If you’re a parent of school going children like I am, you’ll know how much valuable family time homework can take up. So to learn that school principals are coming out to

Is homework really of "no real benefit"?

say that it has “no real benefit” is quite disturbing to say the least. According to this article, that’s exactly what they have come out and said in a submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Curriculum Reform.

But has homework really “no real benefit”. Honestly, I find it hard to believe. Very interesting discussion taking place on the whole topic over on the very excellent boards.ie parenting forum.

Firstly, I find it difficult to see how you can come out with a blanket statement such as “home work has no real benefit”. It’s like saying “working isn’t good for learning”. What learning and what work? Surely it completely depends on the homework and the subject matter. Reading for example. One teacher on the boards discussion thread has pointed out that to listen to each child’s reading in class would take over an hour. That’s not efficient use of class time. Reading is something that can easily and enjoyably be done at home. Then there’s maths, for example. You learn the theory and the methods in class but this stuff has to be practised and put into practice. Children need time to digest what they have learned and work through it by themselves, I believe. Again, it seems to be that home is the place where this is most efficiently done.

Secondly, homework involves parents in their education. Helping out with homework shows our children that we value their learning and we see it as important, effectively giving parental endorsement of their efforts in school. I believe this is very important. I remember once when I was a child, having difficulty with my Irish homework. My dad would go off on this rant about how useless learning Irish was. Needless to say, that didn’t help. So the opposite is true here too. Homework can be an opportunity to support and endorse, or undermine our children’s efforts in school.

Perhaps the issue is that homework is issued indiscriminately with no real thought given to what it is supposed to achieve. More thought needs to be given to it. If more judicious use of homework was made, perhaps parents and children would have a more positive experience of it and the effectiveness of it in both learning and involving parents would be so much greater. So I’m all for reform, but I really can’t see that meaning getting rid of homework, as much as some may loathe it!

What do you think? Would love to hear your comments and thoughts.

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Jody Parenting, Personal Ramblings education, homework, Parenting, school

The Chicken and the Turtle, by Leah Dillon, aged 6

Once upon a time there was a chicken. He lived on a farm. His name was Bob. His best friend was Dylan the turle who lived in an aquarium. One day they met up on the beach. Suddenly Bob saw a castle. “Look!”, said Bob. “Wow!” cried Dylan. They signed up for two nights… and they fought all the baddies! And they got golden medals.

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Jody Personal Ramblings

We were out having tea and chocolate cake today… a reward for a very positive report from our elder daughter’s teacher and for a stunning performance at parent’s day at ballet class. The camera was out and we were reviewing some of my dreadful snaps. Our 3 year old wanted to take some pictures and bravely, or stupidly (we’re not sure which) we gave it to her. I’m posting some of the more interesting ones here. They give you some insight into the mind of a child.

The snaps are remarkable, given that she was trying to show us the outcome, even before the button was pressed! Melanie says she centers the shots better than my mother.

Sissy's Hand

Sissy's Boot

Some Suger

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Jody Parenting, Personal Ramblings

I suppose every generation of parents thinks their kids are way more educated than the generation before. I certainly hadn’t heard of the food pyramid when I was 5! We bought our daughter an Usborne book about the human body when she was 5. She really loved it. Kids seem to have photographic memories. Not only does she read it and understand it, she remembers every little thing in it.

There is one chapter in this book about food and the food pyramid. The general idea being that different foods serve different purposes and we only need so much of each type. Her being familiar with this has made things so much easier. Like explaining why she can’t have Coco Pops every morning. Ok, the secret’s out, we have Coco Pops in our house… but they’re administered sparingly and infrequently… honestly and I really don’t feel the least bit guilty about it… really. Anyway, she often comments on the food she’s eating and where it lies in the food pyramid. It even creates a degree of self regulation.

A lesson here is that it’s so much better to take the time to explain to kids why they can’t do or have something… when they understand, it’s so much easier for them to accept.

One day Leah was blowing bubbles. Then she started trying to catch them in her mouth. Her mum told her this probably wasn’t a good idea. Leah paused, looking pensive and after a fewe moments came out with this:

You know, there should be a section above the food pyramid for things you should never eat, like bubbles.

Priceless. The mind of a child is awesome. So I’ve taken this concept and produced my idea of what should lie above the top of the food pyramid.

The Extended Food Pyramid

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Jody Parenting, Personal Ramblings bubbles, food pyramid, Parenting

Remembering Summer

As the rain pours outside, this is a nice reminder of what summer was like this year, now that it’s all over. There’s something wonderful and honest about a child’s drawings. Nothing is hidden or held back and notable features are disproportionate and exaggerated. It really gives tremendous insight into the mind of a child. If only us adults were so open and honest.

I just love this picture. I can’t quite put my finger on why I like it so much. The girl’s big smile, the enormous sun, the flowing dress and the huge flowers. Everything nice, pleasant and positive is exaggerated and emphasized. There’s a lesson there. Maybe we should focus on the positive more. Especially in these times - it would certainly be good for our mental health to concentrate on the positives.

As we crossed paths, I had a 2 minute conversation with a colleague the other day. 

 - ”How are your girls?”, he asked.  (I have three, two small ones and a wife ).

 - “They’re great”, I replied.

- “Well that’s the main thing, isn’t it”, he said as we parted.

It left me thinking. That is the main thing. You can loose your focus. You can be distracted by the overwhelming incompetence of the government, the scale of the financial crisis, the crapness of the weather… but in the end, my girls are happy. It’s so obvious in the picture that my daughter is happy. That’s all that matters and that’s what should concern me most of all.

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Jody Personal Ramblings children's art, happiness, summer

Glad I'm on their side

The Toy Blog crew spent the bank holiday weekend with rellies in Edinburgh. We visited the very excellent National Museum of Flight which was having a World War II day where, in addition to the vast array of historic aircraft on display, they also have a series of World War II related displays and events including many vehicles and weapons of the era. The picture above is one of the first of the day which I took and is my favourite. It features a merciless machine gun crew operating a German MG42 which, if anyone is interested, is widely regarded as the best light machine gun of the war.

A windy scottish morning

Free and careless with the wind in their hair. Oh, to be 6 again! This was taken just after we visited the interactive flight exhibit. This was really great - it consisted of a series of interactive displays each illustrating different flight concepts. Our recently acquired paper aeroplane making skills came in handy in the paper aeroplane feature. Here you were presented with lots of coloured paper and three different paper aeroplane designs. Then you were invited to test your creations by putting them in an automatic launcher which automatically launched your plane at the press of a button. My glider performed surprisingly well. Try it yourself!

Noémie in training

The main aircraft exhibition houses this cockpit which our youngest had lots of fun in. She loves planes!

Air to air missile guidance system

Ever wonder why the militaries of the world consume such vast amounts of money? This is the internal guidance system of an air to air missile.

All in all, it was a great day out. The kids really enjoyed it. The World War II exhibits were quite interesting but in truth, I think it was more an excuse for grown men to dress up as soldiers and drive tanks.

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Jody Personal Ramblings edinburgh, museum of flight

How many forums have you been on that had a “million post thread”? I’ve seen quite a few. Inevitably, none of these threads live up to their titles. But what if they did? I’ve just launched www.themillionpostforum.com which has the objective of having a thread which really does get a million posts?

One Forum - One Thread - A Million Posts

Am I crazy? Probably.

The way I look at it. If you had a community of just 2740 people and they each posted once per day - that would be a million posts in under a year.

Why not drop by and post and be a part of history. Or not. But post anyway - who knows?

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Jody Personal Ramblings, Uncategorized discussion, Forum, million, million post thread, million posts