My four year old son came home with homework yesterday.  He was so excited he could barely contain it.  He was thrilled when I told him to sit at his desk and work quietly until it was completed.  Forty-five seconds later, he comes running into the kitchen with a page full of the letter "b" yelling "I'm done, I'm done."  I could see the progression from sloppy misshapen letters to more concise, well-formed upper and lower case "b's".  This homework worked. I am hoping that his excitement for homework continues into the next realm of schooling.  However, I am sure that the relevant, purposeful homework will not.  As an educator, I am guilty of having assigned homework to students who didn't really need it just because some of their classmates did.  I am also aware that some teachers assign homework as a punishment, which is almost guaranteed not to work. I recent years there has been much discussion in the education world about homework in terms of quality and quantity.  Some schools systems have gone as far as to place a time limit on each individual subject while others have tried to eliminate it from all but the core subjects.  I see homework, as with other aspects of formal education, as a means to developing functioning, responsible adults who are prepared to enter the workplace, wherever that may be, and contribute to creating a better society.  Okay, so that may be stretching it a little, but seriously, we ought to make sure that what we do in the classroom ultimately helps our students develop into the adults we want them to be.  So teachers, ask yourself if the homework you are assigning is really going to help your students learn the subject and/or about living a responsible life, if the answer is yes, then go for it.  For now, my four year old is completing quality, meaningful assignments that are helping to teach him about the subject at hand as well as character traits such as responsibility, diligence, and confidence.  I hope it continues.