How Much Is Too Much Homework?

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Permalink Reply by Pat Carter on April 1, 2012 at 10:19am

It depends on the age of the child.  I don't see the point of giving too much homework to children in elementary school until 5th grade, and that is to get them ready for Junior High.  In junior high, I think two hours a night is plenty, however, some children might finish in one hour, some three.

Once they hit high school, sure, nothing wrong with a lot of homework.  Teaches them discipline for the real world and the more they learn and do in high school, the better start they have for college.

The one thing I don't agree with is some of these sports leagues for elementary and Junior high students that require parents and children to give up their lives.  Usually just for prestige, (The people who you know group).  That is too much of a distraction from education itself.  School sports are plenty.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica6532 on April 1, 2012 at 11:08am

I disagree with the youth sports league comments.  My children play football and cheer for pop warner.   They absolutely love it.  Yes it's a time commitment.  Four days a week for practice, one for games.  It does not interfere with any of their school work.  It also teaches them how to work well with others, how to handle defeat, how to work towards a goal, the joy of winning when they do.  And it's a great way to stay active.  It has nothing to do with prestige, frankly I don't know that many of the other parents in the league.  If it's not your thing, fine, but don't make a blanket statement.  I would much rather my kids do sports, than be obsessed with xbox.  And my kids education does not suffer at all, my son was recently put into gifted, and my daughter gets straight As.  They also have to keep up their grades to qualify to play.  Also, these days, kids don't even get PE every day in school, and there are not organized sports in elementary and middle school here.

Pat Carter said:

It depends on the age of the child.  I don't see the point of giving too much homework to children in elementary school until 5th grade, and that is to get them ready for Junior High.  In junior high, I think two hours a night is plenty, however, some children might finish in one hour, some three.

Once they hit high school, sure, nothing wrong with a lot of homework.  Teaches them discipline for the real world and the more they learn and do in high school, the better start they have for college.

The one thing I don't agree with is some of these sports leagues for elementary and Junior high students that require parents and children to give up their lives.  Usually just for prestige, (The people who you know group).  That is too much of a distraction from education itself.  School sports are plenty.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Carter on April 1, 2012 at 2:19pm

Oh I agree that children need exercise and organized sports, but I have seen leagues where parents are expected to have their children their by 5pm every night, making it very difficult on working parents and then turn around and have to be their 8am every Saturday. That is obsessive. That takes away from everything else in their life. 

I have also seen where the children don't even want to go, but are forced so their parents can socialize.  I am not making a blanket statement and was not talking about your league.  I only speak from experience. 

There needs to be a balance,.  Both my girls were involved in extra curriculum activities besides school, but they didn't have to give up their lives for it.

As far as being addicted to an Xbox, well, that has to do home life.  A whole 'nother subject, lol.

Jessica6532 said:

I disagree with the youth sports league comments.  My children play football and cheer for pop warner.   They absolutely love it.  Yes it's a time commitment.  Four days a week for practice, one for games.  It does not interfere with any of their school work.  It also teaches them how to work well with others, how to handle defeat, how to work towards a goal, the joy of winning when they do.  And it's a great way to stay active.  It has nothing to do with prestige, frankly I don't know that many of the other parents in the league.  If it's not your thing, fine, but don't make a blanket statement.  I would much rather my kids do sports, than be obsessed with xbox.  And my kids education does not suffer at all, my son was recently put into gifted, and my daughter gets straight As.  They also have to keep up their grades to qualify to play.  Also, these days, kids don't even get PE every day in school, and there are not organized sports in elementary and middle school here.

Pat Carter said:

It depends on the age of the child.  I don't see the point of giving too much homework to children in elementary school until 5th grade, and that is to get them ready for Junior High.  In junior high, I think two hours a night is plenty, however, some children might finish in one hour, some three.

Once they hit high school, sure, nothing wrong with a lot of homework.  Teaches them discipline for the real world and the more they learn and do in high school, the better start they have for college.

The one thing I don't agree with is some of these sports leagues for elementary and Junior high students that require parents and children to give up their lives.  Usually just for prestige, (The people who you know group).  That is too much of a distraction from education itself.  School sports are plenty.

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Permalink Reply by J Anderson on April 1, 2012 at 4:10pm

A stu dent in second grade maybe asked to read 20 to 30 minutes a day at home.I've found the best time is when winding down for bedtime. They may also be required to do 10 Math problems and review Spelling words. Spelling can be done while driving to and from activities. The Math can be done at home in 10 minutes. If the student is taking longer than this they are not focussed on their work and have another issue.

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Permalink Reply by Ocala Magician on April 1, 2012 at 5:58pm

I think the first question to ask is "Does the child have four hours of homework or does it take them four hours."

I think alot of times not really that much homework, but the other stuff the child might be doing while"doing homework". For example, they might go to the bathroom several times, get a snack, get drinks, take a break to watch t.v. or play video games.

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Permalink Reply by Jessica6532 on April 1, 2012 at 6:53pm

We practice at 6 pm mon, tues, thurs, and fri.  And we do have to be early on saturday morning for games,  But my kids do it because they love it.  I choose to give up a lot of my personal time after work so that they can be involved in something that they love and enjoy.

Pat Carter said:

Oh I agree that children need exercise and organized sports, but I have seen leagues where parents are expected to have their children their by 5pm every night, making it very difficult on working parents and then turn around and have to be their 8am every Saturday. That is obsessive. That takes away from everything else in their life. 

I have also seen where the children don't even want to go, but are forced so their parents can socialize.  I am not making a blanket statement and was not talking about your league.  I only speak from experience. 

There needs to be a balance,.  Both my girls were involved in extra curriculum activities besides school, but they didn't have to give up their lives for it.

As far as being addicted to an Xbox, well, that has to do home life.  A whole 'nother subject, lol.

Jessica6532 said:

I disagree with the youth sports league comments.  My children play football and cheer for pop warner.   They absolutely love it.  Yes it's a time commitment.  Four days a week for practice, one for games.  It does not interfere with any of their school work.  It also teaches them how to work well with others, how to handle defeat, how to work towards a goal, the joy of winning when they do.  And it's a great way to stay active.  It has nothing to do with prestige, frankly I don't know that many of the other parents in the league.  If it's not your thing, fine, but don't make a blanket statement.  I would much rather my kids do sports, than be obsessed with xbox.  And my kids education does not suffer at all, my son was recently put into gifted, and my daughter gets straight As.  They also have to keep up their grades to qualify to play.  Also, these days, kids don't even get PE every day in school, and there are not organized sports in elementary and middle school here.

Pat Carter said:

It depends on the age of the child.  I don't see the point of giving too much homework to children in elementary school until 5th grade, and that is to get them ready for Junior High.  In junior high, I think two hours a night is plenty, however, some children might finish in one hour, some three.

Once they hit high school, sure, nothing wrong with a lot of homework.  Teaches them discipline for the real world and the more they learn and do in high school, the better start they have for college.

The one thing I don't agree with is some of these sports leagues for elementary and Junior high students that require parents and children to give up their lives.  Usually just for prestige, (The people who you know group).  That is too much of a distraction from education itself.  School sports are plenty.

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Permalink Reply by smile123 on April 2, 2012 at 10:30pm

Our kids are in 1st grade and 3rd grade, they usually each come home with 1 - 2 assignments per night. Its usually either spelling or math drills and does not take much time for them to complete. It just reinforces what they are doing at school by getting some extra practice. It does not interfere with their activities and often times they have it done at aftercare so we just have to go over it together in the evening. Personally I don't think that K-5 should have any more than 1 hour of homework per night, unless it includes timed independent reading. 

As far as older kids, I am a high school teacher and at our school we are limited to 30 minute of homework per subject. I know that sounds like a lot (6 classes at 30 minutes each is 3 hours). But keep in mind that most students have PE or some other elective that does not require homework. Many of our teachers also leave some time at the end of class (say the last 10 minutes) to let kids get started on the work, so any questions can be answered before students leave. In addition most of the students have a 45 minute study hall to work on homework as well. With all that taken into account on any given day a student would probably take home an hour or less of work they actually have to do at home.

The more advanced level and college level classes do get a slightly heavier work load because they are being prepared for college. I would be concerned if your child came home and said they have no homework every night. At that point I would encourage parents to utilize the online grade book provided by the school (I encourage all parents to use it all the time) as well as contact the teachers. 

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