so how much homework is your child getting?

[tigereye]

My son was beseiged with homework last year.

This year, in 6th grade- there appears to be very little.


Last year I kvetched a good deal about how much there seemed to be, but now, I feel oddly bereft as my son comes home with next to nothing to work on.


Weird.


I was thinking about assigning him some! :evilgrin:

[wildeyed]

1. We just started getting some regularly this year, 1st grade.

Just a few math problems each night. So far neither of us enjoys it much, but we are early in the year, so I guess there is plenty of time to adapt.

[lostnfound]

2. It's starting to add up for my first-grader

15 minutes of reading which we would do anyway but it turns into 30 now because I'm encouraging
math problems a couple of times a week
study for spelling tests
the 'project' - needing to make a costume
and not exactly homework, but a couple of 'fundraisers' I need to decide what to do with

He practices piano for 20 minutes per night also, so it's getting hard to get it and dinner and bath done with and still get him to bed early enough that he's not cranky in the morning. I miss his carefree evenings. And I wonder about the loss of self-directed time, and free family time, and really what I would call 'curiosity time' where he just expressed his own curiosity about stuff and we spent happy hours learning what HE wanted to learn about.

[tigereye]

4. my son didn't have much in 1rst grade - just some worksheets occasionally

I am one of those folks who tends to think that play is kids' work and best way to learn when they are 6 and under - but it seems like some schools have forgotten that.

[KitchenWitch]

3. I posted a rant in the Lounge about homework last week.

Four days of homework (without the required reading, mind you) for my first grader took about 5.5 hours! WAAAAAAY too much.

x(

[LibertyLover]

5. My 5 year daughter is in kindergarten

and gets 20 minutes of homework a day except Friday. It's mandated by the county education department. It's also bulls*t. In first grade they are mandated to have half an hour a day. I'm sorry, but that is way too much. On Monday she has her poetry work book; Tuesday, counting problems, Wednesday, preparation for reading and Thursday more math stuff. Somedays, I wish that we could homeschool.

[OnionPatch]

6. Waaaayyy too much!!

And it's been like this since Kindergarten! At least a half-hour, and often more every week night! And that doesn't include the twenty minutes of reading a day. (Which we do anyway, so that's not so bad.) Last year I had to fight with my daughter every day to do the homework. This year she's been "broken" and does it but with a very grudging attitute. What a great way to get a child interested in learning! :sarcasm:

[qb]

7. My kids have gotten way too much from 1st - 5th grades

I didn't get homework until 6th grade and I did just fine. I think younger kids need more time for play. Our school is paranoid about their test rankings so they over-do it with the homework.

[tigereye]

8. everything I have read indicated that ten minutes per grade is really all they

need. There are a lot of studies that conclude that homework has little effect, although I think some practice of concepts for retention and comprehension is fine.

I hate the balancing some political need on the backs of kids - it doesn't seem right. That's part of the reason I have chosen to send my son to a progressive school that doesn't have to be told how to teach and to test. They also are minimizing the idea of grades this year, which is what I have been trying to tell people there for a few years....