‘Dragged into the principal’s office like a naughty child’: Why this Aussie mum-of-six banned homework for her kids

This Aussie mum doesn’t believe in homework – and has stuck to a strict ban for all six of her children, despite endless arguments with their teachers.

Amanda-Louise Rogers with Cadence, 16, and Tayte, 14, who are the youngest of her six children. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Amanda-Louise Rogers has been a school mum for 25 years and counting – and in all that time she has stuck to a strict no-homework rule for her six children.

With a son and daughter still in Years 8 and 11 at high school, the 49-year-old from Adelaide says she is maintaining that long fight to keep her home schoolwork-free.

“The words ‘have you done your homework?’ have never come out of my mouth,” says the single mum and small businesswoman, who runs an online recycled fashion service.

“The arguments I’ve had with teachers over the years ... I felt like I would be dragged into the principal’s office like I was the naughty child. I think they think that they have a bit of hierarchy over the parent sometimes, I really do. It’s me versus the school.

“I just keep telling teacher after teacher after teacher we don’t believe in homework.”

Amanda-Louise Rogers says instead of nagging her kids about homework, she teaches them life skills like cooking and budgeting. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Ms Roger jokes that she has earnt a “couple of long service leaves” while fighting her no-homework crusade. It kicked off back in 1998 when her 29-year-old daughter first started school.

From the beginning, the young mum decided that homework was “not my job”. She says that strident stance was not born out of trying to avoid conflict but rooted in a philosophical belief that children should have a sanctuary in their own homes.

“My kids are at school for six hours a day, they’re there for more than they are at home, really,” Ms Rogers says. The family devotes time that would have been sapped by homework to family time, including nightly chats around the table at their southern-suburbs home.

“They’ve had a hard day at school, they’ve spent enough time being educated.

“I would rather teach them life skills in the time that was allocated for homework. I’ve taught them cooking, cleaning, budgeting, driving, you know the psychology side of things, just in conversations,” Ms Rogers says.

“I honestly feel that I teach them the morals and the respect and life skills. Mums are here for life skills and to make moral citizens.”

OTHERS WHO AGREE

The teacher who won’t set homework for her students

The expert who says let children play videos games instead

Ms Rogers’s three daughters and three sons, who range in age from 14 to 29, all attended private schools in Adelaide’s southern suburbs from reception to Year 12.

The single mum says she had to work hard to cover the fees for all her children, which has left her with no energy – or inclination – to supervise homework.

“I pay for an education and so I think that they should learn everything they need to while they’re at school,” she says.

“I don’t want to be the school principal because that’s not my job. I’m a guide, I’m a mother – I’ve got enough to do.”

Amanda-Louise Rogers says the homework ban has been easier for Cadence and Tayte – after schools initially tried to force her older kids into after-school detention. Picture: Keryn Stevens

In the early days, the fight was tougher. Ms Rogers says her children were forced to stay in at lunchtime and complete their homework or be placed in after-school detention.

“They tried to make it very, very difficult for me to enforce the no-homework rules that we had in our house,” she says.

“It’s better now. But it was a massive thing to advocate for what we believed in ... I think it’s paid off.”

Ms Rogers says she is now reaping the rewards of the connectedness that eschewing homework afforded her family.

Her older children all have happy, productive lives and good jobs. Her two youngest are still at school and chasing their dreams.

The three oldest have just returned from a three-month trip together through Asia. Her eldest daughter has her own home and is now expecting a baby with her husband.

“They are all very, very close – we all are – and we’re the most transparent family.

“I value that family time we had now and I know that has made my kids who they are today. It was just the best ever and I wouldn’t have had that if I’d been fighting with them about homework,” Ms Rogers says.

Got a story tip? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as ‘Dragged into the principal’s office like a naughty child’: Why this Aussie mum-of-six banned homework for her kids