Do Montessori Kids Need Homework?
Yes, I’m on to another controversial topic right after the last one; I’m having fun, actually, talking about these issues and I love to hear from you guys about them!
Sister Mary (my Montessori trainer) taught that homework shouldn’t be necessary for a child in a Montessori school. For starters, the child won’t usually have access to Montessori materials at home. Second, most homework consists of worksheets and workbooks, which we don’t use in Montessori [much] anyway. Third, the nature of Montessori learning (hands-on, interactive, child-directed) is so beneficial to the child that they don’t need homework to stay current with learning.
Of course, back then I thought there was some benefit to homework (hadn’t I always had to do it?), but kids in Montessori just didn’t need that benefit, whatever it was. Now, things are changing. Children in traditional schools are getting more homework than ever, but books are being written that argue that homework isn’t necessary or beneficial at all.
One book, The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn, says that forcing homework on kids causes them to lose their creative spark and that homework is actually harmful to children – to their relationships and intellect. A similar book by Sarah Bennett & Nancy Kalish, The Case Against Homework, is along the lines of Kohn’s but is also a call to arms for parents, school boards, teachers, and even children to speak out against homework.
If you’re not interested in buying their books but would like to learn more, Sarah Bennett has a blog, and there are lots of articles and interviews with Alfie Kohn online – here’s one.
Personally, when I was a teacher I didn’t assign homework other than reading – a story each day or two from a grade-level reader. Many times I had parents ask me to give their children homework, which was strange. It seems more common to hear parents complain when their kids have too much homework, but some parents seemed to want it.
In those cases, I told the parents to have their child pick a book at the library, read it, and write a book report about it. Strangely, no families ever took me up on that. Possibly all they wanted for their kids was busywork – but not a project that would require effort on the part of the parents and child.
So, do any of you assign homework? If so, what? Do you give your kids homework if you are homeschooling? Do you see any benefit to it? Is there a specific kind of homework that seems more beneficial? I’d really like to know!
One thing I really hate about my son’s class (I love his teacher, just hate this policy) is that she has the homework laid out for the whole year. It is the same for every child -whether they are ahead or behind, have grasped the concept and are bored, or are floundering.
He’s in 1st grade, and very often I just tell him to skip some of it. I’ve never had a complaint from the teacher, but I figure, I’m in charge at my house and if I don’t require him to do a worksheet with 25 babyfied addition problems, then he’s not gonna do it.
Mama Says
I feel like sometimes teachers are so busy just planning for actual classtime that they default to homework that doesn’t require a lot of effort on their part.
It’s interesting that the teacher doesn’t mind if your son doesn’t do it. Kind of confirms that it’s not really necessary.
Love your blog, by the way!
I have been a Montessori teacher for 16 years and agree that Montessori kids do not need homework. In my class, we have some project homework that the kids can do with their parents. For example, they make masks from different cultures for Halloween. We also have a monthly assignment that correlates to a virtue. (Respect, Tolerance, Truthfulness) A simple written statement or an elaborate project are accepted. Here a child and family can choose how much they want to put into it (which often correlates with how much they get out of it.) I do sometimes feel pressured by the parents who want homework and who want us to prepare them for their future in the public schools. We want them to succeed and I do give those that I think would struggle some homework in their third year to get used to it. Most don’t need it and transition fine.
I have to, but I don’t want to. I do have it laid out for the year, and it is the same for almost all the children: read 4 or 5 times a week, write to me 1 time each week about your reading, practice your sight words, practice your math facts (which I know could be seen as “25 babyfied addition problems”).
Third graders also have language or math test prep since this is a practical life skill they need (since testing is mandatory).
My daughter is in 1st-3rd grade Montessori and each weekend she receives homework with a copyright of 1989 (YIKES!) by either Judy Instructo or Rainbow Bridge Publishing. Along with that she receives a page with spelling words that she is supposed to copy three times each. My husband and I feel like our poor daughter is in some bad re-rum of Little House on the Prairie and we fear that our public Montessori school is just one that carries Maria’s names but not her critical pedagogy.
Last year within an 11-day period our daughter received 136 pages (copied back-to-back) of these same sort of worksheets. During Black History Month the sheets miraculously turned into Bill Cosby cartoon characters and they were published by, of all corporations, NICKELODEON. We don’t even let our daughter watch that channel let alone “read” its materials and use them for learning. And *these* sheets followed the erroneous, misleading, unfair stereotype of African Americans: little boy with shaved head lives only with his grandmother (he has no family to support him, of course. Perhaps he was an immaculate conception) and the story goes on from there. I was so ashamed and embarrassed and couldn’t figure out how I would provide my daughter with something more realistic and balanced after the damage had already been done by this Cosby worksheet.
I have no idea how to get our school to see that the worksheets don’t work, never worked, won’t work. I think we’ll just have to try to get our daughter into an independent school–but we had always wanted to support public schools, but we were never willing to sacrifice our child to them.
Wow, it sounds as is that isn’t much of a Montessori school except in name. I’m sorry your daughter has to be burdened like that.
Have you thought of approaching the teachers or principal about it? The books I link to in the post give suggestions as to how to go about bringing it up.
We are having an issue where our M teacher is assigning homework for a 5 year old (kindergarten age). It’s 10 minutes reading to us, math flash cards and writing 14 words 2 x each. She has had melt downs when it comes to the writing and I’m reading that I need a “homework philosophy” and explain that to my teacher.
1) I advocate the reading.
2) I advocate anything she enjoys.
3) If she doesn’t enjoy something, then I’m not going to push it.
4) We will spend 10 minutes on it. It’s taking us an hour and that’s unacceptable.
It’s very hard especially since I wanted her to go to Montessori to enjoy learning and I feel we’re failing as parents.
Hi, Lynn! Sounds like quite a dilemma. We expect traditional schools to give homework, but not Montessori schools – especially in the 3-6 age.
If I were you, I would give the teacher a copy of the book “The Homework Myth” by Alfie Kohn and see if that helps her to understand why homework is unnecessary and even dangerous.
Or, you could email her a link to this article at Kohn’s website about homework.
The books I’ve read about the dangers of homework cite many instances where parents gave teachers information and the teachers ended up changing their minds about homework – either giving less or none at all.
At the very least, teachers usually go along with parents’ wishes to do less homework with their child even if the teacher continues to give it to the class.
I wish this scenario never happened in Montessori schools, but unfortunately it does!
What I have in mind for so long is that putting the montessori activity in a paper/book format, that the children both enjoying the practical activity and at the same time applying them in the book. Hands-on activities such as sorting, matching and sequencing (for 3 to 4 years old especially) can be done in black and white. I personally feel this is good as children love to see their own works and proud enough to show to everyone around. Unlike practical activities that the apparatus are to be kept back in place and order when it is done, children own nothing visible or tangible at the end of the day. Based on this point and my experince in teaching Montessori, I came out with a Montessori activity book which I hope can benefit a lot of children. I do agree that Montessori school owes no homework but I feel activity book or practical book is much suitable to do in the classroom. I hope to send you a copy once the book is out, pls send me your address.
Afterall, Montessori is for everyone, so I really hope my book can benefit the children that have no opportunity visiting Montessori school. I always thanks Maria Montessori for not making it a patent right so that everyone is affordable to “enjoy” her wonderful finding.
My boyfriend’s daughter is 6 years old, meaning she is in a 1st-3rd grade class at a proclaimed Montessori public school in New Orleans where we live. She frequently has more math homework than either he or I can handle, especially if she happens to be struggling with it as she did when her class was learning about currency. She has been having a lot of behavioral issues as well, and while I don’t think there’s a direct correlation, I certainly don’t think a massive amount of math (or any type of homework) helps the problem. The school is having her undergo a functional behavioral assessment in the near future. I’m concerned, as was someone in an earlier post, that this school is Montessori in name only. This little girl is definitely smart, but because until now I didn’t know much about Montessori education, I was thinking that it was wrong for her. Now I wonder if this school is a strange patchwork of traditional and Montessori which is very clearly wrong for her.
Hi, Katie! Thanks so much for stopping by. You are correct – Montessori children don’t need much homework, if any, and at age 6 all the math they should be doing should be with “hands-on” materials in class, so there would be nothing they could do for math at home.
Unfortunately, it seems like you’ve run into a common problem that happens when Montessori and public schools collide. A private Montessori school would be free to decide when and if children should receive homework; a public one may be required to give homework, or the teachers may feel that it’s necessary to give it to try and balance the Montessori curriculum with a traditional one.
There’s no easy answer to your question, but I do highly recommend the book “The Case Against Homework” – it gives many examples of parents who were able to successfully convince teachers to stop giving homework – or give much less – and how to go about talking to teachers about homework. It sounds perfect for your situation.
We’re running into the same problem here at our public Montessori in Savananah, where my son just started kindergarten. There is daily homework, primarily handwriting practice, and also math worksheets. I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned No Child Left Behind and the CRCT. A public school just can’t be pure Montessori without losing substantial funding, because it still needs to make “Adequate Yearly Progress” and have its kids pass these high-stakes tests, so they add this drill/kill curriculum on top of the Montessori. There is no private Montessori in town though, so I don’t know what choice we have.
And then on the other hand, I wonder if having the kids do something they don’t want to do for 10 minutes a day is such a bad thing. This NYT Magazine article is really fascinating…What if the secret to success is failure?
Hi, Michelle! Thanks so much for your comment. That is a great article! I’m going to mention it on Facebook.
A couple of thoughts:
1) Recently on Facebook I asked if parents and teachers had any success/failure stories to share about public Montessori schools, and the responses were overwhelmingly positive (you can see the discussion if you go to our Facebook page – it’s just a post or two down).
I was expecting some sad tales mixed in with the good stuff, but instead it was almost all positive. Many people mentioned what a great job their child’s school did at being “true Montessori” but still preparing the kids for tests, etc…so it can be done (often without homework) and maybe the school your child is at isn’t typical in terms of the amount of homework in public Montessori schools.
2) In order to develop character, children certainly do need to face the consequences of their actions without being bailed out by their parents. But being forced to do homework? Studies show that it increases tension at home, as well as makes many children hate school, but nowhere have I seen it mentioned that it increases character. And of course in grade school it’s a lot more than 10 minutes a night.
When I think of failure or hardship as improving character, it’s always in relationship to a goal that the individual is seeking to attain. It’s a natural part of the goal (for example, someone who wants to be a professional basketball player will have to practice long hours – there’s no way around it).
Homework is artificial, and imposed by others rather than being a true part of a goal. If your goal is simply to get good grades, maybe you will build character by viewing homework as a natural part of achieving that goal but at that point you’ll be putting undue importance on grades, which is the opposite of what the article is saying is important.
Anyway, it’s a great topic for discussion and thanks for stopping by!