Since Brendan started his Primary 5 education this year, there has not been a day that he has come home free from SCHOOL HOMEWORK.  In fact, the amount of homework for different subjects COLLECTIVELY is so much - that he spends each day working on them till late at night. For festive season, the load has not reduced either *stress*.  Now, we even have to spend part of weekend at home, just to run the “homework marathon” TOGETHER.

He tries his best in school, during available time, to start working on the homework. 

[To explain: It is not only about completing worksheets. It involves great efforts like reading newspaper article in chinese, understanding it, and writing personal view. At other times, he is required to do extensive search of internet and dictionaries.]

I am CONCERNED.  As our boy spends his “mornings” in school and “afternoons and nights” at home only studying and counting down the number of pages he has completed, his life does not seem so “balanced” or even “entertaining” anymore. 

It has become so common for our conversations to sound like “How much homework do you have today?” or “Oh No! We do not even have time to watch a TV program together?” or ‘Dear, we have to keep our outings short because our son has so much homework to do.” Frankly, I don’t like it.

It's never too old to have FUN....and I want my children's life to have FUN and JOY.

I wonder:….

Does huge amount of homework necessarily help a child to excel or improve?  Is it healthy to build it into the system” of a child to spend most of his/her time studying? For children, who already have problems coping or understanding in school, does the pile of school homework not put stress on the children and parents?  What happen if parents are also not able to coach the child who is already very much “lost” in school?

[Hmmm.....many questions to ponder. Ultimately, what is the objective of letting the children complete so much school homework daily? We were elated when announcements were made a few years ago that children would be given less school homework. I noticed that without it, Brendan did well anyway.]

Thinking aloud. What about ….?

• More frequent parent-teacher communication and close monitoring by parents on their children’s progress. Then time could be better spent for parents or personal tutors to work with the children on their weak topics or subjects … and not merely trying to spend time fulfilling the mission of completing homework.
• Allowing children to learn in other ways and not through academic gearing or worksheet completion. Different children acquire knowledge and understandings in different ways.
• Giving time for children to develop themselves in other skill sets.
• Giving sufficient time for children to rest and relax.  Allowing them time to be engaged in sports, exposure to the greenery and other recreational activities. Just like adults, these young children need to recharge themselves too!
• Preparing the children to have the correct mindset in life i.e. exceling in education is not the only goal in life. There are many other elements that make them complete, like character buildings and other aspirations too. The purpose of childhood is not to spend substantial amount of time trying to conquer their weakness in school subjects “by much school homework” but rather to learn, embrace life in a “fun”and “fulfilling” way.
• Encouraging the children to pay attention in class and ask when they do not understand.
• Revising the topics with the children regularly and understanding their immediate difficulties instead of loading them with questions to complete.
• Giving the children assignments that enable the use their creative thinking.

Looking at the study load. Looking at the level of education standard. Young children today, as compared to ourselves (when we were of a similar age), are much more pressurised.  Besides school expectations, they are also “groomed” to “perform” in other areas ranging from sports, music to dance. At a young age, they have to accomplish so much. So, is this due to society’s expectations or advancing technologies?

Well-exposed childhood experiences…..Learning is not a chore

Then, I start asking myself whether placing the boys in a top school has inevitably created this pressure for Brendan as he proceeds to a higher primary level. Frankly, I DON’T KNOW the answer.  However, I DO KNOW that I aspire to have a Balanced and Healthy Lifestyle for my children, starting with well-exposed childhood experiences and enabling them to also display their interests and strength. The last thing I wish for is for them to FEAR learning or label it as a CHORE.

So, I did my part. I expressed my concerns about  the daily homework burden and my son having no time for other things in life anymore to the School Teacher. 

[I always believe that it is healthy and useful to maintain communications with the Teachers. Then, at least we can work together to achieve a well-balanced and enriching life for our children - accomplished not only by school results but also by their moral values, social, survival and other skills (yeh..a repeat of what I have mentioned previously in earlier posts).]

I wish I can see this carefree lifestyle and smile of my growing son more often.

The teacher responded that “Primary 5 is the time to lay foundation and it will get more rigorous soon. Pressure on the childern will be even greater when they reach Primary 6. The teachers for the different subjects are giving the children so much homework everyday so that they are prepared. They will nevertheless try to address our concerns by giving the children less homework only before the Continual Assessments and Semestral Assessments. I probably do not understand that it is just normal for the children to be so pressurised when they reach upper primary only because I am a first time mother of a child who is in Primary 5.”

I heard the explanation. So, is extreme pressure and gearing away from a balanced life - inevitable and unavoidable? I tried my last effort to continue to convey my message about children needing a balanced life too and studying is not everything. With a thin voice, I guess I didn’t manage to achieve much. Then, back to the issue “Are the young children really lagging behind time? Lagging behind the competitive education system?” What are they made to RACE against? Is this really the best for the children - just to be prepared?

As a mother, I cannot imagine my children receiving even more pressure (as what I have been told). Does it mean no more time for all the other emphasis in life? If Brendan, who has been performing well in the past, is feeling the extreme pressure, what about the other children? What is it like going through the education system in other countries?

[For now, I do not look forward to a more stressful life/childhood for the boys. *Pat! Pat! Son. Mommy will be with you*]

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