How much homework for a 3rd grader?

[cotomom]

My DD has 3 hours every night for homework in a regular, public school, 3rd grade class. Is this normal? It sure seems like alot in my opinion.

Before I talk/complain, I'd like to hear what other 3rd grade parents are encountering.

Thanks!

 

[trappednabox]

My little sis is in 3rd grade this year and she has soooo much homework we had to change her bedtime so she has time to do it all and still eat dinner and take a bath! It's crazy this year!!! She's having a really hard time, this is the 1st time since she's been in school that she's having problems

 

[HeatherH]

My daughter is in all HONORS classes in 7th grade, and so far NEVER has more then three hours a night.

In 3rd grade, there was absolutely NO way she had that much, that is absurd. They do start piling it on a bit in FOURTH grade, but in 3rd grade, never more than hour at most, plus some additional time for projects.

I would speak to the teacher or the school. That amount of homework for a 3rd grader is WAY beyond the state standards.

 

[graygables]

as a teacher, our guideline was 10 *minutes* for each grade, so by the time they were 6th graders, they had an hour of homework. There is definitely something wrong with 3 hours in the 3rd grade, sorry.

 

[disneymom3]

Maybe it would help if you listed for us what her homework actually is. I mean, my DD can make 10 problems last for 45 min if she's in the wrong mood. Has the teacher talked about how long it should take? I have always heard the 10 min per grade rule too and 3 hours is totally ridiculous!

 

[klj27]

I think my question would be not how long, but how much? Is there a reason it is taking your child three hours? Are they having a hard time focussing, etc? My daughter is in fourth this year and she has about an hour a day. That includes written work, music practice, reading, studying and longterm projects.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My twins are in second grade and (knock on wood) do well in school. They have been spending about two hours a night doing homework, sometimes more. Some of this time is spent foot dragging, but most of it is spent actually doing work (we are there with them while they do it).

Every weeknight they are given two pages of a math exercise and two pages of practice addition and subtraction problems (which we have to time them on); two pages (or more) of English; spelling words to learn in prep for a test every Friday; and 30 minutes of reading out loud, followed by logging date, title and minutes spent reading into a log book. We are supposed to do flash cards as well but we haven't done them much, we're all pretty spent by the time they're done with the rest of the work.

It's been hard finding time for them to just be kids and play with their friends after school. If we don't get this work done early it's very difficult to do when they're tired after dinner. Interested to see what others are doing and what teachers have to say. I should add that this teacher is known for giving lots of homework and book reports later in the year.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Every weeknight they are given two pages of a math exercise and two pages of practice addition and subtraction problems (which we have to time them on); two pages (or more) of English; spelling words to learn in prep for a test every Friday; and 30 minutes of reading out loud, followed by logging date, title and minutes spent reading into a log book. We are supposed to do flash cards as well but we haven't done them much, we're all pretty spent by the time they're done with the rest of the work.

All I can say is OMG!
As far as 3 hours A NIGHT...too much!

Are they in honors or special classes or something? My high schooler doesn't have that much homework, well this semester, anyway. I am sure that will change.

My 3rd grader's homework varies. One night it is 1 hour, next night it is 20 mins. She does have to read everynight, for 15mins. But nothing outloud for 30 mins! Geesh.

 

[Kimberly]

That is too much. Either the teacher is assigning too much work or not explaning it properly.

 

[tae1218]

as a teacher, our guideline was 10 *minutes* for each grade, so by the time they were 6th graders, they had an hour of homework. There is definitely something wrong with 3 hours in the 3rd grade, sorry.

I also heard of the 10 minutes per grade. DD is in second grade and she doesn't even have a half hour of homework, but she is required to read for 15 minutes in addition to homework. But we are usually finished up with everything within 30 minutes. 3 hours just seems like a lot of work for a third grader.

 

[MoniqueU]

I have a third grader and the most she has had is probably an hour tops and that is with special projects going. 3 hours is way too much and I would call your district office get the homework guidelines and be prepared to meet with the principal over it. I had one teacher that gave hours of homework to my then 2nd grader. I did what I told you, checked the standards, checked with my MIL who was a teacher, showed her the homework packet, met with the principal and it was reduced.

 

[the kabuki]

DS is in 3rd grade and he receives NONE. He has said the only time they get homework is when they don't finish something in class, but that hasn't happened yet. She did say he should read for 15 minutes a night, but I don't consider that homework.

We've had this teacher before with DD and with her I feel honestly that this is a wasted year. She doesn't push these kids' enough. It's like she's paced the class to the slowest learner rather than somewhere in the middle.Having gone through this with DD , I know it's futile to speak up, you get nowhere with it. It's so frustrating, especially since DS's last two teachers' were so awesome.

 

[golfgal]

3rd grade was a big homework year for our kids but not 3 hours worth (well, DS would often take three hours to get stuff done because he was stubborn, but it was really about 15 minutes worth of work). If it is 3 hours of constant working with no distractions like sitting in front of the tv while doing homework, then I would have to say something to the teacher. If he is struggling to do the work and it takes him longer because of that, then there are probably some kids in the class that get the same homework done in 30 minutes. I know that there are kids in the twins' grade that would take 2-3 hours to get their homework done but that same homework took our kids maybe 30 minutes. It is difficult to say it's too much homework without knowing how long it is taking the rest of the class and what the particular study habits are for that child.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My DS8 typically gets 1 worksheet, 2 sided, per night. He does it right away after school, I'm lucky if I can get him to take 10 minutes, just because I don't want him to rush through. Last night he had to study for a math test, but he does so well in math this really was just "review the material once", more for the sake of studying than really needing the review. He also does really well in spelling so he doesn't need to study that, either. We don't make an issue about reading since he's a great reader and loves books--I don't time him or anything. Frankly, reading through what I typed, he may not be typical! Oh, we also have the occasional long-term project, but then he doesn't get homework on Fridays.

The questions I would be asking myself in your circumstances are: Is my child dawdling? I can see taking a break when she's flagging, but perhaps she's not applying herself and it takes longer. Is she getting more HW because she's not completing classwork? Do some things take her longer for whatever reason? (Some kids like their work perfectly neat, and it can take a long time). Does she understand what is required of her? I would suggest asking other parents how long things take in their house, for a rough comparison. The problem here may be the teacher, or it may be something else. At least if you approach the teacher with the above questions, you don't look like you're blaming her.

 

[cepmom]

My dd is in 3rd grade and she only just started getting written homework this week (school started 9/6). So far she has to read 20 - 30 minutes each day and log it on a calendar, study weekly spelling words, and one written sheet each night (one day it was write sentences using the spelling words, another night it was math etc) 3 hours a day is way too much for a 3rd grader! My high schooler doesn't even get that much and she is some honors classes! I would definately get on the phone with either the teacher or the principal and see why they are assigining so much homework...it doesn't seem right to me.

 

[gina2000]

I've seen parents complain that there is too much homework while other parents complain that there isn't enough. And that's in the same class!!!

How much of the homework is classwork that hasn't been finished? And how much difficulty does the child have with the work? And is there dawdling?

Sometimes kids just don't know how to buckle down and get the work done. It takes them hours to do simple tasks. If this isn't the case, though, I think that's too much work for a 3rd grader. Sometimes, talking to other parents to determine how much work their children have can help also.

 

[Christine]

Sometimes kids just don't know how to buckle down and get the work done. It takes them hours to do simple tasks. If this isn't the case, though, I think that's too much work for a 3rd grader. Sometimes, talking to other parents to determine how much work their children have can help also.

I agree with this. My son was taking at least 2 hours to do his homework in the 4th grade. I thought the teacher gave too much work. Turns out, it was my son's problem. He could not get it organized and he dawdled, lost focus, etc. Truly, if there is 3 hours of homework AND your child is getting it done, I would expect to see pages and pages of completed homework each night. Can you tell us specifically what is a typical night's worth of homework. Like is it two pages of math problems, and English worksheet?

 

[MinnieM3]

I've taught 3rd grade for 16 years and 3 hours is out of line. Do investigate it further. My students' homework last night was to study for a Spelling Test (15 words) and study for an English test on pronouns. My usual homework is an English workbook page or a Phonics page and a Math workbook page. I assume it takes them about 30 minutes. I know some study for tests longer. My parents have all been please with the amount of homework this year. Only positive comments. That's usually how it goes. I have gotten comments in the past that I don't give enough. But I'm not changing on that one! Kids need some time to be kids!

 

[mrsmom]

I have a 3rd grader and he has maybe two papers a night it takes him about 20 minutes to do his homework, My son had a 2nd grader teacher last yr that did what your teacher is doing, He started hating school and was saying he was sick all the time, so he wouldn't have to go. I should have listen when other parents complained but i didn't.
So this yr i picked his teacher ,she tells the kids she is not mean, just strict and grouchy. A Very good teacher and makes learning fun for the kids. He loves school now!! Check into what is going on.
Kim

 

[cotomom]

Thanks everyone for all of your input!

Here's what she had yesterday:

200 (yes, 200) multiplication problems (all the way up to 9's and 10's) to be completed in a group of 100 ... do a different assignment, then the other 100.

A 5 Stanza poem that had a full worksheet of questions to be answered about
i.e. which sentence is interrogatory? Which is exclamatory? List 5 action verbs, What is another word for glade? What is another word for vale? (I didn't even know those and we had to go to a dictionary AND synonym finder to find these)

5 pictures to be drawn representing each stanza

24 Spelling words that had to be written out in 24 creative sentences.

25-30 minutes of reading

These are all on the 'homework' sheet, so I don't think they're leftover class work.

Here's an example of the previous night:

Put these 8 "Constitutional Events" in order. (8 items listed, NO story or sheet to derive answers from - had to search on internet myself!)

Create 2 graphs using this data

Worksheet answering questions regarding existing graphs

Nouns worksheet - 2 sided

2 pages of math from textbook

25-30 minutes reading

I know she's not dawdling or watching tv. Most of these things she needs constant supervision for. I swear it's like I'm in school again! She comes in from school, has a snack and takes off her shoes, and we work together until it's done...

I will definitely ask other classmates parents to see how long they're taking.

Thanks everyone!