Homework is not productive. While I am all for the at home/library research or recreating experiments during non-class hours, I would like to think that I could teach my students all they need to know during my 55 minutes.
Granted, math students will succeed through repeated tries of similar problems. Reading is another activity that can take place outside of the classroom.

But, why oh why, do we think kids need homework? Basically, because parents want to know what is going on in the class. Or, that SOMETHING is being taught in the class. This can be done through enhanced communication instead of burdensome homework.

If I came home from work with another 2-3 hours of work, I would be called a workaholic. Why would we expect our children to do such work?

Back in the day, I did my own homework. It wasn’t hard stuff, just tedious and time consuming. Our school had a theory that you should have a minimum of 1/2 hour homework for every class. Being a Catholic school, Religion was also a subject, so taking out PE meant you had six classes a day and a minimum of 3 hours homework. Every night. Sometimes, more than three. Basically, I came home, did homework until suppertime, ate, did more homework, took a bath, went to bed. Day after day after day. I had no time for schools activities…God forbid that you’d have a social life. And it wasn’t educational, just stupid. If I didn’t understand long division after doing ten problems, I wasn’t going to understand it by doing 40 of the damned things. And, why, oh why, was it required that we write out the entire question at the end of a history chaper and write out an entire sentence answer–all it did was waste time and reams of paper.

Now I knew kids whose parents basically did their homework. These kids were “dumb like a fox.” And these kids went to other schools and would have had a maximum one hour amount of homework per night.

My thought on homework is that it is the kid’s responsibility. If he doesn’t understand it, that’s what the teacher is for. And homework should be a learning experience not a rote practice waste of time. In other words, if the teacher can’t think of a real assignment, then don’t give one!

You make an interesting point Suzy.

I think parents used to like their kids to have homework because it gave them something to do. That’s not a problem in today’s electronic age however. Given all the things they try to cram into a school year these days the teachers have time to teach it but not always time for the repetitive learning of certain subjects…

Suzy’s fine point notwithstanding, what kind of lesson are these kids really learning by having a parent do their work? Suzy would only be a workaholic if she did the work herself…

Our present method of teaching uses production line style ’schools’. Learning is a whole other matter. For those who wish to go to college and learn - do the homework. You are more likely to remember what you do (homework) after your years in school than what you heard in class.

When our schools get to the point (if ever) where there are few to no lectures, and instead work with students so that there is immediate feedback to the learning experience, then the need for homework would do away.

Suzy brings up a great point: “If I came home from work with another 2-3 hours of work, I would be called a workaholic. Why would we expect our children to do such work?” And I agree: they shouldn’t.

Homework has its place and time, but not in the manner or amount that is currently given. Teachers are pressured by administration to give more homework in the hopes that the extra work will mean better scores on standardized tests. But what it really creates is additional stress on the students and parents, and contributes to the couch potato mentality that sports are fun and games and not a required or meaningful activity.

What we as a society need to strive for is balance, and right now, with this economy, no one is getting it; not kids, not parents, no one. If teachers weren’t pressured to give homework they don’t even want to give, then they would be able to adequately teach in the classroom methods for learning the materials more efficiently and without the use of such tedious homework. Likewise, they would then be able to take part in more extracurricular activities that get them off the couch and on their feet.

Furthermore, allowing more time for personal growth will also contribute to more time with the family. And that’s what everyone needs.

Although I agree with the original comment by suzyjax, that having 2-3 hours of homework a night is too much, I also think the best way to learn is by doing, not by listening. When it comes to math and reading, doing is the only way to learn. Having a teacher show kids how to solve a few math problems won’t make the knowledge stick. But clearly parents doing their kids’ homework isn’t a benefit to the kids at all. It seems the solution lies somewhere toward moving the “homework” into class time, but this cuts down on the time available for lectures. Add another conundrum to the stack of puzzles that teachers have to solve.

Would this problem be lessened by a full-year school schedule? It might put less of a burden on teachers to cover material at such a rapid pace, and allow more time for individual students to work while at school. I recall having a studyhall period in high school where I was able to do most of my homework, and didn’t end up with much that I had to take home. I don’t hear of this practice much anymore, as it seems students are encouraged to cram as much as possible into their already busy day. Maybe a longer school year would make studyhalls more practical.

I am the mother of a second grader and I think that the fact that these kids already spend close to 8 hours a day in school doing “schoolwork” and then they have to come home and do another 2-3 hours of “homework is absolutely rediculous. My child came home last night with homework that took her 1.5 hours, did I mention she is in second grade? Why should I have to come home from working a 10 hour day and spend another couple hours doing homework with my child, isn’t that what teachers get paid to do? I am not a teacher and I don’t want to be one otherwise I would have chosen that career. Now I know what you are thinking, “don’t you want to be involved in your childs education?” I certainly do but that does not mean I should have to teach her. Children need time to play , to relax and to be children. They will be grown soon enough and have to work so let them enjoy being children and keep the “homework” at school.

Homework is helpful for the students who NEED the extra practice. I was one of thost students in High School who literally did 0 homework in AP Calculus and still got an A in the class and a 5 on the AP exam. I was able to look at the theory and understand it.

I was a math tutor for 2 years, and doing homework DOES have a positive effect on a student’s knowledge of a subject, but only if they needed the practice. For the students who already knew the subject, yes their homework was done, but it served no purpose.

Yes, I have done some of my child’s homework. He has dyslexia and the public school system is not set up for someone like him. I dread homework, he hates it, some nights it’s absolute he** doing homework. I worry about the effect of such negativity that doing homework causes. He started middle school this year and we are in for a huge struggle. This year we are trying to find a math tutor who has experience with dyslexia. It seems the general consensus is that homework is too much. Maybe instead of year round school, extend the school day by 30-45 min.

While I agree with “prh” that homework in second grade is too much, I wouldn’t call it “rediculous”. I hope she’s not doing her daughters spelling work for her!