Too much homework!!!!

[happygirl]

My daughter who is in the 3rd grade, they are learning the basic of writing a essay. TO me that is way to early

 

[HelenePA]

On nice days right after winter my kids go out to play first.. homework comes second. All mine are at the park right now enjoying our "spring" weather. Its going to rain/snow tomorrow, they've been cooped up for way too long and I'm ready to pull my hair out with them. They need to get outside. 58 school days to go!! (oh yes I'm counting down already!)

btw my 10 yr old NEVER has homework.. she does hers at the end of the day in study hall with her friends. My 7 yr old choose not to do his then and brings it home.. I'd rather eat my own arm then help him with homework but that's another subject...

 

[okeydokey]

Well, it's what the parents want or they wouldn't send the kids there. The school must know what it's doing. It's wonderful what you have achieved but would be just average or below average of what the average graduate from there accomplishes. And far below what the top 30% or so accomplishes let alone the top few graduates.

I would never enroll my kids in a program like that and they are both exceptional students. There is more to life than grades and schoolwork, and childhood should be a time where kids get to discover their passion. I doubt many kids are passionate about taking 40 minutes to and hour to outline their History texts every night.

I find most homework, even at the upper grades, to be busy work. The problem is that kids are not all the same, yet they are all given the same homework. If the purpose of outlining each chapter is to understand and memorize, some kids can do that reading the chapter, others by outlining, others by using the study guide. Why can't they just do what works best for them. Let them take ownership of their education.

 

[HelenePA]

My daughter who is in the 3rd grade, they are learning the basic of writing a essay. TO me that is way to early

Ours learn to write essays in 2nd grade.. so much fun!

 

[shoney]

I have 2 in middle school, one in 6th and one in 8th grade.

They get about 20 minutes or so of homework a night.

There is some type of LTA (long term assignment) for one class or another going on. If they wait until the last minute, then it requires more time to finish! Love those days!

They both do well in school and we are in a very good school district that often receives awards.

I see no reason for hours upon hours of homework.

 

[happygirl]

Ours learn to write essays in 2nd grade.. so much fun!

2nd grade agh, LOL

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Ugh, it's annoying because so many teachers assign busy work. Are 25 math problems a night really necessary? They probably get the concept after the first five or ten.

Now, this is coming from someone who graduated salutatorian of her class, but what my friends and I used to do when we had a teacher that just glanced over the homework, rather than having us turn it in, we'd just write the same math problem down multiple times. Or if we had a teacher that just wanted us to try, not necessarily get it right, we'd just write numbers down. We understood the concepts fine, we were just so boggled down with extra curriculars that we hardly had any time for homework once we got home.

I remember multiple times when I was in high school, I'd be up really late, and my dad would come upstairs and tell me that I should go to bed. "Sorry, Dad, but I have to finish my homework first."

 

[okeydokey]

Ugh, it's annoying because so many teachers assign busy work. Are 25 math problems a night really necessary? They probably get the concept after the first five or ten.

Now, this is coming from someone who graduated salutatorian of her class, but what my friends and I used to do when we had a teacher that just glanced over the homework, rather than having us turn it in, we'd just write the same math problem down multiple times. Or if we had a teacher that just wanted us to try, not necessarily get it right, we'd just write numbers down. We understood the concepts fine, we were just so boggled down with extra curriculars that we hardly had any time for homework once we got home.

I remember multiple times when I was in high school, I'd be up really late, and my dad would come upstairs and tell me that I should go to bed. "Sorry, Dad, but I have to finish my homework first."

I so agree. Does a third grader really need to write all their spelling words six times each in cursive? Especially if they already know them. Wouldn't writing them once be enough?

Why 30 long division problems when they get the first five correct?

The real question should be, what is the purpose of homework. If it assigned simply to make parents think that their kids are enrolled in a vigorous curriculum, that is also the wrong reason.

 

[Buckalew11]

Sounds like DD when she was in 5th grade. Craziness.

She homeschooled from 9th thru 12th grade and she worked from somewhere near 7a to 3p with a 30 min. lunch break but when it was done, it was basically done (everything was "homework"). So glad those days are over for me--now she is in college and is doing great. Lots of work, of course, but I'm not around to watch, lol.

Good luck. I feel for these kids who are at school all day and then have hours to do when they get home.

 

[Poohforyou]

My daughter who is in the 3rd grade, they are learning the basic of writing a essay. TO me that is way to early

Learning to write well is a skill that takes years to master. IMO it is never too early to start.

 

[Buckalew11]

I would never enroll my kids in a program like that and they are both exceptional students. There is more to life than grades and schoolwork, and childhood should be a time where kids get to discover their passion. I doubt many kids are passionate about taking 40 minutes to and hour to outline their History texts every night.

I find most homework, even at the upper grades, to be busy work. The problem is that kids are not all the same, yet they are all given the same homework. If the purpose of outlining each chapter is to understand and memorize, some kids can do that reading the chapter, others by outlining, others by using the study guide. Why can't they just do what works best for them. Let them take ownership of their education.

This is what I found to be the best thing about homeschooling. Move at your own pace and learn the best way YOU learn.

 

[WDSearcher]

My son is in 8th grade and he is getting buried with homework right now. I feel so bad for him. It is starting to get really nice outside and he is stuck inside doing homework. He gets anywhere from 2 to 3 hours per night. He is a straight A student, but come on teachers. He is already at school almost 7 hours per day. He works more than I do and I have a full time job. I don't remember doing all of this work when I was in school. All of the teachers say they only assign 1/2 hour a night but he has 5 core subjects plus a couple electives. I can't wait for summer vacation!!!

The other option, of course, is for him to work fewer hours. Unless that extra money is necessary for you all to live on, the fact that he's working more than you, and you're working 40 hrs seems to be a place to cut if he needs "kid time". If working that many hours is a choice and not a necessity, maybe he could ease up the work schedule a little.

 

[cceandme]

my son is in 7th grade and plays sports. It is so hard to get all the homework done but we believe sports are important too for our son anyway. at least he only does one sport at a time.

 

[anniemae]

I don't think the op meant her child works at a job.

I think she means that between 7 hours of school and 3 hours of homework equals 10 hours and the OP works an 8 hour day. So she is saying he is spending more time in school & doing homework than she spends at work. I think thats what she means anyway!

 

[scoutie]

Does your child have the option for a study hall? Have you tried talking to the teachers about homework expectations? Are you in a high achieving school, where there is a lot of pressure on teachers from parents? Is your child being given any time to work on these assignments during the day? During lunch?

I teach middle school, and your son should not have that much homework. I'm not a big believer in homework "just to give it". In fact, I rarely give much homework, unless it's a meaningful assignment that needs to be completed at home and will enhance the day's lessons. In years past, I have had a few parents express concern that their child DIDN'T have excessive amounts of homework.

I would recommend talking to the teachers and finding out what the issue is. You might get clarification. Three hours at that age is excessive.

 

[marcyinPA]

On the flip side, I don't think my 8th grader and 12th grader have enough homework! They are also both straight A students, and I know they do their homework when they get it- but they both barely ever have any!!

It generally works out OK though because they are both involved in every extra curricular activity they can be!!

 

[okeydokey]

The other option, of course, is for him to work fewer hours. Unless that extra money is necessary for you all to live on, the fact that he's working more than you, and you're working 40 hrs seems to be a place to cut if he needs "kid time". If working that many hours is a choice and not a necessity, maybe he could ease up the work schedule a little.

I don't think the OP means that he has a job but that the hours he spends on school exceed the hours she spends on work.

 

[elaine amj]

UGH - I hate homework. On the whole though, my kids don't have an excessive amount of homework. The only time we were completely overwhelmed was right after Christmas break. report cards were due and the teachers PILED on the work for about 2 solid weeks. We came back from vacation facing mountains of work. My kids are slow, particularly my son - and it literally took hours. They'd be home from school at 3pm and get started by 3:30pm. Then keep working until bedtime at 9pm. My DD was so crunched that she would put in about a half hr every morning when she woke up on top of all this. And yes, there was dawdling in the middle of all that so it took longer....but we all felt crunched. I would say without dawdling, they'd have been done in 2-3 hrs each. We're talking grade 5 and 6 - still young kids so it definitely took much, much longer especially since they needed help, etc.

Thankfully it only lasted about 2 weeks. It was an awful amount of work for me to monitor and help as well (my DS needs a lot of handholding with homework as he struggles) so I was not impressed at all.

For teens, I would say about 1-2 hrs a day of homework is very reasonable. 2 hrs could mean homework from 7pm - 9pm (or 3-5)...which is not too bad.

 

[keri125]

My second grader had about an hour of homework last year. It was awful. I'm a single parent with a full-time job, so by the time I got off work at five, picked him up from day-care, got home, cooked dinner, helped with homework, and got him ready for bed, we had no down time. I am super strict regarding bed times, as I believe there is a direct link to immunity and amount of sleep. We transfered him to a new school this year, a magnet school for the arts and humanities, and while the emphasis is still on the three 'R's,' there is a lot of emphasis on learning through play and a ton of physical activity. The teacher he has this year doesn't believe in homework, and it has been so nice. I think my son is still learning as much, if not more, than he did last year, even without the homework. I know both the 3rd grade teachers assign homework, so I am really enjoying not having it this year! I do think there has to be a balance to ensuring the children are learning enough to be successful in a competitive market and still ensuring they have a childhood.

 

[Aliceacc]

I teach high school math.

My classes all have a 20 minute rule. If any night's assignment takes over 20 minutes (of real work, not texting, playing Xbox, hitting the fridge...) they're allowed to stop.

If Johnny is the only one who didn't finish, I expect to see him in extra help. If no one finished, then it's on me: either I didn't teach it thoroughly enough, or I assigned too much. Either way, the problem can be rectified; there are no emergencies that require any of my kids to be up all night doing my homework.

I also let my kids miss, then make up for full credit, up to 3 assignments per marking period. There are times when life gets in the way of homework.

I agree that Common Core is NOT going to make this problem go away!! (I'm in a private school; Common Core isn't a concern.)