It's longer ago, but I remember when I was in school and had different teachers for various different subjects. Each of these acted as if they were the only teacher we had and would give homework and assign exams as they pleased. So more often than not, all exams would end up in the same two weeks before the holidays and homework would be piling up. One of the main reasons why my math abilities are extremely bad, as I'd just drop it completely as I already struggled with it anyway and therefore always left it for last (or never at all), and didn't prioritize it for exams either.

I had homework, especially for languages (2 for me) it is absolutely necessary to learn vocabulary at home, I also think studying on your own at home, figuring stuff out on your own, writing essays, etc. helps independent thinking, BUT, big big but: as a first grader, by 4pm I would not only have been home, had lunch and done my little homework - I would also have been an hour in playing with my friends... Kids being in school that late AND homework doesn't work, can't have it both ways.

I truly believe this is why so many of us have grown up to think that if we aren't over-working, then we aren't working enough. Work-life balance needs apply to kids too. Especially kids, actually!

No kids should have homework. Why else are they in school then? Like 7-8 hours a day is more than enough to teach them what they need. I never understood it and I rarely did homework when I got home. I usually did it in the class before the one I had homework in. That's what school is for.

Teachers give homework as if children lived in schools, and as if they had no other teachers... Glad I escaped the huge hell school is.

The whole educational system needs to be reworked. At that age, kids are like sponges wanting to learn. Why this, why that. But schools force them to study boring and mostly useless stuff, with boring methods, sit still, be quiet, memorize everything only to forget it after the test, to the point they rightfully hate it. I always remember one day when I was in highschool, there was an eclypse and we all wanted to go outside and see. But no, children away from the window, eyes front, be quiet and pay attention to whatever boring things they were teaching that day. Horrible.

When I was in elementary school we didn't have homework assignments, unless we had been out sick, or didn't finish before the end of the school day. Homework was only for the older kids in middle and high school.

Finland doesn't give homework until late highschool and they have incredibly high ranking schools and the lowest attainment gap in the world.

What if home-work was actually like this. For kids age 5-7, count the steps at your house and if your house does not have steps, count the windows. For age 8-10 or so: bake (buy) a cake/apple and divide it by two, then by four and then by eight. Then this: comic-books and short stories/song-lyrics are just as well to learn to read, but make it easier to keep focus, which raises the reading-enjoyment-level. By the way, taking a cookie-recipe and having them multiply it, helps in both reading, math, developing motor skills and teaches some practical skills and chemistry as well.

I'm 33 and I'm still bitter about all the afternoons and weekends of which I was robbed and forced to do homework. Didn't help that I was given extra support in school that was abruptly taken away in 6th grade & then called lazy for still needing that additional support. I still get this anxious feeling of guilt after work that I'm supposed to be doing something else. Surprisingly I thrived in college and did much less work outside of class besides term papers & was given all the grace by professors I was constantly denied as a kid & was further warned I would not receive in college. Can we stop making childhood suck already?

My son refused to do homework starting in 6th grade (middle school), stating that he spent 8 hours at school. He did fantastic in classes, but his grades sucked. I finally let him quit & do an online diploma course. It was supposed to take 4 to 6 months. He was done in less than 6 weeks with all A's & B's.

I am guessing first grade is about 5 - 6 years old? No way they should be having homework. The school day is long enough already. If anything more is required either the teacher is not doing their job, or there are insufficient facilities at the school. The children would benefit more from having a bedtime story read to them last thing at night.

I don't agree with homework in primary school except maybe reading. Kids spend enough time at school, they need time to be kids, have family time, help out around the house, do extra curricula activities etc. We send most of our lives working and not much time living. High school homework should only be what hasn't been completed in class, not extra assignments, book reports etc.

This varies enourmously between countries and is multiplied by the various schooling forms. At a certain point self-study needs to be introduced and trained, because it is a skill most people need later in life.

Some homework. Mainly so the parents have an idea of what is being taught and how the kid is doing. That way, when the report cards come out, or the parent/teacher conference is called, the parents aren't surprised by how bad, or how good even, their kid is doing.

From the behavior described the OPs son should be evaluated for ADHD. Also, is it homework or classroom work he didn't finish due to distraction? If the latter get him evaluated ASAP as he's already having difficulties with focus..The next parent teacher meeting the teacher will likely mention how he either seems distrated/daydreaming at times, or that he's distracting other children. Nip it in the bud! Get evaluated and support if needed. Once a child begins to fall behind and grow frustrated with education it's a steep slope to climb back up. I know, as I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I was a teen. It wasn't until I had severe depression from the anxiety that I was evaluated.

At this age, parents need to be reading with their kids and teachers need to be giving parents tips on how to easily integrate simple learning into daily activities (like adding up the shopping for maths) but not sit-down work sheets. Absolutely not. All kids need at that age is to be read to as much as possible and included in proper conversation. That's it.

This makes me so infinitely happy that my kids are attending school in Japan (and hubby is an elementary teacher too). Ten minutes of homework max for each grade year and parents are expected to help walk them through it to lessen the stress. So even my 6th grader is only getting about an hour of homework, little brother gets a max of 30 minutes. Plus their school day is 6 hours which is a lot less than American schools. I remember my own American school experience. Sad to know it's gotten even worse.

This little fellow was clearly struggling, but the first thing Mom should have done was phone the teacher. Was this homework because the student did not finish his work during work time in class? Was he unable to focus on the work? I had this situation once and when I telephoned the teacher, I learned that the packet of work was for the week - one a day, not all five at night. Yes, better communication could have been included to parents, but this was my first and the other parents had had older kids so they knew the drill. The first grade then went very smoothly and successfully for us all.

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Just say NO! Send it back to the teacher and tell her you won't be doing homework after school. You will do reading, but unless your child has been absent, (in that case. you can send home the concepts that were missed that day of education and you will do it over the weekend.) Homework will include playing outside or inside, reading, and spending time with family. Maybe a sport or social activity.