How Much Homework is Appropriate?

Students at all levels from primary through post-secondary schools are back to classes after the Christmas break now. For most that means homework has either begun, or will shortly. Parents may be glad to see their kids cracking the books, but for others homework is a battle of wills - or perhaps a struggle with a child who feels overwhelmed by the quantity or difficulty of the work, and needs close supervision to complete it.

This was our case a few years ago when our girls were in public school. Homework began after about the second week of grade one, and from that day onward it was a chore that I disliked for a number of reasons. Why? Well, it wasn't that I am opposed to all homework on principle. In fact, I was happy to sit down at the table with her every day after school and have a little window on what she was doing in class - what she was learning, how many new things she could do. But quickly I realized that homework was getting in the way of other, just as important things such as her getting outside in the fresh air to run and play, and us spending time together as a family doing pleasant things like having an unhurried meal or going out for extra-curricular activities.

When my oldest daughter began to have trouble with little things in her math homework I tried to help, only to discover I couldn't because this new math she was studying also had a whole new jargon and the kids were being taught to do things in different ways. Since I had no examples to follow and no text to read, I had no idea what the assigned problems were really asking her to do. Help was not forthcoming from the teacher, who would say things like, "It's fine if she doesn't do one night's work. She's at the top of the class anyway." How would she stay at the top of the class, or even continue to pass it, if she couldn't understand what she was being asked to do???

Homework Problems

When I was in the primary grades we never had any regularly assigned homework. Occasionally we got completion homework if we didn't finish something in class, but teachers often used recess for that or gave us catch up time in class so this was a pretty rare event. When we got a little older we did have a couple of assigned projects, but these too were rare. I remember getting to bring my spelling list home to study, but again that was mostly work we did in class. Regularly assigned work did not start for me until I was in fifth grade, by which time we were all independent enough to work on our own, and not need a parent to stand over us to help. We also had proper textbooks from which to work, so the lesson was in the text for us to refer to or show our parents, if necessary. Things have changed today.

The purpose of homework should be to reinforce learning done in the classroom, or to allow a student to expand on it. For this to happen the work given should be closely keyed to what is being studied in class. No new concepts should be introduced in homework, and the assignment should be neither too challenging nor so easy as to offend the child's intelligence. Especially in the case of subjects like math, examples should be given or a parent newsletter sent home to keep parents up to date on what is being studied in class. Any special vocabulary or procedures to be followed can be outlined in the newsletter, and in fact some textbooks come with such letters provided so all the teacher has to do is photocopy them.

If work seems to skip around a lot or to not reflect what is going on in class, this could be a sign that the teacher is not following a textbook or set curriculum. It is important to check in with the teacher to see what is going on, and whether adequate teaching materials are being supplied.

Homework is best if it allows your child the opportunity to apply a skill learned, or to explore an area of knowledge in order to expand his competence. If the assignments feel like "busy work," you may question the relevance of the work.

In the elementary grades especially, children benefit from short tasks and from finding ways to apply a bit of theoretical knowledge to the real world around them. Word problems are all well and fine, but even better if your child uses math to figure out how many place settings at the table are missing, or how to count the change from his candy purchase more quickly. Again, many teachers distribute newsletters that help parents stay abreast of learning so they can provide opportunities to apply skills.

How Much Homework is Appropriate?

There is no conclusive evidence that shows homework to have a positive effect on learning in the primary years, and indeed some primary schools are assigning very little or no homework as a result. Kids today tend to have a very long school day, particularly if their parents work and they attend daycare programs before or after school. Today's kids also participate in a large number of organized extra-curricular activities. Adding homework to the mix can cause stress for both parent and child, and nothing that prevents a child from getting outside to be active should take up more than a few minutes of his time daily. We have an increasing concern about childhood obesity, about TV watching, and computer or video game use. Keeping a child tied to the kitchen table for hours at a time contributes to all the things that create health issues. Parents who try to balance all the needs of a child end up stuck between a rock and the hard place. It is quite appropriate to be concerned about the amount of homework being done, or to place limits on how long a child should work at home.

Please don't feel pressured to work for hours. Ask for the school's homework policy, or use a published guideline. Recommendations for amount of time devoted to homework assignments vary, but a good rule of thumb is ten minutes per night per grade level. That means a sixth grader should have no more than an hour of homework, whereas a first grader should have no more than ten minutes (you may have to do reading separate at this level if there's written work, but then perhaps you can set a limit of twenty minutes altogether, which is more than plenty.) Whatever policy you use, stick to it! Set a timer and stop the homework when it beeps.

If your child is taking much longer than this to do homework, it's a good idea to speak to the teacher. This can be a problem of unrealistic expectations from the teacher (I found this was especially a problem when teachers assigned five days' homework at the beginning of the week) or of the level of work being too difficult for your child. I can't stress enough that the time taken to complete assignments be tracked. All your child's teacher sees is the completed homework page. She doesn't know if your child did it alone in five minutes, or if it took an hour with close parental supervision and explanation. To get a proper picture of your child's abilities, the teacher needs to know this information, so instead of doing your child's homework it's better to tell the teacher it is taking too long.

Sources:

"How Important Is Homework?" KidSource

"Rethinking Homework" Alfie Kohn