OT - too much homework?

[Tucson]

Broward County Fl.'s school board is trying to nudge teachers towards limiting homework. It is suggesting 10 minutes per grade level.

I can support that. One of my sons routinely had 4 hours of home work per day. He did every last bit of it himself. But, with my older son, I knew several parents that were doing the homework from 6th grade on.

When I taught, I was always mindful of what the student could complete at home. A few students had very supportive parents, but many were latch key kids that had parents that could care less.

If a kid can do a reasonable amount of homework at home, I am all for it. But, hours and hours are beyond most people's means anymore. I can remember those major projects that took trips to the store for construction paper, etc. and I wondered about the kids that had parents that couldn't do that.

Just recently, one of my pitching students (9 YO) had a major book report. The guidelines were beyond anything that I had done in HS. (foot notes, pictures, state fact that will back up your hypothesis) Well, the little girl was so intimidated that she read very little of the lengthy book and didn't tell her mom that she was in trouble with it until 2 days before it was due. Her mom went into high gear and helped her with it, but I always wonder about those kids that don't have help.

I would guess that many of you are watching the kids juggle home, school and sports, too.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/n ... 5379.story

[Skarp]

Signaling the end of our nation as a superpower...

[hotwheels]

Broward County Fl.'s school board is trying to nudge teachers towards limiting homework. It is suggesting 10 minutes per grade level.

I can support that. One of my sons routinely had 4 hours of home work per day. He did every last bit of it himself. But, with my older son, I knew several parents that were doing the homework from 6th grade on.

When I taught, I was always mindful of what the student could complete at home. A few students had very supportive parents, but many were latch key kids that had parents that could care less.

If a kid can do a reasonable amount of homework at home, I am all for it. But, hours and hours are beyond most people's means anymore. I can remember those major projects that took trips to the store for construction paper, etc. and I wondered about the kids that had parents that couldn't do that.

Just recently, one of my pitching students (9 YO) had a major book report. The guidelines were beyond anything that I had done in HS. (foot notes, pictures, state fact that will back up your hypothesis) Well, the little girl was so intimidated that she read very little of the lengthy book and didn't tell her mom that she was in trouble with it until 2 days before it was due. Her mom went into high gear and helped her with it, but I always wonder about those kids that don't have help.

I would guess that many of you are watching the kids juggle home, school and sports, too.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/n ... 5379.story

This is maybe the most ridiculous post I've ever read.....YOU are the reason why our country struggles academically compared to some of the other large countries....

Are you saying this because it would give your son or daughter more time to practice??? Crazy! Especially if it is a girl.....I will MOMENTARILY entertain you if you are speaking about a boy as they can play baseball but a girl has NO PROFESSIONAL SOFTBALL!!....Not that she can make a living off anyways......

Any parent who is pushing softball over academics is a complete fool....I don't care how good at softball they are, if they aren't smart they are going NOWHERE! My older daughter is a Sophomore and has all honors so I know hers is a bit extreme compared to some of the others.....She does about 3 ro 4 hours of homework everyday......Plus travel practice which is now high school practice for the next 3 months....Plus hitting lessons and conditioning....

YES, it is hard but it teaches them RESPONSIBILITY.....I know that is a huge word to use when talking about kids but come on.....10 minutes of homework?? That school district should be ashamed of themselves!...Really...

One day, our daughters are going to have to make a living.....IT WON'T BE IN SOFTBALL I PROMISE YOU THAT......There are FEW full time instructors nation wide much less those can make a living doing it full time....

I know your post is only reporting what the district is trying to do but I am hoping that you don't believe it would be better for your kid to do 10 or 15 minutes of homework so they can have more time to PLAY.....I believe it depends on what grade we are talking about too.....I think once they get into high school, it's all business and fun goes out the window.....Try their best to get all A's and work their way into a scholorship....Sports will help them do this but it starts with SMARTS!

[hotwheels]

Signaling the end of our nation as a superpower...

[DonnieS]

Signaling the end of our nation as a superpower...

Yea, school sure gets in the way of sports, no doubt about it. We chose a school district to move into that has, imho, a very high education standard, sports takes second place. They also do the year around school, summer break is June 1 until July 10-12 or so, what that means is no national tournaments for softball. Before high school, they would take a week off to go to garden spots of the world, like St. Louis, College Station, etc. and then PCB, etc for non-asa events. Now, in high school, taking a week off a month into school, is not feasible, at least for kids taking so many ap classes (4 this year). So, horror of horrors, not as many colleges will get to see my girls at nationals (if they would make it). My youngest's attitude, some will take it as cocky, I take it as confident, says "If they want me, they will find me."

She does 3-4 hours of homework a night, not every night but most school nights, and also has time for an reasonable (as defined by me) social life, takes care of pets, and is active at church. Its a matter of choices, kids do have the time, they decide (with help) what to spend their time on. I think one of the most important things to help with all this is choosing the right friends. If their friends are achievers, most kids will compete to be better, if their friends are doing well in school, they will try to beat them, its the American way. I have two guys who were validictorians in our family, both had achievers for friends, both competed with their friends, and both did 3-4 hours a homework a night all the way through high school. I know, I watched them on my way out of the house heading for the beach.

[jofus]

My DD had a teacher a couple years ago, that told us at the parent/teacher conference, that she felt that if kids put in a full day at school, then it was unfair for them to have to spend hours on homework after school. She said that if a kid has 3 hours of homework, then they are "working" more hours a day than most adults, and it made perfect sense to me.

Both of my kids that are in school are very active in after school sports (softball/baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer), and it's hard finding time to do homework if they have very much. It's hard enough on my DD that they start middle school (and high school) at 7:15 am, when she has games late in the evening and doesn't get home until after 10 and still has to take a shower before bed.

It amazes me that kids are getting heavier and heavier, yet they keep consolidating schools (which naturally limits the number of kids playing on school teams), giving tons of homework which discourages after school activities, and only having Phys Ed for part of the school year.

The county that I grew up in used to have 10 Jr. Highs (7th, 8th, and 9th grades). Now there are 2 middle schools (6th, 7th, and 8th grades). So, using football for an example, if you used to have an average of 30 boys on each team, that was 300 boys playing football. Now, the 2 schools may have 50 in a really good year, so that is 100 boys playing football. What are the other 200 doing? Probably sitting at home eating and playing video games, or out getting into trouble

[jofus]

Hotwheels, how many hours do you work a day?

If your daughter is doing 3-4 hours of homework a day, and going to school for 7 hours a day, then she is "working" for 10-11 hours a day, or 50-55 hours a week.

Personally, I think they need to grow up soon enough. Like my DD's teacher a couple years ago said, they're 11 years old, they need to have some time to actually be kids.

For the record, my DD makes straight A's, and usually does what homework she does have in her other classes after she finishes her classwork, which is normally way before most of her classmates. I'm not saying that education isn't important, but rather that a lot of teachers (IMHO) don't actually teach in school, but instead give tons of homework and expect the parents to do their teaching for them. Not all teachers, but more than a few.

[hotwheels]

My DD had a teacher a couple years ago, that told us at the parent/teacher conference, that she felt that if kids put in a full day at school, then it was unfair for them to have to spend hours on homework after school. She said that if a kid has 3 hours of homework, then they are "working" more hours a day than most adults, and it made perfect sense to me.

Both of my kids that are in school are very active in after school sports (softball/baseball, basketball, volleyball, soccer), and it's hard finding time to do homework if they have very much. It's hard enough on my DD that they start middle school (and high school) at 7:15 am, when she has games late in the evening and doesn't get home until after 10 and still has to take a shower before bed.

It amazes me that kids are getting heavier and heavier, yet they keep consolidating schools (which naturally limits the number of kids playing on school teams), giving tons of homework which discourages after school activities, and only having Phys Ed for part of the school year.

The county that I grew up in used to have 10 Jr. Highs (7th, 8th, and 9th grades). Now there are 2 middle schools (6th, 7th, and 8th grades). So, using football for an example, if you used to have an average of 30 boys on each team, that was 300 boys playing football. Now, the 2 schools may have 50 in a really good year, so that is 100 boys playing football. What are the other 200 doing? Probably sitting at home eating and playing video games, or out getting into trouble

Most kids are heavier not because of the amount of homework but because of the amount of times their parents insist on getting them McD's or Burger King for dinner 5 out of 7 nights per week....Also, how 1 double cheeseburger just isn't enough!

[SnocatzDad]

What I don't like is the trend in education that homework is 75% of the grade and the ability to demostrate knowledge of the material on a test is about 25%

When I was in school we were assigned homework in math everyday. This was never collected, or graded, but only reviewed in class as part of the learning process. The only thing that mattered was how you did on the test of the material at the end. If you blew off the homework it probably affected your test performance but more importantly you were responsible for "knowing" the material and completing the homework wasn't an end to itself. With that system if you did 100% of the homework, but failed the test, you failed. Nowadays if you do 100% of the homework and fail the test you get a C+ or B- in the class because we want to pat them on the back for going through the motions on the homework and IMO we don't want anyone to "fail"

[hotwheels]

Hotwheels, how many hours do you work a day?

If your daughter is doing 3-4 hours of homework a day, and going to school for 7 hours a day, then she is "working" for 10-11 hours a day, or 50-55 hours a week.

Personally, I think they need to grow up soon enough. Like my DD's teacher a couple years ago said, they're 11 years old, they need to have some time to actually be kids.

For the record, my DD makes straight A's, and usually does what homework she does have in her other classes after she finishes her classwork, which is normally way before most of her classmates. I'm not saying that education isn't important, but rather that a lot of teachers (IMHO) don't actually teach in school, but instead give tons of homework and expect the parents to do their teaching for them. Not all teachers, but more than a few.

There is a lot for me to comment on here.....I work from 5:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. everyday building fences for NEW home building so as you know.....WE MAKING BIG TIME MONEY RIGHT NOW WITH ALL THE NEW HOMES BEING BUILT IN SO CAL....

I agree with you that I believe a lot of the teachers these days take a large portion of the day off and leave it to the parents to teach....With that being said though, if they don't do it and we don't do it at home....Who does?

I agree that the kids do have to grow up soon enough but I just personally think High School is the age where they must be taught personal responsibility and how to organize their time wisely....Believe me, there is still plenty of time for them to be kids....