<p>@Weatherby,</p>
<p>I am so sorry to hear of the challenges your son has had to face recently. I agree that the school day should be more efficient. There are homework assignments I would find objectionable. On the other hand, I know that teachers, especially in public schools, are often under pressure to make instruction “rigorous.” It isn’t always what they would assign, had they the freedom to choose.</p>
<p>The 10 minutes per grade formula can be used as a limit–if your child’s in fifth grade, and spends more than 50 minutes on homework, cut it off and tell the teacher(s) why you sent your child to bed. It helps teachers to get feedback.</p>
<p>@ExieMITAlum, well, I feel sad for the kids who do so much test prep, too. I think the media does us all a huge disservice in feeding the hysteria about the college application process. If kids really are devoting so much time to test prep, they don’t have time to follow their interests. I understand why the “holistic” approach is so effective–it allows colleges to admit kids who have the courage to follow their own interests. Denise Pope’s books are illuminating and horrifying…</p>
<p>@GMTplus7, you know, when our kids have had such homework, we’ve provided supplies, but they’ve done the work. Teachers can tell who’s done the work. We’ve never had a child given a bad grade due to un-mitered corners. Recently, schools have started setting aside class time for projects to be done in school, rather than at home. I think that’s fair. When our children were in public schools, there was the issue of public display of student work in heterogeneous classes. I did have friends who were quite open about doing their children’s work, (children who were on IEPs), because they didn’t want their kids humiliated by the public comparison with classmates.</p>
<p>@classicalmama, mummifying chickens? ??? Did you remove the entrails for soup beforehand? I hope you visited a museum to see real mummies later?</p>