Hi there. In this education post I talk about school homework during the holidays. Yes, I have talked about this before but I recently encountered another case of holiday homework from a student I tutor in a side-tutoring gig.
Yes, Holiday Homework Does Exist Unfortunately
Although it is rare holiday homework does exist for students. I am not really referring to graduate school students doing research for their Master's thesis or PhD defence. Students in this case would be high school students whose semester end from September to January. At least in the Toronto area.
The Time I Had A Grade Nine Geography Project Over The Holidays
I do recall having to do this geography mega assignment over the holidays. The holidays as from something like December 23rd to the first week of January in the next year. This was for a grade nine geography class. It was a required class so there was no escaping this one. If I recall correctly it was some booklet or scrapbook project where you had input your research about various lands across Canada or something. It was not exciting and it took a bit of time. I wanted to relax, see family, eat food and play video games during the break. Imagine the students who had planned vacations during this holiday break.
This New Holiday Homework Case From A Student I Tutor
As a side gig I do some math tutoring for extra side cash. I found out that with one of a couple students I tutor he has a math assignment to do over the holiday break of 2022. I cannot help the high school student with the questions but I can provide practice problems related to them. This assignment looked more like a take home final exam. It looked like a take home exam based on how the questions are set up.
This assessment for the student is based on all the concepts from the student's grade 10 math course. The topics in this 18 page item include:
- Solving Linear Equations
- Substitution & Elimination Method For Solving Linear Systems
- Basic Trigonometry of Right Triangles
- Quadratic Relations & Graphing
- Factoring (Algebra)
Closing Thoughts
Holiday homework is not something I would have encountered when I was a young student. I am sure many people would be shocked and likely disappointed to be aware of the existence of holiday homework. I guess one good thing about holiday homework is that it is homework you do not have to do during the new year before final exams for students (in Ontario province). The thing is that this pro is easily outweighed by the cons. A break is a break! Maybe teachers like this really want to be viewed like The Grinch or something.
