His findings? Well, apparently homework in the elementary grades does little to help student achievement. They almost always finish it with at least 5 minutes to spare, so I know the assignments don’t take longer than 10-15 minutes.īut what does the research say? Harris Copper, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Duke University and the nation’s leading expert on homework (what a boring job!), reviewed 100+ homework related studies from the past decade.

If they come to school without their homework, they finish it during morning recess.

This homework gives my students exposure to the format of many end-of-year test questions.

I don’t do a lot of worksheets in class.

If a child is struggling on the homework (with content that should have been mastered) it’s a sign to parents and me that the child needs some support. The purpose is to reinforce what’s already been taught and to show parents what’s happening in class. If I haven’t taught it, it doesn’t belong on a homework page. Nothing on the homework is new material.I love the idea that parents sit with their children and help them finish their work each night, but with many families at our school that never happens. The kids should be able to complete it as independently as possible.If it’s a project that parents are going to have to orchestrate it’s not helping the kids. I only assign homework Monday-Thursday (again reading is not included in this).So I expect 20 minutes (or so) of homework and 20 minutes of at-home reading. I don’t include reading at home when I’m talking about homework. The general rule is 10 minutes of homework for every grade level.Isn’t that a tricky subject? After a dozen years of teaching here is my philosophy on homework.

Days of the week homework