I have no problem with my kids having a small amount of homework. It is just the nature of the assignments they get. They are designed to be done with a parent and my boys have learned absolutely nothing from it. I do not feel that I should be getting homework, I have already finished elementary school!!! And now, they decided to use the same type of thing for 2nd graders!!! Ugh!!! now I have 2 to do each week!!! I am sending e-mails asking for more relevant homework!!!!

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mommy sparkles,
I'm not saying that there aren't teachers out there who send home busy work, I'm stating that parents should be involved in what there kids are doing at school, and if that means their child has homework, they should help IF need be. I send homework home with my students that has been explained and has been practiced in class. They know how to do it when it goes home. Our homework should last no more than 15 minutes on any given night. Best practices in teaching show that if a parent is involved in the learning process, their children tend to be stronger students. There are also new methods out there that we didn't learn in school, for example addition using the partial sums algorithm. I bet many people don't even know what that is, but my kids learn it in class. Learning isn't only for children, we can learn from our kids.

Another thing, if all I had to do was simply teach reading, writing, & math at school I'd have it made. You're absolutly right that responsibility SHOULD BE taught at home, but in many cases it isn't. There are lots of things that should be taught in the home that aren't, but I have to do the best that I can. I don't get to go home at night without homework, that is a luxury to many others in the working world. I plan day & night, grade papers, contact parents with concerns, and spend time creating or making accomodations on papers/activities for children who need extra help. I DO MY JOB, and I expect my children to work to their fullest potential, and be respectful and responsible. It is my job to teach them the curriculum provided by the district, it's not my job to be the parent. As a parent, we should assist the teacher in helping our children be the best they can be. In my classroom, it's a joint effort, the parents and I work together to help their child be successful and if that means a few minutes of homework at night, they step up to the plate and make sure it gets done. If it's not done, my students do get to do it at recess, as I am not sending home busy work just to irritate parents. Like I said before, homework should be age appropriate and ability appropriate.

This is just another reason I don't do homework. Too many times, I have seen work come home and a confused child ask for help. I can't help them. Why? Because I learned to do what they are doing the "old way". And they have to do it the "new way". Forget the fact that we both come up with the same answers and my way is faster. New isn't always better, especially when kids are taught that this is the only way to do their work. You want me to help my kids, then you had better be willing to accept my way of doing the work, otherwise, my kids better understand their homework.

I very much agree with you Jilli's Mommy on the fact that too many kids are coming to school without having learned about responsibility. Unfortunately, teachers are having to be not only the teacher but also the parent to these kids in the school day. I've seen it more times than not and it robs the other kids who are there to learn and like doing so. But to stand behind homework as a way of teaching responsibility, I'm sorry, I'll forever disagree. Kids who are already responsible will take on the challenge without any problem. But for those who are not responsible at home, who are you kidding? Does that homework really get done?

It's IMO that the reason the kids are coming home with so much homework these days is b/c your local school districts all across the country are setting the standards of education as a "jack of all trades but master of none" type setting. Where have the basics of education gone? I so understand wanting to teach our kids and expose them to more, but at what price? What ever happened to the 3 R's? And whatever happened to mastering those 3 R's? I can't be the only parent that finds something wrong with cutting back the traditional 55 minutes alotted to reading class down to 20 minutes, with now 30 minutes of homework, so that the school can teach a foreign language class every day for 30 minutes. And then tack on another 20-30 minutes of homework for that class. And it isn't just reading, it's all subjects. Cut the time back, and add in more classes so the kids can learn more. The effect though is the kids are coming home with homework from the classes that have been shortened, and now coming in with homework from the added classes. It is frustrating to a parent. And becomes even more frustrating when the parent is left to do the teaching. This may not be your case, but for too many parents in this country it is the case. They do not see it as getting involved with their childs education, they view it as they have to do the work for their child. You say it is your job to teach the curriculem provided by the district, and not the job to be the parent, and I agree. By taking the stance I do of "I don't do homework", I'm holding you to that. It is your job to teach and be sure my child understands. As the parent I do provide my kids with time to do their homework, and I do look it over every night, but I will not do the work for them. Nor will I explain what I pay a teacher to do. My job is to be the parent, not the teacher.

Like I said before, if you as a teacher are making sure your kids understand their homework before it leaves the school, then you are doing wonderful. Keep up the good work. But I have had to deal with too many teachers that aren't so responsible. Assign the work and let the parents deal with it. And from the posts in this thread, I'm not the only unfortunate parent out there.

For the past two weeks my 8th grade daughter has had 3 to 4 hours of homework a night. I can't imagine what I would do if we didn't have a computer. I don't have a longitude latitude map with all the countries and cities on it lying around. She also brought home math that no only did I not understand how to get to the answers, But I couldn't even figure out what they were asking!
Now I was an honor student and use math every day in business. Yet, I had no clue. When I asked my dd she said the teacher went over it the last 5 minutes of class. She didn't have a chance to ask her teacher for help or she would be late for her next class.
I agree with you about cramming more and more subjects into their time.
Do you know teaching multiplication table is an option for teachers? That is what I was told. My dd in 5th grade had it taped to her desk and she never memorized them. This year is the first year that they have studied the states or capitals.
Yet she had a 1/2 year of greek myth. Now as you can tell by my name I love myths and legends. I just don't think the time should be spent in 7th grade to learn about them. It is amazing what our kids don't know. I try to fill in the gaps at home. There are just so many now that it is hard to keep up.
It is all about benchmark testing that stupid no child left behind act. What were they thinking? there are more kids than ever being left behind.
You said that you will not do your kids homework. I will admit this week my dd had 2 big projects. I had her do the research and the paper. But I sent her to bed and I colored the darn things. I mean really, she wants to be an art major, She has been coloring in the lines since kindergarten. What were they thinking? She started at 4pm and ended at 11:30. an hour and a half past the time she usually wants to go to bed.
Forget activities this year, school has completely taken over. And forget being sick. Miss one day and it would take you a week to catch up. I don't know what to do. Just make our voices heard I guess. Good Luck to you.

Can I ask you what grade that you teach? My daugher is in 8th grade and is overwhelmed and my son is in 4th and is not being challenged enough. He is on the Autism spectrum and if he doesn't have a meltdown it is a good day. I love his teacher and we communicate well. But, It is hard for her to understand that he loves a challenge and usually has episodes when he is bored.

As for how many people have homework when they go home. Plenty take their work home, are on call or work more than one job. All this with one week of vacation a year if they are lucky.
MY ds' teacher said to me today. You have the hard job you have 2 kids 24/ 7. I just have them for 6 hours and if I need to I can go in the teacher's lounge and scream. Then Sleep 10 hours on Saturday. lol! I wish I could get 6 full hours.
To be honest everything I needed to know to be successful I knew by 5th grade. Everything else was just interesting facts and skills. But I could have gotten by. The greatest lessons that I have learned, Were by a few teacher that taught from the heart. The few that cared about me outside the classroom, that encouraged me, made me accountable and made me never forget them. My dd has had only 2 teachers like that so far. and they were and are her music teachers. I hope she finds a few more along the way.

An update on my 1st grader, he is doing quite well and even impresses me on his ability to do his homework without a war. He does his weekly assignments in a couple hrs, maybe less.

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Alex & the spider monkey

Wow, I can't believe I missed this awesome thread. There are so many good points on both sides.

Personally, I think the school day is very long. I think homework should be kept at a bare minimum, if any. I will help my child with it if they are having trouble. I do get upset when long homework hours cut into our family time. Family time and down time is important too. These are kids and should have the right to run free sometimes. I will be one to speak up if my child every has to sit and do homework from 4pm to 11 pm, that in my opinion, is rediculous and unfair.

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The mighty oak started out as a nut that held its ground.

I have no problem with homework as long as it's not *busy* work -- if it has a purpose, fine.

I so totally agree with you. I have had problems with my ds doing his homework every school year, except last year. Well, some of it has been (in past years) him turning it in. He gets A's & B's on all his tests, but the homework responsibility is what is going to hurt him most.

I can see both sides of the teacher/parent argument as far as homework goes. I don't mind homework at all, it's just such a struggle to get it done, at least with ds. And then, I just spent most of last night helping him with his homework, and then got a note home today that he has detention tomorrow for not completing his homework. When I ask him what he turned in, he says he turned in everything, everything that was written down, but yet he is still getting a detention for not completing homework. GRRR!

What's really annoying to me is I can't ever talk to a teacher without feeling like I am intruding on their private lives. Once it's 4, they are out of there and anytime in between 8:50 and 4...they're too busy. Very frustrating.

My dd, OTOH, is doing wonderful with her homework. I hope no one takes this personally, but I really think it has to do with the teacher and how the teacher/student personalities match up. Last year, ds had the most awesome caring teacher, and he had the best year ever.. Mostly A's and some B's all year. My dd teacher this year is really caring and kind too, no problems there.

I think it first starts with the parent. If the parent is already in an uproar about homework the child will take the cue. My kids like there homework. I don't usually help them. I ask them if they understand the assignment after they read the intrusctions or after I read the instructions and go from there. I check for errors and have them look again to see if they can figure out the error. The homework may seem busy to you but I think most homework including busy homework teaches the kids a valuable lesson. We all have responsibilities to more than one person/entity and we have to learn to juggle more than one thing. the child needs to learn that homework/playing/reading/sports/etc each has their merits and adjust to it accordingly. as a parent I know my kids don't automatically believe me when I say somethng is important but to have another adult(teacher) also say it is important drives the point home. If you really have issues with the homework and don't think the teacher is listening there are lots of options. talk to the principal. the standards are not set by the teacher. it is set by the school district/state and federal gov. I know a lot of issues are starting to pop up due to 'No Child Left Behind'. other teachers on the board could better address that than me but I know some of my friends that are teachers are doing things they would rather not but have to b/c of NCLB.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls