Too much homework?

too-much-homework-overload

Grade 4 student Arieanna Shaughnessy
Photo by Mark van Manen/The Province

Too much homework?
Adapted from The Province by Nila Gopaul
Level 2

Last year, Arieanna Shaughnessy
was in grade 4. She was nine years old.
Each week, Arieanna got 10 hours
of homework.

Arieanna’s mother said her daughter
was very tired and stressed.
“She can’t sleep …. I can’t sleep.”

Arieanna wants to do other things,
such as play baseball and ride horses.
But there is no time.

In one B.C. survey:

  • 38 per cent of parents say
    there is too much homework.
  • 36 per cent of parents say
    the homework is just right.
  • 26 per cent of parents say
    teachers need to give more homework.

10-minute rule
Some researchers say a 10-minute rule
for homework is good.
– 10 minutes x the student’s grade level +
– 15 minutes of reading

For Arieanna, now in grade 5, this means
50 minutes of homework every day.