How much homework in elementary?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say that that's too bad.

My niece had about 3-3.5 hours of homework every day in FIRST GRADE. She'd finish school at 2:30 and then go to her parent's office after school and work on it from 3-6 or so every day, except Friday. Needless to say, her parents put her in a different school for second grade. {And she had ADD too, without meds}

But one of my kids has about an hour-2 hours of homework every night in 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Most HS kids I know do at least 3 hours a night. Much more for those taking two or more AP classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't say that that's too bad.

My niece had about 3-3.5 hours of homework every day in FIRST GRADE. She'd finish school at 2:30 and then go to her parent's office after school and work on it from 3-6 or so every day, except Friday. Needless to say, her parents put her in a different school for second grade. {And she had ADD too, without meds}

But one of my kids has about an hour-2 hours of homework every night in 4th grade.

3 - 3.5 hours in first? That's hard to believe.

[Anonymous]

My son's in a 2nd grade TAG program in Prince George's county. He typically has about 30 - 40 minutes of homework each day.

Most assignments are fairly easy and straightforward: Write a definition for each spelling word, review some math facts, solve a math challenge or logic problem, and then something from music, science or social studies (usually to read a few pages and review for a test or answer some questions or sketch a diagram, write a description of some process.)

About once a week he has something a bit more involved for language arts -- like making a diorama or an ad, or writing some journal entries from the point of view of one of the characters. THis is evaluated for art as well as for language arts, so he needs to take his time to make the project eye catching.

If the assignments require a lot of writing, it can take him about 2 hours, only because he really doesn't enjoy writing and so he will stall and procrastinate and get up out of his chair about every other word, spend many minutes selecting the write pencil, needing to sharpen it, getting frustrated, and so on. But the work itself only should take about 20 to 30 minutes, and usually does so when he is focused.

[Anonymous]

Homework policies in primary and secondary schools over the last decades breeds dummies. The US standing alongside other developing and developed nations certifies this assertion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homework policies in primary and secondary schools over the last decades breeds dummies. The US standing alongside other developing and developed nations certifies this assertion.

Perhaps you need to do your homework. From "The Case Against Homework":

"Many countries with the highest scoring students on achievement tests, such
as Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic, have teachers who assign little
homework. Meanwhile, countries such as Greece, Thailand, and Iran, where
students have some of the worst average scores, have teachers who assign a lot
of homework. American students do as much homework as their peers in
other countries—if not more—but still manage only to score around the
international average. [National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture
and the Future of Schooling by David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre, Stanford
University Press, 2005]"

[Anonymous]

Don't worry. I've done my homework. You had better get your kids to do theirs or they'll be left behind. I assure you those kids are doing their homework. Those kids have what is called initiative. They do not need laws and regulation about homework assignments in primary school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry. I've done my homework. You had better get your kids to do theirs or they'll be left behind. I assure you those kids are doing their homework. Those kids have what is called initiative. They do not need laws and regulation about homework assignments in primary school!

I doubt you know what you are talking about. I attended school in a gymnasium (high school) in Germany for a year. We had a LOT of homework, it is true -- but I was in 11th grade, and most days we only went to school till lunch at 1. Anyhow, the family I lived with had little kids in elementary school, and by state law or regulation, they were only allowed to have some 30 minutes of homework a day in the Grund schule. Those Germans know how to regulate everything, so if there's a way to regulate homework, I'm sure they will find it. I'm betting the French school system is the same. And the Japanese-- I have read that they actually don't have a lot of home work in elementary school. Of course parents take their children to special schools to cram for the state exams, but that's a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry. I've done my homework. You had better get your kids to do theirs or they'll be left behind. I assure you those kids are doing their homework. Those kids have what is called initiative. They do not need laws and regulation about homework assignments in primary school!

I doubt you know what you are talking about. I attended school in a gymnasium (high school) in Germany for a year. We had a LOT of homework, it is true -- but I was in 11th grade, and most days we only went to school till lunch at 1. Anyhow, the family I lived with had little kids in elementary school, and by state law or regulation, they were only allowed to have some 30 minutes of homework a day in the Grund schule. Those Germans know how to regulate everything, so if there's a way to regulate homework, I'm sure they will find it. I'm betting the French school system is the same. And the Japanese-- I have read that they actually don't have a lot of home work in elementary school. Of course parents take their children to special schools to cram for the state exams, but that's a different story.

I can speak from experience regarding the French schools and you are correct. In fact it's consistent with your observations about Germany. It's not exactly a secret among advanced nations that the homework drill & kill destroys the students' initiative and love of learning. But it's not really a secret here, either. All upper class and upper-middle class parents know this - that's why they send their children to private schools that emphasize love of learning over nationalized test scores. Everyone in the education field knows that drill & kill and piles of homework are for poor kids from disastrous families that need to have discipline instilled in them at school because they can't get it at home.

If your child has a mountain of homework in elementary school it isn't because you're at a school with high expectations, it's because you're at a school with socially borderline families whom the school system deems unfit to instill the proper discipline and academic regimentation without them stepping in and establishing the guidelines.