I was not a high-achiever academically in grade school through high school. I did not care about my grades, I never understood why I should care. I was labeled one of the kids with “potential”. I didn’t have a learning disability, the teachers and my parents knew I was smart, but I was “lazy”. 

I liked being at school, I loved reading, but I always struggled with homework. I wanted my time to myself, I was a voracious reader and always had a rich inner life. This was disrupted by demands that I practice my musical instrument, or go to Kumon. No one ever helped me understand why these things were important, how they might enrich my life. I always felt alone in these tasks and resented them greatly. 

Even now, as a parent and now as a teacher, I still struggle to understand the importance of homework. I can’t detach myself from my experience-influenced view that homework is not to be trusted. Is it something that hinders more than helps a childhood mind? Are there best practices? How do teachers assign homework?

-Megan Quirolo

(Mother of 2 and 2nd grade teacher)