Too much homework!!!!

[okeydokey]

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.)

What a great approach. I wish more teachers were like you.

 

[Mom21]

My dd is an 11th grader. She has 3 AP, 3 Honors, and 1 regular class. She grabs something to eat when she gets home as she often doesn't have lunch. She starts homework while eating. It goes on for hours, often until 9 when I tend to make her quit and go take her shower. Saturday is normally off and on throughout the day for a total of at least 5-6 hours. Sometimes she also works on Sunday mornings for a few hours to finish up before her father picks her up for the night. We can absolutely not plan anything during the week, even a hour or 2 if we want to go out and eat.

It's ridiculous. I'm afraid next year is going to be worse as she is taking more AP classes. Sometimes I find the assignments ludicrous-a huge waste of time.

 

[Hrhpd]

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

3rd grade and they are just learning the basics of an essay?

Our second graders are already writing paragraphs with topic sentences, bodies and conclusions.

Just curious, what do you think 3rd graders should be learning? I am intrigued by what other districts do.

Back on topic:
My high school sophomore, AP and Advanced courses, has between 2-3 hours a night. But he is currently out playing basketball with the neighborhood kids. He will come in around 6, have dinner and then do homework till 10. He fits being a kid in with a couple hours of homework a night.

 

[Hrhpd]

I have a Masters degree and I would be hard pressed to complete it any faster. For instance he has to write a 2,000 word research project on a career choice for his English class. For this project he needs 200 note cards and 8 sources. He also needs an outline and rough draft. He spends 1/2 hr to 40 minutes on this project alone almost every day. Then he has to outline his History book every night. That is another 40 minutes to a hour. Plus he has daily Algebra homework. It is a lot of work.

I don't know if it is every AP History class, but in our high school, AP History requires "Grade-Makers." Otherwise known as 200 note cards outlining the history lesson/book each week.

Grade-Makers are the reason many kids involved in sports steer away from AP History.

 

[Lisaren]

For many elementary students, with IEPs, inclusion, behavorial problems, standardized testing, parent meetings, continuing education, etc., teachers do not have time to completely cover the subject. Parents end up teaching by helping with all the homework - I understand the teachers have it difficult, but many have trouble understanding there are other family members and obligations.
For middle school, my son only has math almost every night. The kids have 30 math problems every night. I have no problem with the amount, but of the 30 problems one and perhaps two have something to do with the new skill being learned. Every one of the others are practice for skills learned earlier in the year. I understand some review, but if they did 20 problems with the new skill and 10 review it would make much more sense.

 

[Liberty Belle]

It sucks, but I keep reading that in other countries kids go to school WAY more than American kids. Less days off, more time in class. They don't have childhoods. They are expected to excel.

Americans have to decide, do we value childhood or do we want to prepare our kids to compete in a global market someday?

I wondered about that. Here's what I found:

Australia - 200 days a year, 9:00 - 3:30

Brazil - 7:00 - 12:00 (does not say how many days a year, but it says it follows the same vacation/days off that australia does)

China - September through mid July - 7:30 through 5:00, but they get a two hour lunch break.

France - 8:00 - 4:00, plus a half day on Saturday, but no school on Wednesday. Runs August to June with several week to two week vacations thrown in.

Iran - 200 days, doesn't give daily time schedule

Russia - 8:30 - 3:00, Sept to late May. Mandatory to grade 10.

South Korea - March to July, then September to February. 8:00 to 4:00 (but many stay later. Then after dinner at home or school (at 5 pm) they have study sessions.


Of those, it looks like only South Korean kids are in school significantly longer than our kids.

 

[Liberty Belle]

Finland (very successful) is interesting:

School days are from between 8:00 and 9:00 to between 1:00 and 2:00. Lunches are free for all students. Students spend less than one hour a day on homework and it's becoming less important. Daycare, preschool, elementary, secondary, vocational, and university is all free.

 

[abbyreads]

I don't know if it is every AP History class, but in our high school, AP History requires "Grade-Makers." Otherwise known as 200 note cards outlining the history lesson/book each week.

Grade-Makers are the reason many kids involved in sports steer away from AP History.

That's just insane. I was pretty thankful that last year, when taking AP US History and European History, my teachers expected us to take notes, but as it was a college level course, never checked unless we weren't performing on tests.

On the other hand, this year my AP Psychology teacher requires notes, vocab, applications of that vocab, and handy tricks to remember the information for a grade, which to me is just absurd busy work--if several students can remember it fine without all of that, why is it universally required?

Back to the original post, I think that's a lot of homework, but that it's really going to depend on the student. I'm in 5 AP classes, and several friends of mine are in about the same position, but I rarely have more than an hour and a half of homework a night, while some of them, who might not work during the school day or just don't read at the same rate might have two or three hours worth. Three hours certainly seems like a lot, but it may not be noticed because among the students, it isn't a universal affliction.

 

[bunny]

I personally think outlining the entire History chapter is ridiculous. During the first sememster, the teacher allowed them to read the chapter and then do the section and chapter reviews. His grade was 99%. Then she started the outlining. I don't see a point in it if the student can get a 99% just from reading the material. The only thing he has learned from outlining is how to make an outline which he already knew how to do. How does that teach him history?

 

[sm4987]

I understand. My 8th grader comes home with homework all the time while my 11th grader 85% of the time has no work to do at all. I can't understand it but help her out the best I can.

 

[aprilgail2]

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!!!

I would be happy as heck if my daughter had 2 hours of homework- its usually more like 4+ a night! At first I thought it was just her moving slow and doing other things while doing the homework but I talked to the other parents who have kids in the same classes and they all said the same thing- 4+ a night! Last weekend she had 16 hours of homework- she sat there at her desk for 8 hours Sat and 8 hours on Sun- we couldn't do a darn thing all weekend- totally sucks!

I don't know if it is every AP History class, but in our high school, AP History requires "Grade-Makers." Otherwise known as 200 note cards outlining the history lesson/book each week.

Grade-Makers are the reason many kids involved in sports steer away from AP History.

My 8th grader is in Pre-AP history. They don't run it like a high school prep class, its run like a college prep class. Its also the class that she had the ulk of the 16 hours of homework in last weekend. They have to outline every single chapter in teh textbook into things called pedligs (People, Events, Documents, Laws, Ideas, Groups, Supreme Court Cases)- some chapters have less than others but this last one was a killer! I think they ended up with 90 pedligs and then they have to define each and every one and write so much about each one. When she comes home and says she has pedligs I just cringe. My brother shakes his head and says he didn't have this much homework in all of college or graduate school!