3 Answers
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I think you are right in being suspicious of homework, especially at such a young age. Nordic countries don't even start kids in school until age 7 and they do quite well academically. There is some research that correlates large amounts of homework assigment to poor performing school systems.
One article on the subject: http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/050602_homework_burden.html
This is not to say that a high homework load causes poor performance necessarily, it might be that bad schools coverup with more homework, or that good teachers can do the job without homework. Whatever the reason good schools don't seem to need to pile on the homework.
Brian
Other fathers are almost certainly better
Sillicon Valley CA
Jul 11, 2010, edited Jul 11, 2010
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You might consider what the homework actually is before making this decision. There probably will be some quality work in it. Perhaps you could consider doing homework every other night or limiting it to 10 minutes. I personally don't see much value in a first-grader coming home and working when they could be playing, imagining, strategizing with a board game, bouncing a ball, etc... but if the teacher has taken the time to select it, it might be worthwhile to consider doing. You could also suggest a regimen to the teacher that would work for your family (like 10 minutes of read-aloud and ten minutes of independent reading). Good luck!
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Unfortunately homework is a state required element of education for children 1st grade and higher. Our son's teacher is a classicly trained Montessori teacher and she abhores this requirement. Our son HATED the homework. So she was VERY flexible on this. She allowed us to replace the homework she assigned with anything we deemed better for him. Talk to you child's teacher and you will probably find that there is flexibility on this subject.
