homework and elementary school

Does homework really work?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: December 12, 2023

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You know the drill. It’s 10:15 p.m., and the cardboard-and-toothpick Golden Gate Bridge is collapsing. The pages of polynomials have been abandoned. The paper on the Battle of Waterloo seems to have frozen in time with Napoleon lingering eternally over his breakfast at Le Caillou. Then come the tears and tantrums — while we parents wonder, Does the gain merit all this pain? Is this just too much homework?

However the drama unfolds night after night, year after year, most parents hold on to the hope that homework (after soccer games, dinner, flute practice, and, oh yes, that childhood pastime of yore known as playing) advances their children academically.

But what does homework really do for kids? Is the forest’s worth of book reports and math and spelling sheets the average American student completes in their 12 years of primary schooling making a difference? Or is it just busywork?

Homework haterz

Whether or not homework helps, or even hurts, depends on who you ask. If you ask my 12-year-old son, Sam, he’ll say, “Homework doesn’t help anything. It makes kids stressed-out and tired and makes them hate school more.”

Nothing more than common kid bellyaching?

Maybe, but in the fractious field of homework studies, it’s worth noting that Sam’s sentiments nicely synopsize one side of the ivory tower debate. Books like The End of Homework , The Homework Myth , and The Case Against Homework the film Race to Nowhere , and the anguished parent essay “ My Daughter’s Homework is Killing Me ” make the case that homework, by taking away precious family time and putting kids under unneeded pressure, is an ineffective way to help children become better learners and thinkers.

One Canadian couple took their homework apostasy all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. After arguing that there was no evidence that it improved academic performance, they won a ruling that exempted their two children from all homework.

So what’s the real relationship between homework and academic achievement?

How much is too much?

To answer this question, researchers have been doing their homework on homework, conducting and examining hundreds of studies. Chris Drew Ph.D., founder and editor at The Helpful Professor recently compiled multiple statistics revealing the folly of today’s after-school busy work. Does any of the data he listed below ring true for you?

• 45 percent of parents think homework is too easy for their child, primarily because it is geared to the lowest standard under the Common Core State Standards .

• 74 percent of students say homework is a source of stress , defined as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems.

• Students in high-performing high schools spend an average of 3.1 hours a night on homework , even though 1 to 2 hours is the optimal duration, according to a peer-reviewed study .

Not included in the list above is the fact many kids have to abandon activities they love — like sports and clubs — because homework deprives them of the needed time to enjoy themselves with other pursuits.

Conversely, The Helpful Professor does list a few pros of homework, noting it teaches discipline and time management, and helps parents know what’s being taught in the class.

The oft-bandied rule on homework quantity — 10 minutes a night per grade (starting from between 10 to 20 minutes in first grade) — is listed on the National Education Association’s website and the National Parent Teacher Association’s website , but few schools follow this rule.

Do you think your child is doing excessive homework? Harris Cooper Ph.D., author of a meta-study on homework , recommends talking with the teacher. “Often there is a miscommunication about the goals of homework assignments,” he says. “What appears to be problematic for kids, why they are doing an assignment, can be cleared up with a conversation.” Also, Cooper suggests taking a careful look at how your child is doing the assignments. It may seem like they’re taking two hours, but maybe your child is wandering off frequently to get a snack or getting distracted.

Less is often more

If your child is dutifully doing their work but still burning the midnight oil, it’s worth intervening to make sure your child gets enough sleep. A 2012 study of 535 high school students found that proper sleep may be far more essential to brain and body development.

For elementary school-age children, Cooper’s research at Duke University shows there is no measurable academic advantage to homework. For middle-schoolers, Cooper found there is a direct correlation between homework and achievement if assignments last between one to two hours per night. After two hours, however, achievement doesn’t improve. For high schoolers, Cooper’s research suggests that two hours per night is optimal. If teens have more than two hours of homework a night, their academic success flatlines. But less is not better. The average high school student doing homework outperformed 69 percent of the students in a class with no homework.

Many schools are starting to act on this research. A Florida superintendent abolished homework in her 42,000 student district, replacing it with 20 minutes of nightly reading. She attributed her decision to “ solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students .”

More family time

A 2020 survey by Crayola Experience reports 82 percent of children complain they don’t have enough quality time with their parents. Homework deserves much of the blame. “Kids should have a chance to just be kids and do things they enjoy, particularly after spending six hours a day in school,” says Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth . “It’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.”

By far, the best replacement for homework — for both parents and children — is bonding, relaxing time together.

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

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How important is homework, and how much should parents help?

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A version of this post was  originally published  by Parenting Translator. Sign up for  the newsletter  and follow Parenting Translator  on Instagram .

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic . Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play . Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned three times  the recommended amount of homework.

So what does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is too much?

Academic benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefit for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Non-academic benefits

The goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. Yet, too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “right” amount of homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than one hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact. 

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

Overall translation

Research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle and high school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. Research suggests that homework should be none or minimal for elementary students, less than one hour per night for middle school students, and less than 1.5 to 2.5 hours for high school students. 

What can parents do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more how the parent is helping rather than  how often  the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework, according to the research? 

• Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement, but allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . Specifically, be present while they are completing homework to help them to understand the directions, be available to answer simple questions, or praise and acknowledge their effort and hard work. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.
• Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance . 
• Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework . Have a regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions and has all of the materials they need within arm’s reach. Help your child to create a checklist for homework tasks. Create rules for homework with your child. Help children to develop strategies for increasing their own self-motivation. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.
• Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance. 
• Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes. 
• Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow . Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.
• Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.
• Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework.   This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.
• Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, a mother of three and the founder of  Parenting Translator , a nonprofit newsletter that turns scientific research into information that is accurate, relevant and useful for parents.

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

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Should Kids Get Homework?

Homework gives elementary students a way to practice concepts, but too much can be harmful, experts say.

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Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful.

How much homework students should get has long been a source of debate among parents and educators. In recent years, some districts have even implemented no-homework policies, as students juggle sports, music and other activities after school.

Parents of elementary school students, in particular, have argued that after-school hours should be spent with family or playing outside rather than completing assignments. And there is little research to show that homework improves academic achievement for elementary students.

But some experts say there's value in homework, even for younger students. When done well, it can help students practice core concepts and develop study habits and time management skills. The key to effective homework, they say, is keeping assignments related to classroom learning, and tailoring the amount by age: Many experts suggest no homework for kindergartners, and little to none in first and second grade.

Value of Homework

Homework provides a chance to solidify what is being taught in the classroom that day, week or unit. Practice matters, says Janine Bempechat, clinical professor at Boston University 's Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

"There really is no other domain of human ability where anybody would say you don't need to practice," she adds. "We have children practicing piano and we have children going to sports practice several days a week after school. You name the domain of ability and practice is in there."

Homework is also the place where schools and families most frequently intersect.

"The children are bringing things from the school into the home," says Paula S. Fass, professor emerita of history at the University of California—Berkeley and the author of "The End of American Childhood." "Before the pandemic, (homework) was the only real sense that parents had to what was going on in schools."

Harris Cooper, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and author of "The Battle Over Homework," examined more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and found that — when designed properly — homework can lead to greater student success. Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary.

"Every child should be doing homework, but the amount and type that they're doing should be appropriate for their developmental level," he says. "For teachers, it's a balancing act. Doing away with homework completely is not in the best interest of children and families. But overburdening families with homework is also not in the child's or a family's best interest."

Negative Homework Assignments

Not all homework for elementary students involves completing a worksheet. Assignments can be fun, says Cooper, like having students visit educational locations, keep statistics on their favorite sports teams, read for pleasure or even help their parents grocery shop. The point is to show students that activities done outside of school can relate to subjects learned in the classroom.

But assignments that are just busy work, that force students to learn new concepts at home, or that are overly time-consuming can be counterproductive, experts say.

Homework that's just busy work.

Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful, experts say. Assignments that look more like busy work – projects or worksheets that don't require teacher feedback and aren't related to topics learned in the classroom – can be frustrating for students and create burdens for families.

"The mental health piece has definitely played a role here over the last couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the last thing we want to do is frustrate students with busy work or homework that makes no sense," says Dave Steckler, principal of Red Trail Elementary School in Mandan, North Dakota.

Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet.

With the pressure to cover all topics on standardized tests and limited time during the school day, some teachers assign homework that has not yet been taught in the classroom.

Not only does this create stress, but it also causes equity challenges. Some parents speak languages other than English or work several jobs, and they aren't able to help teach their children new concepts.

" It just becomes agony for both parents and the kids to get through this worksheet, and the goal becomes getting to the bottom of (the) worksheet with answers filled in without any understanding of what any of it matters for," says professor Susan R. Goldman, co-director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois—Chicago .

Homework that's overly time-consuming.

The standard homework guideline recommended by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association is the "10-minute rule" – 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level. A fourth grader, for instance, would receive a total of 40 minutes of homework per night.

But this does not always happen, especially since not every student learns the same. A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that primary school children actually received three times the recommended amount of homework — and that family stress increased along with the homework load.

Young children can only remain attentive for short periods, so large amounts of homework, especially lengthy projects, can negatively affect students' views on school. Some individual long-term projects – like having to build a replica city, for example – typically become an assignment for parents rather than students, Fass says.

"It's one thing to assign a project like that in which several kids are working on it together," she adds. "In (that) case, the kids do normally work on it. It's another to send it home to the families, where it becomes a burden and doesn't really accomplish very much."

Private vs. Public Schools

Do private schools assign more homework than public schools? There's little research on the issue, but experts say private school parents may be more accepting of homework, seeing it as a sign of academic rigor.

Of course, not all private schools are the same – some focus on college preparation and traditional academics, while others stress alternative approaches to education.

"I think in the academically oriented private schools, there's more support for homework from parents," says Gerald K. LeTendre, chair of educational administration at Pennsylvania State University—University Park . "I don't know if there's any research to show there's more homework, but it's less of a contentious issue."

How to Address Homework Overload

First, assess if the workload takes as long as it appears. Sometimes children may start working on a homework assignment, wander away and come back later, Cooper says.

"Parents don't see it, but they know that their child has started doing their homework four hours ago and still not done it," he adds. "They don't see that there are those four hours where their child was doing lots of other things. So the homework assignment itself actually is not four hours long. It's the way the child is approaching it."

But if homework is becoming stressful or workload is excessive, experts suggest parents first approach the teacher, followed by a school administrator.

"Many times, we can solve a lot of issues by having conversations," Steckler says, including by "sitting down, talking about the amount of homework, and what's appropriate and not appropriate."

Study Tips for High School Students

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Homework: How to Effectively Build the Learning Bridge

How has the global health crisis impacted the place that homework has in student learning and the school-home connection? Homework holds its place as a school tradition, expected by students and their parents as part of the experience of growing and learning. While there is ongoing debate about homework’s effectiveness, it is traditionally seen as a tool that strengthens academics by providing learning practice at home. John Hattie’s meta-analysis of relevant research on educational practices found that the overall effects of homework on learning are positive, and that the positive effect is highest for junior high and high school students but generally neutral for elementary students. In addition, there is variability depending on the type of homework as well as student demographics (Hattie, 2008).

Schools implementing the Responsive Classroom approach, whether in person or virtually, use homework to effectively build a learning bridge between home and school. When homework is used as a tool to build social, emotional, and academic learning beyond the school day, it takes on a different look and purpose than just more work to do at home. The goal of Responsive Classroom schools is to design homework that meets the basic needs of significance and belonging for every student by strengthening relationships, differentiating what success looks like for each child, and supporting students’ social, emotional, and academic learning.

Focus on Relationships

Homework that impedes relationships— either teacher-to-student, teacher-toparent, or student-to-parent—can potentially damage the home-school partnership. When educators examine the amount, type, and expectations of homework, they often start with the impact of homework on academic achievement. But when schools look beyond academic achievement and also include relationships, they will often rethink the look and purpose of homework.

Effectively building this school-to-home connection starts by replacing homework that impedes relationships with homework that will enhance them. Examples for building these connections include ways for students to share about family traditions, cultural practices, and/or family adventures. Lauren Komanitsky, a special education teacher at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Jackson, New Jersey, observes:

I’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm for homework and projects that involve family members and their family history. [Students] love to learn about ancestors, interesting facts and stories, and simply getting a deeper understanding of their background. It inspires pride in them and that’s important for their identity. Students also love to do surveys and interviews of their family members. I think anything designed to create good, meaningful conversation between students and their families is time well spent. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

Schools that use homework to strengthen home-school relationships embed opportunities for students to develop belonging and significance. As students share the home connections with their classmates and teachers, the classroom community will develop a larger sense of belonging because students see connections among common experiences.

Build Success for Every Student

Classrooms are diverse communities. While teachers intentionally differentiate learning during the school day, providing homework that meets the individual and cultural needs of each student requires additional attention.

One strategy for success for every student is to provide choice. Komanitsky has seen this strategy work when she has had students reflect on what they need and then select homework to meet that need:

Having kids select specific problems from a group, select what part of an overall project they are choosing to focus on, etc. . . . helps with creating a sense of autonomy. When we can give kids a choice in their learning based on their own self-reflection, they learn what it feels like to be in control of the process and this leads to more success. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

When homework is designed for success for each student, the bridge between home and school supports a higher level of success and engagement.

Include Practice of Social and Emotional Learning Skills

The first guiding principle of the Responsive Classroom approach states, “Teaching social and emotional skills is as important as teaching academic content.” Social and emotional learning (SEL) is embedded in academic learning throughout the school day. Teachers can create a bridge between home and school by suggesting opportunities for students to practice SEL skills at home and in their community. For example, parents can have their children practice speaking with confidence by having them “make a request, place an order, or thank customer service workers” (Wilson, 2014, p. 67).

In addition, homework may involve students having conversations with family members about their learning histories—the successes, struggles, and strategies t hey encountered when they were students at different levels. When family members share their learning histories, students discover the application of the SEL and academic competencies of perseverance, cooperation, and responsibility. As Komanitsky points out:

When we share how we overcame struggles in certain academic subjects, it encourages perseverance and resilience in our students. Having parents and kids discuss their personal strengths and weaknesses and how they compensate when necessary is also a really good conversation. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

Homework that focuses on SEL competencies provides for the transfer of these vital skills to a variety of real-life situations, both at home and in the community.

When schools approach homework as an extension of the learning day and see it as a way to strengthen relationships—between teachers and parents, students and parents, and students and teachers—homework becomes a valuable part of the school experience for every child. Students’ needs for belonging and significance are met and strengthened when homework provides for individual success. And when educators view homework as a tool to strengthen academic, social, and emotional learning, it becomes a valuable piece of the learning puzzle for every student.

• Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
• Wilson, M. B. (2014). The language of learning: Teaching students core thinking, listening, and speaking skills. Center for Responsive Schools, Inc

Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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Homework in Elementary School Divides Educators

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“PDF"—play, downtime, and family time—has replaced homework for kindergartners, 1st graders, and 2nd graders at one Chicago elementary school, according to the Sun Times .

Calling it a “grand experiment,” Hamilton Elementary School principal James Gray hopes that eliminating homework will help children develop a genuine love of learning, instead of requiring them to do more work at home after a long day at school.

“Kids should read at home,” he told the Sun Times . “We want them to read for pleasure.”

Gray had introduced the idea to community members, citing research about the lack of benefits of homework for younger children, and announced the new policy this year. He hopes to expand the no homework policy up to the 5th grade, but this will be determined based on reports, parent surveys, and academic data from this year.

In 2012, the Chicago Public School district no longer required its teachers to assign homework. But so far, Hamilton Elementary School has been the only school to introduce a homework ban.

The Hamilton homework ban certainly is a response to the rising amount of homework assigned to elementary school children. A Brookings Brown Center study published in a Washington Post article in March pointed out that although the level of homework has stayed essentially the same for middle and high school students since 1984, it has increased for elementary school students.

Parents and students across the nation have criticized homework, saying that it takes too much time and only causes stress. Some parents even say that forcing their kids to do homework makes them feel like drill sergeants.

Other parents, however, feel that children need consistent homework to ensure American children are able to compete on global education standards.

But for many parents, the debate isn’t about whether or not their kids are receiving too much or too little homework, it’s about what type of homework they are assigned. Parents speculate that many students waste much of their time completing “busy work” that doesn’t enrich their learning.

So what constitutes valuable homework? What type of homework isn’t just a stress inducer and waste of time?

Education Week Teacher opinion blogger Nancy Flanagan has argued that contrary to popular belief, paper packets are not the enemy. They can be effective, given that they aren’t lacking in instructional purpose, she says.

In an essay published this year in Phi Delta Kappan magazine, Arizona teacher John T. Spencer explains why he doesn’t require homework, but instead approaches it like an optional extracurricular activity for parents who want to do educational activities with their children. Spencer believes that learning happens naturally at home.

“Want to kill the love of reading? Hand a child a reading log and force him or her to monitor it each night,” he says. “Make it a chore to finish.”

How should teachers encourage meaningful learning outside of school? Are there ways to assign homework that extend a student’s learning, making it valuable to both the student and the teacher? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Photo by Marco Nedermeijer/Flickr Creative Commons

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.

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Studies Show Homework Isn't Beneficial in Elementary School, so Why Does It Exist?

It's time for parents to help change homework policies for young kids.

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As a rule-follower and the kind of person who enjoys task completion so much that folding laundry can feel therapeutic, I didn’t anticipate having a problem with homework. That also had something to do with my kid, who regularly requested “homewurt” starting at age 3. An accomplished mimic, she’d pull a chair up alongside a table of middle-schoolers at the public library, set out a sheet of paper, and begin chewing the end of a pencil, proudly declaring, “I do my homewurt!”

But the real thing quickly disappointed us both. She found first grade’s nightly math worksheets excruciating, both uninteresting and difficult. I found pulling her away from pretend games for something that left her in tears excruciating, both undermining and cruel.

Our story is complex but not uncommon. Cathy Vatterott, a professor of education at the University of Missouri, St. Louis who’s better known as the “ Homework Lady ” says, “Parent activism about homework has really increased over the last 5 to 7 years.” Acton, Massachusetts librarian Amy Reimann says her daughter's district recently overhauled its policy. Now, no school issues homework before third grade , and it's not expected nightly until seventh. In 2017, Marion County, Florida eliminated all elementary homework aside from 20 minutes of reading (or being read to) at night. The result? After moving to a school with a no-homework policy in Berkeley, California, parent Allison Busch Zulawski said: “Our kids are happier, I’m happier, and there are no academic downsides.” If you're looking to make a similar change at your school, check out the stats you'll need to bolster your argument below, followed by some strategies you can use with your school's administration.

Is homework even beneficial to students? Arm yourself with the stats before you storm the school.

If you want to go in with the most effective arguments for changing your school's homework policy, you'll have to, um, do your homework (or use this cheat sheet).

Giving up homework in the younger grades has no academic impact.

There's a bit of disagreement among scholars over the academic value of homework. Duke professor Harris Cooper, Ph.D., who has studied the issue, says that the best studies show "consistent small positive effects." But others have questioned whether any impact of doing homework on tests scores and/or grades has been proven. And most academics seem to agree that what little bump homework gives doesn't start until middle school or later. What does all this mean? In his book The Homework Myth , writer and researcher Alfie Kohn concludes, “There is no evidence of any academic benefit from homework in elementary school."

There is clear evidence on a related point though: Reading self-selected material boosts literacy. That’s why many elementary schools are moving toward homework policies that require reading, or being read to, rather than problems or exercises. (Once kids get to middle and high school, the homework debate generally shifts to “how much” and “what kind” rather than “whether.”)

Many agree with educators like Linda Long, a fourth-grade teacher at a different San Francisco school, who sees the value in “just the act of taking a piece of paper home and bringing it back” for building organizational skills and responsibility. But Good Housekeeping was able to find no research demonstrating that this is the case at the elementary level prior to grade five. And research showing that doing homework increases conscientiousness in grades 5 through 8 appears to be thin. What’s more, the many children who don’t complete homework fastidiously have the opposite lesson reinforced: that duties can be ignored or completed hastily.

Homework is more harmful than helpful to families.

Long sees another upside of elementary homework, saying, “It helps families be aware of what their children are learning in the classroom.” Professor Cooper adds, "Homework can give parents an opportunity to express positive attitudes toward achievement."

But there are lots of ways for parents to do these things, from quarterly teacher updates like the ones Fairmount Elementary School instituted when eliminating homework, to parents sifting through the completed classwork that comes home in backpacks. And asking parents to police homework can damage family relationships by creating power struggles and resentment. In a September 2019 poll of approximately 800 parents conducted by the tech company Narbis, 65% reported that the stress of homework had negatively affected their family dynamic. Academic studies show that this family stress increases as homework load increases.

Homework can also have a negative impact on children’s attitudes toward school. Take the story of Sarah Bloomquist Greathouse of Felton, California. “My fourth-grader has always had such a hard time with liking school,” she says. “This year is the first year we have no worksheets or other busywork. This is the first year my son has actually enjoyed going to school.” As Vicki Abeles puts it in Beyond Measure , “Homework overload steals from young minds the desire to learn.”

Homework eats up time that could be spent doing something more beneficial.

For some students, time spent doing homework displaces after-school activities — like imaginative play, outdoor time, sibling bonding, physical activity, socializing, and reading purely for pleasure — that are shown to be neurologically and developmentally beneficial.

For others, homework provides important scaffolding for free time. (Long says, “I’m more inclined to give homework to my kids who I know just go home and are playing Fortnite for five hours.”) Some argue a no-homework policy leaves a void that only wealthier families can afford to fill with enrichment. That’s why a lot of parents are throwing their weight behind optional policies that provide homework but let families determine whether doing it will improve their child’s life.

Another important displacement concern is sleep. “If parents and teachers are worried about academics and behavior in school then they don’t need homework, they need sleep,” says Heather Shumaker of Traverse City, Michigan, author of It’s OK to Go Up The Slide: Renegade Rules for Raising Confident and Creative Kids , which covers banning homework in elementary school. "The more sleep kids get, the better their memory, the better their learning, the better their focus, the better they’ll do on all the tests, being able to control their impulses, and so on.”

What do you do if you don't agree with the amount of homework your kids get at school?

Don’t worry, you don’t have to be as annoying as me to change your situation. There are multiple ways to push back against homework, each suited to a different personality type. That said, we can all learn a little something from every take.

Introvert Parent

You'd like your child to have less homework, but you don't want to make a huge thing of it.

Rallier Parent

You've read the research, and you're ready to gather others and take the whole system down.

Conflict-Avoidant Parent

You're bad at confrontation, but you want your student's homework stress to be known.

Hands-off Parent

You don't think it's good for anyone when your kids' assignments become your homework.

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Some parents focus on winning an exception to the rule rather than challenging it. Teresa Douglas’s daughter read voraciously — until, that is, she was required to log her minutes in a daily time log. The Vancouver, British Columbia mom wrote the teacher a note explaining the situation, declaring her intent to excuse her daughter from doing homework, and offering to provide relevant research. “I received zero pushback,” she says. Pretty much the same thing happened for a Sacramento, California parent (who didn’t wish to be named due to her role in that state’s government). She told her sons’ teachers they would not be doing any homework, aside from reading, unless the teacher could provide research proving it beneficial. That was the end of that.

Straight-up refusal to comply is the same approach I’ve taken when asked to sign off on my kids’ work while my advocacy efforts were ongoing. I thought my signature would imply my child couldn’t be trusted, and I knew it would put us on course for the type of shared academic responsibility, and ultimately dependence, decried in How to Raise an Adult , a book by former Stanford University Dean of Freshmen Julie Lythcott-Haims. So every year, I emailed my kids’ teachers, explaining my reasoning and offering alternatives, like having my children put their own initials in that spot. Some teachers weren't pleased, and I have to admit my kids initially felt mortified, but I held firm and everyone wound up happy with the arrangement.

Critical, independent thinking is also what Kang Su Gatlin, a Seattle, Washington dad, is after. He gives his son the option to do school-assigned homework or exercises chosen by his parents. When the fifth-grader picks the school’s problems, he’s allowed to skip the ones drilling concepts he’s already mastered. “At least in the jobs I’ve had,” says Gatlin, who currently works for Microsoft, “it’s not just how you do your job, but also knowing what work isn't worth doing.”

Some worry that going this route will upset their child's teacher, and it's possible. But when Long was asked what she’d do if a parent presented her with research-backed arguments that disagree with her homework philosophy, she replied, “I would read it, and it would probably change my opinion. And I would also be flexible with the individual family.”

For the Rallier Parent: Gather Reinforcements and Tell Your PTA Why Students Should Have No Homework

Many parents don’t stop with their own child. When the first edition of Vatterott’s book Rethinking Homework was published in 2009, she says, it was a relatively fringe thing, but now, “We’re talking about a real movement.”

Shumaker, the Michigan author and one of the most prominent figures in the movement, knows initiating this kind of conversation with a teacher can be terrifying, so she recommends having company: “Maybe you want to bring in another parent in the class who feels similarly or who is even just willing to sit next to you,” she says. Or broach the subject in a group setting. Shumaker tells a story that reminds me of every back-to-school night I’ve ever attended: “One of the parents raised a hand and said, ‘My child is having such a hard time with math. She spends hours on it every night, and she can’t get through all the problems.’ There was this huge sigh of relief from all the other parents in the room, because they’d had the same problem.”

So, talk to other parents. Bring the issue to the PTA. For petitions, surveys, and templates you can use when writing to a teacher, reaching out to other parents, and commenting at PTA and school board meetings, see The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. It’s packed with step-by-step advocacy advice, including ideas for a variety of non-traditional homework policies (e.g., “No-Homework Wednesdays”).

For the Conflict-Avoidant Parent: Sometimes It Just Takes One Homework Question

If all this sounds like a bit much, Vatterott recommends an approach based on inquiry and information-sharing.

Begin by asking whether there's a fixed policy, either in the classroom or at the school. “You can’t believe how many schools have a policy that the teachers don't follow,” Vatterott notes. Often it’s one based on guidelines endorsed by the National Education Association: about 10 minutes per night in the first grade, and 10 more minutes added on for each successive grade (e.g., 20 minutes for second grade, 50 for fifth). “Sometimes all that’s needed is to say, ‘Can we make the homework requirement weekly rather than daily?’” she says.

Experts also recommend starting with what psychologists call “I statements,” because teachers aren’t mind-readers. Put a note on each assignment saying, “My child spent 40 minutes on this.” Since research shows teachers often underestimate the amount of time homework takes by about 50% , Vatterott reports, passing along this info can be enough to make assignments less onerous. Other simple statements of fact include:

• “Luna isn’t getting enough downtime in the afternoon."
• “Cynthia told me today, ‘I hate homework and I hate school.’”
• “Dante is losing sleep to finish his work.”

Try to find some way, Vatterott says, to not feel embarrassed or guilty about telling the teacher, even in a roundabout way, “This is too much.”

For the Hands-off Parent: Just Take Yourself Out of the Equation

Not everyone agrees on the level of parental involvement required in homework assignments. Reading all that research also taught me that intrinsic motivation is the more effective , longer-lasting kind. So during the years when I tried to get the school-wide policy changed, I also told my kids that homework is between them and their teacher. If they decided to do it, great; if they chose not to, the consequences were up to them to negotiate.

Third-grade mom Anna Gracia did the same thing, and her oldest, a third-grader, opted to take a pass on homework. When the teacher explained that the class had a star chart for homework with Gracia’s kid listed in last place, she asked whether her daughter seemed to mind. Her daughter didn't. Gracia asked if her daughter was behind in a particular subject or needed to practice certain skills. "No, but homework helps kids learn responsibility," the teacher replied. “How does it teach my kid that, if I’m the one who has to remind her to do it?” she asked. In the end, Gracia stayed out of it: “I said the teacher could take it up directly with my daughter, but I would not be having any conversations about homework at home unless she could point to a demonstrable need for her to do it.”

I’m happy to report my now fifth-grader takes complete ownership over her nightly "homewurt." And after the most recent round of parent-teacher conferences, neither her teacher nor Gracia’s daughter’s had any complaints.

Do the Research

ASCD Rethinking Homework

Harmony The Case Against Homework

Da Capo Press The Homework Myth

TarcherPerigee It's OK to Go Up the Slide

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The Cult of Homework

America’s devotion to the practice stems in part from the fact that it’s what today’s parents and teachers grew up with themselves.

America has long had a fickle relationship with homework. A century or so ago, progressive reformers argued that it made kids unduly stressed , which later led in some cases to district-level bans on it for all grades under seventh. This anti-homework sentiment faded, though, amid mid-century fears that the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union (which led to more homework), only to resurface in the 1960s and ’70s, when a more open culture came to see homework as stifling play and creativity (which led to less). But this didn’t last either: In the ’80s, government researchers blamed America’s schools for its economic troubles and recommended ramping homework up once more.

The 21st century has so far been a homework-heavy era, with American teenagers now averaging about twice as much time spent on homework each day as their predecessors did in the 1990s . Even little kids are asked to bring school home with them. A 2015 study , for instance, found that kindergarteners, who researchers tend to agree shouldn’t have any take-home work, were spending about 25 minutes a night on it.

But not without pushback. As many children, not to mention their parents and teachers, are drained by their daily workload, some schools and districts are rethinking how homework should work—and some teachers are doing away with it entirely. They’re reviewing the research on homework (which, it should be noted, is contested) and concluding that it’s time to revisit the subject.

Read: My daughter’s homework is killing me

Hillsborough, California, an affluent suburb of San Francisco, is one district that has changed its ways. The district, which includes three elementary schools and a middle school, worked with teachers and convened panels of parents in order to come up with a homework policy that would allow students more unscheduled time to spend with their families or to play. In August 2017, it rolled out an updated policy, which emphasized that homework should be “meaningful” and banned due dates that fell on the day after a weekend or a break.

“The first year was a bit bumpy,” says Louann Carlomagno, the district’s superintendent. She says the adjustment was at times hard for the teachers, some of whom had been doing their job in a similar fashion for a quarter of a century. Parents’ expectations were also an issue. Carlomagno says they took some time to “realize that it was okay not to have an hour of homework for a second grader—that was new.”

Most of the way through year two, though, the policy appears to be working more smoothly. “The students do seem to be less stressed based on conversations I’ve had with parents,” Carlomagno says. It also helps that the students performed just as well on the state standardized test last year as they have in the past.

Earlier this year, the district of Somerville, Massachusetts, also rewrote its homework policy, reducing the amount of homework its elementary and middle schoolers may receive. In grades six through eight, for example, homework is capped at an hour a night and can only be assigned two to three nights a week.

Jack Schneider, an education professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell whose daughter attends school in Somerville, is generally pleased with the new policy. But, he says, it’s part of a bigger, worrisome pattern. “The origin for this was general parental dissatisfaction, which not surprisingly was coming from a particular demographic,” Schneider says. “Middle-class white parents tend to be more vocal about concerns about homework … They feel entitled enough to voice their opinions.”

Schneider is all for revisiting taken-for-granted practices like homework, but thinks districts need to take care to be inclusive in that process. “I hear approximately zero middle-class white parents talking about how homework done best in grades K through two actually strengthens the connection between home and school for young people and their families,” he says. Because many of these parents already feel connected to their school community, this benefit of homework can seem redundant. “They don’t need it,” Schneider says, “so they’re not advocating for it.”

That doesn’t mean, necessarily, that homework is more vital in low-income districts. In fact, there are different, but just as compelling, reasons it can be burdensome in these communities as well. Allison Wienhold, who teaches high-school Spanish in the small town of Dunkerton, Iowa, has phased out homework assignments over the past three years. Her thinking: Some of her students, she says, have little time for homework because they’re working 30 hours a week or responsible for looking after younger siblings.

As educators reduce or eliminate the homework they assign, it’s worth asking what amount and what kind of homework is best for students. It turns out that there’s some disagreement about this among researchers, who tend to fall in one of two camps.

In the first camp is Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. Cooper conducted a review of the existing research on homework in the mid-2000s , and found that, up to a point, the amount of homework students reported doing correlates with their performance on in-class tests. This correlation, the review found, was stronger for older students than for younger ones.

This conclusion is generally accepted among educators, in part because it’s compatible with “the 10-minute rule,” a rule of thumb popular among teachers suggesting that the proper amount of homework is approximately 10 minutes per night, per grade level—that is, 10 minutes a night for first graders, 20 minutes a night for second graders, and so on, up to two hours a night for high schoolers.

In Cooper’s eyes, homework isn’t overly burdensome for the typical American kid. He points to a 2014 Brookings Institution report that found “little evidence that the homework load has increased for the average student”; onerous amounts of homework, it determined, are indeed out there, but relatively rare. Moreover, the report noted that most parents think their children get the right amount of homework, and that parents who are worried about under-assigning outnumber those who are worried about over-assigning. Cooper says that those latter worries tend to come from a small number of communities with “concerns about being competitive for the most selective colleges and universities.”

According to Alfie Kohn, squarely in camp two, most of the conclusions listed in the previous three paragraphs are questionable. Kohn, the author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing , considers homework to be a “reliable extinguisher of curiosity,” and has several complaints with the evidence that Cooper and others cite in favor of it. Kohn notes, among other things, that Cooper’s 2006 meta-analysis doesn’t establish causation, and that its central correlation is based on children’s (potentially unreliable) self-reporting of how much time they spend doing homework. (Kohn’s prolific writing on the subject alleges numerous other methodological faults.)

In fact, other correlations make a compelling case that homework doesn’t help. Some countries whose students regularly outperform American kids on standardized tests, such as Japan and Denmark, send their kids home with less schoolwork , while students from some countries with higher homework loads than the U.S., such as Thailand and Greece, fare worse on tests. (Of course, international comparisons can be fraught because so many factors, in education systems and in societies at large, might shape students’ success.)

Kohn also takes issue with the way achievement is commonly assessed. “If all you want is to cram kids’ heads with facts for tomorrow’s tests that they’re going to forget by next week, yeah, if you give them more time and make them do the cramming at night, that could raise the scores,” he says. “But if you’re interested in kids who know how to think or enjoy learning, then homework isn’t merely ineffective, but counterproductive.”

His concern is, in a way, a philosophical one. “The practice of homework assumes that only academic growth matters, to the point that having kids work on that most of the school day isn’t enough,” Kohn says. What about homework’s effect on quality time spent with family? On long-term information retention? On critical-thinking skills? On social development? On success later in life? On happiness? The research is quiet on these questions.

Another problem is that research tends to focus on homework’s quantity rather than its quality, because the former is much easier to measure than the latter. While experts generally agree that the substance of an assignment matters greatly (and that a lot of homework is uninspiring busywork), there isn’t a catchall rule for what’s best—the answer is often specific to a certain curriculum or even an individual student.

Given that homework’s benefits are so narrowly defined (and even then, contested), it’s a bit surprising that assigning so much of it is often a classroom default, and that more isn’t done to make the homework that is assigned more enriching. A number of things are preserving this state of affairs—things that have little to do with whether homework helps students learn.

Jack Schneider, the Massachusetts parent and professor, thinks it’s important to consider the generational inertia of the practice. “The vast majority of parents of public-school students themselves are graduates of the public education system,” he says. “Therefore, their views of what is legitimate have been shaped already by the system that they would ostensibly be critiquing.” In other words, many parents’ own history with homework might lead them to expect the same for their children, and anything less is often taken as an indicator that a school or a teacher isn’t rigorous enough. (This dovetails with—and complicates—the finding that most parents think their children have the right amount of homework.)

Barbara Stengel, an education professor at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, brought up two developments in the educational system that might be keeping homework rote and unexciting. The first is the importance placed in the past few decades on standardized testing, which looms over many public-school classroom decisions and frequently discourages teachers from trying out more creative homework assignments. “They could do it, but they’re afraid to do it, because they’re getting pressure every day about test scores,” Stengel says.

Second, she notes that the profession of teaching, with its relatively low wages and lack of autonomy, struggles to attract and support some of the people who might reimagine homework, as well as other aspects of education. “Part of why we get less interesting homework is because some of the people who would really have pushed the limits of that are no longer in teaching,” she says.

“In general, we have no imagination when it comes to homework,” Stengel says. She wishes teachers had the time and resources to remake homework into something that actually engages students. “If we had kids reading—anything, the sports page, anything that they’re able to read—that’s the best single thing. If we had kids going to the zoo, if we had kids going to parks after school, if we had them doing all of those things, their test scores would improve. But they’re not. They’re going home and doing homework that is not expanding what they think about.”

“Exploratory” is one word Mike Simpson used when describing the types of homework he’d like his students to undertake. Simpson is the head of the Stone Independent School, a tiny private high school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that opened in 2017. “We were lucky to start a school a year and a half ago,” Simpson says, “so it’s been easy to say we aren’t going to assign worksheets, we aren’t going assign regurgitative problem sets.” For instance, a half-dozen students recently built a 25-foot trebuchet on campus.

Simpson says he thinks it’s a shame that the things students have to do at home are often the least fulfilling parts of schooling: “When our students can’t make the connection between the work they’re doing at 11 o’clock at night on a Tuesday to the way they want their lives to be, I think we begin to lose the plot.”

When I talked with other teachers who did homework makeovers in their classrooms, I heard few regrets. Brandy Young, a second-grade teacher in Joshua, Texas, stopped assigning take-home packets of worksheets three years ago, and instead started asking her students to do 20 minutes of pleasure reading a night. She says she’s pleased with the results, but she’s noticed something funny. “Some kids,” she says, “really do like homework.” She’s started putting out a bucket of it for students to draw from voluntarily—whether because they want an additional challenge or something to pass the time at home.

Chris Bronke, a high-school English teacher in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, told me something similar. This school year, he eliminated homework for his class of freshmen, and now mostly lets students study on their own or in small groups during class time. It’s usually up to them what they work on each day, and Bronke has been impressed by how they’ve managed their time.

In fact, some of them willingly spend time on assignments at home, whether because they’re particularly engaged, because they prefer to do some deeper thinking outside school, or because they needed to spend time in class that day preparing for, say, a biology test the following period. “They’re making meaningful decisions about their time that I don’t think education really ever gives students the experience, nor the practice, of doing,” Bronke said.

The typical prescription offered by those overwhelmed with homework is to assign less of it—to subtract. But perhaps a more useful approach, for many classrooms, would be to create homework only when teachers and students believe it’s actually needed to further the learning that takes place in class—to start with nothing, and add as necessary.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, how to do homework: 15 expert tips and tricks.

Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 23, 2020

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

Photo by  energepic.com  from  Pexels

Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

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Homework in Elementary School

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Parent Q&A

Select any title to view the full question and replies.

No homework in second grade so looking for home enrichment

My kid's school has no homework given in second grade. I know a lot of parents are in support of it so I'm fine with it being the policy, but personally disagree with it and told my son that I will be giving him "homework" instead, especially since his sibling in K this year is getting homework so I want to keep it fair. Homework in our household tends to be educational activities and not necessary just worksheets, so it is not as bad as it sounds.   Last year he did workbooks at home to supplement math (since he is pretty advanced) and will be continuing with it this year, but I don't want to increase his workbook requirement since it is not fun.  Any advice on interesting and fun enrichment activities to serve as homework.  I'm looking for ideas for interesting enrichment workbooks, websites, apps, board games, puzzles, or other type of activities that I can assign for a 7 year old to do independently (he is a strong reader, and follows direction well) to do at home that is educational and will make it feel like he has homework so I don't have his K sibling complaining while still showing him that "homework" and learning can be fun.   

I would check out the local 4-H chapters. The Emeryville 4-H is having it's kick off meeting on MON 9/17 at EBI school. They have so many project that you're bound to find something 'enriching' for your 2nd grader.... Thx

My daughter went through a lot of biographies in the early elementary years. We got butcher paper and created a timeline showing the lifespans of the people we read about, to see how they overlapped.

You say your son is advanced at math. Is he up for some kind of data analysis, maybe sports statistics? Charts, comparisons. Averages, if that's in his skill set (I think that's normally more like 4th or 5th grade...). There are multitude of things he could analyze; surely something he is interested in will lend itself to analysis.

Not homework, exactly, but music has been found to correlate with school performance. Learning to read music has direct relationships to math, as it is a complete symbolic language with notes described as fractions of a measure (eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes). Notes have pitch and duration, may have lyrics associated with them, and music provides additional direction about volume and feeling. There's a lot to juggle, and it seems to be good for growing brains.

Check out MindWare ( www.mindware.orientaltrading.com ).  They have a ton of brain teaser/puzzle books and activities that are interesting and fun.  My family particularly enjoyed the Math Adventures/Mosaics and the Logic Links.

We love Beast Academy for math and the Horrible Histories books for history. Beast Academy has an online program that starts in 2nd grade and their math curriculum is fabulous. My daughter went from feeling like she was just "OK" at math to being several grades ahead after just 2 years of Beast Academy ( https://beastacademy.com/ ). There is definitely enough challenge for quite advanced kids. The Horrible Histories books are a lot of fun, but I think are probably around a 5th grade reading level, so that might depend on your son. Good luck!

Our "family homework" last year, for a 6 and 9 year old, was 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes Prodigy or Khan Academy and one Spanish worksheet. We also signed them up for Firecracker Math. 

My suggestion is that you go to Lawrence Hall of Science, or Chabot, or the Exploratorium, and look through the gift/bookstore for puzzles and math games. Generally that's a better use of time than workbooks in terms of complex learning. Good games/building tools to think about are: Set, Apples to Apples, Zome, Magnifying Glasses/Microscopes, Fractiles, Simple Machines. A lot of these can be done with the 5 year old as well, so they can both learn at the same time.

This suggestion comes from the parent of two teens, both very bright and often under challenged in school.  However, one fits the school mold and thrives, the other is a square peg in a round hole when it comes to school.  For both, their interests drove their enrichment.  I wanted them meaningfully engaged in their area of interest.  For one, it was Pokemon, he would spend hours researching, building decks, then playing in weekly leagues and several tournaments a year.  This required reading, math, higher level strategic thinking, social skills, etc.  For the other, it was reading and writing.  She picked the books and beautiful notebooks and pens/pencils.  She read, wrote, illustrated.  If she particularly loved a book, she'd ask me to read it and we'd discuss. It there was a movie version, we'd watch that and talk about the differences between the book and the movie.  This required reading, writing, and analytical skills, as well as fine motor and artistic development.  I did not have specific "work" times, but rather put limits on media, and when they were "bored" they readily went to their projects.  My husband and I showed interest and supported their endeavors, but did not manage or drive the work.  I can't tell you how many hours they spent on their projects, it was a lot. They learned a ton in a real like kind of way. Now in their teens, they only regret how much structured homework they have and long for the days of self-directed immersion.

Go to the Mini-Maker Faire at Park Day School in Oakland in October.  You will get more creative, enriching ideas than you ever thought existed.    Check homeschooling websites for ideas as well.  Make projects, do puzzles, play games, make forts, create productions, write stories.  Encourage your 7 year old to gain mastery in some skill.   You can also send your 2nd grader to an educational therapist once a week to get some research-based enrichment.  Don't rely on mass-produced worksheets when there are other possibilities

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Homework for first grader (ousd).

My daughter is a first grader at an OUSD school. She struggles with the homework, and often copies others in class to get by. We spend up to an hour, M-Th, on her homework (spelling, writing sentences, math, reading). I am concerned that it is both too much work and too much pressure (she has told me she is 'dumb') and/or that it is too hard/going too fast for her for some reason. While the principal is supportive of the fact that my daughter may be a 'whole language learner' rather than a phonetic learner, and may have some 'spatial processing' issues, her teacher has asked me to 'push' her more, and do homework 'in 1/2 hour intervals, with breaks'. To me, this seems like way too much, and not addressing possible learning differences. I am wondering if others have had this experience, and how did you advocate for your child? anon

I have a first grader an an OUSD school. We too struggle with completing the homework. Sometimes we don't finish and I usually write a note to his teacher. I think there is a lot of pressure to keep up and it's very difficult for some children. I think for my son it is a matter of readiness for the reading and writing; he seems to do okay with the math. My son often comes home with unfinished school work and I've noticed that he will look to the other children to figure out what the task is before he completes the work during the day (he may be a visual learner for directions instead of oral?). I had an SST (student success team) meeting with the school and his teacher. They seem to be concerned about my son's progress but are taking a wait and see approach which I feel is appropriate. My wish is that the school and his teacher give him time to be ready for reading instead of pressure to be at the same level as other children in his class. So far I am happy with this approach. I am gently encouraging work at home but if he melts down about the homework we stop. Incentives such as left over Halloween candy seem to help greatly! If you want to talk more off line, ask the moderator for my email. anon

The general rule (given by the state as well as the National Association of Pediatrics) is 10 minutes per grade level. So, a first grader should have around 10 minutes per night, give or take five minutes.

My middle child has a mild processing delay, and what takes most kids 20 minutes can take her an hour. So, I did two things. One, I requested an SST and a 504 meeting at her school (if you are in a public school, you can request this, in writing, and by law they must respond to you within two weeks). The SST meeting will help you and her teacher (and the school psychologist and so on) decide what you all think is going on, and what testing you and they think should be done. Then, modifications can be made, if necessary, for your child in order to meet her needs (both in and out of the classroom).

The second thing I did was to say that as her parent, *I* will decide when she has had enough! If that means doing half of the math problems instead of doing them all, so be it. If that means I cut her off after 20 minutes, then so be that!

I have always had teachers who support me and my daughter. I have never had a teacher insist that my daughter do more than she can at home. It is insane to imagine a child your daughter's age doing an hour of homework! That is a 6th grade expectations, not a first grade one.

Please ask for an SST meeting, and do not take no for an answer. Legally, the school must do this, if you ask. How horrible for your daughter if she is simply a slow processor, or a child who needs to learn through touch, that she is essentially punished for being who she is! An SST will help you identify what her needs are, and will help design an appropriate approach to learning for her and you.

Good luck! You must be an advocate for your child

Our public school has a really great family resource specialist, whose motto is ''The teacher has your kid for a year. You have her for life.'' Meaning that, despite the teacher's best intentions, your responsibility to your child is stronger, and you know your daughter better. So, if you feel like it's too much pressure (and it sounds like your daughter is starting to suffer), it's too much. At first grade, you can decide your daughter will only do 20 minutes or 30 minutes of homework a day. It's ok.

As for how to advocate, I think it works best to be polite and respectful, and to put things in terms of working together to help your daughter succeed. Even so, you absolutely should be firm about what's not working, like the homework, and what you'd like to try. The teacher may not like it, but if your daughter's getting discouraged, she's only learning to have low expectations of herself. That's a hard thing to unlearn.

It would be good to look into learning differences. For this you ask the school, in writing, for an educational evaluation. Better to do this sooner rather than later; while the school legally has to respond within 60 days, things can drag on. Check out a book like ''Negotiating the Special Education Maze'' for information on the process. Best of luck- PhD with an LD

An hour of homework for a first grader is ridiculous. I would take it upon myself to modify it if I were in your situation. I know this is hard. You don't want to alienate your child's teacher, and you want your child to do what others are doing. But really, why do we need to beat the joy of learning out of children at such an early age? My daughter had a lot less homework in first grade, and it was still a challenge.I think the most important thing to do is shared reading in the evening. For example you read one page, and your child reads one page.If it's any comfort, my daughter was actually ''behind'' in reading in the lower grades, but is now reading grade level material with ease.

We were in the same place last year. We ended up not doing all the homework and concentrating on the reading. We continued the reading throughout the summer and now she is doing great. It takes a lot of girls longer to catch on to reading. If she thinks she is dumb read easier things, or do fun things she enjoys- scholastic or not. Second grade is a year for catching up to the concepts that she may not have gotten in first grade. We always felt we were barely hanging in there- doing A LOT of teacing. It will be fine. It is good that the principal is on board. anon

Hey, I should have responded when you first posted. I am a first grade teacher in OUSD and I think the idea of an hour of hw is totally absurd. When I was in first grade I'm not sure we had ANY hw. Currently the guidelines are that teachers should give around a 'page' of hw for each grade. In the past I have had families who request more and families who request less. I respect all of the families who make the effort to speak to me about their children and the hw, and I tell them that while the pages I give (usually a reteach of the phonics or math skills for the day) are meant to help the children to learn new skills, the only thing I really care about is reading. I read with my family every night until I went to high school, and I LOVED it. I was very successful in school and university, largely due to this emphasis on reading, and I still love reading more than almost any other activity. If my students learn to read, and love to read, and read to learn, I will be happy. Carrie

First Grader hating homework

My son is in first grade and he hates homework. I think he mostly hates the writing part of it, but he writhes like he's in pain, whines, throws (small) things and yells at his little sister.

I checked the archives and didn't see anything regarding this sort of thing. He has tied his own shoes since he was four, so I don't think he needs OT, but something's gotta give. Also, his handwriting is terrible.

This is stressing us all out. He gets a weekly homework packet and it colors the entire week culminating in a tantrum the night before he turns it in. At this point, early in the week I bust my a-- to get him to do a few pages, and then lose it entirely by the end of the week and tell him to finish only if he wants to.

Help! Signed, On the brink

I had one of those...now a 4th grader. Personally, I think 1st graders should not have homework. Our solution was to leave it up to our wonderful first grade teacher, who had him stay in for a few recesses and do it. Eventually he would do some at home and some at school, but it REALLY ENDED our home battles. Some kids develop their skills later on and doing homework is just not a fair thing to ask ALL little kids to do. My now 14 yo on the other hand would ask for MORE HW...go figure!! Good luck, I really sympathize. anon

Here is how I solved the homework issue with my first-grader. I had him choose how he wanted his homeworks to be done. Not doing his homeworks was not an option but he could decide how to have them done. After discussion, he decided that when he comes home from school he should have a snack, play for 10 minutes (I put the timer on) and then do his homework. While he plays I look over what need to be done that day. When it's time for homework, we go over what he needs to do so he has no surprises and he decides in what order he wants to do it. I think the key here was to have him in control over how to do homeworks and establish a routine. It has helped him and me tremendously. I felt I needed to find a peaceful solution because this is just the beginning of years and years of homeworks. So, you might want to ask your son how he wants to solve the problem. m

A friend's child had a related issue. I'm not suggesting that this yours is the same but I thought I'd share his experience. He let it go for a few years before addressing it since the child was so accelerated in other areas. It turned out that the child had problems forming letters (dysgraphia) which caused a lot of stress doing homework. They now address this with special excercises and tutoring. anon

2nd grader is very resistant to homework

My son is in the 2nd grade in a Berkeley public school and he is just turning 8 years old. This year he has started to get regular homework assignments. He is very resistant to doing homework and tries all kinds of tactics to avoid getting his homework done. These include - going to the bathroom, saying his foot hurts and he need to rub it, even just staring at the page and saying he can't do it. Even tho my husband and I sit with him and try to help him out, he is still resistant to getting it done. He usually does the parts that he finds easy ( ie: math problems) first, and then starts the avoidance tactics . I would like to hear from other parents who have faced a similar problem with a child of this age and how they solved it. I am interested in an approach that emphasizes positive motivation rather than punishment. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks. Ellen

I had this problem to varying degrees with my 3 sons, and found that getting myself out of the mix was the best solution. Once they got it that there were reasons for, as well as consequences for not doing homework, which were unrelated to parental nagging, they accepted the responsibility. Eight is not too early. You don't want to get into the nagging rut because it will never end (they go to school for a long time).

Exactly how you do it will be individual to your situation and relationship with your son and his teacher. With one of my sons, we had a parent/teacher/child discussion about homework, in which everyone stated their position. Mine was: ''I'll be glad to help you with your homework if you get stuck, but it's up to you whether or not you want to do it.'' The teacher explained the homework ''rules'' and asked if he was having any problems with it. In this reasonable environment, he was hard put to think of any. After that, it only took one or two times of my ignoring his whining for him to get it.

It's great to be out of the loop! Good luck. Susan

My daughter is in 2nd grade, and we also experienced this problem for several months. Things that we did that helped (many suggested by her teacher):

-- Get your child's vision checked both for visual acuity (which is the 20/20 stuff) and visual tracking. We found out that our daughter has visual problems that make her eyes feel as tired as a 40-year old! (She had her eyesight tested at school in kindergarten and no problems turned up.) She is getting glasses and will do several months of eye exercises. She was diagnosed at the UC Eye Clinic in Berkeley.

-- Consistency: Have your child do his homework at about the same time of day, in the same place in the house.

-- Environment: Create a quiet place for homework to be done. Create a place (desk drawer?) where homework and other tools (pencil, ruler, etc.) are kept.

-- Back off: Our daughter's teacher tactfully suggested that it might help if we were a little less involved in our daughter's homework (I am so guilty of this.) Homework is hard and takes time away from playing, which understandably can lead to complaining and resistance. The teacher made us realize that we were providing our daughter with the opportunity to resist homework every night by sitting down and, while doing it with her, entering into a conversation about the merits of homework. Essentially, our daughter didn't want to do homework, and she would engage us in conversation about it as an avoidance tactic. Now, while she does homework, we are nearby to answer questions, but are also clearly engaged in some other activity. This has really helped.

-- Tell your child often that you are confident that he can do the work. (But don't engage in a longer discussion when he inevitably says ''but I can't do the work!'' Otherwise this becomes another avoidance tactic.) Interestingly, when we suggested to the teacher a reward system (gold stars for completing homework without a big fuss, followed by a present for X number of gold stars), she gently discouraged us from doing this. She explained that it was crucial for our daughter to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility for her homework, and for the motivation to come from within our daughter, not externally. anonymous

I am a psychologist who works for the Berkeley Public Schools supporting parents and teachers in their work with children. I also have a private practice as a parenting and family consultant. I have worked with many parents who have struggled on the homework front. There are a number of different things you want to consider to improve your situation. First of all, how much homework does your child\x92s teacher assign on a daily basis. As a second grader, he really shouldn\x92t be expected to do more than 1/2 hour of homework a night (not including the 15-20 minutes of reading that most teachers assign). If his work takes longer than this, and you are struggling, you may want to ask the teacher if you can ease off.

It may also be a good idea to let your child\x92s teacher know that you are struggling to get the homework done. Teachers usually have good suggestions for emphasizing some parts of the homework over others. They can also give you input based on what s/he sees your child doing in class. It is important to recognize that the purpose of homework is to practice what your child has learned in class. If you feel like your child is struggling too much at home, then perhaps you should seek to simplify the work. Engaging in a daily struggle with your child is more detrimental to his learning than him not fully completing each assignment.

One thing that is often helpful on the home front is following a daily homework ritual, where homework is done during the same time period each night. When this is done consistently, children learn to expect it, and ultimately become less resistant. It is important to stick with this plan, even if it doesn\x92t seem to help at first. Children (and adults too) will often test the boundaries of anything new, and it can take some time for your child to realize that you are serious and committed.

A reward system is also a good idea. A Friday treat for having done all of his homework with little or no resistance often works. One family I worked with had some success taking their child for an ice cream cone Friday evenings if he had been able to complete his homework each night during that week. Keeping a fun, daily record of completed homework (perhaps using stickers) is a fun way for your child to share how much progress he has made.

While direct punishment can make the situation worse, not allowing privileges when homework hasn\x92t been done is often successful. For instance, a lot of parents won\x92t let their child watch TV or play video games before their homework is complete. In this way a homework battle can often be avoided. You can tell him (without showing anger) that of course they can\x92t engage in the particular privilege when homework hasn\x92t been completed. Again, consistency is important. These are just some basic tips. There are always new things to try, some which may be more or less successful to you. The thing to keep in mind is that while school success is important, it is also important for an 8 year old to love to learn! Good luck. Lisa

How much homework is reasonable in the 3rd grade?

I think my child, who is in the 3rd grade, is assigned way too much homework on a daily basis. But, how much is too much?

My child is very diligent and works at a reasonable pace. Still, it can take more than 1 hour, sometimes 2 or even 3, to get the work done. I think this is outrageous. It seems to me that in the third grade a 1/2 hour to 45 min. is about right and occasionally 1-1/2 to 2 hours might be needed for a special project.

Am I way off base here? Is this just the way it is as they progress through school? Anon

As an educator for over 30 years and as a parent of a high school student, I have to say the subject of homework makes me crazy. Homework during the elementary years (K-5) in particular, is of no academic benefit to the child, especially if the homework takes too long and cannot be done independently without stress. Getting in the habit of reading (independently or with an adult or older sibling) for 20-30 minutes a day can be beneficial, as can spending 5-10 minutes practicing spelling, or playing a math game to reinforce number concepts. Any work that involves parental intervention is probably not appropriate. Workbook pages, answering questions from a text, huge adult-dependent projects are very stressful for most families, especially those with children who are struggling in school. I urge you first of all to let the teacher know how long it's taking your child to do the work, because sometimes he/she has no idea and will modify the work, if not for the whole class, then for your child. No 3rd grader should be doing 1, 2, 3 hours of homework! The teachers are often under pressure from their school or district (or from parents who feel their children should be working harder and achieving more) to provide a certain amount of homework for each grade level, but if enough parents and teachers speak up, maybe these policies can be changed. Some children LOVE doing workbook pages and massive homework. Let it be available for them. Some children are academically gifted and love to pursue various subjects. That will be apparent, and those kids will ask for what they need. I want kids to enjoy school, and see learning as interesting and rewarding, not as a drudge. Our children don't have enough time to PLAY or to pursue their own interests. Not to mention how lovely it would be if kids came home (even after music lessons, scouts, sports, etc.) and could JUST RELAX with their families. There will be plenty of time for them to work hard in middle school, then high school, then college, then in life. Do we need to stress them out as young children? anon

I think you are 100% right to be outraged about the amount of homework your 3rd grader is getting. Think how much time it must be taking the less focussed, less self-directed kids. The National PTA standard is 10 minutes per grade level (ie not reaching 2 hours/night until 12th grade). I found that the large amount of homework given to my children in 4th through 8th grade had a longterm negative effect on their schooling. They hated it so much that three very bright, inquizitive children became negative on all aspects of academic learning. (Luckily our school district seemed sane through 3rd grade. Unluckily, the policy reversed starting in 4th grade). I say start fighting with your teacher/principal/school district now about the amount and quality of work, and get other parents involved. (My youngest son's 4th grade teacher expected high-school level work for written assignments, only possible with total parent involvement--ridiculous!) We've been pressing our school district for about 4 years and are beginning to see some results. For years we got the line ''for every parent who complains there is too much, there is another parent who claims there isn't enough.'' Then they surveyed the 7th and 8th grade parents, and more than 1/3 said too much, less than 10% said too little. It's not fair to your child so keep on it. Kids who spend all their free time on homework don't have time for self-taught learning on topics that interest them, don't have time for sports, and are likely to want to veg out in front of the tv and computer when they do get a break. Anti-homework crusader

When I was in school in the seventies we got no homework in 3rd grade. I've been a teacher for 15 years and kids get a lot of homework these days. I think 1 hour of homework is reasonable, more than that seems a bit much. Sometimes taking a long time to do homework is an indication that the student is having trouble with some of the work. Have you talked to the teacher about it? Even if your daughter is not having trouble, I would talk to the teacher about your concerns. I always appreciate parent feedback, especially concerning my expectations for what the kids will be doing with their time outside of school. Usually I get a majority of parents wanting more homework and just a few wanting less. The teacher has to try to balance the needs of all the parents. Good luck. Danielle

My son is also in the third grade, and at first I too found he had too much homework. Like your child, there were days when we would spend 1-1.5 hours together working on his homework. Compared to the second grade, I thought this was too much. But as time went on I've notice that the length of his homework is generally dependent on the complexity of the assignment how much of it he really understands. My son, for example, loves math. When they were doing multiplication problems, he would finish math sheets in a hear beat. When they moved onto division he struggled some but then mastered the process and now breezes through those assignments. A couple of weeks ago his classes started doing long multiplication, it's once again taking him longer he has to sit down and really concentrate. Homework does usually takes him about 1-1.5 hours daily. I think it's great! Especially since I've noticed him enjoying it and feeling confident. 3rd Grade Mom

When one of my kids was in 3rd grade, I was helping out in class one day when the teacher (who was the one in our desirable public school that all the parents tried to get for their child) made a remark about little Stevie not completing his homework because his dad (who is a professor at Cal! she pointed out) will only permit Stevie to spend 30 minutes on homework each night! Stevie is not like the rest of us! she said. His daddy must know something we don't! She was annoyed and was complaining to the rest of the class, which I thought was pretty unprofessional, but it did give me the idea that I could set a time limit on homework and then just let the teacher know about it. My kids always struggled over homework, hated doing it, and I absolutely hated how it took so much time away from family time in the evenings, especially when it was so often just brain-dead busywork. I think it is reasonable for parents of young children - and the third grade is young! - to limit the incursions of school into the family time at night, especially considering how many of us work full time and don't see our kids except at night. Why should our only time together be spent nagging and whining over homework? Just put a limit on it. (This only works for the lower grades. The teachers in middle school and high school could care less what your policy is at home - your kid will flunk if he doesn't do the homework.) I also helped my kids with projects that I thought were beyond the scope of what they were reasonably able to do. I typed up stories for them that they dictated, I thought of science projects and helped build them, I operated the calculator while they called out numbers, and I provided illustrations for creative assignments as needed. I know some of their friends never got this kind of help from their parents, and many of them were and are super academically motivated on their own. My kids were not, and I figured if their teachers couldn't get them to that point, then I had better step in and do some damage control. They are old now, doing just fine, one in college and another a year away, no worse off for doing less homework than everybody else. Plus we have a pretty nice relationship based in part on years of cooking dinner together and playing board games and watching movies instead of doing hours of homework. Name withheld to protect the guilty

I think homework is way over rated. I may err on the side of no homework at all. Whatever plusses it offers are outweighed by the impact on the family. Who has time for a family now? What I see happening is a slow increase of deadly amounts of mostly irrelevent homework which drives wedges between parents and kids and deprives them of independent time for cultural activity and following their own curiosities which is a fundamental requisite for being healthy and human. And after doing all this homework, years of it, because it ''prepares them for the next step in their educations'', what happens is that they finally graduate from college, get jobs and spend the next 20 years on a shrink's couch trying to learn how not to take their work home. It is crazy making and actually destructive. To those who say children need homework because it teaches them how to organize and plan, I say that those skills are essential, yes, but they are not automatic and should be taught in the school, with supervision, on school time, not by throwing wads of work at children who need to be up and inventing, playing and relating, and just assume they will somehow know how to accomplish it. There is now a whole industry of tutors, coaches and therapists who do nothing but help children adjust to homework loads. Is there something wrong with this picture? All right. This is all just: My opinion.

But, in the practical sense, what can you do about the situation? That's the system, right? I used to oversee my daughter's homework, and when she brought home assignments, we would sit there and ask ourselves what it was they were trying to get her to learn. If the answer was ''not much'', or the assignment was ambiguous and a waste of time, I'd instruct her not to do it, and I'd call the teacher and impart my decision. Not sure if the teachers loved my phone calls, but we have a very close family, and my daughter, now in high school, is brilliant, curious, engaged in learning, and at the top of her classes. She thinks about what they're telling her to learn. Now then, I don't think there is much flexibility in the public sector. We've chosen private schools (and our mortgage shows it). We selected schools that emphasize learning, not tests and homework. Does this help? I've just comiserated, but maybe this doesn't offer an alternative. I am nearly sure that I am in the minority. I am willing to struggle with this as long as my children are in school. I don't think it's necessary to train children to be obliging while doing pointless busy work, but it is necessary that they learn how to learn and how to seek information, how to love learning, and how to tell the difference between hard work for a goal and submission as a way of life. So sue me. Tobie

Like other people who responded to your posting, I think it is outrageous the amount of busy work that elementary school children are given to be done at home. Creative work that can only be done at home (like, interview your mom about..., or a few short drills on math skills or spelling words taking a few minutes each) makes sense to assign for homework. But the hours of meaningless work that is assigned these days -- supposedly at the request of parents -- is only creating children who hate school and who will already be sick of doing academic work by the time they reach middle school -- a time that valuable homework can finally be assigned. As another poster noted, in the 70s very little to no homework was assigned for K-6 grades. I was more than ready to do homework, and was excited about it, in 7th grade when it was finally assigned to us. If I went to school today, from what I hear from my colleagues (also professors at Cal) with kids in the K-6 grades, I feel I would be so burned out by middle school that I would not enjoy intellectual pursuits. Younger children need to play (in both organized and spontaneous ways) -- THAT is their homework.

I sure hope that lots of parents complain *now* and keep complaining, because I will send my (now toddler) to a public school and I will not allow him to do unreasonable amounts of homework in elementary school (and it will probably embarrass him greatly, unfortunately; another Cal professor with their back up about too much homework !). I hope the ''homework pendulum'' swings back to something reasonable by then with help from concerned parents (and teachers who also posted) like you. An advocate for schoolwork in school not at home Homework in 3rd grade

I just feel moved after reading the responses to the homework issue to *thank* all of you parents ranting against excessive homework. My child is still in preschool so it's not relevant yet but I had a hunch there was going to be something coming our way in the future. Thank you all for thinking independently about homework. I'm all for letting children relax and learn without adult induced stress. Long live childhood. Ilona

In regard to the Home work problem in many schools. A friend of mine formed a group (of parents) who pressured their local public elementary school to reduce the amount of homework given to all grades successfully. I think they agreed upon 15 mins per grade so that 1st grade was 15 mins plus reading, 2nd was 30 mins plus reading and so on. Worth a try.

It was a total revelation the day I realized that at least through 3rd grade, PARENTS can usually dictate how much homework their child does. I've sent notes explaining that my children were unusually tired that evening and needed to go to sleep early, other notes saying that we had a family event (for example: older kid performing in school event)that precluded finishing that day's homework, and even notes that said the homework was just too much to finish in a reasonable time (sometimes I would say that we'd finish it over the weekend if I felt that it was worthwhile finishing for my child) or that the homework was way too repetitive of skills my child had demonstrated mastery over so I wasn't going to have him do more of the same old thing. Written nicely and with respect, I've never had a Berkeley public school teacher give me (or my child) problems for these notes. On the other hand, the BEST teachers had a comment space on the homework assignment (or weekly packet) that ENCOURAGED parents to give feedback about which if any of the homework was too repetitive or conversely which homework really had been a challenge for your child (so the teacher could vary in class and homework assignments accordingly). I agree that for K-3, homework should be reading, reading, and reading as well as skills that can only be learned with repetition such as practicing basic arithmetic and spelling facts, some memorization (poetry) OR more long term creative assignments such as science projects and interviews which can't be done within classroom time. And, a child so young shouldn't be made to spend more than 30-45 min. doing repetitive work (reading is EXTRA!) Karen H.

3rd grader's Homework vs. afterschool activities

Would love some insights as to how other families (parents) facilitate the completion of homework on a school day that contains after-school activities. Our third-grader now has more homework to do, and her interest in extra-curricular activities has also expanded, but she's understandably tired at the end of a long day and we're wrestling with the right formula for work and play. (She doesn't actually do much after school yet, just soccer, but would like to add in one or two more things, and I am reluctant to do this until I have a better gameplan for the homework). Suggestions and strategies would be most welcome for supporting these two important areas. Thanks. Deborah

My son is also in the third grade, and I have found that it often takes him 1 hour sometimes more to complete his homework. Unlike last year where it was probably 30 minutes or so. On top of that he is expected to read 15-20 minutes every night. Considering that my husband and I work full time, and neither of us are able to pick him up from daycare until after 5pm. He normally does not get started with homework until 6pm, unless he has soccer practice. On those days, homework is not started until after 7pm. Sometimes I find it really hard to get him started, other times homework is fun and he breezes through it. I find sitting down with him and encouraging him throughout his studies really helps him out. We've had our squabbles with him sometimes, but I know it's because he's tired and can't put his all into it. I know I can not leave him in his room and expect him to finish his assignments. He's more a hands on person, know what I mean?

Like your daughter, my son enjoys extra curricular activities. So recently we signed him up for gymnastics, one day a week on a day that does not conflict with soccer practice. I find placing him in varios activities allows him to release all the energy he has and tire him out for bed earlier in the evening. Healthy snacks and a nutritious breakfast and dinner is a definite must, god knows what he eats at school. And allowing him to be a kid on the weekends has also helped. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are his time. We allow him to be a kid and not worry about school or anything else, and generally our weekend schedules revolve around his play time and what he wants to do. He plays outside, watches TV, hangs out with his buddies, and just relaxes. Sunday evenings at around 5-6pm, we prepare for the upcoming school week, we have him take an early shower, and he relaxes till dinner and bed time. We constantly remind him of the importance of school, and explain to him that his education is what will help him excel in life. But like most kids, he is most worried about what his buddies are doing.

Just hang in there and encourage your daughter in everything she does. It may cut your time in half, and force you to give up a lot of personal time. But in the long run I think it is very rewarding for the child to be active in after school programs. If I recall correctly, studies have shown that children involved in extra curricular activities always do well in school. I think it's just a matter of knowing how to balance everything out, and showing your child to do the same. Good luck. mom

How much should I help 4th grader with homework?

I am wondering how much help parents are giving to their 4th graders with their homework. I know that the ideal is that kids are able to handle this responsibility independently. His teacher this year certainly expects this. However, my ten year old boy does not yet seem capable. We have tried to put it on him and he ends up getting sent to the office to finish certain assignments. This is humiliating to him and does not seem to be helping. He does finish about 80% on his own, but spends so much time fighting the homework that it takes him a long time. His organizational skills are also poor as is his handwriting. His ''grades'' (numbers) are good, but the homework issue is becoming a battle ground at home which I know is also not helpful. His dad and I are wondering how involved others are with their children's homework. Anon.

Being the parent of 4 children, ranging in age from 23 to 13, my husband and I have certainly experienced the gamit of public & private education in the bay area, along with their homework policies.

I think you first need to ask yourself as parents if all of the homework is relevant. Children in both public & private school settings are given what we term in our household as ''busy work'' it has no real value toward their education and is typically boring. We have (if requested by one our children) helped them with the ''busy work'' in order to create time for the important school work and other aspects of development such as music lessons or other interests.

All children are different, our oldest daughter never wanted help on anything after the 3rd grade, great student, super self- movitated and at 22 will be graduating from college with honors. However, our youngest (13) is also a highly self- movtivated straight A honors student, both private and public educated. Our 13 year loves having her dad and I involved in her school work. She typically studies for tests with our assistance, that being - going over the information with us and exploring better ways to remember specific information. She loves sitting with her dad each evening while doing pre- algrebra. Dad LOVES math and is able to share with her a deeper understanding and appreciate for the subject than any schools I've ever experienced.

If your child wants you involved, you should be involved. I am not saying do the work for you child, but actively be present. It can be very time demanding, but it is worth the investment. Also, keep in mind, not all children approach their homework the same way. Few kids like sitting at a desk doing homework for 2 or 3 hours a night. I watched our kids spread out on the beds, take over the entire living room most school nights, one liked to sit at the kitchen table and enjoyed my being close by, another seemed to do his homework all over the house, rarely seeming to sit still. All of our kids have been high achievers, they have preformed beautifully in college, and more importantly are good people.

Be patient with your son, find out what works for him, be involved, but be clear that his homework is his responsibility. Let him know you are willing to talk about his homework and explore organizational ways to help him get the job done. Long term projects can be daunting for a 4th grader, support him in learning about process and how to plan ahead. It is a fine line between helping and doing and it is your responsibility as a parent to know where to draw the line while supporting your son. Good Luck! Kate

You are not alone - Your right about they should be more independent but if I do not stay on top of my son's homework it just won't get done or not done right. I spend at least 1- 2 hours a night working with my son to complete his homework and to write neatly - he's great at school and popular but at home it's like pulling teeth - He's smart but hates to perform homework that does not interest him. He has a project to write about a mission and to build a model of the mission and he's doing just fine but his math or language oh boy no real interest there. I now have my son attending a homework club after school twice a week and that seems to be working. On those days his homework is done. It's just a matter of working with your son along with patience. Good luck. . . Yolanda

hi, i think 4th grade school becomes more serious than previous grades so there is probably a leap your son has to make in terms of organization and stamina (mental) to keep up with the material and work load.

My step son had great difficulty beginning in 5th grade and even now in 8th grade continues to struggle to keep up - given many circumstances that didn't help him succeed.

Anyhow, your involvement is very important to his success but try not to make him dependent on you. Focus on one goal at a time. The first one being how to stay organized. Where he should put papers, having a good binder w/ clearly marked dividers, and having one place to put his homework assignments (like a little calendar book). Work w/ him on this first. Also, check each homework assignment and make sure it is properly headed - name, date, subject. Small things like this make a big difference. don't badger him w/ the mountain of mistakes he is making - it's way too overwhelming. take one step, then move on.

you will be amazed - my son actually has neat writing now, whereas before he looked like he did his homework in the midst of a tornado. he used to literally scribble his name slanted in the middle of the top of the paper and think that was sufficient.

after he get's a ''system'' down. then start to see where he is really struggling subject wise. often times many boys (excepting that small percentage that excel) don't do well cuz they don't care - probably counter to you or your wife's achieving natures. my son always does the minimum and sometimes his idea of what the minimum is doesn't qualify as passing - well it did in 4th grade, but not in 8th.

then, give him strategies to complete his homework successfully. Discuss what he has to complete, then talk about what the best approach would be to completing it in a timely matter. Also, try a timer - my son's mind wandered very easily, so the timer helped him focus. Say you have 20 minutes to complete your math. that's it, then you can check it and help w/ problems he couldn't figure out.

always check to make sure he put his assignments away properly in the binder so he can find it the next day. the slacker's 2 favorite answers are, ''i forgot it'' and ''i can't find it''.

in terms of ''putting it on him'' - make him do the work. don't do it for him. check the work, if it is wrong or incomplete, send him back to finish and don't let him get away with incomplete work - he's setting and learning important standards of work now and if you let him go to school w/ incomplete assignments, he will get the message. if he or you both don't understand how to do something, it is fine to mark it on the paper and get help from the teacher. he has to learn how to identify where he is unclear and find solutions to getting the answer - but not from you and often we are wrong or learned how to do things differently.

mostly i think our job is to set good standards, reinforce, check, give them training (ie organization and standards) and support them positively. after years of failed lecturing only the ''total positive parenting'' approach has given us any success.

also, communicate with the teachers and find out what systems they have to assign homework - where do they post it. they usually have a very clear and simple way to make sure the kids know where to find out their assignments. it helps if you know it too.

if he has the assignment book, then you should look at it every day and see if he writes them down clearly and properly.

this would probably amount to a full time job mentally but only an hour or 2 of real work time for the parents... best of luck! still training too

Your letter could have been written by me or my husband. All of what you said about your son is true for mine (except his teacher requires them to stay in the classroom during recess to complete assignments, rather than being sent to the office.) So, the way we've started working it is that we have him do his spelling book and math problems on his own. Those are very well-defined topics, and he doesn't tend to wander with them so much. When it comes to writing assignments (answering questions about a story they read, or writing a story or report), we work closely with him. He will write as little as possible, in incomplete sentences if we don't. We help him think out what he wants to say, and then I will say it back to him the way he said it so he can get it down on paper. Sometimes, for a longer report, he dictates to me while I type. Check with the teacher if this is okay, though. Some don't approve of it, because there is the temptation to make your own corrections. Good luck--my son's teachers have not been concerned, so I guess they figure he will grow out of it. I can only hope it happens soon! Parent of a 4th Grader

Looks like you have totally left it on the kid. I have a 4th grader. He does his homework every day. H only asks for something that he is having trouble with. He does writting practice every day. Usually he writes a page about how he spent his day. That gives writting practice as well as keeps me informed of his activities and feelings during the day. He can play after he finishes his homework.

I spend about 10/15 minutes with him in the end, going over his homework and discussing it with him. making corrections and telling him to do it over if it is not neat or correct. He doesnt like that, therefore to avoid it he tries to do it correctly the first time by himself.

If this approach doesnot work with you and it is a constant battle for the two of you as well as a mood destroyer..........Find a smart high school kid , who will come and help with homework for $10/hour. It is worth it for the confidence that he will gain, and your peace of mind.

A friend of mine does that and it has done wonders for the kid. sherry

I think parental involvement is crucial at this stage. From personal experience, and seeing what's occurred with my siblings, I have found when parents do not teach a child how to be organized, the children's tendencies are chaos and some failure/guilt/esteem problems as well. This is part of setting a child up to be a successful adult, regardless what life path they choose. The sink or swim idea is great once they become adults, but it's not fair to throw them out like that without setting up a strong foundation, which takes years and consistent effort to put into place - elementary years are a wonderful time to start laying that foundation.

I only wish my parents had sat with me, and helped me develop the habits necessary to keep my assignments organized, sectioning out the longer projects into manageable chunks, so I'd never have to cram, crunch, get behind or feel overwhelmed/incapable.

As it was, they just said ''Do your homework'' throughout the years, never extending their involvement. It was up to us kids to figure out how to manage our time and workload, and the truth is... we all failed miserably in school, despite our intelligence, because while we easily slid by in our early years, in high school/college, we discovered you can't get by on smarts alone; you need to be diligent in completing coursework, and know how to study, in order to succeed. We didn't know how to do this - noone ever taught us.

Having said that, I don't think parents should do the homework for the child, because that teaches a kid that they are not responsible for their own domain, and that ''someone else will do what I don't want to do''. Guide and explain that which is not understood when necessary, but let them learn how to problem-solve until it's clear the problem is beyond their current capability to reason it out.

I think parents' job is to create the structure, the framework, within which the child does homework. As the years progress, the child will have this habit solidified, and the parents can ease up, as the child will understand what sort of routine to create to get all the work done. anon

Is Homework Good for Kids?

Research suggests that homework may be most beneficial when it is minimal..

Updated October 3, 2023 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

• Why Education Is Important
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• Research finds that homework can academically benefit middle and high schoolers, but not elementary students.
• There are non-academic benefits to homework, but too much work may interfere with other areas of development.
• Research suggests students should be given about 10 minutes of homework per grade level.
• Parents can help with homework by encouraging a growth mindset and supporting their child's autonomy.

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic. Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may simply be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play.

Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned three times the recommended amount of homework.

What does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is “too much”?

Academic vs. Non-Academic Benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefits for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Yet the goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling.

Yet too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation , and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity ; indeed, too much homework is associated with an increased risk of being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “Right” Amount of Homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than 1 hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact.

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

What Can Parents Do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more how the parent is helping rather than how often the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework (according to the research)?

• Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance, and encouragement, but allow children to complete their homework as independently as possible. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.
• Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance .
• Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.
• Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance.
• Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes.
• Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow. Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.
• Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers’ showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.
• Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework. This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.
• Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Cara Goodwin, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in translating scientific research into information that is useful, accurate, and relevant for parents.

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An Elementary School Tries a ‘Radical’ Idea: Staying Open 12 Hours a Day

A Brooklyn charter school is experimenting with a new way to help families by expanding the school day. Students can arrive at 7 a.m. and leave any time before 7 p.m. For free.

The longer hours have helped the school boost its enrollment. Credit... Dave Sanders for The New York Times

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By Troy Closson

• Published April 9, 2024 Updated April 11, 2024

It sounds like a dream for some working parents: school for 12 hours a day, starting bright and early at 7 a.m. and ending after dinner, at 7 p.m., all completely free.

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One elementary school, Brooklyn Charter School, is experimenting with the idea as a way to tackle two problems at once. The first is a sharp decline in students in urban schools. Families are leaving city public schools around the country, including in New York City, which has led some districts to consider merging schools or even closing them .

The second is the logistical nightmare many parents face as they try to juggle jobs and child care.

Millions of families scramble to fill the gap between school dismissal, around 3 p.m., and the end of the work day, several hours later. Many never escape long waiting lists for after-school programs. Others simply cannot afford to sign up. Lower-income parents often have the hardest time finding high-quality care.

These obstacles — along with high rents and costs of living — are driving families away from the city. Brooklyn Charter School is in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a rapidly changing neighborhood where Black families have departed in droves . The school, where Black students make up three-fourths of enrollment, lost nearly 30 percent of its students during the coronavirus pandemic, shrinking from more than 230 children to fewer than 165.

“We thought, ‘We have to do something radical,’” the principal, Joanne Hunt, said. “School hours aren’t made for working people.”

So far, the idea of staying open 12 hours a day seems to be working. About 80 students have signed up for the longer hours, and the school’s enrollment is now close to 200. It is a sign that in an expensive city, the most important school amenity for some parents might not be a state-of-the-art science lab or a media studio, but affordable child care.

“We love it,” Ayanna Souza said as she picked up her 10-year-old daughter, Jada Lee, on a recent evening. “Before this,” she said, “I was struggling.”

While many of the students in the program do not stay at school for the full 12 hours, staff members acknowledge that it can be a long time for children to be away from home — which may be hard on them and on their families . But long days are a common experience in a city where many parents work long hours to get by, and where commutes can tack on hours to the workday.

Research shows that after-school programs, especially high-quality ones, can help improve a child’s attendance, academics and other measures of well-being, including mental health .

But as the city grapples with budget constraints, hopes have dimmed that the number of after-school seats can be expanded, and some programs have even been cut. Charters often receive funding and grants from outside groups, which can allow them to offer programs that some district schools cannot afford.

Brooklyn Charter used to open its doors at 7:30 a.m. Now, a few dozen students arrive half an hour earlier. They read books and tell stories in an auditorium under the watchful eye of a social worker.

From 8:30 to 4 p.m., school goes on as normal. On a recent Tuesday, there were blocks of math practice, mock English exams and a book fair. When the formal school day ended, the fun began for the seven dozen students who stay late under the care of counselors.

First up: a meal. Angela Alegria, who works in the school’s kitchen, pulled fries out the oven to go with fish sandwiches. The chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks are the favorite, though, according to a group of 6-year-old friends, Aaron, Ashton and Mia.

After dinner that evening, a boisterous comedy session began. Students drum-rolled on tables as their friends took the stage — a large crate in the center of the cafeteria — to crack jokes. One young girl stole the show, asking, “Why did the cow go to the theater?”

She paused, before bringing down the house: “Because he wanted to watch a moooooovie.”

Then the students split up for a series of activities.

Room 320 broke into booms and bangs as older students practiced the drums. An instructor quizzed them about quarter notes and helped them identify low- and high-pitched sounds.

“Hands in places!” the instructor said, later asking one boy who was tipping his instrument back and forth, “How do we hold our drum, sir?”

Across the hall, kindergartners counted on their fingers to complete their math homework. “I did it!” one student yelled out after solving a particularly tough problem.

And in another room, first graders grabbed card stock and markers to design robots to look like Sonic the Hedgehog and Disney princesses. When it was time for the groups to rotate sessions, one girl shouted out something unthinkable.

“Homework time,” she said. “Yay!”

In New York, fewer than half of public schools offer free, city-funded services after school. In addition to boosting academic achievement, these can help keep students out of trouble: Most juvenile crime occurs in the hours around dismissal. But most of those programs end at 6 p.m., if not earlier.

The dearth of choices is gaining political attention. The State Senate recently said it wants to explore options for universal after-school programming. One Democratic lawmaker and potential mayoral candidate, Zellnor Myrie, has argued that such an initiative could be a “game changer” for families.

At Brooklyn Charter, many families just wanted better child care. “There was a huge need in our community,” said Roger Redhead, who runs the program.

Throughout the evening, parents trickled in after work. Princess Williams, whose son Adonis often stays for about two hours after dismissal, said the program had made her family’s life much easier. “It’s just beautiful,” she said.

By 6:30 p.m., only about five students were left.

They entertained themselves with intense tic-tac-toe matches at a cafeteria table. Some wanted to stay even later and keep playing when their family members arrived.

The parents reminded their children: You’ll see your friends again — in 12 hours!

Read by Troy Closson

Audio produced by Kate Winslett .

Troy Closson reports on K-12 schools in New York City for The Times. More about Troy Closson

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An elementary school in Kansas is combating bad behavior — by putting kids to work

Suzanne Perez

A pilot program in elementary schools gives kids meaningful work as a way to handle post-pandemic behavior problems.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Schoolteachers across the country say they are still struggling with post-pandemic behavior problems in classrooms. The spike in tantrums, outbursts and fidgeting coincides with a national mental health crisis. Suzanne Perez of the Kansas News Service shows us how one elementary school that state is responding to bad behavior by putting kids to work.

SUZANNE PEREZ, BYLINE: Twice a week at Woodman Elementary School in Wichita, a third-grader named Reagan reports for duty with school counselor Shauna Barnes.

SHAUNA BARNES: So you're spraying each one of the tiny plants.

PEREZ: Reagan is the school's official plant waterer. Armed with a kid-sized spray bottle, she checks each plant on the windowsill of the teacher's lounge and gives it a quick drink. Barnes offers direction.

BARNES: See how much water they need?

REAGAN: This one's kind of wet, so I'll give it a little bit.

PEREZ: It may not look like much, but experiences like this can be life-changing for some children. Woodman is experimenting with a program called Meaningful Work. Counselors take kids who regularly misbehave in class and pair them with a mentor, then offer them something constructive to do on a regular schedule - a simple task like feeding fish or making copies. School psychologist Jaime Johnston says the concept is pretty simple.

JAIME JOHNSTON: Students were acting out to get attention with people they like. We have a fun group of supporting adults, and the students enjoyed hanging out with us. But we need them to display appropriate behaviors and stay in class.

PEREZ: Assigning jobs to students is not necessarily new. Elementary school teachers often post job charts denoting things like line leaders or trash collectors, but those are in class and supervised by the regular teacher. With Meaningful Work, students are matched with adults outside the classroom, including counselors, psychologists and social workers. Jessica Sprick is an education consultant with Safe & Civil Schools, an Oregon-based company that promotes the Meaningful Work program. She says, when children get attention for negative behavior, their behavior gets worse. Giving them a job and positive feedback can turn that around.

JESSICA SPRICK: If you can start getting some of that groundwork in place to make the kid feel that you're noticed, that you're wanted - that, when you're not here, there's a piece of our school that isn't as good as when you are - then we can get the kid coming to school, and then the academics improve, and then the behavior improves, right? So it really can be the starting place for whole-scale change.

PEREZ: The program isn't just for kids who misbehave. At Woodman Elementary, some students are selected because they get fidgety and need regular movement breaks. Others have anxiety and need to practice interacting with peers and adults. Jovany, a third-grader, is nonverbal and communicates with a handheld device that can be programmed to say certain phrases. Twice a week, Jovany fills a wagon with fresh fruits or vegetables from the cafeteria and delivers them to classrooms as part of the school's healthy snack program.

JOVANY: (Through handheld device) Here's your vegetables.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Thank you.

JOVANY: (Through handheld device) You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Can everybody say thank you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Thank you, Jovany. Bye-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Bye.

PEREZ: Sprick recalls one teacher who assigned a student to be the school's official door unlocker. The child made rounds with the custodian every morning to check locks and welcome staff inside. He took the job so seriously he didn't want to take a sick day.

SPRICK: The mom actually called and said, you know, can you tell my son that the doors will be unlocked if he doesn't come to school? 'Cause he's got 103 fever and he's trying to tell me he needs to come.

PEREZ: School leaders say behavior problems have decreased since they launched the jobs program last fall, and attendance is up. They plan to expand the program next year.

For NPR News, I'm Suzanne Perez in Wichita.

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Elementary students in Hamilton schools staying home more since pandemic, data shows

Last school year, over half of hamilton's public elementary students missed 18 days of school or more.

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When she heard a student threatened one of her daughters with scissors at school, Danielle Gendron says it "scared the life" out of her.

The Hamilton woman took her daughter out of her Grade 2 class for a week before she returned.

While that incident was last year, others she has heard about involving violence and disruption in class have led Gendron to take both daughters out of school at least once a week this year. They are now in grades three and seven.

"It's just not safe," she told CBC Hamilton, adding that she's been able to do that often because she works from home.

Amanda Worthington, a parent with children aged eight and 10 in Hamilton's public schools, said her two kids have been absent 39 times so far this year. 

Worthington, who works from home, said her kids have needed mental health days and have felt exhausted.

She said her kids have missed class more often since the pandemic. The break has been needed and their marks have even gone up but she said she still wishes school was a better environment for them.

Gendron and Worthington's kids have an absence rate of 10 per cent or higher, which is also called being chronically absent. That 10 per cent absence rate works out to at least 18 days in the school year.

The number of students who are chronically absent at Hamilton's public and Catholic elementary schools has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 2018 school year, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) had a chronic absence rate of 35 per cent. That number swelled to 54 per cent last school year.

Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB) has seen a similar jump, from 24 per cent in the 2017 school year to 48 in the 2021 school year.

A CBC News analysis of data collected from school boards has found this is a national trend —  and it's an issue that's flown under the radar in Canada because there is no publicly available national data on how many kids miss large amounts of school or the reasons why.

"If we don't have the data to show that our children are missing tremendous amounts of school, far more than they have in the past … then it's easy to look the other way," said Maria Rogers, a child psychologist and Canada Research Chair in Child Mental Health and Well Being at Carleton University.

She also said children who attend school regularly generally have better emotional health, better relationships with teachers and stronger social connections.

• CBC Investigates Kids missing more school since pandemic, CBC analysis finds

Don Coombs, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils, said families, local governments and provincial departments of education and social services must work together to find out why children are missing school and how to help them because of the countless reasons that could be keeping kids away from class.

"Communities have to be involved. People should not feel intimidated to go walk through the doors of the school. It's a place of learning and it has to be a safe and friendly environment," he said.

Coombs and Rogers cited numerous potential reasons for the rise in chronic absenteeism including:

• Learning disabilities and mental health issues made worse by the pandemic.
• Changes in attitudes toward school attendance.
• Parents working from home.
• COVID-19 and other illnesses.

Gendron and Worthington, whose kids attend HWDSB, both said they don't think the board has done enough to support students and staff.

Michelle Lemaire, HWDSB's superintendent of student achievement, said the board's research has highlighted the pandemic's impact on mental health , which has contributed to student absences.

"Our upcoming Mental Health and Addictions Strategy will aim to support student well-being through staff training and evidence-based interventions," Lemaire wrote.

Lemaire also said staff are "mindful" of the physical and mental health impacts of the pandemic.

She also said the board's strategic plan for 2023 to 2028 will help reduce chronic absences "as learning and achievement flourish."

CBC Hamilton asked HWDSB about how it is working against violence in schools but didn't receive a response in time for publication.

  A 2021 report found bullying was a pervasive problem throughout the city's schools and went unchecked many times at the public board. The report resulted in numerous  recommendations in that report, including listening to students, involving families in bullying prevention, reviewing various policies, supporting schools to make their own plans and asking the province for support.

Gendron said she wants to think school boards' efforts will help, but doesn't think they will.

"It's an absolute mess."

• More education support workers needed in Hamilton to help stop violence in schools: union
• Substitute teacher and EA shortage hurting students learning, safety: Ontario Principals' Council

Last year, CBC Hamilton also reported that the union representing education support workers within Hamilton's public school board has been calling on the provincial government to increase the number of its workers in Hamilton and take action to stop violence in schools, in order to improve conditions. 

A spokesperson for the education minister said at the time the government continued to invest in schools, including hiring new staff and supporting mental health resources. 

CBC Hamilton also contacted HWCDSB but didn't receive a response in time for publication.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bobby Hristova is a journalist with CBC Hamilton. He reports on all issues, but has a knack for stories that hold people accountable, stories that focus on social issues and investigative journalism. He previously worked for the National Post and CityNews in Toronto. You can contact him at [email protected].

• Send a pitch directly to Bobby
• Follow @bobbyhristova on Twitter

With files from Tara Carman and Andreas Wesley

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Menomonee Falls community center and elementary school could get $8 million expansion

A Menomonee Falls elementary school and village Community Center stand to get an $8 million upgrade and expansion if all goes their way.

School district officials on April 8 presented a plan at the School Board's finance and auxiliary services committee meeting that calls for creating additional gym space to support the community education and recreation's programming growth and provide extra space and features for Riverside Elementary, which is attached to the community center.

Construction management firm VJS Construction Services and architectural firm EUA shared conceptual plans for the upgrades and expansion at that same meeting.

Here's what to know about the proposed project.

What is the Menomonee Falls Community Center, and what is its purpose?

The Community Center was developed in partnership with the village of Menomonee Falls and the Menomonee Falls School District and is operated by the School District. It opened in 1996 as an addition to Riverside Elementary School. The school, itself, was built in 1959. A hallway and shared spaces, including a gym, connect the two buildings.

The Community Center offers sports and activities for children and adults. For example, the Community Center has a group exercise and dance studio room in its lower level; the gym it shares with Riverside Elementary hosts events such as practices and competitions for the Menomonee Falls Youth Basketball Association, indoor practices for Menomonee Falls Angels Softball, Community Education and Recreation programs and more.

Why are upgrades and an expansion being proposed at the Menomonee Falls Community Center and Riverside Elementary School?

The district's community education and recreation program has seen growth in participants, while Riverside Elementary has seen increased student enrollment, and is projected to see continued enrollment growth.

There have also been challenges due to the need for school-related space for students in Quest, Menomonee Falls High School's alternative high school program, as well as Riverside's music program. The need for that school-related space has reduced the amount of space available to accommodate growing community programs. Sharing space with the community has created safety concerns for Riverside and Quest students, according to the district.

There is also an overlap with students waiting to use the gym and community members going to the lower level for programs. Daytime community events have to be planned outside of school hours, and if an event is scheduled during school hours, physical education classes are left looking for a different location.

Community access is limited during the day because of the current gym's configuration. Also, since the existing center is two stories, there are accessibility challenges for the senior population using the group exercise and dance studio on the lower level.

The district hopes the project will address capacity issues at the Community Center and meet growing community demand for programming and space. The expansion would add another gym to increase community accessibility, reduce scheduling conflicts and increase safety for Riverside Elementary and Quest students. Community education and recreation programming would then move to one floor.

How would the project be financed?

The project is being timed with paying off previous referendum debt early and would take place over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years. Coordinating the timing of the project with the retirement of debt would maintain the tax levy and create no additional bump in taxes, according to the district.

The district said that, in collaboration with PMA Securities LLC , its board has focused on long-term fiscal efficiency by setting up the district to pay off referendum debt early and has identified a taxpayer savings of $3.3 million over the next 12 years.

"This defeasance simultaneously creates room in the total tax levy to fund the proposed CE&Rec Community Center project in the 2024 and 2025 tax levies, allowing the projects to be funded while avoiding a significant tax spike for the community," the district's website said .

The community center expansion and renovation cost is estimated at $8.314 million and would come from the district's community service fund, called Fund 80. The renovation to Riverside Elementary School would cost an estimated $529,704 and would come from the district's Fund 10, or operating budget.

Menomonee Falls School District director of finance and operations Caitlin Windler said in an email to a reporter that the district would be paying off "a portion of debt" from the district's 2016 and 2006 referendums.

In April 2016, voters approved one referendum question approving $32.7 million in districtwide facilities improvements but rejected a second referendum question asking for $3.75 million to maintain class sizes and programming.

In November 2006, voters approved two questions: one for $18.65 million to expand Menomonee Falls High School to accommodate ninth-grade students and the other for $4.9 million for various remodeling, renovation and improvement projects at Benjamin Franklin, Riverside, Shady Lane and Valley View elementary schools and Thomas Jefferson Middle School, according to the Wisconsin Department of Instruction .

What is the timeline for the project?

The district said it expects the school board to discuss the projects April 22 and then vote on the proposal May 13. If approved, construction would start in spring 2025 with estimated completion in eight months, the district's website said.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12 .

Village of Hebron announces plans to buy 110-year-old former Hebron Elementary School

HEBRON − The village of Hebron announced Thursday plans to buy the 110-year-old former Hebron Elementary School, pending a review of the building's potential uses.

The Lakewood Local School District closed the building, which once housed students from first through 12th grades, on May 25. Deteriorating conditions forced the decision despite a lack of funds to build a new school.

Students moved into Jackson Intermediate School for the 2023-24 school year. Plans to build a new elementary school have been delayed due to five election defeats of bond issues to pay for construction of an updated facility.

"The purchase of the Hebron Elementary building represents a pivotal moment for our community,” Mayor Valerie Mockus said. “This investment underscores our commitment to fostering growth and prosperity while preserving history in Hebron, and we are excited about the possibilities it presents for our residents.”

The old elementary school is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, has small classrooms, heat and water issues and a gymnasium roof in need of frequent replacement.

The village council and school board each voted Wednesday night in favor of the potential sale of the 9-acre property for $375,000.

Mockus said the village will work with DesignGroup, a Columbus-based architectural firm with a focus on sustainable design in healthcare, education, library, civic and office space projects.

She said a the village has until September to complete the review process and decide whether to go ahead with the purchase.

“I think we will have a clear sense of where we want to go and how feasible it is,” Mockus said. “I’m not interested in acquiring it to sit on it until it falls apart.”

The mayor invites residents to participate in upcoming community feedback sessions to share their insights, perspectives and ideas for the future.

“The architecture of the building makes it one of the most important in our village,” Mockus said.

She said the possible uses for the building are many, including village offices, a library or historical society.

The Licking County Library recently announced plans to close the Buckeye Lake library and move the Hebron branch from the Hebron Municipal Building on the far western edge of the village to the Arrowhead Shopping Center on the far eastern edge.

“This could give us space to entice the library to join us,” Mockus said. “We have to figure out if it’s financially reasonable and responsible.”

The Union Township Historical Society is located in the Union Township Hall, 1380 Beaver Run Road, away from the population center.

The mayor said she would like to have essential services located closer to the majority of residents, even in the internet age.

“I still believe there’s great value in bringing people physically together,” Mockus said. “We’re trying to find opportunities to do that in the village footprint — spaces for people to come together and easy for them to get there.”

Brittany Misner, the economic and community development director, said the acquisition of the elementary school could provide many benefits.

“This initiative holds tremendous promise for Hebron, offering opportunities for economic revitalization, community engagement and enhanced quality of life,” Misner said. “We look forward to working closely with residents and stakeholders to realize these opportunities.”

[email protected]

740-973-4539

Twitter: @kmallett1958