Moms Talk: How Much Homework is Too Much?

Debbie Howe March 30, 2011 at 03:40 pm

I really think anything over 2 hours, maybe 2 and a half hours is the most, anything over is too much. I would like the kids to be able to come home, have a snack, work on homework till dinner time then be able to spend some family time during and after dinner. I understand that once in a while it could be longer but to do more than that every night I think discourages kids from playing any team sports or being included in family activities. I really believe that this is true for High school as well as the lower grades.

Rubia Jasinevicius March 30, 2011 at 04:38 pm

I feel it depends on the type of homework and the load from each class. Math and science usually consume more time due to repetition of problems. But after 2 hour, kids struggle to stay focused without a break. Yet, considering the free time kids have on hand for computers and texting, perhaps homework time should increase to keep them occupied on education and productivity. Idle minds......
What I found most discouraging was group homework assignments. This paralyzes a family routine and becomes difficult juggling kids from one home to another to complete a project -- consuming hours of valuable homework time; and ultimately, only 1 or 2 children participate and complete the assignment.

Debbie Howe March 30, 2011 at 07:09 pm

I really agree about the group assignments. It is really difficult to garentee that all the kids in the group do their fair share. If you give each child part and then the entire group is graded on parts that the other kids do I do not think it is fair. Some kids are going to work really hard and other are going to shove something together at the last minute. Then all the kids get a lower grade even if they worked hard. I have a problem with that.

Suzy Ravasio Chudzik March 30, 2011 at 11:42 pm

Totally agree with both of you on the group projects. It is very hard. As for homework, I remember meeting with my daughter's 6th grade teacher a few years ago and she said something that really stuck with me. She said she believes in giving kids 10 minutes of homework for each grade - and that should include 20 minutes of reading. So for example, in 4th grade, 40 minutes of homewor, 5th grade - 50 minutes, 12th grade...120 minutes. That made a lot of sense to me and I have to say that seems to be right on par. Our routine depends on what we have going on that day. If they have activities, they need to come home, eat a quick snack then do their homework so we can get going. On the rare occassions we have nothing, I let them come home and just blow off steam and do homework later.