Holiday homework: Teachers, kids differ

City schools are closed these days and children are enjoying summer holidays. But the lingering tension of finishing the homework spoils the joy of holidays, as children do not like any homework during vacations. While most children consider it a sheer formality, others take it to be a punishment, since it interferes with their personal agenda for the holidays - playing, watching TV, and generally having good fun.



Says Chakshu Puri, a Class V student, "The teachers have given so much homework that I cannot enjoy watching cartoon network. All the time, my mother keeps telling me to switch off the TV and complete the written work."



Some students point out that they prefer collecting things as part of holiday homework, rather than doing written work. Salauni Verma, a Class IV student, points out,"I love to collect different types of stamps, leaves and flowers. But I have not been able to do any of these things, due to so much holiday homework." Salauni says it seems that teachers want to reduce their own workload in the school, by giving so much homework.



Deepnayan Singh, a Class VII student, is also saddened by the burden of holiday homework. He points out, "My teachers have given me so much homework that I cannot develop my hobbies, and am also unable to visit any historical places near here."



But school teachers have their own views about the necessity of holiday homework. Asserts M R Mehta, the principal of BCM Senior Secondary School, Focal Point, "Homework is a must, otherwise children become very lazy in the holidays, and come to school all blank."



Paramjit Kaur, principal of BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, advocates that holiday homework should be different than the school curriculum. "Students should be advised to read some books, and some collection work should be given to them. This way the holiday homework can be made interesting."



However, a government school teacher says it is not possible to give such homework to children who come from an illiterate background. "If we assign them homework not related to the curriculum, they come back to school like a clean slate after the vacations," she highlights.

Source: yahooindia

Got the homework blues?

Finally, the escape to the open spaces of home sans the hawk eyed teacher towering over your notebook looking for mistakes. Here is the perfect opportunity to complete your homework in peace, adding to that a dash of pampering a la mothers. But then is it? Typically one ends up making more grammatical errors and silly mistakes especially in homework notebooks. The trick is not to slip into idle complacency and just keep a look out for common errors without giving up on the homey comforts. Here are a few tips to handle homework snafus.


The simple rules first:


Too much information, redundancy caused by word repetition, lack of structure, incorrect punctuation, spelling errors and complex sentence construction are all slips that happen when one is most relaxed. Keep a look out for these and it is sure to be smooth sailing.


Set up homework station
All your home work related material including your pencils, erasers, glue etc should be close by. Most importantly keep this space clean. The quiet and comfortable space will help you concentrate and finish your homework quickly.


Finish off the harder stuff first
Postponing the more difficult tasks will only ensure a sloppy work later on. Make a concerted go at these right in the beginning and save the easier work for after play if you want.


Keep distraction to minimum
Distractions like TV, music and talking can cause your work to suffer. You must know that if you work without these, you will have time to indulge in these pass-time activities later because your work will finish faster.


Take a break
A short snack break if the work is onerous will help you regain the drained energies. You can return to the task at hand with renewed vigour. If you’re not hungry, a stroll in the lawn or watching some TV can also help. The idea is to give your overworked senses a break.


Finally, have a go-getter attitude and things will fall into place themselves.

Source: msnindia