I received this email from a grandmother and wanted to share her wisdom:
Dear Sara,
I am a grandmother raising my 4 grandchildren. I just found your website and I was pleased to read that others feel the same as I do. As my grandchildren’s guardian, I feel that children have way too much homework! My grandchildren attend the Chicago public school. Grades are 5th, 3rd and twins in 1st grade. I keep telling their Dad that the grandchildren have too much homework.
I have raised my children and they also went to public school. My grandchildren hate school! The first graders have two to three worksheets each night plus 10 spelling words to learn a week, vocabulary words for the week, sight words each week, plus the school system wants the first grade children to read at least 30 minutes each night! They also have a library book report that has to be done and reported on the internet. Also, when they don’t have time to finish papers in school, they have to finish them at home! I don’t send them back to school with a note THAT THEY DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO FINISH HOMEWORK AT HOME. PLEASE HAVE THEM FINISH IT AT SCHOOL. Please give me a break. This doesn’t even add in a library project each month on a book they have read. That is just the first graders. These first graders have to spend at least one hour doing homework, and that doesn’t count the 30 minutes reading log or any added projects. No wonder they HATE school.
The third grader has an average of 2 hours of homework plus his 30 minute reading log and the 5th grader has to do some homework after school and the rest after dinner. Sometimes she is up till 10:30 at night finishing her homework. This is outrageous.
There is no time in school for any learning. Time is spent making sure the children score high on the tests given. I thought the teacher was in the classroom teaching students! They should call them instructors instead, because they spend all day INSTRUCTING them what their homework will be for that night!
They attend school from 8:00 am till 1:45pm. that includes lunch and recess. That is not enough time for them to be taught anything. Children nowadays are home schooled so they can score high on tests so the school system looks good. What about the children and what education they are not receiving while they are going to school. No wonder the drop out rate is so high. Don’t misunderstand, my grandchildren are smart children because we spend the time with them to see that their homework is completed and all assignments are handed in on time and the reading logs are completed. But everyday of the week, Monday through Friday, there is no time for anything else but homework!
When will the school systems see that they are the cause of children that fail? They are the reason children hate school. Keep up with the great work helping our future generation learn. I often think where will these children be with the limited education they receive in grammar school.
Stop Homework 
I totally agree with the Grandmother! I have a 4th grader who arrives home after 4:30pm (by the time the bus gets our child home) and from the time they get off the bus until at least 9:00pm at night they is usually working on homework. (Homework on the weekends too!) There is barely time to relax and barley enough time to eat. (I am not exaggerating.) I find myself rushing through mealtime (which should be a relaxing family time.) There have been 6 major tests within the span of two weeks. (This doesn’t even include projects that are assigned simultaneously by different teachers!) My child has no time to enjoy life! We are currently trying to find another school that is good quality with less homework! This issue has be brought to the attention of the teachers, but as we all know, we must be cautious about approaching teachers…some of them can be vindictive when they feel you are “questioning” when you are actually just expressing concern for your child, not questioning their abilities, etc.
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this is entirely true.
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