Reply to HW has no benefit in elementary school

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[quote=Anonymous]Lots of different opinions here and I'll add mine. I think homework is fine in elementary school, but through grades 1-5 or even 2-5. I remember loving homework. The problem I see is that children in the US are at school until 3:15 or even 6 pm. That's really late for elementary school kids.
Half a day or more is gone and you have to fit family time, after school activities and homework into what's left of it.
Our elementary school kids in Europe are done with school at 12 pm or 1 pm the latest. That gives plenty of time for homework, family time and playing outside. 
My DS is at school from 8:45 to 3:15 pm. That's a long day. My days were that long in high school only and I was exhausted almost daily.
1 class period is only 45 minutes. The teachers make every minute count. There's a 10 minute recess between different subjects.
We also don't have "1st grade teacher" or "3rd grade teacher". We have math teacher, English teacher, history teacher. They teach the same subject but to all ages. 
We build on our knowledge. The order we follow makes sense and subject matter gets harder. If I forget something, the teacher reminds me when I took it and I can always get the textbook and reread.
Here in US it seems like kids can skip a foreign language class, take breaks from the subject altogether or for example take US history without knowing anything about Ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt or Mesopotamia. 
While kids in Finland barely have any homework, we have lots of HW according to the chart posted by PP. We also outranked Finland in Pisa 2015. So, country with lots of  homework came ahead of a country with little HW. No wonder it's a big debate here. 
Finland has better teachers, nicer schools, more money spent per student. We have our good curriculum and plenty of homework. 
Finland is reforming their education system and we are watching.
I had a pen-friend from Finland in early 90s when I Was about 12. I got to visit her school and I sat in class as they were taking a test. The teacher even said that I can help her. She had studied for the test on the bus home with us from the port. Not sure when they changed to no HW and no tests.

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