Homework: Two sides to the story (2)

Johnny and Jimmy (Fictitious names, can you tell?) are in Ms. Jones (Fictitious name, again, can you tell?) 5^th grade class. Ms. Jones assigned what she thought was a reasonable amount of homework, considered about 10 minutes per grade, a total of about 50 minutes for 5^th grade. Jimmy raced home from school and began his homework immediately, hustled through it, and ran out to play. Johnny, on the other hand, dragged his feet on the way home. His mother prodded him to begin his homework right after he finished his snack. Then two and a half hours later, he finally completed it. And that was right after dinner, right before bath. Even though the names are fictitious, the circumstances are not. The length of time it takes one child to do homework can be radically different for another child. The first child’s parents will not be concerned about the amount of homework given. appearing reasonable. The other child’s parents, however, might have a different opinion about the amount of work assigned. If it appears that the teacher is assigning too much homework, it’s time for honest communication.


If I were Johnny’s parent (Just hypothetically thank goodness, I’m too old to want another child. Happy with my grandchildren), I would first find out how long the teacher THINKS the assignments should take. Next, I would find out how long the assignments are taking the other kids in the class. If other children are completing the assignments with only REASONABLE assistance within a reasonable time frame (and the operational word here is 'REASONABLE'), I would next make sure that Johnny was doing the homework in my presence. This would reduce the amount of off-task behavior that could be a problem. If he were applying less than optimal diligence, I would help him organize and give him set times for completion of each part. And I would set a timer for him, breaking the tasks into smaller components. If this doesn’t correct the situation, there may be something else going on. I would watch Johnny to see what areas were the most problematic. I would then communicate again with the teacher. He might be having difficulty at school also. Remember, the amount of homework teachers think they are giving can be experienced differently by a variety of children, depending upon their skills and family structure. So, parents, this is just a little bit of advice from an old teacher about homework.