6 pages of fraction homework last night for 2nd grade granddaughter.

[Blue Diadem]

I was helping her with it. She does well but became overwhelmed 1/2 way through. We took a break and then got back to it.

Neither my daughter or I remember her or my other kids ever having that much homework until maybe Jr. High/middle school. I don't know if the increased homework is because of No child left behind or what..it just seemed like too much for a 7 yr old.

Anyone else experience that much homework with children that young?

[Quakerfriend]

1. Yes! My 14-year-old had SOOOO much homework in 2nd

grade that I thought I was going to go nuts! He has NEVER had so much since (now in 8th grd.
But, looking back I'd say that his 2nd grade teacher gave him the very best skills to go forward with. He does very, very well.

His homework often took him 4 hours to complete each night, in 2nd grade. What I did to make it go by smoothly was to play a game. We would set a timer to see how quickly he could do each section of work. And, I would reward his excellent work with little things- rent a movie, go for a water ice etc. For some reason, he just loved this! And, thank god because otherwise it just seemed like work, work, work. It involved a lot of writing. Since 2nd grade, he has never had anywhere near as much homework.

Hope it gets easier for her!;)

[Blue Diadem]

4. She's had quite a bit even in Kindergarten,

but I think this was the most for any one subject at one time. In prior years, homework was nightly. This year it's 2-3 days a week, but more homework on those days.

I like your idea for the reward. I'll have to try that in the future. She did appreciate the break and seemed refreshed when she went back to her work.

[Omphaloskepsis]

2. It seems odd...

that a seven year old kid is doing work with fractions at all. Is this a public school?

[Blue Diadem]

3. Yes it is.

They've been working on fractions for a few weeks straight now having touched on a bit of it around Christmas. I remember that because we used measuring cups when we were making cookies to help her out.

[Left Is Write]

13. My daughter's class is doing fractions right now. They are first graders.

[Auggie]

5. I believe kids in India and China have tougher schedules than that

The global work force is going to be very competitive 20 years from now

[The2ndWheel]

6. Have they asked her to pick a career yet?

No, she was probably born too early for that. Her daughter will need to know in 1st grade though. Her daughter will need to know in the womb. Her daughter will have it programmed into her, so that she won't be overwhelmed. One less thing to worry about.

The thing about childhood is that it's very inefficient. In a world with free time more organized and structured everyday, and billions of people ready to bend at will, childhood does need to be phased out. If anything, you're granddaughter is this much closer to being obsolete because she didn't have 7 pages to do.

[skygazer]

12. It's odd, isn't it?

Back in the 17th century or so, childhood as we know it didn't really exist. Children were thought of as little adults and if you read accounts of young nobility, they had incredible amounts of stuff to learn before the age of 10 - Greek, Latin, 12 other languages, philosophy, you name it.

Then the Victorians decided to start celebrating childhood and letting kids be kids. When I was growing up in the 60's, I don't ever remember having homework in grade school. In fact, that was rather a bad thing because when I got into junior high and they started assigning it, I had no study skills and struggled with homework.

But now, the wheel seems to have come full circle and kids' lives are so structured with parents signing them up for nursery school before they're even born and structuring every minute of their day with lessons and events, as well as the tons of homework.

Isn't there a happy medium somewhere?

[The2ndWheel]

15. That cycle probably is the medium

And the closer we get to the edge of the scale(either way), the more likely it is that we head on back the other way. We can never stay exactly in the middle(or on either edge), since there is no perfect state to existence.

It's not just one scale, it's a whole system of interlocking scales that drive us crazy. If we want to be more productive(in the economic sense), there needs to be more structure. Too much structure and you want to break free, but you won't be as economically productive. Throw in population, health, war, taxes, consumption, this and that, the whole of life, and here we are, spinning around star with no destination and no way to get there.

[Shine]

7. Yes, don't get me started....

:eyes: It's insane, although a lot of what/how much get assigned depends on the teacher, I've found.

[tigereye]

10. most of the research says that homework makes very little difference

in the long run.

Some practice is fine, but I really think it's WAY too much.

[Shine]

14. I totally agree.

:hi: :hug:
what's also surprising is how much earlier they start in on complicated math. My 4th grader is doing pre-algebra!

[tigereye]

17. well, that part makes more sense than so much homework

my son had lots of writing practice in 3rd grade ( it paid off, his writing skills are impressive now) and has been exposed to math way ahead of what I remember, including pre-algebra. I think the early exposure makes sense, so that kids are not overwhelmed when they get to algebra. geometry, etc. 5th graders at our school are doing 6th grade math, basically, and it reminds me more of what I had in jr high (and I was in advanced classes!)

Hey how are ya? What's new?

:pals: :hi:

[Shine]

18. I'm cycling like a maniac these days.

I just got back from a 37 mile ride up and down Mt. Hamilton, it's basically the highest point in the Silicon Valley. The Lick Observatory is at the very top. Over 4,700 ft of climbing! OMG, I'd never done it before and it totally kicked my ass, seriously. I'm completely spent right now.

Other than that, I'm doing pretty great. We're coming up on our choir's big Spring Concert next w/e and I've got a solo, so I'm pretty stoked. My first one, ever.

:bounce:


:pals: :loveya: Thanks for asking, tigereye. I'm sending you all my best wishes for a fabulous Mother's Day Weekend. I'm planning to milk it for all it's worth! :D

:hi:

[tigereye]

8. thats a lot for that age

should be 10 minutes per grade.

I had to complain about too much hw when my son was in 3rd grade.

I really don't think working all day, and then being tired and overwhelmed help kids to learn. :shrug: THey need time to play and be kids.

[Debi]

9. My son is a Senior and has technically 5 days of school left

There will be no final tests, just in class assignments...SO HE GOT HOMEWORK last night :wow: If he skipped class for the next five days (and I called in and excused him) or didn't hand in any work for the next five days he would still graduate on the 27th. How silly is homework with five days of school left???

[malta blue]

11. My 2nd grader gets about 2 hours a night, mon-thurs.

And she has tests and book reports due on Fridays. She whizzes through it, and I let her break it up into sections so it is not all at one shot. The part that is hard for her is the 45 minutes of reading. It is hard for her to find a book that is acceptable by the school and that takes her 45 minutes to read. I have gotten the teacher to agree to let her read magazines at that time also.

[hedgehog]

16. My two youngest are in high school, and boy am I glad!

Her cousins in grammar school get crazy amounts of homework. What's really bad are the time wasting projects the teachers in English and Social Studies come up with! 10th Grade Honors World History: "Write a first person account of your experiences of World War 11 as a Jewish person experiencing gristliest and the concentration camps". This was one week's homework BTW, not a term length project. I blew my top at that assignment and the teacher accepted my compromise of a factual report covering the same territory. My senior in English 12 is now assigned to write a children's book complete with illustrations and an analysis of the characters as "flat" or "round"! My sister helps her 5th grader with his homework and I can't begin to describe the amount of time and effort that goes into analyzing essentially trivial stories.

Spending all that time on homework is bad enough, putting so much time and effort into activities which don't teach is a crime. Reading of many different short stories, poems, novels and solid historical essays has been replaced with busy work.

[conscious evolution]

19. Drill fractions into her brain now.

It will make math easier for her down the road.

[KitchenWitch]

20. That seems to be rather excessive

Unless it is a week's worth of fraction homework - for one day, that is WAYYYYY too much.