Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter

For years, children have been getting homework, but there's a new trend of parents doing the work for their child/children, especially those at the kindergarten level.

This raises a few questions. Should children in kindergarten be getting homework? If yes, then what format should it take? Should it be structured homework where the child is required to do a project or should it be in the form of activities?

Lisa* has a three-year-old son and he attends a kindergarten that gives him homework that she believes is much too advanced for his age.

"Earlier this year, my son was given a project to do about the national symbols of Jamaica. I was the one who had to run around to find them and do the work because he did not understand it," said Lisa.

She notes that she does not have a problem with the teachers giving him homework but the homework is just too advanced for a three-year-old. She said for homework, he gets projects, numerical equations and physical education. She said recently he was asked to do something on Usain Bolt for physical education.

Learning exercise

She explained that the teachers said the information was in The Gleaner's Children's Own, which is a mandatory learning guide for the children. She said the fact is her son cannot even read the publication yet.

Lisa said on many occasions she complains to the teachers but their argument is that no parent should do their child's homework; they should only assist.

"They say it should be a learning exercise outside of the classroom because there is not enough time in the day to cover all the aspects of a lesson. Plus, it is a means for parent and child to bond."

She said while she agrees that doing homework together is a means of bonding, the level of homework that they are giving her son should be for an older child. She said that, even recently, her son got a project on how to make soap. Her son cannot spell the word soap, let alone do research on how soap is made. She said she is one of the mothers who has a problem with the level of homework given.

Executive director of the Early Childhood Commission, Merris Murray, said that children in kindergarten can get homework but it should be interactive and involve the parents and should have a creative purpose.

She notes that educators should practise giving homework that utilises activities done in the form of stimulating learning in which the parents should play an integral role. "Homework should be creative, not a writing exercise. It could be lessons taken from their environment, such as things around the house, garden, etc, but it should never be onerous or burdensome. Instead, it should stimulate interest and curiosity," said Murray.

She warned that making homework a burden could stifle the learning process of a child.

Names changed

keisha.shakespeare@gleanerjm.com