this isn't even to get into a top tier college. we have florida pre-paid college plan(paying for a florida college tuition at today's price rather when our kids are actually in college). a large percentage of kids have the florida pre-paid, so most parents want their kids to go to a state college. this increases the academic competitiveness even more. we are hamsters on wheels. parents need to stand up against all this craziness, but teachers and principals do as well. many principles support teaching to the test (FCAT), because school funding comes from this as well as teachers' bonuses. these professional are making money on the backs of our kids. the kids are the ones stressed and the educators are the ones that reap the rewards. i for one would like to get educated on how i can make a real difference and have my voice be heard. i don't want to be a figure head. i want change now before my kids graduate high school so they can reap the rewards of these grass root efforts.

Children need to learn through play, especially in the preschool to early elementary years. They are no longer allowed to do so. In the school district where I work, even pre-K students are subjected to a long battery of tests within the first month of school. A reading/vocabulary curriculum for 4th grade students includes the words: "avert," "consternation," "solemnly." At third grade,developmentally, children have typically just transitioned from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." Yet, here we are making obscence demands a year later. Ironically, these children are so burnt out, hate learning so much....that they cannot write a complete sentence much less a 3 paragraph essay by the time they reach 8th grade. It is horrible what we are doing. Look at the Scandanavian countries. Children are allowed to learn through play, at their own pace, and the end result is much better than what the U.S. is achieving with this absurd "race."

My husband and I struggled for 16 long years to help our two children find success in the K-12 system. Both struggled as a result of early reading difficulties. We encountered many sincere and dedicated teachers along the way, but, frankly, the system only knows how to teach the top 25%. Worse, in high school, there is little interest in helping kids who have fallen behind because of legitimate learning issues. Solutions were available in our region--but our school wouldn't even tell us about them. Today, our daughter is in a wonderful two-year college program, learning to become an interpreter for the deaf. We demanded alternatives for our son and were finally referred to a technical training program, where our son excelled. With exceptional math skills (even though he tested poorly) and a natural talent for robotics, he was the first high school student in our state invited to participate in an adult re-training program intended to fill the shortage of machinists in our state. He graduated from high school in June with two certifications for machining, found a job within a week, and used his $2,000 a month starting wage to move into his own apartment. The current system is broken--not because teachers aren't well-trained and dedicated people. It is broken because testing is more important than matching available resources to the needs of the individual student/child. What can I do to help??

I saw the film last night. I could not stop crying. I am both a parent and a teacher so I see different sides of this issue. I know from my own experience that I was dictated to give a certain amount of homework a night--regardless of what other teachers were assigning. I had to include it clearly marked in my lesson plans and if I had more than one night without an assignment I was criticized. I taught both 4th and 5th grades. I learned to get around this a bit by assigning hw--and then telling the kids to only circle a few problems, or by giving them "extra" time in class to work on it. I felt the pressure as a teacher to always push the students and to load on the work.
From a parent's point-of-view the film brought up many emotions. My son has special learning needs. Keeping up is difficult for him. Fitting in is difficult for him. He always wants to belong and our community is so competitive that by 1st grade my son had to opt out of recreational sports. Children are coached professionally at a very young age and are extremely driven to be the best which encourages cheating, poor sportsmanship and bullying of those not as athletic.
How do we solve these problems when it is such a part of our driven culture?