I am thankful that even though dd 8th grade seems to be in an environment that would breed this type of excessive hw, she doesn't appear to actually have excessive hw. I don't think it takes her more than an hour, some nights less, and even with instrument practice and not getting home until 5 she still has time to watch her favorite shows and get enough sleep. I hear it will suck big time next year with the volume of work in the AP classes. I think it will be a very rude awakening. But I don't think increasing the volume now to prepare for it is the answer.