Do Kids Get Too Much Homework?

The homework topic created some definite sparks this week with our moms.

The National Education Association recommends that children have a total of ten minutes per grade level of homework per night. Anything above that is excessive. When considering the NEA recommendation, based on their experience with their kids, the majority of moms said their children’s homework is excessive. 

Kids are very busy and as we discussed last week, can perhaps have too many activities. Add that to excessive homework and it can be a recipe for some pretty stressed out youngsters. They don’t have time to be just kids anymore. A few of our moms were so frustrated they now home school their children.

Several moms agreed that there are factors that lead to a teacher sending home work that should be done in class: too many standardized tests and pressures for teachers to “teach” to the test; class sizes too big for a teacher to handle; and children with behavior problems in the classrooms that disrupts learning.

Barbra said her kids get way too much homework and wonders what the teachers are actually doing at school. She thinks when her children were in elementary school homework was a follow-up to what they learned in class that day. Now that her daughters are in middle school and high school, she isn’t so sure that is happening. “I find my children staying up until 10 or 11 p.m. getting their homework done, it is utterly ridiculous.” She also said there is little support from the teachers as far as extra help goes. “They say they will stay after and try to help your children if they have any questions, but that is only for 15 or 20 minutes.”

Allison thinks that homework is ridiculous and is one of the reasons she pulled her three children out of school and now home schools. “I would never take a job that required eight hours of my time and then required me to spend another two to four hours at home on MORE work, but my kids’ school thought nothing of just that.”  

Kathy has one child in college and two others in high school. She did not help her kids much with their homework when they were younger and didn’t have a problem with the amount of homework. However, she did have a problem with assignments being due right after a vacation. “I think vacations should be a time for the students to relax and recharge. I wish teachers would realize it and plan accordingly.”

Donna said homework was never an issue in her house. Her two oldest are now in college and her youngest is a sophomore in high school. She left the responsibility to them and would provide any supplies they needed for projects. If they needed help she would help. There were times she thought their homework load was a bit much, but they always seemed to handle it. “I feel by giving them the responsibility without much parental interference it allowed them to obtain the skills they would need to manage the work load on their own.” She said that making them fully responsible has helped them manage their homework time in college.

Tammy thinks anything over an hour is excessive. “There is much time spent at school where learning is not happening.” Tammy now home schools her son, who is her youngest.

Can too much homework negatively affect our kids? On one hand, from our moms’ comments, it seems that there is just too much homework and a few of them question how much children are really learning.

On the other hand, is this a good prelude to the rigors of college life? Getting into college has become so competitive and then once they are in college, the workload is very heavy. Perhaps the excessive homework in high school gives them the experience to handle the homework in college?

 Next week’s topic: Has your child been affected by bullying?