HOMEWORK... How much should your Child get?

Homework was one of the most annoying things about school. Children go to school for almost seven hours five days a week. If teachers can't teach what they need to in that time, that's their problem. Kids need time to be kids, not prisoners in their own homes, doing work that they don't care to learn.

Being a school going child myself in the past, I can suggest that some kind of balance is necessary to make learning an unforgettable experience. Home work and study can be important aides in helping develop a child if wisely given. It's fine to see kids return home happy without the fear of some mountainous home task but it could also prompt kids to skip studies when they see nobody's going to ask them what they've learnt the previous day. Thanks

I am in grade 11. In my opinion, homework should be required for all grades. If homework is not given until a certain grade, some kids may not catch up with the routine of having homework. When I was 5, my parents gave me their own homework assignments even when other kids were out playing. Now I'm in one of the best high schools in America and I'm around the top of my class. Homework helped me to know what is my priority, how to schedule my time efficiently, and to help me review my lessons. Homework in at least 4 subjects should be given daily (not counting over vacation) even if it just requires studying. Struggles with time for homework and other activities should teach a child what is important for him or her.

I can see why this is a contentious issue. I'm from the United Kingdom, so just to clarify if you will please, what age group would one be in in year 7? This is the first year of high school over here and this starts when you are 11 or 12 years of age. I think that, for a child of this age, 2 hours per week is plenty. However, looking back, I think I may have had more than this... I'm still at college now (I'm in the 6th form which is an extension (non-obligatory) onto high school), and boy do I get a lot of 'homework'! It's not really got that stigma any more though - sure, it's work, but I know that I'm doing it for a reason and that's to get a good education! I don't know what the average is for a child in year 7, but I would expect at least a little, just to recap on things learnt in class. Just my opinion.

Well I think that having a little homework, say an hour or so isnt really a big deal especially since school days now (high school anyways) arent as long as they used to be. But if a kid has thirteen different activities to do maybe they are too loaded up on activities too. A sport and one other thinkt they are interested in seems more than enough to me. I didnt do any activities except a short stint in girl scouts and I actually got into college, read for pleasure, and am pretty damn smart and well rounded if I do say so myself.

I am a high school English teacher and I agree that there is a very fine line that can be drawn between too much homework and not enough. On the one hand, like you said, children should have time to pursue their interests and to just enjoy being kids. On the other hand, homework is very valuable and can help a child progress academically. I try to be fair... I tell my students at the start of the year that they will not receive much homework from me. If we are doing an activity in class, which I have given them time to work on, and they are not finished, I ask them to finish it at home. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't... the problem of course is that it's usually the children who most need to do the homework that fail to complete it. Some of my students will ask me if they can work on something else in class and finish their work at home. Generally I do not allow this, since class time is being used for a reason (so they can receive help, feedback, etc.) but occassionally I do and the students have surprised me by bringing in their homework the next day. If you find that your daughter is not getting enough homework, you can request extra review from the teacher. Most teachers will not have a problem sending home more work as long as the child is completing it (with parental help if necessary). If your child is bringing home massive amounts of work, you may want to speak to the teacher and find out why. Is it that there is being a lot of work assigned as homework, or that the child is not doing his/her work in class? Arranging a meeting with your child and his/her teacher (and yourself) might help you to discuss the problems and come up with a solution.

I have three teenage sons - my eldest is about to turn 19 and is doing a double degree in law and science at Melbourne University. My other two have just turned 17 and are doing yr 12. In primary school, they started with only a reader per night. These were simple readers of one sentence per page and graduated up to longer books as they went along.In grade one they had spelling words plus a reader. In grade 2 they started doing projects and having other work. As the years rolled on they had more work - and usually the homework reinforced what they had learnt at school that day. And so it continues. The curricula are extensive and varied. If a student hopes to compete in the real world, they have to be able to do the work. I'm blessed with three clever boys - all straight A students. And to get there they have done varying amounts of work. But all do their homework. I feel that it's important for a child to do homework so they can reinforce what they've learnt at school. But yes, sometimes they do get too much.

My kids had a PA Day on Friday. My 13yo did her most of her homework during the day that day because she had a friend's birthday party to go to Friday night. On Saturday she had to be out the door by 7:30 to make it to a Basketball Free Throw competition an hour away. She had won Districts and was competing in Regionals. After that, she had a Taekwondo tournament in the same town. She made it just in time to compete in that. After the tournament the school was going tubing. She and my husband did not get home until 1 in the morning. Needless to say she slept in this morning, then was asked to babysit for a neighbour for a couple of hours and then she had indoor soccer this afternoon - the first of the playoffs. We didn't get home until around 6:30. KD for dinner and she attempted to finish her homework but then realized there was more there than she thought had originally been assigned. This is just one of her busy weekends. She is 13 after all and she deserves to experience her early teen years. The sports activities are learning experiences too, as well as exercise, so she should not be denied those just because her teacher decided to dump a load of homework on her because it was a 3-day weekend for them. Like it's the students' fault! I am terribly frustrated with some teachers who actually punish their students by giving them more work. These teachers need to be taken down a peg or two. I think they get cocky about their authoritative position. My daughter is a shy, quiet student. She is not disruptive in class. But she does have anxiety over school. I wonder why! Our school's limit is 10 minutes per grade. Grade 8 gets 80 minutes of homework. If it exceeds that amount you bet I will write a letter to the teacher. Kids have a right to be kids and not slaves to their school work.

hi jenny. i think homeworks for school children is beneficial. Homeworks refreshes the information or lesson that the children have just studied in school.By doing their homeworks, children not only learn in school but even in their homes for a period of time. Homeworks make children scan and read their books, even though we might think of it already as an "obligation" because lets admit it, most children hate homeworks. Children are just forced most of time doing their homeworks but at least they are learning in the process. But on one hand, too much homework to such an extent of depriving children to do other important activities is bad. as the old saying goes "too much of everything is bad". I think it is the teachers responsibility to determine how many homeworks should children be assigned everyday or everyweek. school is important, learning is important, but our lives- the children's lives is NOT ONLY about school, and teachers must consider this fact.

My daughter is in 5th grade. She has loads of homework Moday-Thursday and only special projects or book reports on the weekends (Not every weekend). A typical school night for us at my house- Pick her up at 4:30 when I get out of work.. She starts homework.. she usually has 2 pages of Math, Spelling, Science, Spelling words to study and 15 mintues of reading-- each night... Throw on top of this.. 15 minutes of flute practice for Band.. and basketball practice mondays and wednesdays. There isn't much time for "free" time. It's too bad... I don't ever remember having this much homework in school. She has been getting homework since 1st grade-- just not this much early on. So in our case-- Our school gives way TOO MUCH homework. I think giving homework is important but giving the right amount is just as important! Great question!

I think our school has to much work. We do homework every night for my son who is in 1st. grade. And our daughter in 5th grade has homework about 3 times a week. The teacher tells me that my son doesn't have homework every night, that is just what he couldn't get finished in class that day. Surprisingly, most of the parents in his class have told me their kids have "homework" too. They try to cram too much stuff on them at once. Then they can't figure out why the majority of the class is having problems.

OK, how about this. In Thailand, this is where i come from, when i was young say..10 years old i got match, english, thai, science, etc. Every subjects i studied at school basically. Apparently it's the same thesedays...sad isn't it? HAving homework is cool! Help practising children brain, but not too much like in my country.

i'm a student, and almost entering college [1 more year of highschool to go.] its a good practice if she has a certain routine that includes making homeworks since it will not only do her good in school, but it will also do them well when they're working. there's still homework while you're already working right? examples are expense reports, important calls etc. [don't really know much. these are some things my dad does at home.] well, if they don't have any homework for the next day, they could at least study their lessons to prepare them for the next day. maybe set aside 30 minutes-2 hours [well, 2 hours for me is too much already.] in other matters..wow, they're so lucky..no homeworks. lol.

All schools have different regulations, but I honestly feel that for primary grades, about 20 minutes a night is good. For upper elementary, 40 minutes a night works out well, and for high school, up to two hours is a reasonable amount. I feel that children should not go home and just veg in front of the TV, or play video games all night. Should they do those things for a bit, of course, but to maximize their brain power, they should have to be working at home as well. Life is all about learning.

Enough to put something learned, into practice. To build a skill it takes practice. To tell if it is just busy work or practicing a skill, well, that doesn't take a rocket scientist.

I work in an elementary school, the oldest children are in third grade. Most of the teachers only require that students complete at home whatever they do not complete in class, and geneerally there is some class time to get work done. There are some teachers who believe even first graders should have homework, and they give one page to do.In third grade there are research projects that the students must work on, and we ask parents to support and listen to them. Of course they study math facts and spelling words at home. I understand that from fourth grade on there is a lot of work.

Alright no homework! How cool is that? Me I'm in high school and I get a lot of homework but i don't do it. It's too much, the teachers need to relax and chill out. I don't do it but I still get good grades. I wonder how I do it? I don't fail none of my classes. You know why? Because homework is useless! It's just a load of crap.

We homeschool so we do out work as needed. Sometimes it does eat up some time. Good old me says balance in all things, so make it a point to take a break if it runs long. If we were doing regular school, homework would be more important than sports or activities most of the week. However, on Thursday and Friday would be the sports. Maybe even one on the weekend. Then the homework could be done by Monday. School is the focus and when adult then work will be the focus. Whatever it takes to get the work done. Personally when I was in school, I had it done during study hall. Just rewrote it again at home. Got good grades and skated and rode horses and dated etc. Good luck with this one.

In My Opinion there should be 10Minutes of Work Per grade your in I think that this is a fair amount of homework and is not asking to much of a child. that's 2 Hrs when your in the 12th grade, When you go to collage I believe it should be 45Min per grade your in there. The problem ive seen is when the teachers for say 9th grade don't talk to each other and assign projects that take in excess of 12HRS Each and say there due in a week. Thats 7-8 Projects* 12= 84-96 Hrs Worth of work. Personally I'd try to get it done but it depends on what else you have going on. Most kids have after school activities, Jobs, This all cuts into the time a child gets to sleep. I remember I was In Highscool Kind of all alone in the world I had 8Hrs of school, 6hrs of work, 3-4 hrs of homework. what this meant for me. 8+6+4= 18 hrs worth of activites I got 6hrs of sleep if i was lucky by friday i was dog tired and had to work 8-10 Hrs. well that resulted in me wasteing all day saturday sleeping and sunday I had to start all over again. 12 hrs of work, 6hrs of homework, then sleep. Take Care Jon

i think it depends upon the child talent and interest. some are really interested in doing for long hours and such child should be given more work while the others less