Seems like just yesterday my kids were in kindergarten, but they grow up fast. Almost as fast as the hours of school homework per day multiplies. In about third grade my husband and I noticed that their homework load was growing. That's when I began to wonder if my kids would burn out before they even reached middle school.
Homework overload is not a new concept. Fed up parents have been working to change the way schools operate for years. Why should more parents reconsider the homework load? Homework in vast quantities does not guarantee your child will be more successful. In fact, there is very little research supporting the value of hours and hours of homework.
A recent review of homework by Duke University found "almost no correlation between homework and long-term achievement in elementary school, and only a moderate correlation in middle school," according to Nancy Kalish at Parenting.com.
Homework guidelines endorsed by the National Education Association suggest that teachers should assign no more than 10 minutes per grade level per night. That means the levels of homework for a fifth grader would be 50 minutes per day, 90 minutes for a ninth grader, and about 2 hours for a high school senior.
It's sad to watch my ninth grader still working on homework after 11 P.M. He is taking a heavy class load with many honors classes and he also participates in extra-curricular activities. When his homework load is four or more hours a night, burn out is inevitable. There are not enough hours in the day to get it all done. And forget about getting enough sleep. (Remember, even though they are older, both middle and high school students still need a lot of sleep.)
I am not asking for no homework, but I wish teachers would look at the research on homework.
The bottom line: "More is not better," says Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience who conducted the review at Duke University.
What you can do
If your kids are suffering from too much homework, I am guessing other parents in your school are noticing their kids are getting too much homework too. Here are a few of my suggestions on battling homework overload, plus tips from Parenting.com:
- Consider organizing a homework forum with other parents at your school, or if you have kids in several grades, then think big and organize a homework forum for your school district.
- Document how much time your kids spend on homework per night for a week or two. Compare this with the NEA homework guidelines. Use this information when you talk to other parents, teachers and administrators.
- Conduct a sample survey of parents to document how much homework the kids do each day. Here is a great sample homework survey from Parenting.com.
- Check out the online resources by less-homework advocate Sara Bennett at Stop Homework.com.
Image: WALKING TO SCHOOL photo used with permission by the talented photographer D Sharon Pruitt.
