Homework and the boy!

So at last I get around to writing something! It's been a particularly hard 2 months - especially for the kids. I'm not going into details - but I may reveal all if we finally get out of the hole!

However - suffice to say they have put up with everything really well. So yesterday (while watching my daughter's dress rehearsal for upcoming dance exam) my wife snapped these pics of my son doing his homework, facing out to sea, and table mountain - a mountain of homework he claimed! He had Afrikaans (a subject he only took up this year), English, French and Maths! And that got me onto the subject of homework. Long been one of my bugbears.

Question is - should all work be done in school or should home work be encouraged so that students learn to cope with the "real" world? (More on that later). Here then are a few comments, pros and cons.

In favour is it allows the student to consolidate what they have learnt, particularly if it relates to that day. Maybe it helps them to learn more and organize themselves outside of the classroom.

Against is the idea that having spent hours at school they have to continue into their free time, time which some would have you think
they spend just playing computer games, but it can also be time outside with friends, family etc.

As you may have guessed I'm not a great fan of homework! There is the suggestion that it sets you up for real life, where many of us (OK I'm retired so not me any more) bring work home from the office. If you are self employed it may be only logical. But over the years I have noticed what appears to be an increase amongst employers to expect longer hours than we are paid for (arrive early, short lunch, leave late) or take work home ... or both!

So are we really just setting up our kids to this expectation? OK so I had homework at school half a century ago - I hated it then too. So maybe not so much change. But I do worry - let's hope I'm wrong!

Thanks https://ecency.com/@zakludick for the guides - I finally (!) got round to reading them. Still have a looong way to go but maybe I can start doing a few more (OK moistly random stuff like this but who knows or dares to dream ....)