[glory]

Boy, this is a big reason(as if there weren't others) that we plan to homeschool. From what I have seen in this area, we will be homeschooling anyway--school would basically just be daycare if we sent the kids and then we'd school them at home. Parental involvement is fine, but when kids are coming home with hours of homework in lower grades, one has to wonder what is being accomplished in schools? I remember learning lessons in school and then, at least in lower grades, having a minimal amount of homework which was mostly review. Now I see second graders coming home with chapters to read and go over with their parents, worksheets, etc. Entire lessons to learn instead of just review. Things that seem like they should be covered in school.

[Hodar]

Just an unasked for suggestion. My mother was a genius at motivating us, sometimes by guilt, sometimes by threat ... but often by bribe.

She would make a deal. If one of us kids read (some appropriate selected book) that child would get a custom meal of whatever they wanted (malt, shrimp, whatever) while the rest of the family got the standard evening meal fare. So, while I ate as many fried shrimp as I could stuff, and washed it down with ahomemade ice cream chocolate malt; my brothers got pot roast and potatoes. For a farm kid, this was a pretty good deal.