Driving to work, a local radio station posed the following questions: 1. How many hours of homework do your kids receive on an average day? 2. Of this homework, how much do you (the parent) complete, for them? The vast majority of callers said that their kids were assigned 3+ hours of homework on an average night. Most callers also said that they did anywhere from 50% to all of their kids homework (and this means that the parent completed it, independent of the child's interaction or assistance). Almost every caller was a parent who complained about the amount of homework their children received, and emotions seemed to fluctuate between irritation and outright rage. One parent called to say that her kids are disallowed from doing homework, as she wants them to spend time with their family and play sports or do other activities in the evening. She continued to say that she tells the teacher of this "no-homework" rule at the beginning of each school year, and admonishes the teacher to give students adequate class time to complete those assignments, instead. She concluded by saying that it has neither been challenged or refused by any teacher or administrator, nor affected the grades of her children. Unsurprisingly, this created a maelstrom of calls from both teachers and more parents, alike. Of the teachers who called in response, essentially, most argued that they are simply required to cover too much information in a regular school day, if they want to hit their standardized testing targets. Hence, hours of homework a night are both required and essential. Many (MANY) other parents called in and said that they resented the amount of homework that teachers assigned, believing it to be detrimental, as it left no other significant opportunity for their child to spend with their family or to expand their interests beyond schoolwork, alone. What's the answer, here?
I will not allow my children to do 3 hours of homework a night. That is insane. An hour is fine. The rare two hour will be OK. But a daily three hour homework ritual is obscene and should be rejected wholeheartedly.
I should also add that every caller was the parent of a child who was either in elementary or middle school. Not a single parent of a high school-aged child called, that is, in the 30-40 minute window that I was listening. The debate is happening on Knoxville radio station Star 102.1, for anyone who cares to tune in, and if the conversation is still going (I couldn't suffer listening beyond the one segment which began with the song "I Will Wait" by Mumford and Sons - and I didn't want to deviate from my normal route to work, so as to find a cliff of sufficiently lethal height that I could drive off of).
I might've done 3 hours of homework total in high school. How much I was supposed to do, I dunno. I can't remember it even being a thing prior to 7th grade or so.
3 hours is ridiculous. If they have that much of a problem getting through all the stuff the school board says they have to cover then maybe longer school years are the answer.
3 hours a night is too much. But with bureaucrats getting their hands involved, teachers are now required to teach bell to bell. Which is utterly stupid.
I don't mind three hours. You are home at like 3, so you are 66% done with it before your parents even get home. And that low life should then be fixing you dinner until 6. Homework done. Table set. Family dinner time. Weekends are for "sports and things."
I never recalled getting homework when i was in kindergarten. My son had 1 hour of homework the other night.
The only homework my 1st grader has is he has a book to read every night to one of the parents, 10 minutes tops, depending on how much he [itch bay]es and moans about having to read it. My 3rd grader might have 20 mins of math/social studies, etc. He usually completes it at afterschool (both my wife and I work). If they ever ends up having 3 hours of homework every night, Alan will be having a serious parent-teacher-principle conference ASAP.
3 hrs on occasion is fine. With regularity is absurd. There were very few days in college that I spent three hours doing schoolwork.
On average, my oldest has a half hour of work when he gets home. He gets the majority of his stuff done during his free period. He has a reading club on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour and a half.
before 6 grade it shouldn't be more than an hour. I can't believe people do their kids homework either. what's the point of that?
My mother-in-law was pretty much writing papers for my wife's siblings through college and grad school. It was sickening.
My 5th grader rarely has homework that lasts more than half an hour. If he does, it's some project that requires internet research, a trip to the library. My 6th grader regularly has more than an hour's work, sometimes two hours, and sometimes three or four. She most often finishes in just over an hour, but neither two nor three are rare at all. It's been this way since they have been at the school where they attend. My son finishes most of his work in class and at breaks between classes. I often have to tell him to bring his work home, so my wife or I can take a look and see if he's getting it. My daughter is a social butterfly who goofs off rather than working in class and hates doing homework. Otherwise, she could be more like her younger brother. I can't say I've never "done" my child's homework, but it's never been more than a math problem or two when I was in a hurry and didn't think to come up with an example that was like his or her problem. Also, neither child is assigned homework to be completed on a Wednesday night without having several days to complete the work. They go to a Christian private school, so homework on church night is bad. They do have a standing bible test on Thursdays which is an annoyance since my kids actually do go to church on Wednesday evenings for several hours leaving little time for either to study.
This is very rational. As a high school teacher, we have hour & a half classes, which does afford more time to complete work in class. I'm glad that I teach classes (project-based engineering & history) that doesn't require lots of daily repetitious practice.
You know what you're talking about. And it's not the local school board requiring the standards, it's the state. Welcome to the wonderful world of accountability based off one test on one day.
Just my opinion, but more than an hour worth of homework at the middle/elementary level is ridiculous. You're expecting and asking too much of kids that age.
the real question is whether all this homework actually improves test scores. i'm going to guess it doesn't. how many hours can a kid spend before their capability for learning effectively drops considerably? I understand saying it's the standardized tests driving the school to do this, but that doesn't mean it's the right solution to this problem.
Amen. I wish we had a Commissioner of Education that has taught in a REAL classroom. This guy has very little teaching experience and he is running our state Department of Education.
And I check my kids' homework after they have finished, but I won't do it for them. I've already been through the educational system- contrary to popular belief.
