Q&A: Do Online Students Have Homework?
Answer: In most online schools, your child will receive weekly assignments that are due by a specified day of the week. It will be up to your child to be responsible for completing each of these assignments on time. Occasionally, this will require your child to work on assignments beyond the school day. In many virtual schools, however, it is possible for students to finish their weekly (or daily) assignments within a timely manner only working during their scheduled school day.
The homework load will depend on your child's grade level, the school that you decide to attend, and the student's teacher. Schools don't all utilize the same curriculum and some of these curriculums require more work than others. Also, within a school, different teachers may hold different expectations of their students or have different homework requirements.
In some school districts, there is a specified homework time allotment. For example, in the district in which I reside, students are permitted 10 minutes per grade level. So, a third grade student should only be assigned a maximum of 30 minutes of homework each night.
If you feel that your child is spending too much time on their weekly assignments and working well into the evening hours, I would suggest contacting the school and sharing your concerns. It is important that your child is working at a comfortable pace in which they are not becoming overwhelmed or starting to feeling incapable of completing their work. The school administrator and/or teacher should be willing to set up a conference with you and your child to develop an individualized plan to help ensure your child's success.
Christi Wilson is a credentialed teacher of highly-gifted students in Northern Nevada. She has 11 years of classroom teaching experience, a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in education leadership, and has even taught K-12 education online. A mother of three busy boys, she knows how important it is to keep students engaged in the classroom and interested in a lifetime of learning.