Is homework beneficial?

Question

My 5 year old kindergartener has at least an hour to an hour and half of homework a night. I have to wonder if the time spent on homework would be better spent with family doing recreational activities. She is very bright but I feel that at times she has begun to dislike the time consuming assignments and turn off her interest to them. I have been reading studies that suggest that homework doesn't actually help children and in some cases may turn a child off to learning.

What do you think? Is homework something that needs to be done away with or is it still a valuable tool?

Answer 1

1 hr - 1.5 hr. too much... is she struggling?

My Kindergartner gets one 5 minutes assignment each day . (can take him as long as 20 min. max) because of lack of focus... he will want to draw or doodle on his homework sheet. Generally his assignment is just practice writting letters. Or the end of the week may receive a pamphlet of 5 sheets of work he did not complete in class (once). Friday's he brings home a poetry folder and Thurs. an easy read book on loan for 1wk.

You may want to discuss with teacher what is a more reasonable expectation for your daughter. Just have your little one do what she can and send back a note each day if necessary explaining how much time was spent and ask teacher to contact you to discuss ideas to help coach her along, if need be. ((These may be class works she did not finish up for the day?? )) Ask teacher what her performance is in class, and work with that.
I find with my son, it is as if 'a light goes on' he just gets one day after having struggled w/ it a little the week before.
Best wishes. I believe Homework is important, as it will be necessary in years ahead, and this year sets the ground work and should be just the basics at this point. Should not be a struggle, but can be until a routine is established.

We celebrate w/ new pencils and earasers. A new desk lamp and organizer, for small accomplishments. Try to set a same time of day to practice writting. (usually just before dinner.)

Answer 2

Sounds too much for a kid at primary school. My child gets home work on Monday. But she would finish the weekly homework (designed for 4 days) in 30 minutes, so it's no problem. That does not mean other kids can do that. They may need a whole week to so that same home work. It's hard to tell unless I can see the homework myself.

You probably want to ask around. if the homework is weekly. And if the brightest kid in the same class can finish it in 1 hour and have the rest of the week free, then you really need to look at your own child. Perhaps the child is not capable of doing the homework quickly enough. The child may need more help academically. Or you just have to put up with the load and wait for better times. If even the brightest kid has problem then you should talk to the teacher.

It depends on the child. I know that some kids in my child's class cannot do the home work even if they spend 4-6 hours a week on it. But my child always clean it up in 20 - 30 minutes and get almost 100% right every time.

Answer 3

That's an INSANE amount of homework for a KG student! Does she understand how to do it or is it taking so long because it's hard for her? Or is it that she is distracted and not staying on task? The normal guideline is that a child should have about 10 minutes of homework per year in school. So she should have maybe 10-15 minutes of work per night. And maybe 15 minutes of reading a couple of nights a week if she's ready for that.

If the teacher is assigning homework that has a clear and valid point, then homework is a good thing. If it's obviously busywork, then it's pointless.

When my son was in KG he would bring home a folder on Monday with about 4-5 pages of work in it that would be due on Friday. He started that early in the first semester. Later in the year he brought home a "baggy book" to read 1-2x per week on top of the worksheets.

My daughter is in KG now. She had no nightly homework for the entire first semester. She did have one project to do in first semester, but that was it. Starting after winter break, she is now bringing home a folder of about 4-6 pages on Monday night which is due on Friday. She has also had one project for 100th day.

You need to talk to your child's teacher. An hour to an hour and a half at this age is just insane. This isn't right. Find out what's going on. Does she have classroom work she isn't finishing and is bringing home to do? Does she not understand something? Teachers really do not want homework to take over your family's life.....remember that they are people with families too and understand what it is like!

Answer 4

As far as I am concerned homework should not come till high school. They need to come home and play and unwind and spend time with family and friends. They are so worried about obesity and what do they do? Make sure that kids come home and sit still and do more work even though they have been at school for 6.5hrs working. I can't believe your child has that much homework. Mine are in grade 2 and there can be done in 10 min(if they don't have time or are tired I just tell the teacher they didn't do it. I have an understanding with the teachers that I don't like mine having homework and if they don't get to it they don't. Mine do fine at school (6-12 months ahead of where they should be)The teachers are okay with this and do you know why? In majority if cases it is the parent who wants the homework set! Not the teacher! Mine get the spelling done and read most nights. They do the maths if they want. Work in grade 1 consisted of (they start grade 2 next week but it is pretty much the same) 10 spelling words they wrote out each night--5 min.(Mon-Thur) read a reader each night (mine read to themselves for 30 min before bed as they don't need to be listened to regularly though they will read at times to me for 10 min) and a maths assignment that is sent home Monday and to be back Friday which takes about 5 min.

Answer 5

I personally think it's a valuable tool because it teaches children responiblity. My son comes home and the first thing he does is do homework. I've never had to tell him to he's always just done it. The schools can't provide all the time it takes to pratice skills learned in school. The home work is assigned to reinforce educational learning.

I do think over an hour is a bit much for a five year old but on the other hand I don't understand why it can't be family time? If you sit down with your child and help her or even just watch her she's going to remember what a great mom you were because you helped her. She's going to remember that a lot more than a trip to the park or something. Homework is important to me. I help my son and now he knows he can come to me with problems.

Answer 6

I think it is a balancing act. Homework helps some kids to remember the steps or process of something. Practice makes perfect and all. The repetitive nature helps the information become ingrained. However, I can see how too much homework can backfire especially if it is a subject the student doens't like. Homework should be fun, engaging, and helpful. There certainly is something known as too much homework. If a kid feels overloaded, they might not do it all, no matter what their learning level or capabilities are.

Answer 7

Homework is definitely beneficial. I am a teenager and I don't like homework but it's important to do. This prepares us for upcoming tests on the subject. the more we practice this and get homework with practice problems then the more likely we are to receive a good grade. Take this from a 13 year old a and b honor roll student whose mother has been a teacher for 10 1/2 years.

Answer 8

Homework reinforces what they learn at school although an hour is alot for a child in Kindergarten. My kids had about 30 minutes at that age and I think that is a perfect amount. 15 minutes were reading and thats really important because reading is the foundation of all learning.

Answer 9

I have never been fond of homework. I do it with my child because the school says that I have to. My son is a special needs child, but his IQ is way up there. He is so tired when he gets home, they work him very hard in all areas of study plus the added theropies that a special needs child gets. I don't see any reason why he should have more of the same thing when he gets home. He does not complain, and he runs through it pretty quick, but it is still time that could be better spent with the family, after all, we do not have a whole lot of time when we get home. He also has a tendancy to take a nap after it is done, and then go to bed at eight or nine which indicates to me his day is to long and homework is just not needed.

Answer 10

Well, actually homework is very important because you can practises all the thing that you learn at school, but you are right, kids need do other kind of activities like play, or spent time with family. We have to make time for the two activities.