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Parent Answers to "How much is too much homework for a 3rd grader?"
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Thank you very much! You being a teacher who understands that you can actually "over-clog" an 8 year olds mind is AWESOME! I will research the articles this weekend when I have some time. I really feel that the bulk of the homework and what is being giving to our children in elementary is out of line! What we are doing, I don't remember doing until at least 7th or 8th grade. Our children are going to end up disliking school. It is no wonder so many drop out or revert to homeschool - especially with the TASK junk.
My husband
Thank you for being a voice - even if other teachers don't agree with you. I think parents need to start standing up for our children, our future!
My husband
Thank you for being a voice - even if other teachers don't agree with you. I think parents need to start standing up for our children, our future!
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My 3rd grader spends, 20-30 mins on average everyday on his homework. He has to log 20 min of reading on top of the homework. I personally believe any more than 20 min on homework is not right especially when these kids (elementary) spend 7 hours at school already!
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I teach 3rd grade and my students only have about 15-20 minutes PER WEEK!!!
I do assign special projects after a long unit but the research states that homework for elementary age students is not effective, more so, it can be harmful! Think about it, if a child is spending 30 minutes every night practicing a skill and they are doing it wrong, they are actually ingraining the incorrect skill. It takes extensive reteaching to correct a wrong habit. It's better to perform the practice with supervision by the teacher.
Spelling is a differrent story altogether. Please never, ever hav eyour child just copy and recopy the words. It does nothing but make them hate it. it is boring so they tune it out and just write a column of the first letter, another column of the second letter, etc. Engage their brain. I have my class balance a waterfilled baggie on their head as they write words on the board in their freetime. It is hard to concentrate while trying to keep that baggie on your head but they LOVE it. I also make every sentence on the spelling test about cookies no matter what the word. Then we celebrate with a cookie after our test.
My master's degree project was on spelling and my post graduate work was on homework. Here are 3 articles to read and send to school. They are all available online.
Kohn, Alfie. “Rethinking Homework” Principal, January/February 2007.
Kohn, Alfie. “The Truth About Homework” Education Week, September 6, 2006.
Waldman, Ayelet. “Homework Hell” Salon.com October 22, 2005.
Lastly, when students go on vacation (which I don't endorse) and they ask for work ahead of time, I always say "No. Have fun with your family." These times are important too. They will be able to write about their experiences and gain a better understanding if they are not ignoring the scenery, local history or geography in order to fill out worksheets.
This is my opinion. Not all teachers will agree with me.
I do assign special projects after a long unit but the research states that homework for elementary age students is not effective, more so, it can be harmful! Think about it, if a child is spending 30 minutes every night practicing a skill and they are doing it wrong, they are actually ingraining the incorrect skill. It takes extensive reteaching to correct a wrong habit. It's better to perform the practice with supervision by the teacher.
Spelling is a differrent story altogether. Please never, ever hav eyour child just copy and recopy the words. It does nothing but make them hate it. it is boring so they tune it out and just write a column of the first letter, another column of the second letter, etc. Engage their brain. I have my class balance a waterfilled baggie on their head as they write words on the board in their freetime. It is hard to concentrate while trying to keep that baggie on your head but they LOVE it. I also make every sentence on the spelling test about cookies no matter what the word. Then we celebrate with a cookie after our test.
My master's degree project was on spelling and my post graduate work was on homework. Here are 3 articles to read and send to school. They are all available online.
Kohn, Alfie. “Rethinking Homework” Principal, January/February 2007.
Kohn, Alfie. “The Truth About Homework” Education Week, September 6, 2006.
Waldman, Ayelet. “Homework Hell” Salon.com October 22, 2005.
Lastly, when students go on vacation (which I don't endorse) and they ask for work ahead of time, I always say "No. Have fun with your family." These times are important too. They will be able to write about their experiences and gain a better understanding if they are not ignoring the scenery, local history or geography in order to fill out worksheets.
This is my opinion. Not all teachers will agree with me.
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Our youngest son is in the 4th grade and they are telling me that he is having a hard time paying attention in the classroom. He does real well in the morning, but by afternoon he has lost interest. If they can't help him keep focused and learn how to study in school, how do they expect us to get him to want to set down and study for an additional 45 min each night? I do not agree with homework more than a couple times a week other than spelling and reading in the elementary schools. If we are going to really teach our children the really important information they need for life, they need to know the three R from school and the parents should be teaching other information to help round off their child's education such as diet, exercise, family time, school sports, chores and proper hygiene (just to begin). My sons get on the bus between 6:45 and 7:04 and they get home after 3:00. By the time he gets home he has put in a 8 hour day!
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My daughter spends anywhere from 1 1/2 - 3 hours a night (Mon - Thurs) doing homework. We also begin working on her practice spelling test and the required spelling activities on Sunday afternoon - thankfully the teacher sends home the spelling list on Friday for the following week. If this didn't happen, we'd be even longer doing homework!
I feel this is way too much for a 3rd grader! I can understand going over spelling words and reading, but this NEW WAY of math - that is ridiculous! We spend quite a bit of time with the math papers and trying to figure out if she came up with the correct answer or not. The new way of figuring out what 2 + 2 is only if you are going to be some type of an Engineer or a career similar. To this day, I don't utilize what they are teaching right now.
Her homework starts about 20 minutes after arriving at daycare and lasts about 30 minutes; she can't focus on reading there. So, reading, working on spelling, etc, is done when we get home; usually from 5:00 pm until it is finished - can be right up until bedtime; which is 8:30. My husband
I mean, we do not do extra curricular activities - we wouldn't have time if we wanted to!!
I am trying to find something in the "legals" to state how much homework should be given/allowed in 3rd grade.
I'm finished with school - 20 years ago! I think that I need to go back now though just to learn the "new way" so we can help our daughter; otherwise.....I don't know.
I feel this is way too much for a 3rd grader! I can understand going over spelling words and reading, but this NEW WAY of math - that is ridiculous! We spend quite a bit of time with the math papers and trying to figure out if she came up with the correct answer or not. The new way of figuring out what 2 + 2 is only if you are going to be some type of an Engineer or a career similar. To this day, I don't utilize what they are teaching right now.
Her homework starts about 20 minutes after arriving at daycare and lasts about 30 minutes; she can't focus on reading there. So, reading, working on spelling, etc, is done when we get home; usually from 5:00 pm until it is finished - can be right up until bedtime; which is 8:30. My husband
I mean, we do not do extra curricular activities - we wouldn't have time if we wanted to!!
I am trying to find something in the "legals" to state how much homework should be given/allowed in 3rd grade.
I'm finished with school - 20 years ago! I think that I need to go back now though just to learn the "new way" so we can help our daughter; otherwise.....I don't know.
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