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I believe the teachers think it's to reinforce the material. But much of the research says it's ineffective. AFAIK the research doesn't say why, exactly; but I

I believe the teachers think it's to reinforce the material. But much of the research says it's ineffective. AFAIK the research doesn't say why, exactly; but I would guess it has something to do with not being able to effectively engage in demanding intellectual pursuits for more than a few hours a day.

jacobolus 9y ago
It’s not just that it’s mentally tiring. The bigger problem is that the work is dreadfully boring and trivial and disconnected, there’s little feeling of accomplishment when finished (just sometimes relief), the kids aren’t allowed to choose what to work on, there are few chances for them to work at their own pace or level of ability, the feedback is delayed (often by a week or more), mistakes are punished instead of celebrated as learning opportunities, and there is a huge weight of parental and societal expectation hanging over grades and exam scores.
- SolaceQuantum 9y ago
  When I was young, I just had one or two things of homework a day in third grade. The assignment was either in math, english, science, or social studies/history and you could choose which you wanted to do based off of buckets by subject. You then took home a big fold-up of an assignment. It was fun unwrapping it, doing the work, and then giving it back. You never knew exactly what you would have to do until you opened your big sheet of paper at home. The point was that at the end of the semester everyone did every assignment, but everyone does it in a "fun" order. This was in Canada and I don't know if it's acceptably done anymore. I certainly wouldn't have handled multiple sheets of hard work at that age.
bitL 9y ago
I guess it's like with muscles. If you put load every single day, your progress is stale; if you balance with rest, your progress skyrockets until you hit your limits. Long-term overloading might kill though.

jacobolus 9y ago

It’s not just that it’s mentally tiring. The bigger problem is that the work is dreadfully boring and trivial and disconnected, there’s little feeling of accomplishment when finished (just sometimes relief), the kids aren’t allowed to choose what to work on, there are few chances for them to work at their own pace or level of ability, the feedback is delayed (often by a week or more), mistakes are punished instead of celebrated as learning opportunities, and there is a huge weight of parental and societal expectation hanging over grades and exam scores.

SolaceQuantum 9y ago
When I was young, I just had one or two things of homework a day in third grade. The assignment was either in math, english, science, or social studies/history and you could choose which you wanted to do based off of buckets by subject. You then took home a big fold-up of an assignment. It was fun unwrapping it, doing the work, and then giving it back. You never knew exactly what you would have to do until you opened your big sheet of paper at home. The point was that at the end of the semester everyone did every assignment, but everyone does it in a "fun" order. This was in Canada and I don't know if it's acceptably done anymore. I certainly wouldn't have handled multiple sheets of hard work at that age.

bitL 9y ago

I guess it's like with muscles. If you put load every single day, your progress is stale; if you balance with rest, your progress skyrockets until you hit your limits. Long-term overloading might kill though.