Do you 'plan' to give homework for 7th/8th grade and up?

[Kathie in VA]

My dd is going into 8th grade and my ds is going into 7th. Up to now I've scheduled everything into our 'school day' and anything that doesn't get finnished is homework (well usually... sometimes it just gets push to the next day :glare:).

 

So here I am planning for next year and realizing that I can squeeze all or most of what I'd like them to do into 7 hours of work which can be done during 'school hours' (I think)... and then anything not finnished is homework. But I just started to wonder about this plan. It seems most other kids their age typically have homework. I don't want to plan busy work but I wonder if

1. maybe I'm not expecting enough for this level or
   
2. allowing my kids to get used to completing homework (as additional work) would be a good practice for high school and/or college?
   

 

So what do you think?

 

Oh another question: If you think I should plan homework, then should I consider freeing up some of their day and planning some of that work for evenings? Meaning instead of scheduling the... literature reading during the day I tell them it's homework? Or instead of giving them time during the day to work on their writing paper I tell them to do it for homework?

OR should I leave the day as I currently have it and add in something that I wanted to have them do but couldn't fit it into the school day?

 

So what does the hive think?

 

TIA

:bigear:

:lurk5:

[Peela]

You will get very different opinions from mine, but I feel that 7 hours of work at that age is too much already, so I wouldn't be adding in homework.

My 14yo dd does about 4-5 hours work and reads in the evenings (plus does many extra curricula activities and household chores and also some paid work). Sometimes she doesn't finish her work in time...lately it has happened a couple of times.....but homework becomes a drag because that's family time, that's reading in bed time, that's watching a tv series together time. I like to make sure our lives are balanced and I feel homework is a scourge that interferes badly with family and relaxation time, and just because schools do it, doesn't mean I want to being that particular toxin into my family.

I don't plan for homework. It only happens if a) a child is being particularly slow or unfocused b) I have misjudged how long something is going to take and don't want to back down c) something interferes with our normal schedule.

I don't subscribe to the idea that because they will have to do something in college they should be doing it now. I would rather they are children while they are children and adults when that time comes.

[cin]

When DH & I were in school (and that's really all we have as a reference) we both had study halls, and were able to get most of our homework done during the school day, except for studying for a test or a long-term project, such as a research paper, or report of some sort. A lot of our teachers also gave around 10-15 minutes at the end of class to work on the assignment. So I don't believe that homework is really necessary. What doesn't get done during the normal school day could be finished later on.

 

I DO beleive that book reports and other papers & project are good to do to help teach time management skills (and to learn about the topic, too, of course!)

 

That's my take on it. ;)

[Susie in MS]

Agreeing with Peela.

[Pat in MI]

We try to get all the work done during the day. This is possible because we homeschool and have so much one on one time. Our whole assignment is the work so unless they are dragging their feet over an assignment they are able to finish in their school day. A lot of schools in our area do this same thing. They let the kids work on their assignments during class and what isn't completed becomes homework. I completely agree that kids need to be kids. We also like to have our family time in the evening when Dad is home from work.

Blessings,

Pat

[Melanie]

I'll have a 7th grader next year. I don't plan on giving him homework, but I will begin giving him deadlines for larger projects. How and when he works on them will be up to him, but they will be due on a specific date. I can see him putting it off until the last minute and having to work during non-school hours!

[Stacy in NJ]

I assign homework. It's really just the independent work that relates to each subject we've covered during the day. For example, we review a grammar assignment together and work through some examples. I then assign the rest of the lesson to be done independently (I'm available to answer questions). Whether my son chooses to do the assignment immediately or save it for evening "homework" is his choice. All assigned work is "due" prior to any screen time or bedtime.

 

I do think that 7 hours of on task work daily is alot. We typically work for about 4 hours. Homework is usually about an hour and may include math, history or science, grammar or composition.

 

FYI, my ds is a rising 6th grader.

[at the beach]

I agree with Peela, that 7 hours on schoolwork is a lot, even at this age, if that is pure schoolwork such as math, foreign language, science, history, reading and writing. I think what you are getting at is your concern that you want to be sure your kids are able to handle responsibility and that they become more independent. What sort of curriculum or programs are you using? That might help people give you better ideas. I have a child going into 6th, so I am not where you are yet. My goal is to get her to a point where I can give her a writing assignment, and she will do it independently for the most part, kwim? First draft due on such and such date, etc. Where she knows she needs to do a certain amount of work in math and will work to do that diligently. I am also going to look into some outside classes when she is older, probably as early as 9th grade, so that she can adjust to being accountable to others. Finally, she's in extracurriculars now, and I think that helps her learn how to deal with expectations and the like. I guess I'm saying, I don't think it's homework per se that you need to address and look at, but rather, how your children are doing as far as beginning to work more independently on certain things. Obviously, as a parent/teacher we are there to guide and help and even learn with our kids, but they do need to start taking on more responsibility as they get older IMHO (depending on the child, of course), but that doesn't need to equate to homework assignments. Now, you could give them more flexibility in accomplishing what you want to get done. For example, if you have a certain book that you want to cover, you could give them the opportunity to decide when to read it or write about so long as you have the completed work in your hand by a certain date. If you have readings they do, then perhaps don't schedule class time for that, but rather allow them to read on their own, and use scheduled time to discuss or go over writing drafts. Use lesson time to teach/discuss the lesson and to go over the work completed but don't schedule time to actually do the work. This will give your kids more independence with regard to when they do what. They'll start to learn to time manage if that makes sense.

 

HTH,

Anita

[Erica in PA]

I think that homework is so much a part of traditional school simply because of the set-up of traditional school. There are usually only about 50 minutes for each subject, and most of that needs to be taken up with teaching, because the teacher has to teach everything in a way that every student of varying abilities will understand. There is also wasted time, with other things that are not directly related to learning. That leaves very little class time for independent work, so that needs to be assigned to do at home.

 

Independent work is important, but when homeschooling we can easily incorporate independent work into the school day. Our lessons can be shorter and aimed directly at our student, leaving more time for independent work to follow. My 12 yos can read a chapter in his grammar book in 10 minutes, we can do the oral exercises in another 10 minutes, and if we allow the 50 minutes he'd have for an English class in school, he'd still have 30 minutes to do written work. There's no need to wait until the evening to do that work, imo.

 

So, I say independent work, definitely. Assigned schoolwork in the evening, nah. I would only do that if ds were not able to get his schoolwork done in a timely manner during the school day.

 

Erica

[Cheryl B in VA]

I do not assign homework per say. As someone else said, all that day's assignments must be done before computer time, XBox, or going to a friend's house. For us another factor is outside activities. August through beginning of November my 8th grader will have foorball practice three nights a week from 6-8. That means he has to eat dinner at 5:00, get his gear on, go to practice, get home about 8:30 and then take a shower. You don't need to compare your child with PS kids. If you think his workload will accomplish the learning needed then there is no need to add more work.

[Stacy in NJ]

Well, it may be semantics, but I actually like assigning it as homework rather than immediate independent work. My son really appreciates having some control over his own schedule and doing so has helped him develop a sense of time managment and responsibility. He has afternoon activites and he will frequently review his workload and figure out what must be done during the day and what can safely be saved for evenings. I also think he works more efficiently when he's in control of his own workload.

 

Our "homework" is really the practice portion of any lesson. I correct homework in the evening and he corrects his work first thing in the morning, prior to beginning any new lessons.

[Kathie in VA]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll stick to homework being whatever didn't get done during the day (due to spacing or by pure choice).

 

Now some said that 7 hrs is a bit much for 7th and 8th graders. I've wondered about this too. I did ask this last year and got a quite a few here who said this is how much their kids tend to do also. I don't count in the soccer practice stuff but I do count in art and music (if we have any). It is also all time I expect each subject to take... ie teaching time and independant time... and even then I try to estimate on the high side a bit. Part of the reason it may be more then others is due to the curriculum I've picked... some just take longer than other choices. Another could be that I have more then needed for a given subject... like logic. I would like it if it only took 5 hours... hmm, choices.

 

This thread is mainly about whether or not to plan for homework so I won't post my schedule here. Homework isn't necessary for it. I think I'll work on it and make a separate post... for a hive review. Thanks for asking... I'll see you in that post.