Many schools around the country are banning homework. Experts have long concluded that having homework in elementary school does not improve academic performance but rather negatively impacts children’s attitudes toward school. This is true of many children. Their natural excitement for learning has turned to dread and anxiety. Reading for fun has been replaced with mandatory reading logs or book reports. Learning math facts for fun has been replaced with required work sheets.

In many families, we are involved in the natural learning that occurs when our children are interested in something or have questions about the world. We often look things up and research them when we don’t know the answer. We explore. We read together. We talk about their day and what they learned at school. We encourage learning. We teach our children values. We encourage them to participate in sports where they learn to be disciplined, focused, and dedicated, to make and accomplish goals, and to be good teammates. We value our family time and also believe children should be allowed unstructured downtime to play, think, or explore their own interests.

Children need time to engage with family, read for pleasure, play, build forts, socialize with friends, participate in other activities like sports, scouts, clubs, music, and to simply be kids. They need time to eat dinner with their families, shower, and get a good night’s sleep so they are fresh and ready to return the next day and learn.

We urge the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Washington to look at the research and evidence of the negative impacts homework has on elementary school children and their families and let families decide what is the best use of their limited time at home, without fear of repercussions such as loss of recess or other school privileges. We need to restore our children’s love of learning and make school a place they want to go.