Parents of 2nd/3rd graders

[JerseyJanice]

I'm relieved to read this thread that my second grader's homework is pretty average. I've heard the 10 minutes per grade, and so I've been annoyed all year that his homework load is about 30 to 40 minutes a night. (I've been thinking it should be 20.)

He gets assignments Monday through Thursday, always math and spelling work, sometimes phonics and science or history. He is expected to read 15 minutes per night and hand in 4 book forms per month. The book forms are like mini book reports, and the theme of them changes every month. One month, a form might be a letter to the book's main character. Another month, it's to describe the beginning, middle and end of the story.

I hate homework! I hated it when I was in school, and I hate breathing down his neck to get it done now.

 

[mom2boys]

My 3rd grader typically has a spelling activity (5 min); math worksheet (5-10 min); 20 minutes of independent reading; sometimes writing - one week he had to write 5 sentences each night on the class reading & and occassional long-term project - about one per quarter.

 

[aprincessmom]

Second grade -- DD has homework everyday. It is supposed to take 1/2 hour to complete each day.

It consists of a spelling-related exercise (alphabetizing, writing sentences with the words in them, writing a story using at least 10 of the 15 words, practice tests, word ladders, etc.), a reading exercise (reading the book, doing some exercises and then applying those exercises to form a book report) and math. They get a packet on Monday with all the assignments for the weeks and a schedule for when they should be handed in.

DD typically does all of hers on Monday in about 40 minutes which is good and bad...good because it gives her lots of time to play during the week and bad because it's mostly work they haven't done yet but she figures it out and finishes it before they have the lesson in class.

 

[tiggerlover]

Thanks for your replies.

My DS is in a 2/3 combo class and I was curious as to how their homework compares. DS gets a calendar each month and then has to chose three things a week to complete on the calendar. To me the homework is nonsence (the teacher admits she doesn' believe in homework and only does this because it is a standard that is required). Some of the things on the list are like: estimate how long it takes you to get ready for bed, then time the actual time it takes; put an object in a sock and see if a parent can guess what it is, then trade places; guess how many doorknobs are in your house and then count to see if you are right....things like that. He doesn't get spelling words, in fact his spelling words are on the wall of his classroom and they even get to look when they are taking spelling tests! He has had to do a couple of projects this year, two that come to mind are a diarama and a book report/model. He doesn't get math homework as a rule, but they do have mad minutes in school every day. He is also required to read 20 min. a day (3rd graders 30 min), but he loves to read so that isn't an issue. DS really dislikes homework and tries to cruise through it when he has it, DH and I keep telling him that when he gets back to the US he will have a lot more expected of him and judging from this thread I think he will.

Is Tyler excited about coming home?

Hi Jeanne! Yes, he is very, very excited!! (Mom is too!)

 

[shortbun]

We get homework every Friday that is due the following Thursday.
We are asked to read 30 minutes every day, work on Dolce site
words for 20 minutes every day and finish this homework. There
is usually about an hour of math and an hour of other. If we spread it out, we have about an hour a day of required work.