average homework time for 4th grade

How Many Hours of Homework Should Be Expected in Fourth Grade?

Jennifer brozak, 26 sep 2017.

With each passing grade, the amount of time your child spends on homework will likely increase. While homework can a have a definite purpose by reinforcing the skills and concepts your child is learning in the classroom, too much homework can be frustrating for both you and your child -- and even have a detrimental effect on his academic success. Some parents have reason to be concerned about the amount of time their fourth grader spends cracking the books at home.

Explore this article

Time Limits
Types of Assignments
Warning Signs
Take Action

1 Time Limits

According to research endorsed by the National Education Association, children should receive no more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level, starting with first grade. This means that kindergarteners should receive zero homework, while children in fourth grade should be expected to complete no more than 40 minutes per night. More than that has been shown to have absolutely no positive effective on children and, in fact, can cause them to become disinterested in learning, according to education expert Alfie Kohn.

2 Types of Assignments

As your child inches into the higher grades, expectations -- especially those associated with high-stakes standardized testing -- will rise. As such, reading, math and science homework will likely become part of your child’s nightly homework routine. Students also may be expected to complete short spelling and vocabulary assignments at home or work on more extensive projects over a period of time.

3 Warning Signs

If your fourth grader is routinely spending much longer than the recommended 40 minutes on his nightly homework, constantly needs your help to complete assignments, or if the amount of work he’s bringing home seems excessive, talk to his teacher. Struggling to complete grade-appropriate assignments may be a sign of a learning or emotional issue, and he may need to be tested or reassessed to rule out underlying problems.

4 Take Action

If you’re worried that your child’s teacher is piling on excessive amounts of homework for his grade level, you have every right to be worried. First, try talking to his teacher and explain your concerns. Discuss evidence from education researchers like Kohn, which proves that too much homework can be detrimental to a child’s academic progress. If your child’s teacher is unwilling to budge on the issue, talk to the school’s principal. Still not getting anywhere? Join with other parents who may be experiencing the same issue and approach the school board.

1 Great Schools: How Much Homework is Too Much?
2 NEA: Research Spotlight on Homework

About the Author

As a mother, wife and recovering English teacher, Jennifer Brozak is passionate about all things parenting and education. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and St. Vincent College, Jennifer writes features for the IN Community magazine network and shares her daily escapades on her blog, One Committed Mama.

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How Much Time Should Be Spent on Homework?

At the elementary level homework should be brief, at your child’s ability level and involve frequent, voluntary and high interest activities. Young students require high levels of feedback and/or supervision to help them complete assignments correctly. Accurate homework completion is influenced by your child’s ability, the difficulty of the task, and the amount of feedback your child receives. When assigning homework, your child’s teachers may struggle to create a balance at this age between ability, task difficulty and feedback. Unfortunately, there are no simple guiding principles.

We can assure you, however, that your input and feedback on a nightly basis is an essential component in helping your child benefit from the homework experience.

What is the recommended time in elementary school?

In first through third grade, students should receive one to three assignments per week, taking them no more than fifteen to twenty minutes. In fourth through sixth grade, students should receive two to four assignments per week, lasting between fifteen and forty-five minutes. At this age, the primarily goal of homework is to help your child develop the independent work and learning skills that will become critical in the higher grades. In the upper grades, the more time spent on homework the greater the achievement gains.

What is the recommended time in middle and high school?

For students in middle and high school grades there are greater overall benefits from time engaged in practicing and thinking about school work. These benefits do not appear to depend as much upon immediate supervision or feedback as they do for elementary students. In seventh through ninth grade we recommend students receive three to five sets of assignments per week, lasting between forty-five and seventy-five minutes per set. In high school students will receive four to five sets of homework per week, taking them between seventy-five and 150 minutes per set to complete.

As children progress through school, homework and the amount of time engaged in homework increases in importance. Due to the significance of homework at the older age levels, it is not surprising that there is more homework assigned. Furthermore, homework is always assigned in college preparatory classes and assigned at least three quarters of the time in special education and vocational training classes. Thus at any age, homework may indicate our academic expectations of children.

Regardless of the amount of homework assigned, many students unsuccessful or struggling in school spend less rather than more time engaged in homework. It is not surprising that students spending less time completing homework may eventually not achieve as consistently as those who complete their homework.

Does this mean that time devoted to homework is the key component necessary for achievement?

We are not completely certain. Some American educators have concluded that if students in America spent as much time doing homework as students in Asian countries they might perform academically as well. It is tempting to assume such a cause and effect relationship.

However, this relationship appears to be an overly simple conclusion. We know that homework is important as one of several influential factors in school success. However, other variables, including student ability, achievement, motivation and teaching quality influence the time students spend with homework tasks. Many students and their parents have told us they experience less difficulty being motivated and completing homework in classes in which they enjoyed the subject, the instruction, the assignments and the teachers.

The benefits from homework are the greatest for students completing the most homework and doing so correctly. Thus, students who devote time to homework are probably on a path to improved achievement. This path also includes higher quality instruction, greater achievement motivation and better skill levels.

Authors: Dr. Sam Goldstein and Dr. Sydney Zentall

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How Much Time Should Be Spent on Homework Based on Grade?

18 July 2020
Posted by: ryan
Category: Tutoring

A common question that parents always ask is, “How much time should my child dedicate to homework every day?” It’s not an easy question to answer. As we all know, every student learns differently from each other. While some kids do, substantially, better in school, by completing one hour of homework every day. There might be some others, who require two hours of homework, but only see a slight improvement in their grades.

To get to the bottom of this, we went to the experts for the answers! So here’s a break down of how much time your child should spend on homework according to their grade.

What is The Recommended Homework Time in Elementary School?

So before we give you a solid figure. We took a look at the results of a May 2012 study from the Los Angeles Unified School District . (Figure 1 below)

If your child is starting out in kindergarten and they receive some basic worksheets to complete for homework, the standard time they should spend on completing homework is 10 minutes per night.

Keep in mind, kindergarten childen might have shorter attention spans, than older kids, and might need a few intervals in between to complete their homework. So let them do it for 5 minutes, then take a 5 minute break, then continue for another 5 minutes to complete.

Usually, Grade 1 – 3 students receive one to three homework assignments per week. They suggest that your child spend at least 20 – 30 minutes per night on homework.

Grade 4 – 5 students who receive two to four assignments per week, should focus between 40 – 50 minutes on completing each assignment.

What is The Recommended Homework Time in Middle and High school?

As your child enters middle and high school, naturally, their home work time will increase. As subjects get harder and more information needs to be retained for exams, more time is needed to practice. Here are the home work time estimations for older students from the Los Angeles Unified School District . (Figure 2 below)

Students in middle school are from Grades 6 – 8. As class subjects require more attention and practice, middle school students get assigned three to five sets of assignments per week. We recommend that your child spend between 45 – 75 minutes per night.

Once your child is in highschool, Grade 9 – 12 students usually receive four to five sets of homework per week. According to Figure 2, high school students should focus about 25-30 minutes on each subject.

For example, if your child is in Grade 10 and has a Math and English assignment to do for homework, they should spend at least 30 minutes on English and 30 minutes on Math. If they take one or two short breaks, it works out to be 75 – 150 minutes per set to complete both assignments.

Get Homework Help For Your Kids At ICan Education!

Does your child need help completing their homework? ICan Education can help as we offer flexible Homework Help with tutors in Brampton, Mississauga, Milton, and Burlington!

ICAN Education tutoring centre has several locations in the GTA West, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, and Burlington. To locate the closest ICAN Education centre near you, click here .

Do you have any tips to share with other parents and students about completing homework? Let us know by posting your comments below and let’s move the conversation to our Twitter Page @icanedu. Don’t forget to ‘Like’ ICAN Education’s Facebook and say ‘hi!’!