Children vary in all aspects of life, there are those who can understand at first taught, there are those who must read before they understand, there are those who must read and practice before they understand, and there are those who can not understand unless they teach others. It's safe to say that the uniqueness of every child plays a big role in how they understand things. Growing up, my mum always wanted me to be a reader and do my homeworks, but these were things I hated because they were really hard for me to do. I had issues with reading and I was flogged many times because I wasn't understood. My strength was in staying in class and asking lots of questions and seeing lots of examples. With that when I look at my book I can retain about 98% of the things I see because I have already understood them. I've never spent more than 1 hour reading on my own, all the times I went more than 1 hour it was because my mum thought I wasn't serious and must read for three hours.
I know things by understanding practically every little detail but then If I understand a little I can create different implementation strategies in my mind that help me in tests and exams. The way I was being forced to read made me learn how to cram things. To be honest, it helped me later in life, things I couldn't understand, I just crammed them out in tests and exams and forgot about everything. My experience has made me realize that despite the fact that I hated homework, I have a brother whose major source of academic progress is the homework I hated back then. Realizing this, my parents decided to speak with his teachers to always give him assignments, even if it won't be added to his score, she should just give him for the love he has for reading and doing homeworks.
I have realized that even in the health system, methods are ever evolving in the pediatric unit because 10 kids might require 10 different methods of treatment. I wish teachers can notice this too, I think it will help a lot. Understanding that no two children are the same and for that reason if something isn't working for one child, it doesn't mean it's useless, it just means that child needs something else, meanwhile there could be a lot of kids in need of that thing. We adults tend to automatically think that what works for one works for all, but for children, it's not so. As they grow their body might adapt, but while their bodies try to adapt, there could be a temporary fix. If a child isn't doing well in homework, the parent can try to figure out the reason, and when the reason is addressed, it will be either the child will start performing well in their homeworks, or the parents might have to scrap the idea of homework.
I don't like homework to date, but I feel instead of scraping the idea out totally, every child should be given the chance to express themselves. Homework should be generally mandatory, but when any special case is observed, it should be addressed to see if that child can be accessed in another area that would compensate for the homework they will be exempted from so that the other kids do not feel like the teachers are playing favoritism. Children understand more than we think, and we do not have control over what they can think, but we can consciously guide them to think right with the right methods.
