I totally understand ABQMom's POV, but I think third (in my DD's case, second) grade is too young for this. There's time later, in middle and high school, to make homework significant and serious. For now, jeez, they're little. They need downtime and playtime.

In answer to the OP's question, yes. We have too much homework here, and I do feel trapped. DD has about an hour a day, on average, and with the exception of the writing, she works quite fast. We have none on weekends still, thank goodness.