Toronto school board considers homework-free holidays
A committee at the Toronto District School Board is recommending homework-free holidays and a cap on daily homework for the city's 270,000 public school students.
The board is looking at a number of options, including:
- Banning homework over the Christmas holidays and the March break.
- Doing away with punishments if homework isn't done on time.
- Eliminating homework altogether in kindergarten.
It's also recommending no more than two hours a day of homework under what it calls a new "family-friendly" homework policy.
In primary grades, the board is considering replacing homework with reading assignments, games and interactive activities to be done with parents.
Frank Bruni, one of the parents who helped push for the proposed changes, said his son's work load makes life at home difficult.
"As a family we just stopped making plans during the week," said Bruni. "We wouldn't visit his grandparents during the week. We wouldn't do it because there was so much work, because we never knew what he'd bring home in a given night."
Education Minister Kathleen Wynne says the proposals are reasonable and is even suggesting that other school boards might review their policies on homework.
In the Peel Region, the public board says it's up to individual schools to set homework policies in consultation with parents, teachers and principals.
The York board puts out homework guidelines, but discourages homework over the holidays.
The Toronto Catholic board publishes a list of suggested homework times on its website to give parents an idea if their kids are doing too much work.
The Catholic board recommends 10 minutes of homework for grade one students, with the work load increasing by 10 minutes per year.
Bruni said he likes the Toronto board's proposal better.
"I think it will go a long way to promoting family activities — throwing a ball with your son, kicking a ball with your daughter — which is what the kids should be doing."
The entire TDSB will vote on the proposals in two weeks.