Too much, too little homework and what happens if you go either way?
And how does the US stack up in the peek at global education today? Stagnant results in education since 2009 is the report I found over and over. When searching the topic to create a blog post on US education compared to the rest of the World‘s spinning globe puzzle pieces.
What got me thinking about education today was snow days school cancellations and why the gradual shift.
How easily they are predicted ahead of time, taken liberally and why when it was not the case looking back at when I was chasing the three R’s. In a class room while the white stuff piled up and not at home killing time inside on a couch grazing on snacks.

Global warming is not making it ice ice baby colder in Maine.
This year especially has been an open field and water winter in Maine. Good luck ice fishing, playing pond hockey in Maine due to warm winter weather.
A few inches of new snow, no wind, daylight visibility with cracker jack snow plowing in Maine.
But as state and local towns pull back on the road salt, plowing crew details and sanding, maybe school cancellation will be more life and death important in Maine. Learn more about Maine weather.
How important is education to a child always was preached around the family table in the Maine home.
But today, divorce causes split time and more than one table for the important talk.
More than one job to make ends meet or to buy more of life’s goodies hurts. The talks, guidance needed in building the productive citizen of tomorrow. That is self sufficient and gives back to improve their community. That is happy, content, active not lazy.

The push to make education a priority.
It takes setting goals, realistic expectations and discussion on why education is important to all of us in this nation, state, local community. How to preserve it, to learn what society is going through that is harmful and why.
Also frugal use of the money a small Maine community has to stretch to the maximum to get the most bang for the taxpayer buck.
To get educational results locals determine not just pulled by the nose of experts on the west coast.
Somewhere many moons away from a small Maine town. Is new and different always better than tried and tested?

But back to homework, the length of school days when snow happens and teacher workshops during the day causes early dismissal. Where to prioritize, how to run the educational part of a child’s school life?
If your child has more emphasis on sports, dance, music lessons around the clock and less on the homework or school day, how is the educational score doing to increase on the World platform comparison?
Home work.
It was our job as a kid growing up in Maine. If kids did not have much of it growing up, hang on when they go on to college. No doubt you have heard, know of college students that flunk out. Not just due to weekend partying that starts too early and never stops in a semester. But the workload, experience with budgeting your time and tackling whatever amount of homework is assigned. Harder if foreign, missing and not exposed to home work back in your home town without it.
Time to play Wii U, Play Station 4, Xbox One, RetroN 5 etc after school and into the evening might be one reason given for no time to do home work. In addition to sports, music, drama, gymnastics, clubs or extra curricular activities.
My hand is up, guilty of jumping on, firing up the Banshee in Xbox’s Halo game when the kids were smaller and in the nest sprouting wings to fly from the coop. But not round the clock or forgetting to eat, sleep, other responsibilities. The game ran its course. We cracked the code. Had enough. Let’s do something, get outside took over. We go outside to play as kids, all our adult life.

(Halo is a fun game and I guess helps hand to eye coordination, makes me a better real estate drone operator.)
But back to home work to build on the school day.
Is it the parents can’t help like our Mom and Dad did? Too far out and very different teaching modules to blame that confuse the parents and the kids if their attention span is too short in and out of school? Or are Mom and Dad strung out and just spacey, distracted too?
Dumbing down of society and need to put up the controller, take off the headset and sign off the video games to blame? And over booked schedules, divorced parents trying to be Disney ones? Poor nutrition with empty calories of the wrong stuff that is fast but not healthy food adding to the decline? Overweight meaning too slow to keep up?

Or are kids depressed, unhappy because something is missing but they are not sure what?
Not enough to do around the house because it is not a farmstead complete with chores before and after school to greet youngsters hopping off the yellow bus.
Or “loser cruiser” as some call it who instead get shuttled to and from by adults.
Taking their lunch hours in split shifts to accomplish the rides and zip to and from work. To hit games, practices, pick up and drop offs.
Turn off the big screen television in the media rec room where many in the nation unplug and recharge. Inside artificially rather than outdoors all natural, pure, unfiltered in Maine.

Are kids needing to be entertained and so little for jobs inside and outside the home the reason?
Unless it is fun, arms get crossed and a frown appears. Are kids happy these days and pitching in around the home, feeling responsible, working members of the household? Is flipping burgers for money to buy the prom dress, the school ring beneath a kid today?
I think kids from broken homes, not happy where they reside make teaching today a very big challenge for educators.
Years ago it was blame the kid for poor test or report card results and the teacher, parent were together working to change that. Not Jimmy and Jane have the parent on the side that is quick to blame who leads from upfront in the class. Is that it? Part of it?
Educators, our school teachers are loaded up with their own version of home work. Standards to meet, lawsuits to avoid when behavioral issues distract from the educational the process.

And discipline options are now limited and respect is missing from some of the kids. Because the same condition applies at home. If babied, over indulged, and made to feel it is all about them, not others. If take care of number one kids rules.
Coaxing over and over to please stop doing that with hand wringing pleading. When just a glass sharp edged look with no words, not a finger lifted used to do the trick.
Because Mom, Dad, the teacher were allies. The kid knew it. No way to buffalo or bambussle the parent with what happen today in class or out during recess, on the bus or at practice. Spin did not work and was not tried because of the you wait until your father gets home Momma Bear would remind.
It is no longer just a few weekly activities to compete with school work but instead lots of daily ones tacked onto to busy student schedules.
To compete with home work time. If running the roads, not enough hours in the day and night. To shut off the distractions. Practice moderation. Easy does it. Make the time to study. To put the books, pencil and paper out on a desk or the kitchen, dining room table for home work.

No one is home until the later and later and then the race to get to bed.
Are kids and parents exhausted today with the recreation and just too affluent to be able to fund all the fanfare? Where if some of it was toned down, dialed back a few degrees life could be less hurry scurry and a blur.
All I know is Maine is a rural state, living is simpler and the education happens at home just as much as in the school classroom.
We prepare our kids for the work world ahead of them. They do have jobs growing up, to study, do well in school. To improve and for thinking about where all this leads.
Family meals are sacred in Maine.
No TV, no short order cook taking requests for a variety of meals to feed individually either. Pitch in, this is what we are having, be grateful preached. Conversations about how did your day discussed by everyone around the table. Chores inside and outside the home performed.

Pick up after yourself practiced. Kids not paid for everything done. Certain jobs and use of property expected.
The list growing as the years marked by the number of burning candles at birthday cake and ice cream time increases.
Things bought with the money that is earned are respected, taken care of and what is valuable is not always store bought.
Latch key kids is less apt to happen in a small Maine town.
Most folks living here don’t commute hours to work both ways each day. And some family member is handy. One parent still found at home in Maine. Sacrifices made to preserve that. With belt tightening to have it that way during the childhood years.
In Maine, where the village stills helps raise the child. Every one of them in the small Maine town connection. Kids still have imaginations and use them. Hike and camp the great outdoors. Sample this clean water, fresh air, drop dead gorgeous surroundings call Maine.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |
MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730