Advise on Getting Homework Done Without Stress

Two hours of homework is excessive for children that young. I feel that homework should not take over home life. The guidelines for homework state that it should be about 10 minutes per grade so a first grader should have 10 minutes per night and a third grader should have about 30 minutes. Anything above this is excessive, in my opinion.

I would speak to the teachers and tell them how much time your kids are spending on their homework. Either they are giving too much homework, or they're not explaining the concepts and your kids are struggling to understand how to do it, or there are learning issues that need to be addressed.

If the teacher is unwilling to address the problem I would then go to the principal. In my opinion it is unacceptable for children in elementary school to be unable to participate in extracirricular activities because they have too much homework. Not to mention it interferes with family time, which is important.

To regulate homework my son was given a timer and he was required to do the appropriate amount of homework each night (30 min third grade, 40 min fourth grade, etc.). Once the time went off he was finished for the night. If he got up to get a snack or go to the bathroom, he turned the timer off and started it again once he returned.

I've heard from lots of parents in your situation and the only way to change it is to insist on taking back our children's lives by limiting time spent on homework. This can be done by banding together as parents and speaking to the school administration and/or the school board if needed. I feel that as parents we should take back family time by insisting that our children spend no more than the recommended time on homework. I insist that my son only do the recommended amount, unless there's an extenuating circumstance. I feel it's within my right as a parent to regulate and monitor his time at home rather than have the school dictate what he does with his free time. The school is in charge of school time and I'm in charge of his home time.

Good luck!

2 moms found this helpful

I have the same problem. My boys are in 3rd and 5th. My suggestion is talk to the teacher. Most teachers when they are that young don't want them spending so much time on homework. My kids can do the work they just daydream and talk to each other. So now I have them in separate rooms doing homework. I talked to the teachers and found out that my 3rd grader is the same way at school. He has a lot of classwork missing. The teacher and I know have a conference schedualed to talk about this. One thing she suggested and I haven't tried yet is set a timer. Tell them "Let's see how many you can get done in 5min." Sometimes making it a game makes it not so bad. I hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

I am a teacher and tutor, and I have some suggestions based on the notion that learning is fun. Make homework a game. Prepare some weekly charts with blocks for days of the week and subjects. Then buy sheets or rolls of stickers that your kids pick out. You can be very creative, with color coded dots, a different theme for each subject, and special symbols for situations such as no homework, or study for a test. When the chart is filled, your child can earn a treat: a trip to a favorite spot, an ice cream party, an award, etc.

I also make much use of the internet to enhance learning. I use Google images to find pictures to illustrate a spelling word or a scene from a book; YouTube and Powerpoint to deliver a lecture or song; interactive quizzes to review vocabulary, math, whatever; and tutorials to bone up on an unfamiliar subject. Give yourself a block of time after dinner to review the homework assignments and prepare yourself as a coach while the kids relax with a game or tv show, and then you're on. At the end of each session, have your kids rate you as a helper.

I hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

Just to add to some of the advise of letting them do their homework on their own, I let my son do his homework on his own while I do my "homework" (paying the bills) on the same table. This lets me get some things done, but be close enough to peak at what he's doing to make sure he is still on the right track.

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L.,
My boys get home at 230pm, wash up, snack and right into the homework. No playing or anything until it's done. I find if I wait until evening, they are to tired to do it, and it takes twice as long. We are all in the kitchen, and I use this time to learn about their day, sign any papers, and prep for dinner. I don't talk on the phone or watch tv during this time. I'm all theirs. It usually takes 1 1/2 hours at most, then they are off and playing until dinner. Works well for us!
C.
www.beachbodycoach.com/motherto2

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I don't have any advice for how to handle the homework you don't understand except that if it seems to be one particular subject I would spend the money and have a tutor come - The whole family could learn together!

Kids dread homework when it's not fun - Get creative and try to make it fun.

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Everyone else is right about talking to the teacher, so I'll say somthing different. You didn't say anything about when you do the homework, so this may or may not apply to you. Perhaps it would help to let the kids play outside for an hour or so after they've come home and had their snack. They let off steam, they can relax, they get a break from school, and then their minds are more able to concentrate and their bodies have been exercised. Play around with your schedule and find out when they can concentrate best. Maybe they get to do their homework while you or your husband fixes dinner, then one of you checks it after dinner. I also agree that they should do it on their own and you can check it.

1 mom found this helpful

At Open House this year, when the teacher said the kids should only be spending a half hour or so on homework, ALL of the parents in the room spoke up and said the kids were spending more like an hour to TWO hours on homework-- the teacher was shocked and made some changes. Please speak with with your childrens' teachers about how much time they are spending. Also, homework is supposed to be practice of what was learned already, so you should not have to TEACH them how to do their math. Also, standing over your kids (or even sitting with them) while they do their homework is setting yourself up for a struggle. Have them do what they can on their own in their own space (dining room table or better yet in their own rooms) and then come to you only if they have a question-- then answer the question and send them back to finish on their own. Then you can look over it when it's done. There have been times in the past when my kids needed help with their math-- I'd have THEM attempt to explain it to ME and if they truely seemed totally lost, I wrote a note to the teacher that said they were unable to do the math because they didn't understand it. I was worried if I explained it that I would be doing it differently then how they were taught and I didn't want to confuse them. Also, know that they will have spelling (and maybe vocab, too) EVERY WEEK so come up with a system that works for your family-- maybe talk with your teacher about suggestions for studying spelling words that goes well with what she's doing in class-- for example, my kids have had teachers in the past who have had them make flash cards, so no need to make them twice if it's already being done with the teacher

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I am a teacher and think that two hours of homework at this age is too much! I just want to ask, though, is it all homework or is some of it work not being completed in class?
I would definitely check with both teachers about this issue... get it straightened out.
If you aren't understanding something is it because the purpose isn't clear? Perhaps finding a classmate/buddy and being able to contact that parent may help? Otherwise, as another post pointed out, this is where you should invest in tutoring. (Sometimes a high school student could help? Just a thought.)
Good luck.... I happen to believe that family and extracurricular activities are very important and shouldn't be sacrificed in this case.

1 mom found this helpful

Dear L.,

Hi!! I have a fun solution that I use a lot!! I buy a can of light whipped cream (the kind in a can, Reddi whip). I set a timer for my son and when it goes off (every 10 minutes),(he must being doing his homework for the 10 minutes without a fuss)then I allow him to squirt the whipped cream in his mouth. Not only does the homework get done happily, but we all have so much fun laughing together! Try it, it is a great time!!
R. M.

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Hi L.,,,I don't have time to read all the replies,,,I can give my opinion on one subject, Reading time...what I did was record my son reading his book or assigned reading, then we would play it back and read along so that if any mistakes were done he could hear himself..in the past when I pointed out his mistakes in reading he would argue with me that he didn't make mistakes..so it quickly resolved any conflicts...easy mistakes like adding a word or repeating a line and or mispronounciation....he really benefiting from this and had fun doing it.