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Opinion: Piling on the homework isn't the key to school success

Twenty years have passed since my last homework assignment, yet I still have nightmares about the mind-numbing math equations, tongue-twisting spelling words and Encyclopedia-quoting essays of my youth.
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Twenty years have passed since my last homework assignment, yet I still have nightmares about the mind-numbing math equations, tongue-twisting spelling words and Encyclopedia-quoting essays of my youth. But while the memories of doing homework still haunt me, I remember little from the work that was actually done.

Getting kids to sit down and focus on school work at home is a challenge, and an inconvenience amongst the tasks to be done before bedtime routines begin. Not only is the homework hassle an added toll on parents, but it also takes away quality time from families during the after-school hours.

I’ve recently read some articles by Alfie Kohn, a world-renowned speaker and author, known for his outspoken criticisms of the educational system, and especially of the impacts of grading and homework on children.

While I don’t agree with all of his theories (Kohn is against any form of competition in school - I think competition teaches important life skills), he makes good points against homework.

In his book, The Homework Myth, Kohn debunks the contrarian arguments - that homework teaches good work habits and independence, and reinforces what has been taught - by revealing that there is no evidence to support these points.

He argues there are plenty of findings to the contrary, and that homework actually undermines a child’s interest in and ability to learn.

When it comes to long-term lessons, homework has proven to have little impact. Kindness, on the other hand, is a quality that will last throughout one’s life.

In Ireland, an elementary school ditches homework altogether for the entire month of December each year, in favour of assigning kids “acts of kindness” instead. As a result, they have seen overwhelming success and positivity in the school.

On a Facebook post shared by this Irish school (called Gaelscoil Mhichíl Uí Choileá), the principal shares of the initiative: “In this world, consumed by social media, where our young people are constantly experiencing pressure, there is no better way to show them the way forward in the world than by practicing kindness. We all know that helping others makes us feel good about ourselves.”

Throughout the month, the students are given kindness tasks to perform each weekday. Students keep track of their positive acts in a kindness diary, and they also come up with a collective act of kindness for the community based on group brainstorming sessions.

Working together to help others, and then seeing the results of their kind acts, is a life lesson that will stick with those students forever - and one that we need to see more of in today’s schools.

If more emphasis was put on being kind, than on being smart - not just for one month, but throughout the school year - imagine the change that we’d see in the world tomorrow.

Bianca Bujan is a mom of three, Editor of WestCoast Families magazine, and a freelance writer who shares about travel, family, and food in various major print and online publications. Find her on Twitter @biancabujan and Instagram @bitsofbee.