We’ve settled into our regular school routines and I’m sure we’re all, on one level or another, dealing with our kids’ homework. Our regular guest blogger Barbara Marques brings us her personal insight to homework struggles at home and then lends her professional experience as a teacher to give us some hints and tips in how to handle that daily workload.
By Barbara Marques
When my oldest daughter was in first grade, we were spending more than an hour a night on math, reading and spelling homework. By September of her second grade year, we were already up to over two hours a night!
The Daily Drama
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At homework time, my daughter’s sweet personality would change before my eyes. She became frustrated and angry – and things only went downhill from there. At one point, I contacted her teacher and kindly suggested that she back off on the homework. I was faced with an interesting irony. As a teacher, I firmly believed in the value of homework and assigned it nightly. As a parent, I was overwhelmed by the volume assigned to my child!
How Much is Too Much Homework?
Just how much homework should elementary students have? The National Education Association (NEA) endorses the following guidelines: 10-20 minutes of homework for 1st graders, ten minutes per grade level for 2nd through 12th graders (for example, 20 minutes for a 2nd grader or 50 minutes for a 5th grader).
The Important Functions of Homework
As a teacher, I know that elementary school homework has many important functions. For example, there is power in repeated practice (just ask any math or reading teacher). Homework also helps young children develop study skills, organization (using a daily planner) and accountability. As parents, we can view homework as an opportunity to work one-on-one with our children and communicate that education matters. It allows us to see firsthand where our children struggle.
How to Deal with Too Much Work
If your elementary child is spending more than an hour a night on homework, a parent-teacher conference is in order. In my case, my daughter’s homework struggle was an indicator of a bigger problem – dyslexia – which may have been overlooked for another couple of years if I hadn’t gone in to talk with the teacher about how long it was taking us to get through a chapter book in the 2nd grade.
The Procrastination Factor
Sometimes teachers genuinely overdo it with homework – sometimes our kids just make it seem that way. A distracted child (mine included) can take a 20 minute assignment and stretch it out over an hour or longer. (Try to sitting in the same, quiet room with them to keep them on task.) Add a little procrastination to the mix – like they’ve had two weeks to read a chapter book and create a shoebox diorama, but didn’t start until 8:00 tonight – and a valid homework can suddenly seem excessive.
There are Guidelines
Most school districts have implemented guidelines on how much homework should be assigned. When I taught middle school, we were asked to keep homework time down to 15 minutes per core subject. As a general rule, the educational benefit of any work your child’s teacher sends home should equal the time spent on it – if not, they’re just doing busy work. If your district has no guidelines in place, consider speaking up at the next school board meeting.
Barbara Marques is a former Texas math and social studies teacher and the mother of two elementary school-aged daughters.
Leave us a comment if you have found good solutions in your home for getting through homework or if you just want to vent?
