Homework Question

[UESparent]

I have a child who is spending approximately 3-5 hours a night on homework. After speaking to other parents their children are also spending about the same time or more. I wanted to know what is the national average or the expected time a child this age should be spending on homework. I know the average attention span is near 20-30 minutes at most for this age group. Please help because we have several frustrated parents because our Board of Education will not listen to us.


Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[RockRose]

I completely agree with JD.  

I went to your profile and you don't say how old your child is,  or what UES parent might mean,  so there may be other information.

I live in one of the top school districts in the nation,  and we've been through some real issues with too much homework - there was a time when middle schoolers couldn't possibly participate in extracurricular activities because of hours and hours of homework after a grueling day at school.  

Could you elaborate on what you're talking about - age of child and school expectations?

[jdtm]

I believe the homework amount most boards of education suggest is "10 minutes per night per grade".  So, if a child is in Grade 5, then the homework should be about 50 minutes.  As a retired teacher, I believe this to be a reasonable amount.  

Now, of course, I'm not talking about students who have missed classes for whatever reason - illness, sports, activities, vacation, etc.  They should be expected to complete the same amount of work as the other students in the class.  Also children who "goof off" in class and do not complete their assignments during the school day should be expected to complete this work - at home or during recess, etc.