Too Much homework?
Recently I had lunch with a friend whose daughter just started middle school. This young lady is extremely intelligent and a voracious reader (she always enjoys the signed copies of books I get for her). My friend was telling me that her daughter spends at least 2-3 hours per night on homework! And recently, she had a book report due. So, on top of her 3 hours per night, she was trying to read a very long book, Eldest by Christopher Paolini, which normally would not be a problem for her.
Now, recent studies are showing this phenonmenon is not unusual. "Tweens" or those students generally in the 5th or 6th through 9th grades are being assinged more and more homework. It is often believed this is to help them
compete more in education. Some believe, though, that it is becoming too much for them. In fact, one researcher found that having more than an hour and a half of homework at night can hurt middle school students performance. So, are schools assigning too much homework in hopes of making our students more competive, and is it actually helping or hurting them?
For more info, check out this article from CNN.