Just curious as to how many of you think homework in grade school is important - and if so, the maximum amount of time a child should be expected to do homework each evening.

And for highschool and senior grades - is it just me or is hours of homework each night becoming the 'norm'?

I compare it to we adults having a full time job during the day (after all, school is a 'full time job' for children) and then each and every single night having to bring home work which is not only endlessly mentally exhausting but pulls time away from family life.

For myself, I wonder if in primary school a 1/2 hour maximum shouldn't be the limit - and even in higher grades, 1 to 1 1/2 hours?

I think some homework for grade school children, if the estimated completion time is appropriate for their age. Given that secondary schools are, even with extracurricular activities, often less than eight hours, and that college bound students should be prepared to put in an even longer amount of self-study (homework) time, the amount of homework should be in proportion. I tend to agree that two hours or so a night during the week might not be excessive for high school students. I would hope the homework is geared to quality not quantity; but given the state of education (at least in the US public schools) I fear the homework is assigned to make up for classroom shortcomings.
Z

I do agree with your thought, Zarathustra, there appears to be shortcomings in most education systems.

Many teachers here find it discouraging that much of the ciriculum is based on guidelines created 'long ago' and certainly haven't kept up to our current world and what the children will face.

It's only my thought but if we 'forced' all government people in charge of dictating what will be taught to children to take home an equal amount of work from their office each evening as the children have homework to do, suspect they'd weed through things pretty quickly in addition to realizing that 5 hours of homework each evening is emotionally and physically draining on kids - and honestly horrible unfair. Gentle smile.

I find homework to be annoying and rather pointless. It's a few hours of research, writing, and working that could be easily explained in a 15 min lecture and a nice handout (I love handouts, hate notes!). I'm in my 3rd semester of college by the way. To be honest, high school was way worse. 7-8 classes a day, 8 hours, and hours of homework to top it off? I don't think so. 4 classes, 2 hours a day max is so much nicer . I nearly went insane in high school.

My sister was accepted into the "Maggie L. Walker Governor's School," which if you look up, is probably the best public high school in the country. She once asked another freshman friend of hers "is there a lot of homework at Maggie Walker?" The other girl replied, "Oh, no, not really. I only had three breakdowns last year."

I think the amount of homework you get often depends on the quality of school you attend. Some schools may demand more of their students than others. Honestly, I don't have much homework that I can't finish in school, so for me it's not really an issue. For my sister, though, it's a different story...

Edit: Typo

This post has been edited by Sphinx: Feb 18 2008, 08:59 AM

My daughter rarely, if ever, has homework. Granted when you are in the Band there isn't any book time but she practices her trumpet an hour or two a night. (That's fun, at least she's good ).

I don't know if its the block system they are on - classes run 1.5 hrs with only 4 different classes a day - but this seems to allow the teachers to help the kids with their "homework".
OR
Because we live in a farming community and the kids need their evenings to work around the home, I know the kids here start their day about 45 min. earlier than the kids in the 'big' towns.

It is a policy of most of the teachers not to assign alot of homework here.

It occurred to me just now, that at least in High School and for those who plan on attending college, homework helps prepare them for the kind of independent studying they will need to do there. Far too many Freshmen, thinking that if they only read the material and attend classes they will survive, find themselves at a loss before their first mid-terms.
Z

I think that homework is important, especially for older students, because I know when I was in high school, very seldom did I listen to a long lecture. Very few teachers that I have come across are effective when it comes to lecturing. Besides... the homework gives the student a chance to practice what was taught and to help the teacher be sure the student really does have a working knowledge of the subject. For my youngest daughter, grade 3, homework is very important. It's mostly studying spelling words and such. Studying a little bit each day, in a different setting, allows her to retain the knowledge better. Plus it allows me to help guide her education and offer other techniques that may help her to understand better, especially where she is struggling.

Granted, kids need free time. But they also need to learn. I'm not confident that students always have the self discipline to learn everything they need to in just a classroom during school hours. I myself will space off during less than impressive lectures during work meetings. In a way, homework allows for the student to "catch up" on what they may have missed. So I don't think a LITTLE bit of homework each night is going to ruin the childhood years.

I haven't read all the posts in this but here are my two cents worth (This is from a year 8 - me!)



I have to second you on that

Tonight is the only night that I haven't had homework in about 7 weeks. I think having a very small amount is very acceptable but teachers do start to push ti which can make a few hours of homework - or sometimes more! I think school is for school and home is for home. Mixing home with school doesn't work because you have home which means talking, fun and entertainment. School means work and focus not to mention the brain draining work. Why make that continue into our relax and leisure time! I say that homework should stay at school! I miss the fact of not having homework and just bein g able to get home and jam on the guitar and go on BC Honestly, we really do need to have someone explain that school is school and home is home and that they don't need to get mixed. I mean, it interferes with life! I get home happy and then realize that I might as well have stayed at school because I am still doing homework!

I hate this!

David

I'm all for a little homework, but sometimes my 9 year old sits at the table for 4 to 5 hours trying to finish it. Of course, that's mostly because she won't sit still and concentrate, but it's a long time to be doing schoolwork after spending 7 hours in school already.

I agree with that.

Yes, I too agree. Little ones should have a small amount of homework, if any. Surely half an hour should be enough to sit beside them and practice basic adding and subtracting, etc and doing this does, as help4me said, gives us time to see how our child really is progressing.

But I wanted to weep just imagining what the evenings must be like for motherventer and her child when " sometimes 9 year old sits at the table for 4 to 5 hours trying to finish". Gosh, I'd be squirming, as well.

I was one of those mothers that I'm sure made the teachers wince when they thought of me. Gentle smile. My husband and I had a 'firm rule' - Grade 1 and 10 minutes of homework (reading to them each night and their spelling was great!)...Grade 4 and 40 minutes of homework and in Grade 6, 60 minutes maximum. High school - maximum of 1 1/2 hours.

The trade-off was the girls had to truly work during this time - and, in exchange, the teachers were not to assign more than could reasonably be done during this time period. (Wonder if this would work for others?)

And when they hit University, they were 'on their own' when it came to homework. But to help them along in both high school and later, we ensured each child fully mastered both typing (grades given are often higher when a teacher doesn't have to struggle ) and note taking, including a form of short-hand.

If a parent (or dod forbid, both parents) brought hours of 'homework' home with them every night, both their marriage and family life would suffer. Seems highly unfair to expect anything else but a drop in quality of family life when a child is forced to do the same thing.

This post has been edited by Mara: Jun 30 2008, 11:10 AM

I believe too much homework can break the Camel's back as they say. My friends Marriage is in Tatters at the moment,and too much homework has played a big part in it's demise.
Just briefly. The Wife works full time,has to drive 40 Klms a day to and from work,comes home,husband demands a hot meal every night.Then a minimum of 4 hrs homework each night.He won't lift a finger to help.
He's complaining of no attention,jealous of the 2 boy's getting all the attention.Boys by her previous marriage.He has started cussing the Kids badly,because he sees them taking away quality time with her.Moved out of main Bedroom and sleeping in guest bedroom.She has come to me twice in the last 2 weeks crying.I am at a loss as to what advice to give her.
I put,not all but a lot of blame for this breakup on the fact the 2 boys get stupid amounts of homework.They are 10 and 12 years.