This summer I read and reflected on Rae Pica's book What If Everybody Understood Child Development? I am also a part of the EC Book Study at Early Childhood and Youth Development blog.
"Chapters 19 and 24 bring up two issues that I wouldn’t think would arise in early childhood—testing and homework. I know that some 5-year-olds are sitting in a room, listening to instructions being read and coloring in small circles with No. 2 pencils. I’ve read about (and seen) kindergartners taking home pages of homework at night (usually worksheets that need to be filled in). These issues are real for some of our youngest students; and these issues are problems for other grades, too."
Here are a few links about the issues of homework and testing.
Why Homework - Brick by Brick
Should Kids Have Homework - Education.com
5 Reasons Kids Need Homework and 5 Reasons They Don't - Teachnology
Homework: Is It All or Nothing? - BAM Radio
A Creative Solution to Homework Wars - Spencer Ideas
This is a Test (Unfortunately) - Brick by Brick
Teaching Strategies: Tear Up That Test, Show Me What You Learned - BAM Radio
Testing 1, 2, 3: Accountability Run Amok - ECE Policy Matters
How PARCC Testing Is Affecting Our Classrooms - Washington Post
Common Core Standardized Tests Erase Educational Value - Watchdog Wire
What do you think about these issues? Post your comments at the EC Book Study (or below).
