Homework Banned from Marion County as Parents Are Asked to Read to their Kids Instead
Homework is a thorn that almost every kid has to put up with. But as homework has been an integral part of a student's school life, things are definitely about to change as a "homework ban" has been recently raised and implemented.
Children in Ocala's Marion County, Florida will definitely have more free time when they return to school this August as a homework ban has been implemented on the 31 elementary schools in that area. This means that when kids come home, they do not have to worry about extra school work and could devote more time to themselves and their families. However, there is a catch: Parents would have to read to their children for at least 20 minutes a day.
According to Heidi Maier, the superintendent of the Marion County public schools in Florida, the decision was based on a reliable research regarding the best ways to improve academic achievement in students, and apparently, homework is not a part of it. The research indicates that traditional homework does not actualyl help in enhancing the academic performance of students, especially kids. What does work, however, is reading, which is why in place of homeworks, parents are advised to read aloud to their children in the confines of their own homes.
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This ruling will apply to all the 20,000 more or less elementary students of th Marion County public schools. Unfortunately for middle and high schoolers, this homework ban does not apply to them.
"It's no traditional homework, no work sheets, no endless pages of workbooks. Instead our children are reading aloud with their parents at least 20 minutes a night," says Maier.
This new decision has also ignited a heated debate about the issue. Apparently, some kids love to do their homework, many parents claimed. But Lauren Roger and her two sons will not be opposing the homework anytime soon.
"Homework has been a struggle. We had nights that we'd be sitting at the kitchen table with tears," Roger said in a statement. "For us, it [the homework ban] was like a happy dance here in the kitchen."
