When Is Homework Too Much

The topic of homework has been fiercely debated during the couple of last years. Although nobody can deny that studying at home is a significant part of academic success, there are concerns about how much time it has to take and when it gets too much. Various surveys show that approximately one in five parents believe that their children are getting too much homework.

At the same time, almost the same amount of parents argues that their children are not getting enough load. Let’s take a closer look to find out what is considered to be the norm and how to tell that it’s exceeded.

How much homework is acceptable for a student?

The whole point of homework is to help the students understand the subject better and reinforce their knowledge gained in a classroom. Yet sometimes it can be daunting for children leading to burnout and causing them to give up. It would be fair enough to say that this is a teacher’s responsibility to select the amount of tasks and types of assignments that would go in sync both with educational requirements and students’ capabilities.

What’s more, we have to remember that it’s beneficial not only to academic performance but also nurtures such crucial skills as time management, self-discipline, and others. Not to overload the students, National Education Association came up with a standard for homework time called “10 minutes per grade”.

This means that the total time spent on homework assignments is to be increased by 10 minutes in each grade respectively. In a word, duration of doing homework starts with 10 minutes in the first grade going up to 2 hours in high school.

Why do some students spend many hours on their homework?

Obviously, many students have to spend much more than “standard” time on their homework. The situation, when your child spends all nights studying, may occur because of a number of reasons. The first and maybe the most common reason is that some teachers have a wrong vision of how long it really takes to do certain tasks. There are situations when a teacher says it will take only 20 minutes to do something when indeed it takes much more time and students have to spend an hour doing this particular assignment.

Moreover, there can be situations when teachers are in a dead end because they have to meet the program’s demands which are not written by them. Sometimes the class doesn’t manage to deal with all the material in time and the teacher has to give extra topics or tasks to catch up with what they should have managed, that is human factor.

However, if doing homework for what you feel is too long is an ordinary routine, this may have the following reasons. There are students with some special conditions which make it harder for them to keep in pace with the program, i. e. ADHD. If you’re diagnosed with some kind of a disease which affects your attention or productivity, a homework coach, an easier program, or changing a teacher or even a school can be some options to help you.

Alarming signs of too much homework

Studying long nights before final exams is standard practice, isn’t it? Nevertheless, if you find yourself or your children constantly spending many hours on homework, you should heed to yourself since the consequences can be disruptive not only for your academic performance but also for your health! Here’s the list of some signs that may indicate you’re studying too much at home.

• Less than 7 hours of sleep
• Feeling of being pressured and stressed
• Becoming moody and easily irritable
• Lack of motivation
• Not being able to finish homework even after hours of studying
• Inability to remember what you learnt a couple of days ago
• Constant worries about homework and school

Unfortunately, the education system is not perfect and is likely to set overstated requirements for students, which can often lead to frustration, depression, and low academic performance.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, homework is one of the most effective ways to consolidate students’ knowledge and understanding of various subjects and to upbuild some necessary personal skills. However, you should always keep your ears on yourself in order not to run down.