There's homework and then there is HOMEWORK. In Finland we do the previous, US is strongly in the latter camp. A 5th grader (11-12yo) has maybe 10-25 minutes

There's homework and then there is HOMEWORK. In Finland we do the previous, US is strongly in the latter camp. A 5th grader (11-12yo) has maybe 10-25 minutes of homework, on some days there just isn't any. Math homework is just a rehash of what they went through in class, Languages are "read the chapter and answer these questions", other subjects tend to be just "read the chapter". And a "chapter" is like 1-3 pages of sparse text with pictures and diagrams.