Homework in Grade School

I would agree with the other posters, schedule it (as boring as that sounds) and make it the priority. My two cents; do it early as possible in the "after-school" day. That way it doesn't keep getting pushed back and all of a sudden its bedtime! My daughter dances twice a week and also does Girl Scouts. It took missing one meeting because homework wasn't done to make her realize that it took priority over everything else. 15 minutes should be pretty easy to schedule. My daughter has 20 minutes required reading a night, minimum, plus a weekly "packet" that includes language arts, spelling and math. We probably average 35 minutes a night on homework.

My kids went to private elem. and middle school. Starting in 3rd grade they started getting more homework. An hour or so each night beginning in third grade. By 5th grade it really picked up, as they were being prepared for middle school.

Why is it hard to get 15 minutes of homework in? Be careful of over scheduling the kids. Our boys did Scouts and played one sport during the school year, so that their focus could be on academic priorities.

Now they are in high school. They are in Honors classes and gets lots of homework! Sometimes they are up until 11 or 12. I go to bed way before them. Not sure why there has to be so much homework.....
enjoy this time......

Here the 3rd graders have to read for 1/2 hour then they have homework. Sometimes it takes my son's cub scout friends 2 hours. This is one of the reasons I homeschool.

Homework will increase as she moves up in grade level. It's important to establish a study routine now or you will have a hard time convincing your daughter that doing her homework is important and necessary in the future. Think about it, if you aren't making it a priority, why should she?

Our daughters are in 6th, 3rd and 1st grade. The 6th grader does most of her homework in study hall at school, but has to do papers on the computer at home. She probably has an hour or so every day. Our 3rd grader usually has math, vocabulary and reading; 30 minutes a night. Our 1st grader probably has 15-20 minutes; mainly reading and vocab with some math.

We do homework right after dinner at the dining room table. Both my husband and I are available to the kids to help them if they need it. We also have the kids read 15-20 minutes before bed.

Some people have their kids do their homework right after school, but I think it's important for kids to play and blow off steam right after school, so if it's nice out, my kids are outside playing. Also, if we have to go to an activity, the kids that aren't in it bring their homework or reading along so they can do it then.

In our school its 10 minutes of homework per grade. So 3rd grade would be 30 minutes.

My son had the same amount in third grade. He is in fifth grade now and has math HW four nights a week, and a weekly literature/grammar assignment that can take 1 ro 3 hours - we spread it out over the weekend and week. He is also supposed to read 20 minutes a night.

When my daughter was in 6th grade, she had close to 1 hour a night - some of it was reading.

We make HW the priority activity - no playing, TV, video games, etc until HW is done. If he has lessons after school, my son will often do his math HW at before school care.

My first grader will have more then 10 to 15 minutes a night on some nights! So consider yourself lucky. My son has about 1/2 hour of homework (if it is not something he has difficulty with) plus 1/2 hour study time for tests. However he has tons of long term projects and reports this year (first time ever and they are back to back right on top of each other). He is in 5th grade and this is the first time we have had things like this but some of these projects will be a month long thing (1 week research, 1 week organizing facts, details, looking up what missed, one week working on presentation, last week finishing all details, perfecting presentation, coming up with creative way to display or present,etc.)
Homework only gets harder and longer, so you better work on figuring out a schedule now. Daisey is right about it should be priority. My children must have homework completed before any "fun" as they call it including sports, games, play,etc. I also have a no tv,video game on school nights rule in my house so there is no need to rush through homework. My kids read alot too and come up with creative ways to play together (they are on a space ship right now looking for aliens or something). Hope this helps :)

10 to 15 minutes is nothing. At that age, my girls were required to read 20 minutes each night (Monday - Thursday) in addition to homework.

The typical rule is 10 minutes of homework for each grade level, your daughter would have 30 minutes.

Once they get to middle school in addition to homework, they will be expected to study at home.

at my Daughter's school... for 3rd grade, it takes about 1/2 hour. And according to some Teachers I talked to, (this is for my State), they said that from about 3rd to 4th grade... this is when homework kicks up and will take on a more challenging pace and type of homework/projects.
Even in Kindergarten, her homework was gauged for about 20 minutes or 1/2 hour. This seems typical.

My daughter is in 2nd grade. Public school. They get spelling/writing/math/reading etc., and online they have things to do too, for practice.

It takes time... yes. But so you schedule yourself, (the day), and routinely, have a certain time that is "homework time." Usually for us, homework time is not at night... but after school. My daughter comes home from school, I make her something to eat, I let her have down-time and relax, then at a certain time, the same time everyday, it is homework time. She knows that. She looks at the clock and will do it. And I help assist her and review it... and all the other things she brings home from school for the parents to sign/read. Then after homework, she can do anything she wants, or she even will nap if tired.

The main thing is to have a DAILY schedule and time for homework. Not just "fitting it in" kind of thing. But making time for it, consciously.. .and not on the fly.

Also, I do not sign up my Daughter for anything that takes away from homework time or weekday nights. The only thing she has is Karate, twice a week, evenings. So on those days, and she knows, she/we have to keep to a schedule. Otherwise, we do NOT go to Karate class. Fitting in school, is more important for us. AND then, there is getting her/my son to bed on time, not late, especially on school nights. So, then, a schedule is even more important.

All the best,
Susan

You will find that homework will only get longer and harder as the years go on. Homework is a very important part of my sons day. We have no excuses for not having homework done. It becomes a very important part of their grades. My son has a 15 min. relax time when he gets home. Then homework, he has missed games and practices because school work comes first. I have made this part of his day since the first day of school in kindergarten. He is now 10 and knows the rules. His homework can last over an hour sometimes. Reading before bed is another ritual we have had over the years. He loves to read and it helps so much with school. Make homework a priority at home. Good luck