With winter break quickly approaching, teachers are faced with a dilemma; should they assign homework over breaks? Teachers want students to retain their knowledge throughout the break, but they also do not want to overburden their students. Although teachers should not give too much homework, they should assign some homework over break to keep their students’ minds engaged.
Over the holidays, students tend to forget the concepts they have learned in the previous weeks, which is caused by the lack of daily reinforcement during breaks; students usually receive daily reinforcement by attending school. This is extremely detrimental for classes that teach skills that require daily practice to master, such as math. Giving homework over breaks allow students to remember and understand concepts better and perform better when back at school.
In addition, homework keeps students occupied during breaks. Boredom is very common during breaks since students are unsure of how to spend the large periods of time given during break. Assigning homework would eliminate boredom by providing them with something productive to do, allowing them to get ahead on homework, and minimizing the amount they would have to do when they come back.
Homework will also ease students’ transition back to school. The extra work will help them develop a greater understanding of the concepts they have learned. As a result, students will be more prepared and be ready to move onto a new concept when break ends.
Homework over breaks is not only beneficial for students, but also beneficial for teachers, because if teachers were banned from giving homework during break, they would be forced to cram more lessons and increase the workload before and after breaks. This not only will increase the stress on students, but will also reduce the quality of lessons. “It’s not very fair to the teachers if they have to do that because the teaching quality wouldn’t be that good,” freshman Helena Yang noted.
Giving students no school is already enough of a break. During breaks, students can stay home for almost seven hours. These seven extra hours give them plenty of time to complete homework and relax during breaks.
Some critics claim that teachers should not assign homework during breaks because students should not be expected to work during breaks, just as employees are not expected to work during vacations. However, attending school is not an occupation; it is a place to receive an education. The main goal of students is to expand their knowledge and skills, so assigning homework over breaks will help them achieve that goal.
However, there are some limitations to giving homework over breaks; though teachers should still assign homework, they should not assign an excessive amount of it. After all, breaks are given for a reason, and students should not be completely subdued with homework during vacations. Therefore, although students should enjoy their break, they should still receive homework to keep their minds active.
-By Ashley Ye
