This is a cross-post, but I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of some kind of "benchmark" for the amount of time a child should be spending on homework. My daughter "Buggy" transferred to a private school this year, and this is her first year of formal homework (other than when I was supplementing her at home to keep her interest up).
I seem to remember something like a certain number of minutes per grade level, but I could be wrong. She completed her week's worth of homework in about an hour. Of course, it's only the first week, and they may be easing them into it. I am trying to find the right level of challenge for her so she can learn to apply herself, but yet not overwhelm her.

Any ideas?

Celia

Celia,
I don't think time is the best measure for homework since it takes different children different lengths of time to do the same amount of work. My daughter (2nd grade) often completes her homework in a few short minutes while it takes other children in her class longer to do the same assignment. Gifted kids can usually get through their homework pretty quickly.

I'm not a big homework fan anyway. I figure kids spend 7 hours a day in school why not do something different when they get home. I choose to provide after-school challenges for my daughter through activities such as music and art. I think she has learned more about the value of applying herself through having to practice her piano than through doing homework. The piano is harder for her. Sometimes even a good educational adventure game can provide her more of a challenge than a homework assignment.

Your first grader sat for an hour and worked productivly - WoW! That's so cool. An hour a week sounds good to me for a first grader.

Try to keep the issue of educational challenge level seperate from the homework time.


It sounds like your daughter is willing to accept "afterschooling" from you, and I'd encourage you to celebrate that your child isn't getting 'MOTS' (more of the same) and design an afterschooling program for the two of you. Davidson's homeschool list is a wonderful resource and very receptive to "afterschoolers."

finding the right challenge level is very important, and one of our biggest family goals for DS10, but, if your child is willing to afterschool, then let that be the place where she gets that experience. (Do you deserve more from the school? Of course - but short of moving to Nevada, your time may be better spend with direct instructing, or setting up mentorships, than advocating within the school at this moment.) Later, when your daughter won't do afterschooling with you, or is getting frustrated with what school does offer, then you will be in a position where you have to get the school to provide that challenge level.

Best Wishes,
Trinity

Thanks ladies. I will wait and see how this month goes. I asked Buggy if she thought her new school was harder, easier, or about the same, and she answered "I wouldn't say I'm struggling, but it's at the right level for me now." That's the best indicator for me, at least for now. At her other Montessori school, they were wanting to keep her with her age-mates. We were faced with either advocating for her there, or finding a school that extended further up in grades. We chose the latter.--Celia

The rule of thumb my town uses is 10 - 15 minutes per grade per night. This means somewhere between 1 - 1 1/2 hours per night by the time the student is in 6th grade.

Still, as others have pointed out, what might take the average child one hour to finish might only take your YS 15 minutes.

Time and work-load aren't necessarily correlated. When my ds was in elementary school, he spent an hour on his spelling homework of writing the words three times each. It took so very long because it was so very boring, he couldn't stay on task.

It was only after years of homeschooling, and then him finding his own motivation to get things done in a more timely manner, that he actually has (re)learned to focus. This will be the first year he will be attending school (just math and science) in a long time, so I am wondering how it will turn out. I know someone who has a son at the same program, and from what she said, her son sounds PG; he spends 20-30 minutes a day on that homework, but she had been asked about it by the school, since so many parents were complaining that their child was spending 2-3 hours a night on it. So in that case, it depends on the ability of the child, too.

I personally think our country has gone homework crazy -- "See what a great school we are, we give the kids X number of hours of homework a day!" If they were doing a great job, the kids wouldn't have to learn the material at home....

I love it when my kids have no homework. Yes, I know they will have to cope with it later, but they are first and third grades now and I think it is wonderful for them not to have to deal with it now.

Besides, homework tends to be more of the same thing that they get in school all day.... which is to say, they don't really get much from it.

Just my opinion....
Mary

I saw that reforcusing in my DS14 when he entered jr. high. He finally just "got it" and hit his stride. It has been 3 years now and he is still doing very well.

That said, I'm going to ask that Mite's IEP reduces homework time. Last year we could spend HOURS on spelling. ugh. ugh. ugh.