In the United States, the accepted guideline, which is supported by both the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association, is the 10-minute rule: Children should have no more than 10 minutes of homework each day for each grade reached. In others, they may have 18 hours or more of homework every week. In some schools and grades, children have no homework at all. The amount of homework young people are given varies a lot from school to school and from grade to grade. While Robinson’s latest book is geared toward parents, it also offers educators a window into the kinds of education concerns parents have for their children, including on the quality and quantity of homework. His TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” holds the record for the most-viewed TED talk of all time, with more than 50 million views. For years, Robinson has been known for his radical work on rekindling creativity and passion in schools, including three bestselling books (also with Aronica) on the topic. Spending a few minutes letting your child find books that interest them and allowing them to read greatly enhances their reading achievement compared to other activities, like video game playing or watching TV.Editor’s note: This is an adapted excerpt from You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education ( Viking)-the latest book by author and speaker Sir Ken Robinson (co-authored with Lou Aronica), published in March. If you’re not checking out books, know that simply visiting the library is an excellent practice. If you get to five fingers before you are with done with the book, it’s too hard.As you read the book, put up a finger each time you find a word you don’t know.To check the difficulty, have your child show you this: The Five Finger Rule Most children should spend time with “just-right” books. Use the “Goldilocks Strategy” for picking out books. You can find out your child’s school ID number by looking on their report card or calling the school. If your child is a CMS student, they automatically have a Charlotte Mecklenburg Library card and can check out as many as 99 books at a time! If they do not already have a library card, they can tell the librarian their student ID number to check books out. The library will have everything you need to get your child practicing their new reading skills with the best books.

Homework for third graders