When do you first remember getting regular homework in school?

[NewJeffCT]

My daughter is in first grade and has a rather large math textbook in which she needs to do weekly lessons at home. They also have reading & writing assignments as well. Last year in kindergarten, she had weekly assignments as well.

It's not a huge amount of homework, but it adds up because both my wife and I work and don't have a lot of spare time.

I'm almost 42 and I don't recall getting much in the way of homework at all until I got into middle school/junior high. I think we may have had a few book reports in elementary school, but that was about it.

How about other DUers?

[Haole Girl]

1. I got homework in first grade

Of course I stuffed it in the little cubicle assigned to me, to put my shoes and jacket in, and they couldn't figure out where it went for months! lol

[NewJeffCT]

14. and you still haven't changed!

have you?

[Haole Girl]

18. Nope

:rofl:

[malta blue]

2. My daughter is in 4th and has had regular homework since

kindergarden.

I remember homework in third grade - but I think that is mostly because I went to an english school in the Dominican Republic, but my social studies was in spanish so I remember it being a real bear.

[hamsterjill]

3. Second grade

I'm a child of the 50's and we started having short reading assignments in the second grade. We also had spelling words and math assignments that you could usually finish in class but had the option of taking the work home to finish if you needed. I don't honestly ever remember "stressing" over homework until maybe some math classes in high school.

My daughter, a child of the 80's, was a completely different situation. There were nights when she was in tears in grade school because she didn't think she could get all of the homework completed. Not to mention the weight of the backpack with all of the books that she had to lug around. Once I weighed hers and it weighed almost 35 pounds! Pretty heavy for a 6th grader!

And she was (and is!) a smart kid, so it wasn't that she didn't grasp the concept, it was simply time available to do the work. Needless to say, I was happy when graduation day came!

[skygazer]

4. I'm 47 and I don't remember regular homework until junior high

We had some take-home assignments in grade school but not as a regular thing. My kids, on the other hand had a lot of homework from 1st grade on.

I think a lot of what kids are taking home now is "busywork." I think teachers are expected to assign homework and so they do but what is assigned is often not really stuff that is going to further the kids understanding or competence and just serves to keep them (and their parents) busy. I'm not a big fan of it.

Kids are in school for roughly 6 hours a day and expected to spend at least a couple of hours at night on homework. That's an 8-hour or more workday and for young kids, I think it's too much.

[lizziegrace]

26. Same here

and Lelapin had homework starting in first grade. Really takes a toll on the kids and the parents at times. And it's only just begun if she's in first grade, Jeff.

[BarenakedLady]

5. My kids primary school has a no homework policy.

Just a suggestion to read to/or with your kids for 20-30 mins a day. This is K-3rd grade. Once they hit intermediate school, they start getting homework but aren't bombarded.

[Sheets of Easter]

6. Gosh, maybe second grade.

If I remember, we mostly did in-class assignments in first grade. If we got any homework, it was only a bit throughout the year.

[Zuiderelle]

7. Our first-grader gets daily homework. Not difficult stuff, but it's every day.

On the other hand, it's "voluntary" to return the homework and it's not graded. I think it's just a way to start them on the routine of homework. It's also helpful to see where they are on a daily basis.

The homework is mainly stuff like "Draw a picture that contains a group of people and tell a story using numbers" and "What number precedes each number here: ___ 4, ____ 17, ____ 8" etc.

[fizzgig]

8. i started getting homework in about first grade

but it wasn't much more than studying for spelling tests or one math assignment a week and that continued through about third or fourth grade.

funny thing is that i was so excited when i started getting homework, it made me feel so grown up :rofl:

[zanne]

9. Right from the start. First grade homework.

In 1959.

[DS1]

10. too early

homework is bullshit

[Silver Swan]

11. I am 62,

and I don't recall having to take a book home to study, or complete an assignment on a regular basis until seventh grade.

My mother was as elementary school teacher from the 1930's until her retirement in the late 1970's. She did not agree with giving "homework" to kids in the early grades, and thought the trend toward huge daily assignments was wrong.

After having to drag my own children through their "homework" every evening for many years, I wonder how we became educated in the old days without all this extraneous crap. I don't think my own children benefited from it in any significant way.

[NewJeffCT]

15. well, they aren't daily assignments

it's more like weekly things to do, but sometimes it is for the week - i.e., we got some review material yesterday for a test on Friday... which isn't too bad since the school is closed today for the Jewish holiday.

[flvegan]

12. 3rd grade, but

we were given time in class to complete it. If you worked it right, you could finish most of it then, and then use the 5 minutes before class the next day to finish it

[KitchenWitch]

13. No regular homework until junior high.

My daughter has an inordinate amount of homework for a second grader. We spend at least an hour a day for four days a week.

:banghead:

[fight4my3sons]

16. My oldest son is in 1st grade

He gets homework on the weekends. Usually a one page Math assignment or a Science project. Nothing too heavy. He is also expected to read for 20-30 minutes a night.

[supernova]

17. Don't even remember

but I want to say 2nd or 3rd grade for regular, everynight home work. I think first grade was more about getting everything done during the school day and just getting used to being in school.

[applegrove]

19. I remember getting homework the first week of grade one and thinking "this is

so not right. My time at home should be for play and not for doing schoolwork".

[Rabrrrrrr]

20. I would say probably when I was 7, getting my first Masters Degree at MIT

Up until then, I'd always been able to get the work done in class.

[NewJeffCT]

24. well, this is actually for her PhD at Yale

but, I didn't want to sound elitist by announcing it here.

[Rabrrrrrr]

27. Your humbleness is truly inspiring!

:silly:

Though I'm sorry she isn't smart enough to get into a top-tier school. It must be soul-crushing.

:thumbsup:

[YankeyMCC]

21. I can't remember with certainty but

I think it was 3rd or 4th grade before I got homework that took any real effort and time.

But my son has had regular and often lengthy homework since first grade.

[dgibby]

22. 2nd grade

That was in the 50's and I still have overdue assignments!

[carlyhippy]

23. not until about 3rd grade

kids have too much homework today, makes me wonder what in the heck are they doing in the classrooms all day?

[dropkickpa]

25. To be honest, I have no idea

I was always a homework avoider, so I have no clue when it was actually starting to be assigned. I figured out really early how a 100% or damn close on a test balances out bad homework grades, and didn't see the point of doing the homework when I was able to get 100% on the tests without doing it. The rare times when I did do it, it would be real quick in the morning or in class.

Dropkid (2nd grade) gets a packet every Monday of the weeks homework and she usually bangs it out all that night or Tuesday night (depending on her soccer schedule) just to get it done and out of the way for the week (supposed to do onkly a couple sheets a day to keep pace in the classroom). It usually takes her maybe 45 minutes to complete it. I'd much rather she be outside running, riding her bike, etc than sitting on her butt for 1-2 hours every night like some kids do.

For some kids, it's a big help, it helps them to solidify and practice concepts, and for others it's a pointless chore, but I've yet to meet a teacher who will actually admit the latter.

Homework that involved reading a book (text or otherwise) I got a LOT more from, I think of reading assignments and writing papers as being different from homework.

[Hangingon]

28. Homework started in first grade.