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My daughter, a great student who graduated Magna *** Laude from NCSU in 1990, got so much homework in Jersey that she had to work from 4 till 10PM to get it done on many nights.
When we visited the middle school on open school night, we were rushed from class to class so we could feel the way our students were rushed. Not even time to visit the john.
NC was a whole lot better than NJ and she learned just as much.
Too much homework kills physical activity and isn't a good thing.
PS: filter blocked middle word in magna c-u-m laude. Guess it feels the word has a sexual connotation.
My children attend Central Park School for Children (charter) in Durham which has a no homework policy. The only requirement is that each child is to be read to or read 30 minutes each day. My eldest son has just started attending a charter middle school and the shift to having homework has not been a problem. CPFC and I both feel that not being restricted by homework encourages all kinds of activites one can learn a lot more from. Time with family is just as important. The question is why can't the work be completed at school? If the traditional schools didn't rush students from one thing to another so much they could study subjects in more depth. Handing out work sheet shows a lack of creativity on teachers part.
My second grader now has at minimum an hour of homework per night ususally closer to 2 hours.
She does it at the dining room table with my husband or myself so there are no distractions.
We recently moved here from Oregon and the difference in the 2 school systems are night and day.
She used to have fun, used to be excited about school and was "exceeding grade level" on every single report card.
I like everything about our move here except choosing Greenhope for her school.
I am glad it's not just our family that's experiencing this but am unsure what to do at this stage.
We've tried talking to her teacher a number of times now and she says "that's what the county expects". She makes me feel like my daughter is suddenly borderline retarded (for lack of a better phrase).
Any advice would be appreciated.
My second grader now has at minimum an hour of homework per night ususally closer to 2 hours.
She does it at the dining room table with my husband or myself so there are no distractions.
We recently moved here from Oregon and the difference in the 2 school systems are night and day.
She used to have fun, used to be excited about school and was "exceeding grade level" on every single report card.
I like everything about our move here except choosing Greenhope for her school.
I am glad it's not just our family that's experiencing this but am unsure what to do at this stage.
We've tried talking to her teacher a number of times now and she says "that's what the county expects". She makes me feel like my daughter is suddenly borderline retarded (for lack of a better phrase).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
NC gal, I'm so sorry to hear this!! While I feel my second grader was learning just as much in Oregon he is doing more homework here in Durham Co. But not 2 hours. That is CRAZY!!! Other than the nightly reading I personally think 99% his homework is just busy work. I agree w/ Moxie about the worksheets lacking creativity!!! In Oregon, he would bring home games to play that taught math concepts... that was math homework. Thus far we have only seen worksheets.
We miss having time to hang out at OMSI or the Zoo or library after school. We also miss just playing in the mud after school. (Who knew I'd miss the mud...well, I don't miss the mess.)
Here in Preschool my daughter is doing some of the same handwriting and letter sound activities that my son did Kindergarten in Oregon. And what kills me is she is expected to want to do this!!! She's 4, she wants to play dolls or build something. I'm frustrated w/ this drive to teach kids more and more earlier and earlier. My husband and I were joking today that some researcher in RTP is going to figure out how to teach children to read in utero. I'll spare you the jokes. But it seems that in all this drivenness and competive sports environment kids are missing out on the basics.... like getting dirty.... learning by exploring the world with a parent... and just being a kid.
There was another thread where teachers (some) were complaining about the amount of work they have to do an not getting paid enough to do it. Maybe if they gave out less homework they would have less to grade giving them less work hours during the week.
To the person who blamed homework for children being obese that has little to nothing to do with it. Try looking and the junk kids eat. A child's metabolism 9 times out of ten from the age of 4 - 10 is usually high enough to the point where if they eat healthy they will be of normal weight. The problem is that children do not metabolize the crap that their parents feed them as well as adults and they pack on pounds easier than teenagers do. Should they have time to run around an have fun? Of course but don't blame homework. I don't see a weight issue in the other countries in which kids are a) smarter, b) attend school longer than our kids c) have more in and out of school work than our kids and d) are more technologically advanced to the point that yes they do socialize with friends online. The world is changing towards technology so if you want your kids behind the times then you let them be there. You just have to be careful of who your kids are instant messaging with.
My older daughter is in first grade and she has alot of home work per night. She usually has three seperate tasks to complete. Some mathematical problems, writing, twenty pages of reading.
Our country has gone crazy. Let our kids be kids. Of course they need to work hard in school, not at home. That is why we get them up early and rush them off to school, to learn. Not so they can come home with these study at home cut-outs from a teacher's cheat book.
Parent's are doing atleast 50% of the teaching to their children.
Sometimes, my wife and I wonder if she should stay home and home school.
LKN, not true here, she has to complete her work every night, not by Friday
No matter how hard we push kids, it has no bearing on them going to college. Some will continue their education past the required sixteen years of age and others will drop out.
We should be teaching our Children. My oldest is in the 1st grad too. 20 pages of reading first grade level is not that hard.
My son just gets his homework Monday night and we have until Friday to complete.
I like the model of getting homework on a Monday and due on Friday. Our school it's due daily. If my second grader doesn't turn it in then he doesn't get recess... he has to walk the track instead. While I don't mind the idea of walking my child would be mortified with embrassment if he had to do the walk of shame.
BTW, by saying 20 pages of reading is not that hard for a first grader you are assuming all children develope at the same rate. They don't. In first grader my son had friends who were doing 4th grade math but reading 20 pages a night would have been very difficult for them.
I do not think 20 pages is average for first grade. I've had 3 kids go through WCPSS and one is a first grader. SHe gets about 20 pages of reading, but reads at a 4th grade level. They test the kids for their reading levels and assign reading levels and books based on that. The higher your child scores, the longer and more difficult the books. If it's too much, just say something. I felt some of the books they send my daughter are too long for her attention span even though she can actually read them. She looses interest and it makes reading a chore. She actually told me tonight that after she finishes college, she will never read another book again .
I just mentioned it to the teacher and she has altered her reading list to shorter books.
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no homework
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