Parents Complaining About Too Much Homework

[CaptainCrunch]

My parents would go to the meeting and complain that they're not giving the little s enough homework. Then he'd come home and tell me to get off of my ass and get a job if I have so much spare time.

[Jagger]

I haven't read the entire thread yet but I'll weigh in with a few comments. So far only one of my children is in school and this year, thankfully, he has had less homework in grade 4 than he did in the other grades. Grade 2 was the worst. The kid was getting a huge amount of math homework every night, it was just ridiculous. He had no time for anything else and was stressed out beyond belief. How is that good for an 8 year old child? We ended up complaining and, lo and behold, they cut it back to a manageable level. Should we have STFU too? I don't believe so. It was an insane amount of homework before and was affecting our child's life in a massively negative way.

What also bothers me is the practical homework that comes home that there is no way a 9 to 10 year old child can do alone. They would have to use drills and other tools certainly not suitable for their age. Thus this turns out to be a project for the parents with minimal input from the child. I'm sorry, but that's just plain ridiculous. Call me a whiner if you want but I don't believe that we, as parents, should be doing homework anymore! Already much more is expected of parents than when I was in school. We are expected to volunteer extensively to help as teachers aides (We never had that in a class of 30+). So, yeah, tell us to STFU if you want but until you've walked in the parents shoes I don't think you should spout off so easily.

[ernie]

Geez I'm not sure where some went to school but when I was in elementary school (starting in 1980) I certainly remember having homework. I remember getting that weekly word list and not knowing when the quiz on those words would come (remember the list of 20-30 words and you would get 10 or so of them, have to spell the word and then correctly use it in a sentence? I do). I remember getting the weekly math quiz. I remember having to read stories and being able to answer questions on it the next day. I remember having to do that exercise of two in my Mr. Mugs book or having to write that short story. Certainly by grade 5 and 6 I was doing a good amount of studying and homework outside of school hours.

It increased in junior high (an hour or two at night coupled with studying with exams was normal) and then again in high school. However, in high school I tended to use my spares to do a good chunk of homework and avoid having to do multiple hours at home at night. And through all that homework I still worked full time (35-44 hours a week).

Now when I think of my childhood I don't particularily remember the homework and instead remember the recesses (for elementary), the road hockey before dinner, the parties, the fights etc etc but make no mistake the homework was there. And there was quite a bit of it.

[Ayrahb]

In grade 4, public system, non-TLC, our child gets the Problem of the Week (15 minutes/wk), spelling (30-60 minutes/wk) and home reading (45 min/day).

I fail to see how that is too much. Quite often, by the time we pick her up from daycare, she has already done all or a part of her homework. The home reading amount may seem harsh to some, but she is making her way through Harry Potter, for God's sake, not Thoreau or Kafka. 45 minutes/day of reading replaced TV time so I don't feel guilty about that at all.

[Sutter for Prime Minister]

I have gone through the public school system as well as finished two university degrees. I also have three children currently in the public school system, so I feel I have some insight into this issue.

From what I have observed, it really varies teacher to teacher. The one thing I would agree with is that there is too much homework for the early elementary grades. These concepts should be taught during class time for a child of that age.

Junior high and high school are completely different. The kids have so many spares and free computer time, that I am amazed. Most of the assignments involve using a computer so the schools are obligated to provide computer time for them. Instead of working on the assignments, the kids are surfing the internet (minus a few sites such as facebook which are blocked) and checking their email. This results in many of the kids not doing there work at school so having to bring them home. Even my child in grade 4 gets computer time and comes home telling me about all the funny youtube videos he had watched (instead of working on his schoolwork). The other problem is that many of the teenagers' work ethic seems to be lacking. This generation has been raised differently with many forms of instant entertainment (internet, ipods, cellphones) so they view things differently. They often do not want to do the reading or legwork involved in an assignment, but would rather find internet information on it (a video, or article to copy and paste from). The school system has already started to adjust to this by making many assignments use powerpoint to make them more visual for the kids.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Sutter for Prime Minister

They often do not want to do the reading or legwork involved in an assignment, but would rather find internet information on it (a video, or article to copy and paste from).

This is not only lazy but it's also plagiarism. It pisses me off when kids get away with it and end up getting a better grade than you. At least some school, like mine, are using sites such as turnitin.com to fight it.

And with the issue of teachers checking small homework assignments, i think that's just stupid and kids don't learn from it.. I don't remember the last time a teacher did this. I think we learn the importance of doing homework alot better if we don't do our homework and then get raped on the next test/quiz.

[Thunderball]

I can't say I'm a big fan of the Grade x 10 = minutes per day of expected homework mentality. I don't think Grade 4 kids should have 40 minutes of homework per night, nor should a Grade 12 student have to expect 2 hours of homework per night... that leaves little time for sports, arts, work and other endeavors expected of a 16-18 yr. old teenager.

Homework was overassigned in school when I was there, and as a result, we all learned to shortcut by high school. If it was a marked assignment, it got done. If it was an unmarked assignment, a bunch of us split it up, and showed it 6 times. Reading assignments became skimming assignments. 20 suggested math problems became 4-5. If I did everything expected of me at Bishop Carroll... I might still be there. Yet, I had a 80+ average consistently and got into University.

[wpgflamesfan]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

Homework was overassigned in school when I was there, and as a result, we all learned to shortcut by high school. If it was a marked assignment, it got done. If it was an unmarked assignment, a bunch of us split it up, and showed it 6 times. Reading assignments became skimming assignments. 20 suggested math problems became 4-5. If I did everything expected of me at Bishop Carroll... I might still be there. Yet, I had a 80+ average consistently and got into University.

That's all homework is supposed to be. You don't need to do it all.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by wpgflamesfan

That's all homework is supposed to be. You don't need to do it all.

Agreed, if you do 5 of the 30 suggested problems with no trouble you are done your homework.

[Thunderball]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Agreed, if you do 5 of the 30 suggested problems with no trouble you are done your homework.

I agree... but we had many teachers that insisted all 30 had to be done, even if it was meaningless busy-work once the concept was learned. I have no issue with do these problems until you figure it out, my issue is do these problems, even if you know it... 25% of your mark is homework completion.

[troutman]

I think many smart kids are not challenged in high school. When they get to University they are not prepared. I sure wasn't.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by troutman

I think many smart kids are not challenged in high school. When they get to University they are not prepared. I sure wasn't.

I had a few really smart friends in highschool that were out of university within the first year, and starting their careers in warehouse sweeping. Because they had no work ethic, fell behind and the profs didn't nag them to hand in their work.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by troutman

I think many smart kids are not challenged in high school. When they get to University they are not prepared. I sure wasn't.

Same with me. I'm by no means a genius or anything, but I got consistent 80's and above with minimum work in high school. University was like a cold splash of reality in the face, and knocked me off my pedestal pretty quick. It took me almost two semesters to fully adapt to the workload. My expectations went from being disappointed in not getting 80s to being happy I passed.

[burn_baby_burn]

I have a daughter in grade 4 who rarely has any homework. Some of her friends in the same class have lots of home work. Some kids just have an easier time getting their work done in class than others. My hunch is its the parents of the slower (dumber) kids that are doing all the complaining.

My mother has been a teacher since the late 60's. The most irate and meddlesome parents, are the parents of the slow kids. Its never the parents or the kids fault for poor grades. Its always the teachers fault, even though the teacher has to spend a lot more time with the slower kids.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

I can't say I'm a big fan of the Grade x 10 = minutes per day of expected homework mentality. I don't think Grade 4 kids should have 40 minutes of homework per night, nor should a Grade 12 student have to expect 2 hours of homework per night... that leaves little time for sports, arts, work and other endeavors expected of a 16-18 yr. old teenager.

Homework was overassigned in school when I was there, and as a result, we all learned to shortcut by high school. If it was a marked assignment, it got done. If it was an unmarked assignment, a bunch of us split it up, and showed it 6 times. Reading assignments became skimming assignments. 20 suggested math problems became 4-5. If I did everything expected of me at Bishop Carroll... I might still be there. Yet, I had a 80+ average consistently and got into University.

Hey now, we all know that the Bishop Carroll communal religion homework database was a product of collective lazyness and/or procrastination of core courses. That being said I think it was a little rich for a religion half course to take up 40% of all study time in a semester if done complete and individually. Catholic boards should really look into how much student's time they're wasting teaching their kids religion over and above the required credits for High School graduation. Oh well that was many moons ago.

[RougeUnderoos]

I don't get you people who say "I never did homework but I was on the honour roll". I didn't do it either but I sure as hell wasn't on the honour roll. How did you do it?

I didn't do the work, I flunked. Wash, rinse, repeat. Apparently I didn't care. They told me they were going to hold me back every year in junior high but they never did it. They put me in the dummy classes in Grade 10.

Did you smartie-pants also pay attention in class? Maybe that was my problem. I might have been able to do alright if I knew what the test was going to be about or even when it was going to be.

"What do you mean a unit final? Nobody told me. This is an outrage!"

F

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I don't get you people who say "I never did homework but I was on the honour roll". I didn't do it either but I sure as hell wasn't on the honour roll. How did you do it?

I didn't do the work, I flunked. Wash, rinse, repeat. Apparently I didn't care. They told me they were going to hold me back every year in junior high but they never did it. They put me in the dummy classes in Grade 10.

Did you smartie-pants also pay attention in class? Maybe that was my problem. I might have been able to do alright if I knew what the test was going to be about or even when it was going to be.

"What do you mean a unit final? Nobody told me. This is an outrage!"

F

I barely made it through school. Barely passed, mostly because I didn't do any homework and instead practiced musical instruments and worked on tunes.

Then I somehow got it together enough in my senior year of high school to manage an 80 avg!

Then I went to post-secondary audio school and got straight A's.

Moral of the story:

The kid will excel only at things they enjoy.

[BurningDownTheHouse]

I taught middle school for a few years, and then left the field. I now work with farmers - almost as ornery as middle schoolers. Over the years, the Alberta program of studies has become more and more loaded with information, and already teachers are having to pare it down to what they can realistically cover in a school year. However, I think that the real purpose of homework has been forgotten. Students should be given sufficient class time to master the basic skill and learn to apply it. One or two questions that involve a "higher-level" extension of the skill should be assigned to try at home, in order to solidify the concept and to encourage independent thinking - this is a much more applicable "real-world" skill than memorizing and regurgitating.

The comment that work ethic is on the decline is one that I have seen, first-hand. Of course this cannot be generalized, as I had several students who were very hard-workers and took great pride in their work. But I had a lot of assignments (even major projects) that simply weren't completed or handed in. I had students who would hand in half-done assignments. So what do we do to solve this? Educators are increasingly being told that they cannot assign zeros for incomplete assignments, as it is not a true assessment of the student's ability (there is truth to that) and it may harm the students' self-esteem. Hmmm...

There were several reasons why I left the profession. However, what encourages me is the concept that one school division (that I am aware of) is adopting, of the "21st Century Learner". It recognizes that students are learning in much different ways, and have many more technologies and resources available to them. It then strives to teach students how to think critically and to ask questions (isn't that how we learn things?) and to learn based upon inquiry. Interesting!

[Antithesis]

If my students are ending up with hours of homework a day, it's because they aren't doing it in class. I try to teach my students a little responsibility which seems to be the theme here ... so the first term is rough on them because they aren't happy with their marks, but afterward, they start to figure it out and we're OK.

I hate inefficiency - I teach my kids what information they need to know within the first 30 minutes of a 54 minute lesson and the rest of the time is for assignments. This means they get on average 2+ hours per week in my class for practice while I am there, circulating to see if there are any questions.

The nature of the work? I try to do the more 'complex' activities in class so I can guide students through them ... then it's work time, and I'm sorry, but sometimes, you just need to practice or learn vocabulary and while I'd love to make everything as entertaining as TV is, sometimes it just isn't.

I think a major problem arises from the fact that everyone attended school and therefore thinks they know how it works - I'm sorry, but you don't. To the point that teachers should communicate with eachother to lessen loads? Not a chance that happens in my class. I'm sorry, but a major theme in my class is preparing these young men and women for the real world, and in the real world, deadlines aren't moved because you have 'too much' work. I don't get to say I can't do Job X because I also have Job Y and Z.

Kids should be out enjoying themselves? Let's get real here. Kids have plenty opportunities to enjoy themselves in and outside of school; mine always tell me "why do we need to do this?" I tell them because school is their job, and like the rest of us, they can have fun when their work is over.

Let me also note that while my students get 2+ hours per week to do homework in class, they rarely - RARELY - are given assignments that would total more than 2 hours in a week.

[evman150]

I really have nothing to contribute to this thread, other than I found it funny that "Another Brick in the Wall" came up on my winamp playlist while reading the thread.

I never had much homework at all in high school. Elementary school...nothing besides major projects, reports on Japan or the Haida or whatever. I was a smart kid though who used my time in class really well. Stupid and/or lazy kids probably had to do a lot more than I did.