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My parents probably thought homework was good and never complained about it. I think homework is necessary and I would not want it eliminated completely.

Woah, French kids get Wednesday off??

I don't know what my parents thought about the amount of homework we had. I don't remember it ever being so overwhelming that I couldn't get it all done, although sometimes there was a lot. I think homework in grade school prepares you for college though, where there tends to be even MORE homework, so I think eliminating it would probably be a bad idea. I think if the French got rid of homework in elementary and junior high, going into high school and having homework would be a bit of a shock.

Idk how my parents felt but I know I thought the amount of homework DS brought home in kinder & 1st grade was ridiculous. I hated it.

I've seen a couple documentaries on conventional school that cited studies to support the French's take on removing homework until High School though. I can't remember the exact source since it was quite awhile back but both documentaries showed that homework didn't attribute to improvement of understanding until via scores until High School. And even then it had to be directly related to what was taught that day in class.

My parents gave me extra homework and workbooks to work through when we didn't have homework. Hugely helpful!

As a community college instructor, students only do mandatory. So if we want them to do it, it has to be worth a grade. Ultimately the whole system has to change. I agree if they had study skills I wouldn't have to do as much "homework"

@mrbee: school from 8-5 so parents don't need child care starting with preschool at age 3 (if its mandatory to know something in kindergarten they better have the grades below it). School should be year round with many short breaks. In that time you add back sports, music, art it shouldn't be added history time. You teach study skills (homework time), etc. we pay teacher more, not just for added time, but for skills. My sister was told she was too smart to teach elementary school, but I want the smart teaching. We actually make students accountable for their own performance (not teachers or administrators but the students). We let them fail or be average and teach them to do better in the future. Failure is part of the learning process and most people are average. Hopefully, then I don't have to worry about students coming in without knowing how to write a sentence (seriously). And basic skills aren't what keep students from graduating (most of my students don't come in ready for college reading or math meaning they have to take those every semester to catch up and can't take all of their other classes). And we get told that we are substandard because students can't read and write I'm like "what about high school?"

High schools need to actually prepare students for the future both for work and college. It should also have the opportunity to get them trade skills for working. Thus opening up some of the college spots.

My opinion of course

The only homework I've really ever had was from not finishing what was supposed to be done in class so I have only done homework a handfull of times. My parents didn't care either way.

@brownie: @char54: Really appreciate both of your well thought out opinions! I feel that HW or not, kids need to be taught the study skills and the discipline to sit there and actually study properly. I don't think I was ever really great at studying, but seeing my much younger siblings go thru school and recognizing that they sorely lacked fundamental study skills was a bit shocking. It truly hurt them going through h.s. and mores in College. I see our young nephews in Kinder & 2nd grade and their complete lack of attention and the lack of focus on the immediate task at hand is a liitle scary. I saw them " do their HW" of 5 pages in about 3-4 min.

My school mandates homework, including what type I have to send. It drives me bonkers! I teach 2nd grade and they have to practice spelling words, read a book & answer a question (every Monday the question is "who are the characters?" - gah boring!), and do the math homework page from the day's lesson. I don't like it, obviously. I think this homework set up is respetitive, boring, and not worth most of my students' time.

But I do think homework is important! Goal #1 is learning responsibility. Take your items home, get the work done, bring it back. Goal #2 is practice for things that need extra practice, but don't have class time.
Here's what I used to do (for K-1): Kids got a binder, with a numbered lists of activities and resource pages. There was a calendar in the front where I would write in assignment numbers for the week based on our in-class work (by the end of the year kids could write in their own choices). They'd have 4-8 different activities for the week & could do them anytime before Friday (have soccer on Tues? Do it Wed. Learn to manage your time.) Each month I put in a new blank calendar & each quarter they got a new assignment list. I loved that it was so easy to differentiate, was easy to maintain, & it gave the students meaningful choices/control over their own learning.