In the article “Should Schools Give Summer Homework?” (Upfront, 2022 subscription required) two experts debate this specific question and the outcomes of each decision. Harris Cooper begins by declaring that continuous instruction leads to more and better learning. He presents his point of view that having no schoolwork for many weeks disrupts the learning rhythm and causes students to forget. Students will eventually have to review old material because of this when they return to school. He processes to explain that summer work is proven, by research, to have positive effects on students’ overall achievement. On the other hand, Nancy Kalish proclaims that summer homework does more harm than good. A huge reason is stress produced by students, parents, and even teachers. Furthermore, she states that research has indicated that too much homework is counterproductive and the correlation between homework and standardized tests, or even long-term achievement, is not as strong as it has been taught but rather low or moderate. She ends by emphasizing that summer homework negatively affects the way students feel about school and learning overall.
Do you believe students need to continue their learning rhythm during summer, with homework, or should they take their given vacation time to focus on what they desire?After being informed by both sides of this debate, I strongly believe that students should not be assigned summer homework. Learning is extremely important in a school environment and outside of it, but there are many other ways in which students can learn besides homework. Spending time, that should be for relaxation, on homework steals time for other important brain and body-developing aspects such as social skills, mental and health control, physical activities, and execution of desirable hobbies. After months of working and sometimes dedicating extra hours of study, students need a break to focus on their personal life. Short reviews should be given at the beginning of school if they are needed. However, it should be highlighted and emphasized that if an extensive review is needed then the problem relies on the focus given by the student or on the way such material was taught in the first place. It may also be that the bigger issue lies within the roots of the school system and the rules or views it was on students’ school and outside of school life. For these reasons, I considered that it is important and necessary for students’ minds to begin a school year fresh and rested, without summer homework, rather than stressed or burned out because of it.
Dear Rebecca,
I am very interested in your post, “Should Schools Give Summer Homework?” because more school homework stresses students and makes them overwhelmed. Students should have time for themselves to make them feel less stressed. Schools shouldn’t put more pressure on students by leaving more summer homework. One sentence you wrote that stands out to me is, “…research has indicated that too much homework is counterproductive and the correlation between homework and standardized tests, or even long-term achievement…” This stands out to me the most because more school work will definitely affect a student’s productivity and will overwhelm them to the point where they can’t think properly. Summer homework shouldn’t be given for that main reason. Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because informing about this topic is important for students’ educational levels of comprehension. Great job on your descriptions and I look forward to more writing from you.
Cecilia
Dear Rebecca,
Your post, “Should Schools Give Summer Homework?” interests me because this is a topic that is often debated every time students go on summer break. Personally, I have to disagree with the idea homework should not be given during summer break because I believe that having some work is important. However, I will not argue against the idea that the workload could definitely be decreased.
One sentence that I found really important was when you stated how Cooper, “presents his point of view that having no schoolwork for many weeks disrupts the learning rhythm and causes students to forget.” This is important because it shows the reason why I believe summer homework is important: the learning rhythm is crucial to me, without it I feel as though I’ve slipped. I understand that breaks are supposed to be breaks; they are meant to be used by students to rest and enjoy themselves during the little time they have off from school. However, as students, I know that the majority of us don’t even pick up a book or practice our maths during breaks, so if education is really so important, I believe it to be better to allot some time to work during our breaks so that we may remember what we’ve learned and not waste time relearning the material.
Overall I really enjoyed this post, thank you for your writing. I look forward to what you write next because your speech is very well-developed and it’s always nice to see differing opinions in classmates.
Dear rebecca,
I am interested about your post “should schools give summer Homework?” because if schools did this then students would have no break from school. I also agree that schools should not give any homework during the summer because students most likely work the hardest during a regular school schedule.
one sentence you wrote that stood out to me is “summer homework negatively affects the way students feel about school and learning overall.” I think this is important because it will burn out a student from too much work. I also think this is important because it could make a student stressed even more in school.
Thank you for writing. I look forward to what you write next because you described the story so well. You also use a very high vocabulary which is good.
Dear Rebecca,
I am Interested in your post, “Should Schools give summer Homework?”, because I also agree that schools should not give summer homework just for the main reason that during the school year enough homework is given to students and that causes stress so if having even more work during the summer is something that shouldn’t be allowed.
One sentence that stood out to me is, “For these reasons, I considered that it is important and necessary for students’ minds to begin a school year fresh and rested, without summer homework, rather than stressed or burned out because of it.” I think this is interesting because students should be able to have that freedom of not having no homework or to have that time in summer to focus on themselves and to have a break with no homework.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next because I could tell that you know what you are doing. Your thoughts are very interesting and your vocabulary is something I admire about your writing.
Stefanie Figueroa-Loera