PenKase Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 My dd8 is in the third grade. Tonight I almost lost my mind and blew my top at the amount of homework she brought home. I have a bright, easy going kid who really loves school and does her work without complaining, ever but tonight was ridiculous. She got started around 4:00 pm and wasn't done until about 10 minutes ago!!! My question is this: Has anyone here made the argument against too much homework to their DCs teachers. I feel a lot of the work is just busy work and it gets in the way of my supplementing her. I'm so frustrated right now I could just kick something!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OHGrandma Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 GS9, 4th grade, rarely has homework, besides reading. We don't consider reading as homework though. He does have to work about 5 minutes/night 3-4 nights/week on his spelling words. I give him math challenge problems or non-fiction books to read so he gets used to doing some harder studying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 My dd8 is in the third grade. Tonight I almost lost my mind and blew my top at the amount of homework she brought home. I have a bright, easy going kid who really loves school and does her work without complaining, ever but tonight was ridiculous. She got started around 4:00 pm and wasn't done until about 10 minutes ago!!! My question is this: Has anyone here made the argument against too much homework to their DCs teachers. I feel a lot of the work is just busy work and it gets in the way of my supplementing her. I'm so frustrated right now I could just kick something!! I sent an e-mail to both of dd's teachers (she has a different teacher for math), told them homework took 2 hours which I felt was too long, and what did they recommend we do about it. I was willing to come in for a meeting to discuss the problem. I also read the parent handbook, and it said 4th graders should expect 30 minutes of homework each night. Both teachers were great. Turns out dd was lolly-gagging in math when they had time to do their homework, so the teacher helped the class focus on getting their work done. Both teachers said if the work takes too long on one night, I should just send them an e-mail so they know, and dd can have an extra day to finish the work. As long as dd is using her time wisely and not goofing around in school and at home, she can work at her own pace. There have only been two days so far since my meeting in September when I have needed to send an e-mail. Both times the teachers replied thanking me for keeping them informed. However, dd rarely brings home busy work. If she does, it's a worksheet that only takes 5 minutes. What I hate are the worksheets she is supposed to do with a parent, you know- so parents have to stay in-the-loop. Hello! I'm and adult, don't give me homework! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 We have this problem every night. My 2nd grader has spelling, math and language homework every single night. From beginning to end it's at least two hours worth, if you include whining, frustration breaks, etc. In our public school they do not grade homework, don't even get a grade for completion... the teachers told us to do "as much as we could" and not worry about the rest. Check with the teacher and see what their system is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenKase Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 When I investigated the situation further, I found out that the teachers (there are two head teachers in my daughter's class) were falling behind in class and the students had to make up for it at home by way of homework. The next day, dd came home with just one sheet of homework and I was able to make up for what we missed the day before. Homework since has been the reasonable 30 minutes that the district recommends for third graders. Thanks for your posts. I do think that we should meet with the teachers to discuss homework expectations. Homework is considered part of the overall grade but when there are instances where there is just too much to complete in one night, we should come to some sort of middle ground in terms of time allowed to finish it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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