mandpete

Last year my daughter was in 4th grade and she was swamped with homework every night plus she had a very detailed book report to do every month. Lots of evenings she ended up in tears because all the other children in the neighbourhood were playing out and she was stuck in doing her homework. I complained constantly to the teacher that she gave out far more homework than the other 4th (5th and 6th) grade teachers but it fell on deaf ears.

Up to now her 5th grade homework hasn't been too bad but it's early days yet.

I know this is about elementary homework but my 10th grade son gets 5 lots of homework a night and each assignment averages about an hour or so. He does have 2 free lessons during the day so he manages to get some of it done at school.

In England I never had any homework until I went to comprehensive school when I was 11.

Sally

Far too much homework - absolutely ridiculous here.

Sally

Are you an OAP?

robskatie

Lots of homework for my 5th grader, but it's swings and roundabouts really, I don't know how many times I've heard her say "oh, now I understand it" after we have gone through her work. She says that they cover the work so quickly in class that she doesn't always understand it fully, what with benchmarks and stuff the teachers only have such a short time to cover each topic that they have to whip through it to get onto the next topic. Personally I would rather spend time with her in the evenings or week-ends to make sure she is grasping it, I hasten to add that she is one of the few in her class that know her multipliction tables off by heart.....seriously

TouristTrap

I agree about high school. Oldest are in a chemistry class at co-op this year, taught by a former phys/chem high school teacher.

I now realize why regular school kids have so much homework. Because they do things so redundantly here.

For example. When I did chem. at school, you'd be told to take notes of such and such pages, and prepare for a lab the next day. We'd take notes, read up the lab, go the next day, do the lab, come home and write it up.

Here, they're doing all the above, but they do something called a pre-lab where they actually write it all up in their own words too, on top of having dozens of equations to get through, a load of one sentence questions to get through about what they've just read, etc..etc..etc... They will come home on Friday after class and rewrite the lab up once more, filling in the data. Redundant IMO.

They also have around 70 questions per section in their Algebra books and many kids are told to do them all. If the kid doesn't get it in high school after 10, then he needs help. Why load the kids down with so many problems?

Kate2112

LOL I sound like one dont I. A little homework is a good thing it helps to inculate the skills of learning to many children. Of course many others get zero from homework and indeed school, so time wasted, they may as well sit in front of a playstation/XBox. The next Bill Gates they will not be.....pass me the Zimmer Sally dear

Rete

I'm 58 and I had the same school day/year that you outlined below and never considered homework an extension of a teacher's inability to teach. You might have meant a teacher's lack of time to teach. But even that is untrue. A classroom is composed of a number of children, few of whom are on the same level as their classmates in terms of learning and grasping a particular subject matter. Homework allows those who are having difficulty learning the subject matter the opportunity to learn at a slower pace without hindering the rest of the class. It also allows the more advanced quick learners an opportunity to reinforce in their minds the subject taught and perhaps expand upon the lessons given in the classroom.

Even with that homework is not just about learning a subject. It teaches children valuable life lessons and responsibility.

As an adult you had homework as a child and still found time to have a social life so why should it be different for today's children?

Angry White Pyjamas

What about making learning and school fun again? A little homework is good but not 2-3 hours a day everyday on top of NO RECESS at all...which is how our daughters school (and all others around here) operates.

In the 5th grade her (every) weekday was like this:

6am up
7am catch school bus
7.30am start school day
11.00am lunch
11.30am back to classes
2.30pm catch bus home
3.00pm to about 5pm homework
The dinner and a bit of time with us.
8pm fall asleep exhausted having had no play time.

Thats longer hours than an adult office worker.

How healthy is that for a ten year old? Seriously.

Ray

Bring back the birch ..............

Angry White Pyjamas

And the slipper and the ruler. Those bastards made you listen when you were told.

TouristTrap

I believe that would sort out the problem in no time.

A friend of mine is a p/s elem. teacher and has been for 30 years. She had a kid in her combined 2nd/3rd grade class that was out of control. Her day went like this.

Arrive in class. Tell the kid to please sit down. Tell the kid to please put the chair down. Tell the kid to stop trying to break window with chair.

She would have to frog march him down to the Principal's office who would then call the mother to come to the school. Mother would arrive, have words with kid and go back to work.

EVERY SINGLE DAY.

They had teacher's conference day. Substitute teacher came in and he behaved all day long. Why and how did you manage it she called to ask?

Cos when I was full-time k/g teacher, she replies, he was in 1st grade and his teacher would bring him to my class to be paddled. Horror! It is not done anymore, my friend replies. Well, there isn't a black mama gonna complain when the ole lady black teacher gives her kid a well-deserved paddling.

He remembered, and sat throughout the day, not blinking.

True story as my name is TouristTrap.

I agree.

Angry White Pyjamas

Pleasingly I was reading the other day about a recent UK poll where something like 90% of the British (English and Welsh) public would oppose any move to ban smacking.

franc11s

Appolgies for generalising too much.

You cannot "teach" 8 subjects a day. That's why there is so much homework.

If i had to work on 8 completely unrelated tasks at work a day, in a single order, with NO flexibilty, I too would be working at home all night to do a good job.

I'm sorry, but school kids are NOT being taught real life in most of today's schools. I'm not saying this is solved by the teachers alone, there are some REAL bad illogical processes for getting kids an education.... it starts it my neigborhood when some poor 7 year old is at the bus stop by 5:45am....

Rete

What time does that child get out of school. In the south school starts earlier due to the heat of the afternoon being an issue so they close earlier. At many years ago that was the way it was. When I went to school we had 7 periods in a school day and one period a day which was alternated between twice a weekly physical education, one weekly music and art and once weekly a free period called study hall. Our day started with first period at 7:30 and ended at 3:00. Funny how we lived through it and managed to learn, do homework from at least three or four of those classes per night, work at an after school job at the age of 16, go to school dances and after graduation continue on to college. Of course my parents didn't allow television or phone calls until after all homework was done and we didn't have cell phones, ipods, or computers or computers games. If we wanted to socialize it was outside of the house which meant playing with friends and using our bodies in healthy kid activities.

However, for all that, I do sympathize with today's children and their schoolwork. For so long, the US has been behind most of the first world countries in educating their young in a variety of subjects. Now that education has taken a turn for the better in terms of quality, the quantity is something that is too much to handle.

FWIW, not all jobs allow flexibility. Yours does, mine doesn't. Nor does my husband's who is a computer hardware technician. You have to do a job and do it well the first time out.

Ain't life a bjitch!

valscot

I don't mind homework if it is an extension on what was taught in class. Just been to a parents night for my youngest, first year middle school and couldn't believe the extensive note taking of other parents. As a former teacher, homework should be given to extend and reinforce what was taught. When my youngest was at elementary it was completely bizarre.
Favourite homework assignment to date Paul Revere shouting ' the british are coming' what are you thinking etc. etc. Husband said "Oh good!"