How much homework is too much?

The books have huge amounts of useless crap in them, diluting the important concepts.

I saw a high school Chemistry book a few years ago and most of it was pictures and fun facts. It looked like the book was published by USA Today. Kids have trouble telling which parts of the text are important and which are fluff.

There needs to be a push to get textbooks available in fully electronic versions, so that they can be read on a computer or on a Kindle, so that kids have the option of not being weighed down with tons of books.

Electronic textbooks are a great idea! As long as the text books are also available, free, to those who do not have a home computer. Many of the children here do not have home computers, and the public libraries do not have enough computers for every child that needs one to do their homework.

Another thing, a little off subject, but Shot a man in Reno brought it up-- have you read the history texts of today? Talk about revisionist! My 4th grader's history book, when discussing the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc., was nothing like I remembered when living through it. Perhaps they need to take out some of the anectodal material-- US history should be told through the eyes of only one point of view.

Just my humble opinion...

OOPS, clerical error! US History should NOT be told through the eyes of only one point of view.

My Bad, and My Apologies.

to Dowser- I agree. When I was learnign about all the "famous wars" in school, they only spent like, 1 day on the Civil war...didn't do Vietnam at all...and hardly talked about WWI and WWII. or the gulf wars. Seeing as how my grandfather was in WWII, and my father was in the gulf wars...that really ticked me off.

m-981209

You are so right! I studied the discovery, conquest, and settlement of the American States, both north and south. Period. Even in college. There is certainly a lot more history than just Amerigo Vespuci, despite his fame.

Now, in my little boy's history text book, they talk about the wars, briefly, but it is no kind of history I've ever read...

Take care--

Dowser last year in my social studies class which was basically all about american history it had ONE PAGE about WWI and WWII. it told us the very basic causes of the wars, the year it began, the year it ended, and who was on what side. AS IF WE HAVEN'T KNOWN THAT STUFF SINCE 5th GRADE!!!

Not necessarily. In Japan, kids are hammered with Level 1 Bloom Taxonomy-type learning, which is basically mindless memorization of everything and everything about everything.

This does not necessarily mean that they are smarter; it just means that they memorize endless volumes of data that inevitably have no- ah, how should I put it- relevance to life applications.

Also, Japanese students are VERY different from American students, especially in terms of work ethic and responsibility.

No kidding!

So you're a senior in high school and you only have a max of 2 hrs home work? What about the following fall when you go to college and you are expected to have hours of homework per night?! These kids are not going to be able to handle it!

"And no longer are kids kept in from recess if they don't do their homework." This should state, "and no longer are kids punished for not completing their assignments". If there is no punishment, then kids will do no homework. I remember in 3rd grade (this was in the early 90's) I didn't do my math homework because I wanted to go outside and play with the neighbor kids. My teacher called my mom, she had to leave work and I was grounded for 2 weeks and punished at school by not being able to attend recess if my homework wasn't completed. I didn't avoid it because I didn't understand it, I didn't do it because I was being lazy and wanted to play instead. Now we're saying that's okay?!

Those of you with young children are free to reject the nouveau parenting methods.

I want to say this as a parent with children and homework. My children are grown now
My oldest is 31 and my youngest 28. I remember when they went to school. They always had homework, tons of home work in every subject. I ended up or my wife ended up being the teachers instructing them how to do their math, English, History Etc
It seemed all the teachers done everyday was give them back the homework from the day before, ask the class if they had any questions should they have not done well on the home work from the day before? Should a child be backward and afraid to raise his or her hand, possibly because they did not have both parents at home because of the parents working or divorced, which 90% are in that category now!! Wonder how or why that is??!! So now you have those children having to try and teach themselves because they do not have both parents together at home to help teach them!!
When we figure out and do something about that problem, MAYBE we will be able to understand the WHY!! Why is it that children from 3rd world counties are superior to ours? Most speak 3 or more languages!! Why? Maybe the so called educators need to do some reseach or go to those countries and find out HOW are they able to do that with so limited resouces, MONEY!!! HUUUMMMM? I believe that is the problem. MONEY!!
How many believe the more we the tax payers pay for education will make Superintendent's, Principles and Teachers smarter???!! HAAAAAAA!! The only way they become smarter is learning how to coheirs our kids in coming home and telling the parents, Mommy, Daddy if this levy does not pass they are going to take away this or that from school!!! Then if that does not work they will begin to threaten the tax payers with we will have to stop busing the kids that are of age to drive. Last but not least, should this not pass, the State will take over the school!!! WOOOOO!!
So what?? How many times has that happened?? Most schools that I have seen that the, SO CALLED STATE took over, has it better than those that are funded with property taxes, which by the way are Illegal!! Which none of U.S. stand against!!

Well, I am obviously going to have an unpopular viewpoint here. Feel free to disagree, as that is certainly your inalienable right, but please don't call me names...

I attended school from 1961-1977, K-12 and a bachelor's in college. I taught 9th and 10th grade physical science for 3 years, and am now a hydrogeologist. When in school in the 60s, I had homework, but it wasn't excessive. And I did fine. My Kindergardener had 2 hours of homework every night, and I thought that was WAY too much-- and it has been the same since. He is not a slow kid and is in AP classes now in 4th and 5th grade. He still has 2+ hours of homework a night and I think it is ridiculous.

I am sick and tired of the teachers expecting me to teach. Yes, I have a college education, but I am on my 4th "New" math, and these concepts are too much for me to handle. I learned arithmetic. He is not allowed to solve math problems the way I learned to solve them, and I have no idea how to help him. And no, despite the fact that I use Calculus in my work, I have no real idea how to even begin to figure it out.

Why do I have to be the one that teaches him, when we pay them to teach? I am happy to help my son with his homework, I am not stupid, and this is ridiculous. The teachers just throw out these concepts and expect him to grab them as they come by. That's great, but he isn't in college yet, and he needs to be told how to do math-- not a bunch of mumbo jumbo that I can't help him with. I've tried teaching him the way I can do things, (which gets the same ding-dang answer), but since the method used to solve the problem is different, he doesn't receive full credit-- and his grades suffer.

Another little bone to pick is that my son gets no credit for reading the books he wants to read. He loves archaeology and will read, albeit slowly, an adult's book about archaeology for hours, but has no interest in "Silly Billy Goes to the Fair". Now if it were "King Tut Goes to a Fair", he'd be interested. So, I let my son read the decent books that he likes, and learn something he enjoys, and don't make him read the 'selected' books. As a result, he scores high in reading, but doesn't get the top grades because he isn't participating in their selected reading program.

Another problem, I am a geologist and my son knows more geology that any of his teachers. So, for example, in art class, he made a brachiopod. The teacher had no idea what a brachiopod was, so she graded him lower. She didn't 'see' that it had bilateral symmetry, a pseudopod, and was actually a model of Inflata inflatia, all she saw was something weird. He did exactly what she said to do, he sculpted something that lived in the sea. Even when I told her what it was, she wouldn't give him credit for having finished the assignment. There appears to be no room for individualism or creativity, even in art.

My K-12 education prepared me for college to the point that my entire freshman year was a 'review'. It worked for me, very well. What on earth has happened to our public school system?

This "no child left behind" garbage has done nothing to help my child-- nor has it done anything to help those children who are being mainstreamed, but desperately need individual attention and help. I am disgusted that it costs more and more to pay for the things that my child needs to attend public school, and that he is not getting a decent education.

Excessive homework for youngsters is uncalled for, but many in this thread rebel against any homework (self-study) at all. There are 6-7 hours after school and before bedtime, leaving enough time to play, study, eat dinner and cultivate a hobby. Perhaps all of that cuts into the *real* family time around the dinner table watching sitcoms. I realize I'm at odds with my peers in numerous many references to TV culture of the past fly over my head.

We sympathize with your brachiopod story, but such a lesson only prepares him for the real world in which creativity is also resisted and unrewarded. There are no limits on extracurricular activities such as reading. Consider the changes: teaching material has been downgraded to the abilities of the teachers. New teachers need "new math" because they were mediocre students themselves.

Perhaps that is why I love my job-- creativity is rewarded, as long as it works. No, there are no limits on extracurricular activities, but his homework takes up a lot of his free time, so he is limited on the amount of time he can spend reading, taking swimming lessons, etc.

Since I used to read, (before I became a mother), 7-10 books per week, perhaps I over-value reading as a hobby and past time, or stress its importance as a learning tool too much. I want my son to enjoy reading as much as I do, because, with a good book, you're never bored.

I agree that teaching materials have been downgraded greatly-- at least from when I was in school, all those eons ago. Too, textbooks these days must be written to please too many sectors of the population, and often miss the real point. As an example, as a teacher, I taught a unit about fossils, but several parents complained when I discussed the concept of geologic time. Frankly, it is very difficult to teach a unit on fossils if you can't mention time as a factor.

your son should be able to get credit for reading those books. I myself love to read too.

I could always read at least 4 grades above the standard grade level. By the time i was in the fourth grade, i could read Lord of the Rings. but noo....I was forced to read the fourth grade books....

I have to agree with Dowser that I do not want to be expected to be the teacher.

My kids' school has some 15 or 20 minute rule that is completely ignored.

Homework in Kindgergarten IS a waste of time. When I was in Kindergarten it was half day - and we napped and played for most of it. My kids' school day is 8:30 to 3:30. Why can't they teach everything they need to in that time? I barely get to see my kids during the day when school is on and I want that time to be quality - not frustration with forcing them to do schoolwork.

Okay I'm gonna put in my two cents here. I am a freshman in high school and the system is horrible. I have been in high school for 1 week. I have had at least 3 hours of homework almost every day. In math my teacher went over something we were not taught in eighth grade and this was pretty much what she did: Gave us a quick explanation on how to work the problem, worked 1 example on the board, give us some homework that looked nothing like what she explained, then we had a quiz over it the next class period. As far as the homework overload goes it's outrageous. This is basically my day: wake up, get ready and go to school, cross country practice, go home, eat dinner, do homework, spend 30 minutes maybe goofing off and whatnot, then I go to bed. I pretty much hate it but i pretty much have to do some extra curricular activity or it's basically impossible to get into college. In class we spend so much time making sure we know the fluff. For example in History class we spent about 15 minutes taking notes on what a primary and secondary source of information is, THEN we got a sheet with a list of like 40 examples of sources and we had to list whether it was primary or secondary which took about 20 more minutes. And this primary secondary source stuff is something I learned in like 6th grade. It's bull crap.

You're overlooking other children of Caucasian immigrants for academic success. An often overlooked perspective is that children of American immigrants in other countries also fare better than the locals. It is easier for you identify the immigrant work ethic because Asians look different.

I don't see any "student of the month" bumper stickers on cars in Japan. Perhaps America spends wastes too much money on worthless academic programs, gold stars and math books with glossy pages and pretty pictures. Perhaps we need to go back to correcting papers with red ink instead of purple ink. Perhaps we need more male teachers with an affirmative action program.

Japanese middle and high schools require all young men to study judo and kendo (swordfighting). Here in America, the dodgeball ban is sweeping the nation.

Buster-- May I suggest that your intern's poor math ability is due to the fact that the public education system continues to change the methods used to teach math? I am 53 years old, have a 10 year old son, a step-daughter in college, and I am on my 4th "New" math.

I learned arithmetic, and use Calculus almost every day to solve problems in my work, and can't figure out how on earth to help my 10 year old with his math homework. This new method they have makes no sense to me!

I agree that we need more male teachers-- but we need more male teachers that can teach and are dedicated to teaching. I had plenty of male teachers, and most of them thought only of their coaching job, (and subsequent salary increase), or had some other adjenda, i.e. "I majored in history and this is the only place I can get a job". I'm not promoting a gender bias, I am just describing what I experienced, albeit many years ago.

Ian, I agree that dodgeball should be banned from playgrounds. Dodgeball back in my grade school years was a method by which larger bullies could release agression on their smaller and less fortunate classmates. Swordfighting is fine by me, as fencing is a disciplined sport, that teaches courtesy, controlled agression, and sportsmanlike conduct. Kendo is the same. Go for it, folks.

Believe me, as a former teacher, my children's education is very important to me. I am actively involved in my 10 year old's education, (I just pay for my step-daughter's education)-- but am sick and tired of teaching my child for the teachers. It seems that they just throw out concepts, expecting the kids to grab them as they go by. It is up to me to explain and provide the depth of knowledge as to 'why'. There are problems with our education system that could certainly be 'fixed' to make it better:

Cut back on teacher's paperwork. Right now, a teaching career is not about teaching, it is about documenting everything under the sun. By overloading the teachers with useless paperwork, they have little time to actually teach and interact with their classroom.

I am not trying to be negative about children with problems, I feel they need special help. But I believe that mainstreaming everyone is detrimental to many kids. My child, in 5th grade this year, is in AP classes. It is very difficult for him to concentrate on his work, when his seatmate, who is autistic, is continually hitting, pinching, grabbing, etc. The teacher can not control the student even with an assigned special 'helper'. My son is not getting the help he needs because the teacher's attention is directed toward the child that can't help but be a troublemaker.

While testing is needed to assess a studen't improvement, my son's class spends over 4 weeks per school year taking tests designed to meet some standard for the state-- not classroom tests to determine his grade or measure his knowledge of a specific subject. He can't study for those tests specifically. Since his teacher's salaries are based on test results, he is under a great deal of pressure to perform well-- to benefit his teachers or him? Not only that, but the teachers pursue subjects that are only a part of the tests-- if it isn't tested, it isn't covered. So, minimize the amount of testing completed to meet state goals.

Those are just some ideas...

Dowser wrote "I agree that dodgeball should be banned from playgrounds. Dodgeball back in my grade school years was a method by which larger bullies could release agression on their smaller and less fortunate classmates. "

Dodgeball teaches courage as do other sports with ball-to-man and man-to-man contact specifically due to this inequity. Smaller classmates get their turn during the mixed age rounds. At worst, the child is struck with a ball and learns that a ball causes a temporary pain that will subside in fifteen seconds. Dodgeball teaches thinking under the fear of minor physical pain. Fist fights are even better. Perhaps such education is no longer needed in age when every boys are considered to be merely broken girls and forced to grow into a metrosexual: a genetic male with behavior indistinguishable from a woman's .

Parents today are obsessed with preventing verbal injury to self-esteem. Perhaps that is the primary reason that physical education is undervalued. I attribute my study and work endurance to my physical fitness.

Ian, I understand what you are saying. However, if you want to teach lessons on courage, there are plenty of other ways. Visit a VA hospital. Talk to someone who is dying of cancer, with courage, tenacity, and with as much dignity as they can muster. Talk with someone who, with quiet courage, does the right thing, no matter the cost to them personally.

If you want to teach eye-hand coordination, take up baseball, where the ball is thrown to others, not at them for the purpose of hurting someone. Or basketball, where physical endurance abd lightning reflexes are also important. Or for that matter, fencing-- a matter of eye-hand coordination, physical endurance, sportsmanlike conduct, and, even grace.

There is no 'mixed-age' dodgeball in my son's school. He is an average sized kid-- I was the small one, and yes, a bully broke one of my ribs by throwing the ball at me so hard. It knocked my breath out, and it stayed out until I fainted. It was in 5th grade, I was 10 years old and weighed 45 pounds.

Did it teach me courage? Hardly. Did it toughen me up, like the old German schools toughened up their students to become Hitler Youth? Nope. That game of dodgeball taught me that bullies who inflict pain on others for pleasure are cowards who hide behind their physical superiority-- mainly to cover up their own insecurities. Oh, and by the way, the pain from a broken rib lasts for a couple of weeks--not a mere 15 seconds. Since I was recovering from rheumatic fever at the time, my family was more than a little concerned that it may have more lasting effects due to complications.

Yep, they need to ban dodgeball. Develop toughness, physical endurance, courage, sportsmanlike conduct, and inner dignity in other ways. I attribute my success as a geologist to more than a physical toughness, although I challenge anyone to survive a 2 week pumping test, as I have many times. Part of it was that I worked 'smart' and conserved the strength that I had. Part of it was that I am pleasant, hard-working, and determined. Part of it was that I have been very very lucky to do something I enjoy.

Buster - that commentary is a big bunch of balogney, in my opinion.Why are you assuming that parents don't want to spend the time. You don't know me and I don't know you. But, you are wrong about me personally. I love my kids and am willing to sacrifice work time or personal time to be with them. Because, frankly, I think they're pretty fun to hang with.

I just happen to think that after an 8 hour day of learning, why should they have to do more work? I mean, that's more than an average work week, if you think about it.

Think about this: WHY SHOULD CHILDREN BE EXPECTED TO BE LEARNING FOR MORE HOURS THAN THE AVERAGE FULL-TIME WORKER WORKS???

That makes NO sense.

I have a friend who was a teacher and is now a mentor and she does NOT believe in homework. She has a PhD. and has been in the education field for 25 years. I trust her instincts.

It might also help if the teachers actually went over the important stuff in class and would use homework to tie up loose ends, which is the exact opposite of what is done in all of my classes and therefore i must figure out the idea of a topic while only knowing minimal information about it on my own. And I can't always get help from my parents and neither can anyone else because our parents work a lot. Plus a lot of the time when i do ask for help they can't because we have way different curiculums than they did when they were in school. And a lot of the time my homework is about pointless stuff that my parents never learned.

The 'style' these days seems to be to blame the teachers for every child's personal problems or learning gaps. After all, it takes the responsibility from the parent's shoulders and puts it on the teacher's, which is NOT where it belongs.

My family is certainly not perfect, nor am I the perfect mother. But I am a good mother, even if an older one, and I try my best to help. I am tired of being blamed because we are different from others-- as if 'different' is synonymous with 'abnormal'. In my book, if my child wants to read books about archaeology, space exploration, history, or classic literature, he should read them. And he is going to do so, unfettered by me.

It would be easier to be a collaborator, if some of the teachers that my son has had could accept the fact that I understand what they are faced with, but that our situation is very different. I am an older mother, and I want to work with the teacher, and within the system, to help my child. However, many times I have non-confrontationally discussed issues with his teachers and have been 'brushed off', or been treated as if I am some weirdo. Sometimes, it seems that you can't get someone to actually listen to you unless you become confrontational, which is not my style, and not what I want to do.

My son is an individual, with individual needs-- many times, he does not fit into the general 'mold', and I am tired of trying to constantly explain that to his teachers, who expect him to be a 'cookie cutter' kid. He doesn't want to play soccer, he wants to hunt fossils-- so we go places to find fossils. He doesn't want to read silly books, he wants to learn how to write Egyptian heiroglyphics. Shouldn't those interests be valid, and valuable, as well?

Nothing wrong with being an older mother. I didn't have my first child till I was 29. Many women are waiting til their ready. That being said, your son sounds like a wonderful boy. My son and daughter have always marched to their own tune. They are square pegs and refuse to be shoved into a round hole. My son is very bright but also has a learning disability. When I inquired about accomodations for his disability at school I actually had teachers and administrators in our district look at me aghast and say "you don't wan't little so and so to stand out do you? You wouldn't want them to be different?" At the time I thought no I don't, but have come to think differently now. There is nothing wrong with being different. I spent several years trying to work with the teachers to get my son what he needs to no avail. Even paid for outside testing myself only to have it ignored. I felt as if I was beating my head against a wall and getting nowhere so I pulled my son out of school. We have found a school in another district that while not perfect, he's allowed to be different. In fact there are several students he's made friends with who march to their own drummer too. Now the challenge will be to find a high school. My kids are happy being who they are and I wouldn't change them a bit (except it would be nice if they kept their rooms clean).

Thank heavens someone understands! Thank you, bmx mom!

I, too, had a learning disability, but back in the dark ages, when I went to school, learning disabilities weren't recongnized, much less 'addressed'. I found that I had a learning disability after I graduated from college, and was teaching. I volunteered to be a 'guinea pig' for the special ed teachers to practice the tests they were giving their students, and learned that I had dyscalculia. I have a problem learning math. This is likely why my little boy's math homework is so impossible for me to understand.

There is nothing wrong with being different. Nor does 'different' equate to developmentally or socially challenged-- not that many teachers are able to understand that. Do I really want my child to be like every other child in the school? Nope. I want him to have a good, solid, base, and the ability to learn about his interests. It doesn't matter to me that he could care less about "Transformers" and, instead, wants to learn about ancient Rome.

I guess that someday, I want him to be as happy in his job as I have been-- and being a hydrogeolgist isn't a 'usual' occupation for a woman. He certainly doesn't have to follow in my footsteps, I just want him to "do" something he can be passionate about. He'll have a much happier life, and be a much more empathetic adult, having lived through these times.

We can't afford a private school, although we pay for private fencing lessons and other things that he is interested in. Nor are there any private schools that offer a good, accredited, curriculum that still allows him to be more individualistic. Our public schools are in a turmoil right now, as the former school assignment program has been judged unconstitutional.

I think that his teacher's lack of understanding is based on fear that I want to create more work for them, i.e. some kind of 'special' treatment for my child. I don't-- I just want their understanding that my son is not going to be a cookie cutter kid, so adjust your expectations. Don't expect him to be an All-Star athelete, he will be an All-Star fossil hunter, and will know their scientific names as well their ancient habitats. He will know what a Roman Centurian wore and how how the man fought-- and be able to demonstrate it.

Your children sound lovely, too! I certainly wish that I could meet them, and that we could compare notes over a cup of coffee someday... I was an older mom, at 43. Maybe I should say, ancient mom. :-)

Take care and thank you for your support!

I have a friend with a PhD. who was a teacher for 10 years, taught future educators at a University for 10 years and has been a mentor for 5 years.

She does NOT believe in homework in the elementary years. She feels it is a waste of time and children should not be made to spend more time at home.

She does not feel children will suffer from NOT having homework.

Dowser-

Thank you for your comments! I could not agree more with what you have said. You and your son's experiences are very similar to mine. I am 27 years old and I remember having a lot of homework from about 3rd grade on. Fortunately, I have parents who were extremely involved in my education. They made sure I got the best teachers each year, checked my homework before I turned it in each day and took the time to sit with me and explain things I struggled with. (Math!) I remember feeling overwhelmed by the amount I was expected to complete but it wasn't because it was difficult and I couldn't understand it--it was because it was redundant and tedious as I had already absorbed the concepts in class that day or could gain the information just from reading the text without the need to fill out some stupid "ditto" (as we used to call worksheets in my day). I would have been more than happy to work on my "homework" during class while the rest of the class was reading aloud to one another, but you would always get in trouble for that--even though you would have read the chapter already. I think that homework might be very useful to those students that need extra help in identifying key concepts or need to go over material multiple times to retain it. However, I believe the amount of homework I was given at a young age did more harm than good in my particular case. As someone who was in GATE and took every AP class available to me, I guess I would be considered more intelligent than most and therefore was often bored beyond belief in class (and during homework time) for most of my early years.

By the time I was a junior in high school, I decided to boycott homework in every subject except for math and math-based science. It was not because I hated school or learning in general, but because I had a voracious appetite for knowledge beyond what they were trying to teach me. My parents (begrudgingly) supported my decision as did many teachers who understood that I came to class more prepared and engaged on the topic at hand than 99% of my fellow classmates. Instead of doing their assigned "busy-work" I often chose to spend my spare time reading additional books and information on the topics and therefore gained a more informed and in-depth knowledge of the subjects than I would have doing the assigned homework. It was the only way for me to stay engaged with the slow pace of the class. The teachers who supported my alternative way of learning agreed to grade me on my papers, projects and tests alone (and some would require extra reports on the additional things I read) and I received straight A's in their classes. In the classes where teachers were not as open to my way of doing things, my grades obviously suffered a bit from failing the homework portion of their class. However, I always got A's on every test I took, paper I wrote and special project I completed. To me, it was totally worth it and I still graduated with a high GPA as most classes I took were AP where a C=B, B=A, etc... Though looking back, I probably should have just done some darn homework occassionally--it wouldn't have killed me, but I was a stubborn, rebellious teenager. Many of the teachers that were not understanding were the same ones who wasted class time by having us do ridiculous tasks such as reading Shakespeare "popcorn style" aloud in AP Senior English. (Yes, that actually happened.) If a teacher is worth their salt, you shouldn't have to spend hours outside their classroom teaching yourself the subject matter.

When I reached university, it was such a relief to not be micro-managed by instructors and I flourished in that environment. By the time you are in college it is understood that YOU are responsible for knowing the material, whether it takes you 10 hours a day to learn it or one hour per week. I loved that I could choose not to attend the classes where the teacher regurgitated the text books verbatim. For me, I learn best by reading, so sitting though such classes were nothing but a waste of time. I especially loved that all they care about in college is that you pass the tests and turn in well-written papers. However, I sought out (and attended regularly) the classes where the professors brought meaningful insight to the subjects they were teaching and where group discussion was encouraged and enlightening. I graduated magna cum laude in 3.5 years without doing much "homework" at all.

Dowser- Tell your son to stick it out! When he gets to college he will get to follow his heart and choose a path of study that is interesting and matters to him. I have a feeling he will excel and will enjoy being surround by others that have similar interests! Also, you might want to meet with his teachers and ask if they would be open to tailoring his lesson plans so he gets the most he possibly can out of them. Maybe he can spend some of his homework time preparing a lesson on fossils to teach to his classmates? Continue to advocate for him--there are some very caring teachers out there that will see that you are trying to do what is best for him and will be more than willing to find creative solutions to help him reach his potential.

PS: I had never heard of dyscalculia until your post. I just briefly researched it and I seriously think I have that! Math always made me feel stupid despite the fact I was in advanced math throughout all of school. No one could figure out why I had so much trouble on a day-to-day basis, yet tested off the charts and into the next round of advanced math each year. (Ugh!) I struggled to do it "their way" for years and it wasn't until my sophomore year of high school that a very caring teacher who realized that I just have a very unique way of figuring things out on my own. I arrived at the right answer in a round-about-way (usually by thinking of the problem in non-numerical terms and creating my own word problems) but I was never able to "show my work" in the way they had taught. With her support and extra help, I felt encouraged to continue taking math through AP Calculus and therefore didn't even have to take one dreaded math class at university. :)

Sorry this is so long! As you can see, I am still word-y, not math-y.

I agree with you completely. I have two children. Last year my son's math teacher insisted that homework every night was the only way to learn. Practice practice practice. While it is true that some kids need to practice, not all kids do in every subject. My son excels at math. Once he grasps the concept he has it and doesn't need to practice. Doing pages of the same problems over and over just frustrate the heck out of him and turns him off for all the homework then.

I practice math with my kids whether they have homework or not because they need the practice. But, you're right bmx mom. I don't force my kids to read. They usually do on their own because they like to and are very proficient.

But, it's summer now and we do about 5 minutes or so of drills or worksheets every day. I'm not against working with kids - I just don't like to be made to.

My kids have little sheets they need to fill out nightly for reading/math/science/spelling practice. (Yeah. We're goign to get all that done in 15 minutes with 10 spelling words per night.) And they need to fill them out and get stickers every week.

I do homework with my kids. But, let's face it. We can't do it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Sometimes we're tired, sick, or otherwise busy with other things. Sometimes we have too much and can't get to it all. Whatever.

I'm not forcing my 8 year olds to do that much homework a night. They hate it and I don't blame them. We do it most nights because I do truly value their education. But, sometimes we just want to go out to eat as a family or play outside or go for a bike ride. Or just do nothing.

My freshman year in high school, I had six essays to complete over the Christmas break for my pre-IB English class. And many of those had to be done with a partner (oh, how I hated group work). That year I almost had a nervous breakdown and had to see a therapist. I was an excellent student, excited about learning, and eager to prove myself, but that was too much.

I completely agree with this post. School breaks should not be bogged down by homework. School breaks should be a time for relaxation and family. Holidays are stressful enough without having to worry if little John and Jane have finished their twenty page - single spaced essay, refrigerator box sized diorama, and two hour powerpoint presentation, presented in full period costume on the complete detailed history of Constantinople, for Ms. Blank's 1ST grade history class...

As the mother of three children -- 18 years (just graduated... praise gawd, I still have enough wisps of hair to pull on with the other two), 16 years (great grades, but then she's considered to be mommy's little brown-noser), and 14 years (evil genius or future 40 year old still living with mom and dad -- only time and bourbon will tell) -- I struggle to keep up with their homework. Their math assignments have the ability to bring me to tears. By the time they (and I) have the slightest grasp of how to or understanding the current assignment, the class is moving on to yet another chapter.

The 18 year old, the entire year, along with every day assignments, had to write a dissertation about the branches of the United States military and their history. Do you know how difficult it was to keep a hormone-driven-attention-span-of-a-gnat 18 year old male on task for an entire school year?!?!?!

The 16 year old, whose greatest ambition is to be a successful version of a Paris Hilton, I can't tell you how many times I was up with her until four in the morning, aiding her in finishing her art class homework/assignments!! I can't tell you how deeply I resent John Singer Sargent's Madame X, now... Paris II not only had to write a paper about the artist and the selected work by the artist, but also had to present a powerpoint presentation about the same material and design a DVD cover, with 'taglines' on the back, for display. Simple overnight homework assignment, but took the art teacher a month and a half to complete the grading process of the student's work... She used to love art. Not anymore... Paris II is now of the opinion and belief that her art teacher is just bitter for not being able to grow up to be a successful artist and chooses to take it out on those that might aspire to be.

The evil genius, I mean, the 14 year old... give me strength... the majority of his classes are honors. Unfortunately, his mother is NOT of honors ability... Every night it was a struggle to complete his various homework assignments -- math being the worst. What made it so difficult was the amount of homework for one class. Three different assignments, on different areas, for the same class. His biology class -- well, I'm almost completely versed on Spondyloepiphyseal, Diastrophic, Hypochondroplasia, and Acondroplasia forms of dwarfisms and dysplasia, their characteristics, prognosis, and conditions. I don't exactly know what I'm going to do with the data, but it's tucked away along with the Oscar Meyer bologna song...

Bascially, I've come to believe that schools are trying to fit five pounds of crap into a one pound bag. The school years haven't grown any shorter, but there seems to be more information that they're trying to teach and it spills over into personal or family time. As a parent, I no longer have the luxury of spending quality time with my children, because before and after dinner, we're too busy working on a cure for cancer, world peace, and/or the theory and debate over just who was the first to be brave enough to milk a cow and why... I'm almost of the mindset that the school year should go on throughout the year -- meaning no summer vacation. The school year could consist of seasonal breaks, like those for the holidays. The only problem with this suggestion is that they would probably cram even more information into that sort of school year.

The days of the 'Three R's' are long gone. It's unfortunate. Understandable, but still unfortunate. The pressures that are thrust upon students these days are far greater than those that I dealt with as a child. Even more unfortunate is the degree of difficulty, as a parent trying to help my children with their assignments, for me to grasp the information enough to aid my child with assignments that they don't understand or not yet fully grasp. Makes me feel like a booger eating moron trying to lead the blind...

Breaks are just that. We'll read or practice spelling or "normal" homework on the Sunday night before they return. But, we are usually having family time with out of town guests.

Sorry, but my kids are spending Thanksgiving or Xmas with Grandma and Grandpa they only see twice a year. THAT time is as valuable as an education. Period.

"Programs like ZAP (Zeros are not permitted), "NO F's", "No Fail Zones"

Your programs will not succeed (using the word failure may hurt self-esteem) you need the title to reflect the mission statement: Zero Tolerance for Anything But Lack of Success (ZTABLS)

Actually, J S, I think your reasoning is WAY off.

And teachers actually can recommend that students be held back and I've never met a teacher so inept that they would just blindly send a child onto a grade they are ill-prepared for.

By law, parents can move their children ahead no matter what the recommendation, but those instances are few and far between.

To suggest that we give children diplomas at birth is to suggest that children are not educated. My kids are in second grade and have started algebra.

Your facts are way off. Kids are smarter today than ever. The pressure is HUGE for them to pass the tests for the no child left behind requirements. They are learning and they are doing great.

I just don't think we should expect a child to spend 9 to 10 hours a day on their education. My kids are 8. It ain't happening.

You commented on what stood out to me. A 12th grader would be doing 120 minutes of homework a night. A vast majority of seniors hold after school jobs or take part in athletics. Two hours a night of homework would make both nearly impossible. Unless of course the student is sacrificing sleep, which is horrible.

I don't think it is the amount of homework that matters, but the quality. If a student is doing something interesting or promoting learning, then fine. But my son has been required to learn seek-and-find puzzles, as well as other useless things... Is that beneficial? Not to me...

As a senior in high school, I can tell you, 120 minutes of HW is downright impossible. Why am I typing this at 11:48 PM? Because I just finished my math homework. I went online to read a little news, and saw this.

The fast-food job I work at (I shall not name the place) pulled me in for 2 hours extra overtime tonight. I get out of school at 3, get home around 3:30, get showered, more deodorant, into my uniform, out the door by 4:00. Get to work at 4:30. Normally get out 4 hours later, at 8:30. Tonight, it was 10:30. Got home, got started on Algebra II. Only work I've gotten done. Still have to write a speech for speech class, and list the major types of printing processes as well. I'll likely get my sleep around 2:30-2:45 AM.

Oh, yeah. School starts at 8:00, so I need to get up at 7, shower, shave, deodorant, get dressed, and get out by 7:30 so I get there at 7:50 to put stuff into my locker, turn around, and run to class.

I should make them pay me for overtime. My job does.

Don't overlook that homework is actually self-study and work in isolation. It is a form of study that is not available in the classroom.

I think that any homework that is assigned is not just wasted time or an effort on the teacher's part to just make you kill some time. They are VERY aware of the amount of homework they give.

But they are under tremendous pressure to teach the kids so they pass the mandatory testing.

Agreed. It's important for the family to bond while watching America's most popular weekly shows in the evening. It's not the same when everyone isn't there.

I consider myself an old fashioned parent in today's entitled world, but I can't deny there is something fundementally broken in our educational system - Kindergartners should not be required to do so much homework that they cannot miss three days to attend a family funeral without literal FEAR of not being able to catch up. The anxiety kids are feeling at that young age is not only unnecessary, but some studies show they hardly retain the information - let's all admit now that this generation is not as educated as we were, even though they have DOUBLE the homework starting from the beginning- they don't even understand what they're learning; they're just memorizing. Test scores matter most now, and mindless hours of homework from overworked teachers who are hardly paid, and aren't allowed to slow down to help kids who need it. I absolutely take the time to be with my kids, read to them, play with them - I'm a nightmare, basically. I'm that annoying mom who works at their damned preschool. :)

And I do plan on sending them to private school, where they are allowed to be children, and that doesn't mean having no responsibility, THAT means teaching based on age, NOT test scores for funding (by the way, medication was practically non existent when I was a kid, back when us first graders had no homework, and there was nary a ADHD among us...do you think perhaps this constant pressure and expectancy for five year olds to read, multiply, and divide for eight hours straight without a break, and go home to two more hours of homework might be contributing to this anxiety and lack of concentration?) KIDS NEED TO PLAY. Not watch TV, but play.  I  resent your assumption that if I don't want my five year to do homework, it is because I watch too much TV. Maybe you watched TV with your family day and night, but I read books, spent time at the library, went to the park, rode my bike, and played outside as a kid, and did my homework in Junior High, and High School, when I was able to concentrate. Sorry about your lousy childhood. :(  

jfe - Are you talking about "No Child Left Behind" when referring to test scores being the basis for things? Because as I would understand it the teachers are stuck making sure all kids can pass, lest funding go out the door. So the kids who know the material are stuck because that backwards ass program is in fact dragging them down. It's not that the teacher can't "slow down", but that they cannot challenge the children who need it as they are tied making sure the children who may not be able to hit the benchmarks are caught up.

Well, I am talking about the CATS testing, which the state has decided should be discontinued, but is still being used as a measuring tool for a school's success. I am talking about all the little reading tests, math tests, foreign language tests, spacial comprehension tests, etc., they take. I can't begin to name them all, but we get all these results in the mail in April, when they took the test in September. You get the results when it is too late to help your child improve for that year.

What a waste of time!

Our children take CSAP testing in the spring. We don't get the results until the next fall when they are already in school. My son consisitently scores in the advanced range but keeps getting put in the average grade classes and is then bored for the entire school year. I did put him in a private gited school for a while and he loved being really challenged for the first time. Unfortunately the school closed ubruptly last fall leaving nothing in this city for gifted kids with special needs. He's back in public school and is doing ok but why should ok be good enough? Real quality teachers are hit and miss. School will be starting next month and I worry about what classes and teachers he will get. He's had some really first rate teachers at this school and others he was not the least impressed with.

It seems that some things never change, don't they?

I am so sorry that the school system has put a label on your son-- who is obviously a very intelligent fellow. It is so frustrating when you know he is capable of more and bored stiff with so little! There just any other place to go here-- and it seems to be the same situation for your family. Home schooling is not an option for us-- I work, and we need the money. You are so right about quality teachers being hit or miss! We've had a couple of duds, ourselves. It took all of last year for him to survive his 3rd grade year with a teacher who was a lovely person, but had no class control.

Do you have a Montessori school there? Do you know much about them? I know nothing, but have been told that it is a great teaching method...

I'm with you, why should ok be good enough? I worry, too. I know nothing about my son's teacher for next year, and have a real feeling that, even in AP classes, he isn't getting what he needs. It will be even worse in middle school-- and I dread it for him.

As of now, in our district, you can request that your child be enrolled in a middle school outside your area of residence. I'm not fond of the middle school he will be assigned to, but don't know of a better one. I need to do some research very quickly!

Good luck to you, my friend-- and good luck to your son!

We have a montessori school, but it juast opened last year and they only had one middleschooler and very few kids. My son has developed into a social butterfly this past year. The school he attends is not in our home district and it has an IB magnet program which draws alot of the gifted kids from the area so Brandon has peers there he can really relate to and for now that is enough he says. We are researching every high school in the city and plan on visiting the ones we find may be compatible with him. The problem is he wants to play sports, attend a school thats not too strict, and has an engineering program. Trying to find schools that meet all his criteria isn't going to be easy.

As for your son, start looking into all the middle schools in your area. They will usually allow you to tour the school and meet some of the teachers. You can also talk to the counselors and hopefully find a suitable fit. That's how I found the school he's in now. It's not perfect but he's ok with it and we just take it day by day.

It's a shame that we have to jump through hoops just to get our kids an appropriate education that meets their needs. I try to do what i can outside of school to keep encouraging him to follow his dreams and interests but I work full time and there are only so many hours in a day. Right now he's just enjoying being a kid and playing with the other boys in our neighborhood during the day and we have been camping, and he races BMX on the weekends. My daughter just graduated high school, barely, but I hope college will be better for her. I know I did much better in college than I ever did in high school.

Good luck in your search!

Thanks, KW!! I agree!!

Learning math facts or reading is actually practice and memorization.

So to answer your question - they need as many worksheets as it takes to memorize words and math facts.

vjo

I have to agree with you!! I wrote a messager earlier which I do not know if you have had the chance to read? So I will repost it again.

I want to say this as a parent with children and homework. My children are grown now
My oldest is 31 and my youngest 28. I remember when they went to school. They always had homework, tons of home work in every subject. I ended up or my wife ended up being the teachers instructing them how to do their math, English, History Etc
It seemed all the teachers done everyday was give them back the homework from the day before, ask the class if they had any questions should they have not done well on the home work from the day before? Should a child be backward and afraid to raise his or her hand, possibly because they did not have both parents at home because of the parents working or divorced, which 90% are in that category now!! Wonder how or why that is??!! So now you have those children having to try and teach themselves because they do not have both parents together at home to help teach them!!
When we figure out and do something about that problem, MAYBE we will be able to understand the WHY!! Why is it that children from 3rd world counties are superior to ours? Most speak 3 or more languages!! Why? Maybe the so called educators need to do some reseach or go to those countries and find out HOW are they able to do that with so limited resouces, MONEY!!! HUUUMMMM? I believe that is the problem. MONEY!!
How many believe the more we the tax payers pay for education will make Superintendent's, Principles and Teachers smarter???!! HAAAAAAA!! The only way they become smarter is learning how to coheirs our kids in coming home and telling the parents, Mommy, Daddy if this levy does not pass they are going to take away this or that from school!!! Then if that does not work they will begin to threaten the tax payers with we will have to stop busing the kids that are of age to drive. Last but not least, should this not pass, the State will take over the school!!! WOOOOO!!
So what?? How many times has that happened?? Most schools that I have seen that the, SO CALLED STATE took over, has it better than those that are funded with property taxes, which by the way are Illegal!! Which none of U.S. stand against!!

So - I must say that well defined assignments that are targeted to what is being taught should be valued over just having to assign something in every subject every night.

I need to clip this and send it to my child's teacher.

I disagree. I am in my kids' rooms weekly as a volunteer. They are under tremendous pressure to teach and succeeed.

Spend some time in a classroom and you wouldn't make foolish statements putting down teachers. They are doing GREAT jobs as far as my kids' education is concerned.

Let's hope they don't spend a ton of government money on this study. We can't afford it.

I can assure you that when I taught, I rarely, if ever, sat during school hours. I resent the implication that teachers give out homework because they are lazy and can't teach the material. Have you not heard the concept "If you don't use it, you lose it"? Practicing what you've learned outside the classroom is one of the best ways to retain that information. Furthermore, keep in mind that these kids are being tested every time they turn around, so we as teachers are forced to cram as much as possible into our class time and send them home with homework because we aren't allowed to spend three days on a topic anymore. I am all for assessing how a student is doing, but it is just out of control now.

I taught high school English and Journalism, so they usually had some form of homework from me every other day, since we were on a block schedule (e.g. writing in a journal, completing a worksheet we started in class, writing an essay...), and usually nothing I gave out would take more than 10-15 minutes if they worked at it. So, they had a day in between classes, and usually three days on weekends to work on it, and it still wasn't done! The problem is, a lot of parents seem to want to raise the next sports star or musician. Suddenly, having football practice is far more important than completing your English essay. It's very sad.

Homework is not necessarily the problem. The problem seems to be all of the testing, which pressures teachers into making sure that kids are learning by assigning homework, but if they aren't learning, there's not too much we can do about it because we aren't allowed to dwell on it in the classroom. Lots of teachers are on a specific day-by-day schedule given by the district and we are required to follow it to the letter. We get disciplinary actions if we don't follow it. So, really, everyone loses out. I was happy to stay after school with kids who needed or wanted extra help, but then I'd hear it from the coaches who demanded they needed Susie and John for practice. Or the administration would say "you can't offer things after school because some kids have no way home, so it's not fair to them because they can't come." So, I'd offer it in the morning before the bell, but ten minutes at 6:45 or 7am for a teenager really isn't going to do that much.

What parents should be doing is getting on the backs of their district and state leaders and discussing these testing standards and how ridiculous they are. Second graders shouldn't be fearing for the future of their lives based on a test score. Parents and teachers should be working together to improve the educational system as a whole, not arguing with one another. Between us, we spend the most time with your child- not the state, and as much as you might be frustrated with us, we are just as frustrated with the system. I got into teaching because I loved kids, I loved English and I wanted to bring that to the kids. I don't want to be the witch who has to assign the homework listed on my daily guide (trust me, most of that was useless, too! But I was required by the state to assign it!), I want to be able to have my students do projects that get them exploring and reading and getting out into the world. Sometimes I succeeded in doing that, no matter how much trouble it got me into, but when I was in school those teachers were the ones we looked forward to having.

Something has gone terribly wrong. Please stop blaming the teachers. There will always be bad teachers, but it's a lot easier for them to slip through the cracks when they're doing state mandated lessons and assigning state mandated homework.

The mandated testing has to stop. My son is advanced in math, He is a year ahead of his grade but the state testing had him tested by the grade he was in overall in school not the level he was at in that subject. So his advanced class spent weeks practicing and doing practice worksheets every night on the stuff they had learned the previous year. Real waste of time and this went on for weeks. It wasn't the teachers fault, but the department of education and the school district. So much time is spent having these kids practice for the test not much real learning is going on during this time and the teachers are real stessed. This is not what school should be about.

GrlDisappearing wrote "I can assure you that when I taught, I rarely, if ever, sat during school hours. I resent the implication that teachers give out homework because they are lazy and can't teach the material."

Homework is for self-study while teaching is for lecturing, correction, inquisition and group study. Pay no attention to the nay-sayers, although they carry a truthful message against excessive study: a high school degree is overkill for most of the available jobs.

While a high school degree may be overkill for many of the jobs available in today's economy, it is very true that it is difficult to get any kind of job without one. Even the most basic job requires some reading and comprehension skill in order to fill out one's timecard, or conduct business. Most employers want someone who has a highschool diploma, just to prove that they can read the OSHA warnings posted.

I just can't take the teacher bashing anymore. Maybe all those who are so full of hate for the teachers ought to take a look at what they are required to teach today and maybe they wouldn't feel the need to make ridiculous and useless commentary.

For a vocabulary greater than the ~3000 words spoken by the average citizen, such memorization assignments are necessary.

If a child has large volumes of homework each night to help them academically then when do they get an opportunity to get off their asses to exercise and interact with other children? You certainly can't have it both ways.

If I may ask, was there a little problem with your shift key? Trust me, capitalizing every word, or nearly every word, in a sentence does not make people read it.

What it does is makes people think you're not intelligent enough to use a computer properly.

Just a heads-up for next time. As far as homework goes, I just finished mine, and it's 12:03 AM. Time to get ready to sleep.

We don't do it on purpose, that's for sure. But we do want to make sure you learn the material, especially in high school. Even if you never go on to college, we want to make sure that the concepts stick with you. You might never directly use algebra, but the thinking skills involved in solving the problem are important. Think of it that way. ;)

As for the internet situation- almost every classroom in the country has at least one computer with access to the internet. Public libraries also have computers that you can use for free to access the internet. As far as I'm concerned, there's no excuse not to complete an assignment that requires the use of the internet if you don't have a computer at home with those resources available to you. I never accepted that excuse from my students, either. I used to bring them to the library to use the internet. I let them come to my class during their free time, or in the morning, or after school to use the computers- out of 150 of them, ten showed up. If that. When the assignment was due, I'd get that excuse "I don't have a computer at home." With two months to do it, and class visits to the library, and access to the computers in my classroom you are going to tell me you don't have a computer at home so that's why your assignment isn't complete? Not going to fly with me.

m-981209 wrote "and the textbooks need to stop "changing editons" every darn year. i have this issue when i get books for my college classes. most of that crap in the books is useless information."
Univiversities make a lot of money from new books. Apparently, 10% annual increases in tuition aren't enough to fund all of the construction projects.

We live in a nice neighborhood, but thanks to the existing school assignment system, there are many kids in my son's school that don't have computers at home, and their parents don't have the wherewithal to get the kids to the library-- either they don't have a car, or are at work when the library is open, or they can't get the child to the branch library near them-- buses don't run after 6:30 pm, until 9 pm. The library closes at 7 pm.

And how can a single parent of 3 take one child to the library and leave the two little ones at home? Most of these parents can't afford a sitter-- some of these kids don't have food to eat at night, or shoes to wear. They are already fighting against odds to get a basic education against terrible odds of extremely young parents, multiple siblings with multiple fathers, horrible living conditions, and poverty. To require these students to get themselves to the library, when they can't cross the street without help is a little ridiculous... To insist that their parents get them to the library, under those circumstances, is also ridiculous.

In addition, even if they do get to the branch library when it is open, there is not always a computer avialable for them to use. Take 30 kids and 10 computers and who has time to do the assigned work before the library closes at 7 pm? Especially since the parents work until 5 pm, they have an hour commute, and they get their kid to the library at 6-- only to find that all the computers are taken, or the internet is down, etc. We have tried to use a library's computer when our internet service was down-- and it didn't work. We finally went to my brother-in-law's house and used their computer.

If teachers are going to require the use of a computer to complete a homework assignment, then the less fortunate students should be able to use a computer at school, during class time. I am all for computer literate children, and assignments that encourage the use of computers-- but teachers have got to understand that some kids just don't have the opportunities available to them that many other students have. To penalize a child, grade-wise, because he doesn't have the money or the resources to use a public computer, is unfair and uncaring. And typical of an educational system that refuses to understand the realities of poverty.

Dowser, I agree with you, that's why classrooms are equipped these days with computers. If a classroom isn't equipped with at least one computer that students can use, then it's unfair to blame a student if they cannot complete an assignment that requires one.

However- my point was that in the school I taught at, despite bringing kids to the library (we were lucky and had a public library attached to it!) and having four computers in my classroom that students could use for projects, many of them still refused to utilize the time, and then came time for the assignment to be due and they weren't finished, blaming the fact they didn't have a computer at home. If you are given the opportunity and resources to complete the assignment, there's no reason not to finish it.

Also- this is important- if you are a single parent and cannot get your child to the library, then talk to the teacher. We are pretty understanding people as long as you talk to us, and by talking I mean calling and saying "Hey, Miss So and So, this is Johnny's Mom. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about this assignment because I want to help Johnny find a way to succeed, but the fact is, I'm a single mom with several kids, work two jobs, and just don't have a way to get Johnny to the library since we don't have a computer here. I'm wondering what we can do to help him do this?" Those responses get a lot more than "Johnny's not doing this assignment. It's not fair to penalize him because we don't have a computer and I don't have time to bring him to the library. If you fail him, I'll sue." (Not that I'm saying you are this type of person Dowser, I'm illustrating a point).

If you had called me and we had conversation A, my response would've been "No problem Ms. Dowser! Here's what we can do- during Johnny's lunch, I can bring him up here to finish eating and use my computers. I'll get him from the lunchroom we can work together. Or, if it works for you, we can keep him after school on a day when you can come and get him later on (this is assuming the school doesn't have late bussing- most of them do, so I'd use that). OR, if he finishes his classwork on time, I'll keep him up here for a little while to do some work on this project. Worst case scenario- I'll give him some extra time to complete the assignment, depending on where he is at the deadline...but I think he can do it if we get him in here. Thanks for calling to let me know."

Many parents assume we don't care, or we don't think about the things like computers at home. The other problem is- and please remember this- districts are forcing a lot of the technology requirements now. In some areas, we HAVE to require they do an assignment using a computer in some way, so it's not that we don't care, but generally our hands are tied. Most of us will work with anyone to make sure a student passes- I HATED failing students, but if they didn't do their work, no matter how many times I tried to help them complete it, or tried to call home to get some parental cooperation, sometimes I just had to fail them.

And also keep in mind- many teachers, especially we single ones, are not exactly living in the lap of luxury. In the district I taught in, they paid us very little above the maximum income for food stamps, on top of that include that we had to pay union dues, insurance, and taxes. Several teachers would get an apartment together and share it just to live, often taking summer school jobs and part-time tutoring jobs after school. We are no strangers to poverty, either, and I swear, most of us are very friendly, helpful, and nice people. :)

GirlDisappearing-- I understand what you are saying, I was a teacher, too, a long time ago. I have no problem with going out of the way to make other arrangements for my child-- We have the resources, if needed, but other kids and parents don't have those resources. I wonder if they can read, as well.

Also, I've observed my son's class, and he has no time to use the computer in class-- he has a computer at home, and the computer in his room is reserved for those who don't, as it should be. The trouble is that there are 2 computers in his class, and 10 kids without one at home. Almost 1/2 the class. There is a computer lab, with 30 computers, but no one can use those except in the computer class. No one is allowed to use them just for homework.

I know you care a lot about your students. I cared about mine, too. I also understand that school boards often throw rules out, and expect them to fit each and every child, when they rarely 'fit' anyone.

Believe me, when I was teaching, the lap of luxury was no where near my home! Let's see, in 1981, I brought home $333 every 2 weeks, and my house payment was $185. I ate vegetable soup, every night, at 28 cents a can for 2 years. I never had a pint of milk in the house, because I couldn't afford it, and I made my own clothes-- you could do that back then and save money. :-)

I left teaching-- not just to make more money-- but because I had a student whose father beat him, and because the man was a Big Woo in town, no one would do anything about it. I couldn't stand it-- it still makes me cry-- and I got out. O-U-T.

GirlDisappearing, I understand, perhaps more than you can imagine. It may be the school district that is mandating the assignments, in which case, the teacher needs to tell someone just that thing. If so, then we can get a delegation of parents to go to the Superintendent's office, and insist that computers be made available for student's use-- or that the assignments not be given. And we will have no luck, whatsoever.

Hope you have a great day!

PS-- I've never sued anyone in my life-- I'm not that kind of person.