You’ve probably seen the stories in the news<\/a>: Homework in elementary school is useless<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homework doesn’t help young kids learn any better or faster. It doesn’t teach them study skills. It doesn’t even<\/strong> help them do better on standardized tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m not going to get into a debate on the merits of homework in elementary school because research<\/a> has proved<\/a> that it does no good<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Before going further, let’s dispel the myth that these research results are due to a handful of poorly constructed studies. In fact, it’s the opposite. Cooper compiled 120 studies in 1989 and another 60 studies in 2006. This comprehensive analysis of multiple research studies found no evidence of academic benefit at the elementary level. It did, however, find a negative impact on children’s attitudes toward school.”<\/p>\nHomework is wrecking our kids<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Despite all this, my second-grader still<\/strong> has homework nearly every night. This is the norm for most American families with kids in elementary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we get home after school, I remind my daughter to start her homework, remind her to stay focused while she’s doing it, and remind her to put it back in her backpack when it’s done. In other words, finding out she has homework that night signs us both<\/em> up for a 30-minute (or more) nag session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s not like you have a practical alternative. The teacher assigns homework, and your kid’s supposed to do it. If she doesn’t do it, she’ll be held in at recess to complete the homework anyway. And then at the end<\/strong> of the day, you get to reap the benefits of a kid who’s had to sit still all day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But during one of our super fun homework nag-a-thons last week, something happened that scared me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n