Why I Hate Homework...

My son's homework that is. Every night it's at least three assignments, and on top of it, they're also taking their CBE's this week. Part of the problem is time management is not something a nine-year-old grasps intuitively. TV, internet, video games, Harry Potter all fight for his attention and homework comes in a distant second. Our only rule on homework is it has to be done before dinner. I'm sure there's a way to show mathematically the time allotted divided by homework load equals a very small number of minutes.

That, and much of it is writing -- lots and lots of writing. I try to stay out of the way, available for spelling checks and missing words, but some nights are better than others. He gets stuck or I have to nudge him in the right direction, or sometimes even do part of it to show him why this works and that doesn't. I don't remember 4th grade being this hard... and I know it's only going to get worse. I'm dreading the day Algebra starts...

Thankfully my daughters 1st grade homework is a little easier (plus she has the same teacher as my son had, so I'm prepared). She wants to do it right when she gets home so she can play afterwards. Check back with me in three years...