CELPIP Listening Part 6 Practice Test: Homework in Elementary School

NARRATOR: Few rituals of childhood are as universally resented as homework. For many Canadian families, the evening routine of worksheets, spelling lists and reading logs has become a nightly battle, and a growing chorus of parents and educators is asking whether children under twelve should be assigned any at all. Several school boards have already experimented with homework-free elementary classrooms, and the results have prompted vigorous debate. Proponents of reform insist that childhood has become overscheduled; skeptics counter that abandoning homework altogether would be an overreaction.

NARRATOR: Among the most vocal advocates of abolition is Marianne Dubois, a former grade four teacher who now trains new educators in Montreal. Dubois argues that the research linking homework to achievement is surprisingly thin for young children; the benefits, she contends, only become measurable in high school. Meanwhile, the costs are considerable. Children who have already spent six hours in class, she points out, need unstructured play, physical activity and sleep far more than another page of arithmetic. She also observes that many families, after long commutes and late dinners, have barely an hour together on weeknights. Dubois is particularly troubled by what she calls the homework gap. Children whose parents have time, education and a quiet kitchen table receive patient assistance, while others struggle alone, so assignments intended to reinforce learning end up magnifying inequality. Instead of worksheets, she recommends that families simply read together every evening.

NARRATOR: Not everyone is persuaded. Gregory Lam, principal of an elementary school in suburban Winnipeg, considers an outright ban an overcorrection. He readily concedes that excessive homework is counterproductive, and his school limits assignments to roughly ten minutes per grade level each night. But Lam maintains that modest, well-designed homework cultivates habits children cannot suddenly acquire at thirteen: organizing materials, managing time, and persevering when no teacher is standing beside them. He also notes, somewhat wryly, that homework is often the only window parents have into what their children are actually learning. Eliminate it, he warns, and many parents will discover their child's difficulties only when the report card arrives.

NARRATOR: Interestingly, the two educators agree on more than either might admit. Both reject the hour-long assignments that once seemed routine, and both regard daily reading as indispensable. Their disagreement concerns whether the small remainder is worth keeping. And given that Lam's ten-minute rule appears to deliver those habits without exhausting anyone, the most sensible reform may be not abolition, but moderation.