My wife is a social studies school teacher for a local suburban school district. On most days she gives the children an opportunity to start their homework in class. If they utilize that time they have 10-15 minutes of homework at night. Even if every night every teacher (6 classes?) gives 10 -15 minutes of homework a night, there is at most an hour to 90 minutes of homework a day. This is not unreasonable for a middle-schooler.
I wonder how many of those kids don't utilize that time and instead fool around or talk to friends.
Also, let's keep in mind that for most districts, school is out before 4:00. If these kids get home between 4:00-4:30, I would guess in most instances they could have their homework done before dinner.
I think what is going on is that these parents have their kids in sports and other extra-curricular activities and they don't want the homework to interfere with those sports and activities.
Chris
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Charlie: my son goes to Cumberland Elementary in Whitefish Bay, the homework demand is over the top. Working parents that get home at 6:00 pm (as we both do) are banning together and are going to contact the school about cutting it back. Instead of four nights of homework we will be asking for two nights. My 2nd grader does homework from 6:30 to 8:30 every night except Fridays. On piano lesson and swimming nights we as a family have no time for ourselves, its home from lessons at 7:00 and on to the homework and then to bed.
Mike
Whitefish Bay
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Do kids really get two hours of homework ... or do they just make it LAST for two hours? Maybe if more time were spent in doing the homework than complaining about it might be a good start. If they can't handle middle school, what are they going to do when they get to college??
Wayne
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Dear Charlie,
The question I have about all this homework is this: Is it meaningful
assignments or just busy work?
As a former teacher, I have seen the most ridiculous assignments such as a
three page paper, 1 page each describing an object that defined you as a
baby, a child and now a teenager. (High school junior English assignment)
Sounds like an good assignment, but three pages? They also had to bring the
objects to class. Does a 16 year old boy really want to bring his old
blankie to class? On top this, the teacher could not even come up with
three items and laughed it off.
This too much homework issue makes me wonder what the students are learning
in the classroom. If the homework does not relate to what is being learned
in the classroom, what is the point?
Piling on the work just for the sake of piling on the work is part of the
amounts of homework being brought home.
However, I do agree, families have a too many distractions. Time management
and priorities should also be examined
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I have another thought. Don't we send our children to public school to be taught. If I wanted to teach my kids I would have home schooled them. I know people who home school and their children learn more in shorter school days than their typical public school counterpart. We do 3 hours a night homework with our middle school children. This is not an exaggeration! By the way our children don't have cell phones and the TV is not on until homework is done! What do parents who work more than one job do?
Christa
Racine
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2 hours is NOT too much homework.
I have three children and I have seen the number of projects go up with
each kid. (one left in high school)
The problem is that the students are NOT studying the three R.
They are making projects ALL the time.
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I have worked in several of the school districts in the Milwaukee area. The High schools require the students to take one period a day for STUDY. Most students can complete much of their work in Study Hall. 2 hours….please. Must cut into their family time like having to reschedule all of the sports which evidently is much more important than an education….Not knocking sports or anything else in moderation.
Rick Miller
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The schools that my kids go/went to have "free" hours at school of which many kids do their homework during these periods. My kids participated in sports extracurricular activities, etc. The parents that are complaining about to much homework, I wonder what their kids are doing during this "free" period.
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I would like to know how many "activities" these same children are in whose parents are complaining about "quality family time".
My children are in high school, work part time, have a small business of their own and are involved in ONE extra curricular activity at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the school year. The reasoning behind this is simple - my children were getting stressed because their athletic practices were a minimum of 2-3 hours each evening - right after school. The had lunch at noon and did not eat supper until after 7 p.m. every night. Then they had to do homework and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour - which never happened. Since restricting the athletic events, my children's grades have improved, their health has improved and they are not affected by the school stresses as often as they have in the past. Now the stress is limited to a test score they are not happy with!
In our school, the parents who complain the most about "too much homework" are the ones who feel that the extra curricular activities are more important - especially sports related activities. The emphasis of parents is incorrectly focusing on sports etc. where the practices are 2-3 hours every night. These same parents do not complain about these lengthy practices!
Quality time is what you make of it - not how much time you have.
Vicki
Sheboygan
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Dear Mr. Sykes,
I am a principal at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Shawano. I was very interested in your conversation about Homework. Homework is part of the learning process. The concept is introduced in class, practiced in the classroom and then practiced at home. The fourth time the students work with the concepts is the next day or so when the teacher goes over the homework. It is essential that the homework piece is in place. The problem can occur when homework is just busy work and not an essential part of the learning process. The homework must have value.
I know everyone is talking standards and benchmarks. The problem is that the standards and the benchmarks are not clear in all the school districts. Also the whole problem of what to assess is entering into this mix. Another factor is that the standardized tests are out dated and are not testing the students what the standards and benchmarks are teaching them.
I know that the Diocese of Green Bay is actively working on this very problem. We are looking at the standards and benchmarks and rewriting them to better meet the needs of our students. We are also closely examining the standardized tests and in conversation with some of the companies. We have been told that many of the companies are working at updating and revising the standardized tests to better reflect the curriculum that is being taught.
These are just a few thoughts that I jotted down, while hearing your discussion. I would appreciate not having my name or school mentioned on air. Shawano is a small town and I really don’t want to anger my public school counter parts. Thanks.
God bless,
Lois Maczuzak
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Charlie,
I agree with you on many things but on this you are wrong. I do have a son in 8th grade that does do homework for at least 3 hours per night. It's not because he is missing his childhood, it is because teachers do not teach today, they send it home in homework form and expect the parents to teach their children. Let's blame it on the people responsible, the teachers.
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Charlie-
I have to sons in elementary school. They do not have too much homework. They are both in ONE extracurricular activity at a time. AND if their grades do not keep up I will take them out of it. I make this quite clear to them. My 5th grader rarely brings homework home - he usually finishes it in class, my 3rd grader has not quite realized the value of using his time wisely and therefore usually has about an hour a night -which by the way- would be about 1/2 the time if he didn't argue so much about doing the work. I also make them read books on their own time- gasp! You are right, I do not coddle my boys- nobody is going to when they grow up and are in the real world- so I make sure they realize this now. I do not care if they like their teacher or not- they need to realize now they are not always going to like people and they need to learn how to deal with these people. I expect them to suceed. I also always make sure that we all have dinner together every night and yes sometimes that means eating at 4p.m. or maybe as late as 7p.m. with a really big snack after school. It is all a matter of priority. And they also manage to get an hour or two of playtime-OUTSIDE- if possible a night.
Thanks-Jeri –Cedarburg
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I have 4 kids in school, grades 3-9, and we farm. I get home most nights at 6pm and often have to leave again for night meetings. All 4 kids get homework done plus do at least 1 hr each of barn or house chores, and they're ready for bed before 8pm, usually by 7:30pm.
Is it stressful? Sometimes, especially on meeting nights. But it can be done if parents plan ahead and be realistic about their expectations. Maybe there are activities that have to go. Making choices is part of the education. Apparently, it's the parents who need to learn the lesson.
Stacy
Cleveland
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Charlie,
If kids aren’t pushed to learn as much as they can, who will get the high-paying jobs to pay the taxes to take care of the low income and “mediocre achievers.” If we settled for mediocre, the government would go bankrupt and all the jobs would be going to Japan, China, Korea, and India.
Jim
Milwaukee
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Charlie,
You TOTALLY are missing the point. One caller tried to enlighten you, but you just refuse to get it.
The problem is not HOW MUCH homework our kids have to do, it’s WHAT they are required to do. Instead of learning about the geological science of a volcano, they spend ALL night making a cardboard model of a volcano. That doesn’t teach them anything except how to work a glue gun. These stupid projects take away valuable time from what would otherwise be quality homework time, while kids in other countries are doing homework that actually teaches them something valuable.
Dave in Muskego
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Charlie,
I have two thirteen year old children who not only have piano, horseback riding, scouts, cross country, chess club, chores around the house and maintain over3.65 gpa's and alot of home work. But I still don't believe they get enough. My wife and I expect alot out our our children. They do there own homework, but my wife and I check all their work every night - we don't expect the school system to teach our children, that is out job. Kids need to learn that there are consequences to their actions.
--
Bob McDonald
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Good Morning Charlie,
I'm curious to know how much of those "2 hours" is actually sitting in front of books actually doing the work or reading. How much of that 2 hours is complaining or whining or crying that they have sooooo much homework.
Any parent who actually does their child's homework is an idiot. It's the kids' homework, not the parents' homework. If your child needs help, help them. But do not do it for them.
I concur with you question of, what is the kid doing from 4-6pm. Why aren't they working on their homework then? Too many good programs on the Cartoon Network? Did their new Nintendo Wii grab them and sit them in front of their 60 inch flat screen and MAKE them play games? If there is "2 hours" of homework each night, those kids should be able to get it done BEFORE Mom and Dad get home. There's a novel idea. Have the kids do the kids' homework. Wow! How revolutionary.
Regards,
Sarah Guttenberg
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Do students have study halls? If they do, are they actually using them to study?
When do students get home? When do most parents get home? When does the TV get turned on/off?
When I went to school (60’s and 70’s) we arrived home and did our homework before dad got home and dinner was served. (I was fortunate and had a stay at home mother.) If homework was not finished, we were not allowed to watch TV until it was. (Translate that into current terms….no TV, no videos, no cell phone calls…until homework is done.)
Doris E Collins
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Charlie,
I was always a little disappointed in how little homework my kids had. My son was a very good student in high school. He took college level classes and still didn’t seem to be working that hard. He got down to Madison and found he was not prepared for how hard he had to work. I wasn’t surprised.
Dave in Plymouth
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Maybe these complaining parents need to ask their children how they spent their time in study hall. That would cut out 40 minutes of at home homework time.
Holly J. Cayo
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I happen to be thrilled when my 7th grade daughter comes home with more than 15 minutes worth of work. They don’t give enough to challenge kids today. She is in accelerated math and her teacher told us this year there won’t be much homework because “families, including hers, are busy.”
As a side note, my daughter asked what your book was about and I explained it to her. She asked if we could donate one to her school library! I told her I doubt they would allow it.
Maria Viegut
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Charlie,
I frequently disagree with you on state/national politics, but you are "right on" concerning most school issues, including today.
I speak as a 40-year veteran teacher of high school English.
Jim
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Charlie,
You're wrong about this one!!!!! I could have written the article which occurred in the Wall Street Journal. I have two children in College and two in a Catholic grade school. The level of homework has increased dramatically since my first two attended the same grade school. The older two went to private high schools and were very well prepared for College. One of my younger children is in 7th grade and has a minimum of two hours of homework per night. In fact, when we attended curriculum night, each of her (4) teachers proudly proclaimed that they were doing Freshman level work. We pay a tutor $200 per month just to keep up. I have a 3rd grader who is doing 5th grade math. I do agree with you that the parents have taken on the stress of their children's homework. I feel more like a drill sergeant than a Mother. I don't want to settle for mediocrity but I'm not convinced that burdening families to this degree is the answer. We have limited our kids to (1) activity and their homework continues to take us well into the evening on school nights. I guarantee that most of your loyal listeners with young children disagree with you on this one.