jeanettemarie,
I'm so happy to hear that homework for your son has leveled out. I'm the mom of the girl in the IB program and although her pre-calc is steady homework, other classes seem to come in spurts. She won't have homework for a class for a couple of days and then all of the sudden she gets worksheets for 3 classes. We worked on setting up timeframes for her homework and extra-curricular activities. I just was not going to not let her participate in at least one activity. I make sure she goes to the dances and she goes to some games. I make sure she has fun cuz life is just not all about education. We have plenty of weeks and weekends where my kids are sitting at the table day in and day out doing their homework but in the end, they know they are going to get some fun time too! I just don't want them to get the negative attitudes which so far they haven't, they might complain a little about all the homework but they stay pretty positive for the most part.

I am not sure if this subject is closed or not, but I have the same sitution as you wrote. I have a 14 year son, same amount of homework, honors student, etc. He is nearing the end of the 1 semister and still has a lot of homework. He has always been a straight A student and now is averaging B grades. I think the schools are giving our high school students way too much homework. They need to have a life outside of school and are not allowed to do so. In fact, my son even has week-end homework due every Monday!

Thanks everyone for your replies to my question, "Homework: How much is too much?" I feel very badly for those who are still working over 2-3 hours a night on homework. I hope something can be done to improve this situation.

However, I'm happy to report that my son has far less homework since completing the first few weeks of 9th grade. In addition, it seems he's finding time during class or lunch to complete a good portion of his homework. In response to tropicgal's question, here's a short summary of a typical afternoon's homework...

Driver's Ed ~ "fill in the blank" worksheets which are simply the Driver's Ed Handbook pages with key words left out that need to be filled in (1 full sheet a night, 20 minutes); 1st year Spanish ~ workbook pages (usually finished at school, 10 minutes); Honor's English ~ vocab words and a few Chapters to read of The Soloist or The Odyssey each night (1 hour); Geometry ~ working out problems (1/2 hour); Honor's Biology ~ outlining of textbook sections and projects that require cutting/pasting/drawing of various configurations of atoms, etc. (1/2 hour). Another 1/2 hour can be added in a couple nights a week for test prep.

From an educator's perspective, I think the "fill in the blank" homework for Driver's Ed is of little value. The Spanish worksheets are OK. Math practice is fine with me as long as it's not too lengthy. I love the idea of outlining chapters in Biology (as prep for college). I actually think more brief writing assignments could be added to the Honor's English class.

So...he now has about 2-3 hours of homework a night which is just about right. So far he hasn't had to struggle over homework, which can add a lot more time. Maybe we'll even start up Karate class and youth group again!

Again, thanks to all those who took the time to share! I truly appreciate it!!!

I'm sure there will continue to be much discussion on this topic...

Hi! Like I said in a previous post, my daughter is in the IB program. She is in a pre-calc honors class and has homework each night that she has the class (every other day), she gets worksheets from her IB psychology and history classes (same teacher for both) that cover vocabulary, and dates of happenings, and time frame of psychologists and what they studied and they are significant. Sometimes these worksheets have been up to 3 full pages. The poor thing is doing a worksheet for IB biology now and still has pre-calc and psychology to do. I know the purpose of these worksheets is to prepare them to be able to write intellectually about topics they will be asked on the IB tests at the end of the school year. They are essay tests. I do monitor and ask her to show me what she is doing even if I don't understand the subject she is working on at the time and when its due. I do hope the worksheets help the students to learn the subjects deeply which is what they need to be able to pass these rigorous essay tests.

I have a problem trying to imagine what the assignments could be, night after night, that are being assined that take up so much time. Seems like the teachers would have a problem keeping up with grading such lengthy, constant assignments.

Can somebody give us some examples of the homework assignments for one evening?

Often, when parents notice that homework seems far more time-consuming than one would expect, the problem isn't just the length, it's the substance of what the homework IS.

A crucial factor that wasn't mentioned in the question is the nature of the homework. Is the homework of a kind that actually teaches, or reinforces teaching? Or, is it project-oriented fluff that adds little to learning? A poster or PowerPoint presentation or a diorama can easily take hours of work, although typically they have little educational value. Mindless mush like making an artwork for "social studies" or writing a touchie-feelie essay for math class are also time sinks that teach little.

I think it all depends on what school they go to also. I can totally feel your pain though. My daughter is in the IB program and was up til 10:30 last night doing homework. The weekend before last she had 12 hours of homework because I did keep track of the time she spent doing homework and I help her divide it up between Sat & Sun. Some weekends she has less but most weekends she has 6 to 8 hrs of homework. One thing I do like is they are on the A/B days so the homework is every other day for all classes unless its a research project or something similar. I do make sure she gets her fun time. Why does she have so much homework on the weekends? She also practices for a cheer competition team 7 hrs a week during the week nights so I really help her organize her time for homework, practice and family/fun time with friends. Kids have it pretty rough these days. I didn't even go thru this as a teen. My daughter is college bound and has her sights set on the UofU.

last year my youngest daughter got a group of teachers who didn't assign homework...except for a very very rare occassion. If they teach it in class, maybe they need to let them do extra work at the end of class, so any questions can be asked of their "teachers", who have the answers, or who can tell them how to get the answers. I don't know about the rest of the class, but my child did fantastic! And, her home life was like a childs life should be like when they come home. Such as...down time, with a snack, helping to prepare a meal..which involves another type of learning, helping with other chores, and plain just being so darned un-stressed. It was fantastic not to have to worry about that. Her test grades for the big tests showed above average in everything. The 9th grader on the other hand...she's a worrier, so written essays take all night, and days to get done. Sometimes even needing to be late for school just to be able to finish an essay. I think she over thinks things. I hate late nights, the kids are suppose to get 10 hours a sleep a night...and they truly NEED it, but factor in school, getting ready for school, getting to school, time home from school, eating, bathroom essentials, and what do you have? Out of time, and need more hours in the day. Forget the fact they are children, not robots. They get frustrated, surly, tired, sick, and just need their own time, but there is nothing left for them after the schools and parents get done with them for the day. I say the homework needs to be nixed, they get taught all day long, when they get home, it's the parents job to teach them what they need to know to survive on their own, chores and cooking...and so on. I do not bring my work home with me...when I'm working, and neither does my husband...and he always works. Homework needs a standard per each school.

Yeah I feel your pain. My child on the other hand is so overwhelmed that a few times he have stayed up till 11:00p.m. THAT's rediculus!!!! What happen if the child needs some help... forget it; It might be not 4 hours but close to six. And that's only 9th grade!!!
ABSURED=

And then I have another view that the increased homework load might be the fallout from us and teachers wanting our kids be in ALL honors or AP classes or even dual enrollment, in the race towards college admissions. Maybe we forget that the advanced level of these classes demands more work. There is probably a world of difference between earning all A's in 8th grade and then being placed in all honors and/or AP classes in 9th.

I wish I had some answers for you because there's got to be a balance between my daughter's "no homework" and your son's nightly 4 hours.

I almost wish my daughter had this problem. Many teachers and administrators in our school district don't assign homework because they find that many kids don't do it anyway. So let's dumb down ALL the kids, huh? And their excuse is that studies have shown that not much is gained by homework. I know my personal educational experience does not bear that out.

But anyway, I don't think I'd have a problem with 2-3 hours of homework every evening. If it starts going over 4 hours EVERY night, it seems like that's a sure road to burn out. Is it possibly too rigorous an academic program for him? Have you taken a look at what the actual assignments are? Have him do his homework in an open area in your house for a couple of days to see what he is actually doing for 4 hours. Is it a lot of reading? Tons of writing or projects? How is he approaching it and are there any steps he can eliminate?

Good luck to him.

Why do kids need cell phones on them at all times?
I agree with the time management, and lack of for some kids. And, my child tries to the extreme to get her work right, I think she "overthinks".
My kids do not have cell phone, most of their friends do, so my kids can call me if need be on their phones, and I'm not stuck with another bill they can run up.
The club joining, some of them, if you don't join as a freshman, then it's sometimes impossible to join later, as the other kids have a head start.

Forget those guidelines, it is all individual and if he's in honors classes those guidelines are totally mute. Honors basically doubles the amount of work. High school now is like college was to me, the course work is grueling. My 9th grade daughter is in all honors classes, gets home around 4 and doesn't finish homework until maybe 8 or 8:30.

I think that students, especially freshmen, aren't using their school down-time effectively. My daughter has lunch and then study hall, so 2 free periods in a row 3x a week, but she doesn't study in study hall, she sits and draws. Her friends just run their mouths all period and they all got bad grades on their progress reports while my daughter got all A's.

I think it is simply a time-management thing. Freshmen too often make the mistake of joining every club and sport imaginable right away instead of getting their feet under them first and then branching off to other things.

You do have to consider that your son is beginning not to like school and that could be detrimental to his success. I don't think lightening his academic load will benefit him; take a good look at where he's expected to complete his work, clear out the distractions and help him get better organized. I'm doing that with my own children.

Another thing that many parents may not be aware of - take their cell phones away at bed time, they are up half the night texting each other. It is ridiculous!!

I've had a problem with endless homework, for years. Many kids have volunteer hours after school, extra-curricular activites..ie; student governemtn, academia, marching band, & women's ensemble, mock trial, and so on...and this is just a few things my 9th grader is trying to do..and keep up with homework. She has very little down time. where does it end? What do we pull the plug on? She's doing well, but talk about time management! She is also gifted, and doing above grade level work, at least she's not doing the AP classes yet. I get her mid-term today...I will then see how she is doing for sure.

Homework questions have been asked often in recent years - even Oprah devoted a show to it. I'd recommend a new book on the subject called The Myth of Homework by Alfie Kohn. As a teacher and a parent, I watched more and more homework being assigned with each passing year. As does everything else, education also has fads and large amount of homework is the current fad though increasingly people are coming to question it.
Even if teachers are not. A well run school should have a homework policy - that policy should be written down in your school's handbook or guidelines - but many schools don't have a homework policy and teachers are free to do what they want. In my experience as a teacher, it's rare for teachers to coordinate their assignments so most teachers are very unaware of how much total homework has been assigned.

Three hours of homework in my opinion is too much but many teachers would heatedly disput that. I think after a young person has spent the day in school, they should indeed have down time in the evening. Some schools have a policy that says 10 minutes per grade so that by 9th grade your son would have 90 minutes of homework.

I'd think 90 minutes would be plenty. My own sons found the first year of high school truly crushing at first - it was as if teachers wanted the transition to feel very hard and we found as the year went on, they assigned somewhat less homework. But to help my sons keep up and to keep their spirits up, I helped them with their homework even in highschool. Even with help, they easily had 3 hours every night, sometimes 4. I was very open to them with my feelings that this was way too much homework and that their teachers were not in the right in assigning so much homework. I asvised them not to question their teachers however - as a teacher, I find many teachers to react very defensively when questioned about their policies and practices.
So we 'bit the bullet' and did the homework. Until intelligent change comes to schools and they rethink their thoughtless approach to homework, I couldn't see that we had another choice. It helped me to read books like The Myth of Homework by Alfie Kohn and before that The End of Homework by John Buell. When you read those books, you'll not it's not you but it's the system that's crazy.
Good luck.

My daughter just graduated from high school (a private Catholic school). She started out with honors English in 9th grade. By her senior year, she continued her honors English, but added AP classes to her curriculum.

I can tell you this, she was up late most nights doing homework, in addition to doing homework on the weekend, which included projects. She had to stop reading for pleasure, and didn't have a lot of time to be with friends.

Much is expected from high school kids; in addition to all that, many high schools encourage students to participate in community activities, as well. She's been taking it easy this summer, since she'll be starting college in the fall, with a full load.

Starting high school is a big adjustment. It may take your son some time to get used to things. Hopefully, he'll be able to adjust and his workload will be more manageable, now that he's taking a regular Biology class.

My son's school handbook gave similar guidelines to your son's, or about 10 minutes per grade for "regular" classes....a 9th grader might expect 90 minutes or so on average. For students taking honors or advanced classes, the expectation was somewhat higher, and I don't think the time estimate included long-term project work. (ie, if a student had a book report due in a couple of weeks, it was a given that the book would need to be read first, and that usually was in addition to other nightly homework that a teacher might assign.)

My son always took longer than average for his homework, but he's a gifted kid who also has ADHD and dyslexia, so any "norms" were meaningless to us. I wonder if your son might be a perfectionist? My neighbor's bright daughter used to spend hours on her assignments, and the mom (also a former teacher) noted that she probably could've finished her assignments quicker, but the daughter would rewrite a problem or paper if she missed a step or made any misspelling, etc because she didn't want the teacher to see any corrections. She wanted the first impression to be one of excellence....