Education expert suggests reframing homework as 'academic practice'

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Judy Cohen of Lakeside Educational Services joined us on Wednesday, Sept. 16 to talk about why she believes schools and parents should replace the word "homework" with "academic practice."

Cohen said the term "homework" can sound almost like a punishment, while framing it as practice, similar to how athletes practice skills outside of games, can shift how students view the work. She said some parents worry students are overloaded with homework but don't apply that same concern to multi-hour sports practices.

She also recommended several strategies for managing academic practice at home, including using a whiteboard to track and prioritize assignments, keeping an assignment notebook, setting a designated homework space and using a timer to break work into sections.

The "10-minute rule" is what Cohen talked about, recommending about 10 minutes of homework per night for each grade level, meaning roughly 30 minutes for a third grader and up to two hours for a high school senior.

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