Our DCPS starts routine homework in 3rd. For 3rd, it's a packet for each of the 3 teachers to complete in a week or 2. Repeat.

We used to be at a DCPS that assigned homework starting in K and by 2nd grade it was 15-20 minutes a day. I found it to be a bit too much. My kid was doing very well academically but would often fight about doing the homework, especially if it was something tedious (math worksheets). But if she didn't do it, she'd miss out on certain classroom rewards and she didn't like that either. It was kind of a bummer.

We are now at a school that sends home packets every few weeks and you have a while to finish them. They encourage you to have your kid work on it a little each day to get in the habit of putting in studying effort consistently, but because it's not due for a few weeks, kids can pick what they feel like doing on a given day and can do something shorter or longer depending on how much time they have. It still takes effort to stay on top of, but it's less stressful than the daily worksheets. Also during certain parts of the year there are no packets because they are working on projects. Those are more involved but also fun and really give the kids a chance to synthesize what they learn in class.

So my experience is that it varies quite a bit.

Anonymous wrote:My experience is elementary homework policy is school based. Some schools tell grade level teams they can decide, it just has to be uniform across the grade. And it can’t be counted as a grade.

Is there a policy that requires it to be uniform across the grade? Certainly not the way it was when I grew up. It sounds absurd.

Our school had one class which started homework in PK4 and everyone had homework starting in kindergarten. It was very basic and didn't count for anything, more introducing routine and in PK4 explicitly to ensure parents were involved.

My kids’ ES starts homework in 3rd grade. It was a couple worksheets that came home on Monday and were due in Friday, and I’m pretty sure there was no consequence for not turning it in. I was never able to get a handle on how important it was (or wasn’t).

Makes sense about not counting it for a grade. Thank you!

My experience is elementary homework policy is school based. Some schools tell grade level teams they can decide, it just has to be uniform across the grade. And it can’t be counted as a grade.

Hey everyone--question for those "that know". Does DCPS typically give homework in middle elementary school grades? I'm talking like...second grade, third grade? Thanks for any insight about what to expect!