Here's a little math problem you'll never see in their homework.
In California the average per pupil funding amount is $7673.
For a class of 20 thats $153,460.00 Thats for One class.The education budget, not maintainence or construction.
In our school district the high salaries are about $65,000.00 with no medical because in their higher educated wisdom they traded it for a little more money. I know 65k isn't a huge salary in a state like California but 3mos vacation aint bad. Minus the teachers salary we have $88,460.00 per class.
So theres a math problem with no answer and for spelling here's a word left out of their dictionary-accountability.
Here's one source of reference.

http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2008/education/ed_anl08006.aspx

If you can do home school It's awsome. I did it.
The thing that I appreciate about those who do it well is that it's "mastery learning"...you don't progress till you actually learn the material.
Government schools have been using social promotions for years and in my opinion that is a huge mistake.

My 12 year old is educated in France and she has had long days and an amazing amount of homework from Day One. And while I disagree with some of things she's learning, over-all, she's receiving a good education with little-to-no slack cut for bad or mediocre performance. Teachers are tough and the homework load is heavy...what I remember school being like when I was a kid.

To the homeschoolers: I tip my hat to you. I think it's one of the best ways these days to ensure your kids get a good, honest education.

Steve: Long-time Californians tell me this state used to have the best schools in the nation. Now, they are among the very worst. Oh yeah, accountability is sadly lacking everywhere you look.

If it was up to me Sarah I'd let the whole thing implode and start all over.

Very interesting thread, especially with what my job is.

I run a home school support program during the days at the learning center I work at. I have students who come for 5 hours a day and I provide a personalized curriculum that matches state standards. Essentially it is for kids who just do not fit in a traditional classroom, but parents do not want to or don't have the ability to provide instruction.

I rarely send home homework...think it takes time away from being a kid. However, my kids know that we work very hard for 5 hours except for a short lunch break. Their work earns them no homework

He does go to a very good school, it got the highest ratings of any elementary school in town, including the private ones. I want him to be challenged and learn as much as possible and be in a school where the kids are expected to perform. They also have a good music and art program.

2 hours a night of studying and school work just seems like a lot for a little guy. And at 7 they are still little!

That is the biggest reason we chose our neighborhood, with safety being second, and live in half the house we could have bought somewhere else in the city.

Middle and high school will be a different story public school wise, and if he can't get into one of the two magnet schools I will be taking on more work and possibly a second out of the house job to send him to a private school. Or maybe sell some organs LOL.

When my nephew lived with us during his last half of high school the stuff he would turn in and get As and Bs on made me cringe. If I had turned that in in high school my teachers would have laughed and handed it back to me.

I know what you're saying Jennifer, I just went off into my own little tirade. It's almost like nothing you want to do with your kids is of any value to them, we know better so do all this.

Jennifer,

Yes, 2 hours a night is too much for a first grader. Way too much. I googled it. Here are some websites I found:

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/HOW_IMPORTANT_HOMEWORK.html says no more than 20 minutes per day.

http://www.gpschools.org/ci/community/docs/homeworkbrochurefinal.pdf says 10 to 20 minutes a day

http://www.bloomfield.k12.nj.us/Forms/HOMEWORK_GUIDELINES.pdf says 10 minutes a day

These are just a few of the websites that came up when I googled homework guidelines

You might want to check with your school district to see if they publish guidelines.

his actual nightly homework is about 20-30 minutes, a little more if its one of the nights where they write sentences.

But then once or twice a month they have some sort of special project that takes time each night, plus we have to practice his spelling words and work on math problems.

And they have to read 10 books a week on top of all of that.

So maybe they feel like they are only giving 20-30 minutes of actual homework, and not including the studying and projects.

 Quote: jennifer lee

When my nephew lived with us during his last half of high school the stuff he would turn in and get As and Bs on made me cringe. If I had turned that in in high school my teachers would have laughed and handed it back to me.

EXACTLY! OMG; I had no idea education had gone so far downhill with all this "no grades" crap and all that, but sheesh! While they are busy worrying about self-esteem, they're letting illiterate kids graduate and go on into the world. I went to private schools, including college, except for 2 years in high school, and I was horrified to see what is now considered "B" work in public schools. I did notice a difference between what was acceptable in public vs. private school, but not to the degree that I see now. They both have slipped in a major way.

Lack of standards does not help anyone in real life. I completely cringe when I read stories that an 8th grader wrote (my mom tutors; she used to teach. It's (seriously) less articulate than what I wrote in 4th grade.