Homework Poll!

[leightx]

I know school just started, so feel free to answer for last year if you like!

On average, do you feel like your child has too much homework, not enough, or just the right amount (like Goldilocks)? Please explain your answer and show your work.

[badunnin]

Ooooh, this should be interesting!

FWIW, the guideline I hear most often is 10 minutes per night per grade. 9th grade = 90 minutes/night.

[cminmd]

My daughter is in 6th grade and has 30 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of violin and about 1 hour of academic work a day. I think it is a good amount per class, but sometimes it does add up!
My son is in 4th grade and has 15 minutes of reading and about 20 minutes of work that takes him all night to do, but that is a different thread.

[Laura]

Ooooh, this should be interesting!

FWIW, the guideline I hear most often is 10 minutes per night per grade. 9th grade = 90 minutes/night.

Yikes, my son doesn't have nearly that much. Mind you, he is on a block schedule so supposedly he can finish it in class, and he only has four classes a day. Still, I think on average he has about 30-45 minutes unless he has a project.

I think he should have more.

[badunnin]

Yikes, my son doesn't have nearly that much. Mind you, he is on a block schedule so supposedly he can finish it in class, and he only has four classes a day. Still, I think on average he has about 30-45 minutes unless he has a project.

I think he should have more.

Even if he is on block scheduling, the teacher should be teaching bell to bell. He has the same amount of in class time every week (or 2 weeks, depending on how you look at it) as I have on a traditional schedule.

[Chefzhat]

Even if he is on block scheduling, the teacher should be teaching bell to bell.

Bwahahahahahahaha! I have yet to hear about a teacher in our district teach "bell to bell" consistently. Almost every class allows "time for homework" during the period itself. Who knows why.

My kids have very little homework (except for math), but there seem to be quite a few "projects".

[badunnin]

Bwahahahahahahaha! I have yet to hear about a teacher in our district teach "bell to bell" consistently. Almost every class allows "time for homework" during the period itself. Who knows why.

My kids have very little homework (except for math), but there seem to be quite a few "projects".

I have seen some teachers teach B-to-B in a block setting very successfully.

[leightx]

Bwahahahahahahaha! I have yet to hear about a teacher in our district teach "bell to bell" consistently. Almost every class allows "time for homework" during the period itself. Who knows why.

Really? I always felt like I needed more instructional time, and we were on an A/B block schedule with 90 min classes! I can't recall the kids doing homework in class ever. I taught at a magnet school, so we had the luxury of having kids who were mostly at the same level, so maybe that made a difference? I can see how kids that work fast might be stuck cracking open a textbook while the teacher helps the slower ones (maybe)?? [/hijack]

So theoretically, we should be looking at about 20-30 minutes a night. I guess the reading homework just doesn't seem like homework to me, since they'd do that whether or not they were in school. The lack of math homework bothers me, but I know they are doing a lot in school, since we get their papers at the end of every week.

[MusicMom]

Bwahahahahahahaha! I have yet to hear about a teacher in our district teach "bell to bell" consistently. Almost every class allows "time for homework" during the period itself. Who knows why.

When our schools made the move to block scheduling, one of the supposed benefits was that students would have a chance to start their homework in class and consult the teacher if they had any questions about the assignment.

I don't think that my kids have ever had the chance to start their homework in school. DS had all AP classes, so that was pretty tight.

I said "just right" because DD can manage her time pretty well in 8th grade. We'll see what happens when she hits high school. DS spent many a late night on his work.

[Laura]

Even if he is on block scheduling, the teacher should be teaching bell to bell. He has the same amount of in class time every week (or 2 weeks, depending on how you look at it) as I have on a traditional schedule.

So much for honors classes. To be fair, he only has Honors Chemistry and Honors Algebra II, but he also has World Literature, World History, German II, ROTC, and Art I. I will excuse the Art and ROTC classes, but what the heck. I guess I will find out more at Teacher conferences. So far he is has all A's (a feat for him), but I still think he needs more homework.

[Minky]

Well, DS2 (grade 9) has been home from X-C practice for 3 hours, and just finished his homework. Granted, he took a break to take a shower and eat dinner, but when I asked him, he said that they get just a few minutes (if any) to start their homework in class. He takes Health, Spanish II, Physics, Computer I, Theology, Algebra II, English.

DS1 is still not home from his soccer game 40 miles away, so I'm not sure how late we'll be up tonight but he generally has much more than DS2 (11th grade). Then again, he's 2 years older and taking some AP coursework: Calculus, Spanish IV, Ethics, AP History, AP English, Chemistry, Computer II. Yikes, that sounds more like one of my *college* schedules way back when

My vote is they have plenty of homework, and when they start complaining, I tell them the story of me nearly flunking out of my first year of college because I had no homework during high school, and hadn't learned good study habits/time mamagement skills....

[Terri_A]

I said just right, but the weeone just got her first assignment today. She's in kindergarten and her assignment, due on Friday, is to decorate a shoebox and fill it with 5 items that represent her ( collectibles, photos, momentos ) and she will have to present herself to her class on Friday, using these items. So, tonight I covered a shoebox in white wrapping paper and she began decorating it. She worked about 10-15 minutes on it and I told her that we could do a bit more tomorrow night and finish onThursday. We've already chosen 3 of the 5 things she'll put in it.

One of my pet peeves about homework....a girlfriend of mine is a 4th grade teacher and she can assign homework, but she cannot count it against the student if they don't do it. It can't affect the child's grade. To me, what's the point of that? What child is going to to their homework if it doesn't matter to their grades???

I think homework is a good thing in moderation and should be used to support whatever they are learning in class. I may change my mind on this as the weeone gets older, but I think 10 minutes per grade level about 3 days per week is reasonable.

[leightx]

I don't think my kids (2nd and 3rd grade this year) have enough. I know it's shocking, since it seems like I'm definitely in the minority. There are a few occasions during the year when they have a big project due and that can be overwhelming, but for the most part I think they have it pretty easy.

A typical 2nd grade week involves a 20 word spelling test, with 2 "WOW" words (words that are more difficult, plus the definition). They take a pretest on Monday, and if they get them all right, they get the "alternate list." The alternate list is much more difficult, but they don't take a spelling test with them - they practice them by using them in crossword puzzles, games, writing definitions, making up a story with all the words, etc (their choice, but they can't do the same thing every week).

The also have to read for 20 minutes a night - their choice of books (they usually fall asleep after about an hour of reading in bed, so that's not a problem at our house). They do have to take comprehension tests on the books for the Accelerated Reader program - they can take the tests every day at school.

They rarely ever have actual math homework, other than flash card type stuff - nothing that the teacher asks them to do and turn in though. We also get the occasional instruction to bring things to school (rocks, different shapes, homemade musical instruments, etc), and they do at least 2 projects a year involving some research and presentation - those take about 2-3 weeks total.

I'm not sure about 3rd grade yet, but I've been told the homework jumps exponentially this year. Honestly, they both had more homework in Kindergarten than they did in 1st or 2nd!

I know I should probably be counting my blessings that we don't stress out about homework every night, but sometimes I worry that they aren't learning as much as they should be.