Homework Blues for Jews

My daughter went to a Montessori school for 9 years and then homeschooled for 2 prior to enrolling in a public High School where she currently studies. Needless to say, homework really had never been a part of our lives before. What has been fascinating to witness is how enormous the work load grows to be very early on in the academic year and watching her negotiate that work along with her other activities. It is truly a learning process ...The Jewish spin on this issue is negotiating all of the fall holidays around this burdensome work load given that these days are regular school days in these parts. I have witnessed too many worries the night before returning to school to take this issue lightly. We, in this household, are sympathetic and distressed.  It is important to report that my daughter observes not only the High Holy days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but also the festivals of Sukkot, Simchat Torah and Shemini Atzeret and therefore takes the first and last days of that 8-day period off as holy days.  As such these days are ones in which we attend synagogue services, or commune in nature, and remain in the world of celebration or observance where our daily work is forbidden. Our family is truly in respite and rejuvenation time.

Our Sukkah has hosted guests, meals, games, music, reading and homework!

Thus the homework remains untouched until after Havdalah, the time of separating from the holy and returning to the every day.  There is no simple answer to dealing with the challenges of completing homework following absences but it requires special attention to prioritizing and accepting that some things will fall through the cracks and that the world continues to revolve.  This acceptance should be empowering yet goes against the grain of being an achiever and maintaining a high GPA.  (I recommend reading Wendy Mogel's "Blessings of a B Minus" for more insights.)  I cringe writing this because I was a student who put a lot of stock in my high grades as does my daughter.  Achieving a healthy balance is the key and the observance of holidays is one way that we might begin to confront our obsessive work ethic and help guide our children to healthier ways of being in the world.  You can substitute “my work” for “homework” in this post and uncover how you might manage your time off and your time on.  Related to this post, I will blog about how our family has embraced unplugged time in the context of our liberal Jewish observance.