(of course ya know I'm gonna weigh in on this) But it is counterproductive to saddle kids with that much homework.
It stems from pure hubris - the idea that schools and teachers know what is best for a child. This goes back to Dewey whose philosophy is the backbone of the modern education system. The idea is that teachers have to intervene in all aspects of the child's life so they don't pick up the bad habits of their parents. Dewey was a 'progressive', so conservative, traditional thought was 'bad' and needed to be corrected. Dewey felt that a child's first loyalty is to the greater society - not the family. Teachers work to build the village.
Most "El-Eds" aren't aware they're taught to be control-freaks. They'll smile at you blandly and bat their eyelashes and lay some learning theory jargon on you. But the truth is, they believe that any lesson worth learning will come at their direction and that time spent with family and friends won't learn you your multiplication tables.
This, of course, is dead wrong.
Kids need unstructured time. They're currently overprogramed by products of the same educational system that believes 'activity' is the same thing as 'accomplishment'. As *IF* you can't get into college if you didn't take tap and ballet and violin and softball and lacross all in the third grade!
They need time to play quietly, they need time to play rowdily. They need time to play imaginatively. They need time with their own thoughts to think about things; to wander around the backyard and discover bugs and flowers and such.
They need time to spend with Moms and Dads and grandparents and siblings and friends and cousins. They need time to help cook and set the table. They need time for chores. These interactions have far more of a lasting and formative impact on a young person than any worksheet or textbook.
Instead kids these days don't have time to hear themselves think. And it's sad. They are taught that Mom and Dad are usually wrong, that you can't learn something until the teacher teaches it, that rote memorization is learning (and once you take the test you can forget about it), that quantity of effort is more important than mastery of the material, and that learning - real learning - is pointless.
Sorry for the rant.
I hate what we do to kids in the name of education.
Hey, as far as I'm concerned, you're preachin' to the choir... I'd add to that, the way society has taken away the emphasis of the family as a good influence... my coworker today made a remark about "normal" people not being shaped by their families as much as I was. I think that's a horribly sad thing to do.
I also think half of the problems with kids today would be solved if the average family was four kids instead of two, it's harder to raise selfish little brats when the kids outnumber the parents.
Sorry I missed ya!
Becky had homework today. On her first day of school. :-/
11 spelling words, copy them 3 times each.
At least it was a short assignment.
They say they don't have time to bring their kids to activities in the Parish because of soccer or dance or hockey, or whatever. They deem their spiritual direction less important than getting those activities on the kids' resumes so they can get them into Boston College, or Boston University or Notre Dame, or more importantly to them, Hahvad or Yale! That kind of thinking drives me nuts.