This is a constant debate here for us as well. Arguments can be made for both sides of the debate from both teachers and parents. In our schools the teachers are able to decide how much if any homework our students will have. As a teacher of 20 plus students the parental request can range anywhere from "please send no homework" to "we need as much homework as possible". For my students I try to keep homework to a minimum. First of all, I believe that we work these kids pretty hard for 6-7 hours every day and that they should be focusing on family and their extra-curricular activities when not at school. Secondly, I want to see the students progress and work on activities. All too often parents end up doing more work than they should and this makes it impossible to use any homework for an assessment piece. Homework can also become a big stressor for children and parents at home and lead to arguments. This can translate to decreased student enjoyment of school and ultimately to lower effort and grades. For those parents who don't agree with my philosophy and are eager to have more homework, I direct them to the multitude of curriculum based workbooks they can buy. I also tell them to use real world situations to help reinforce school concepts. For example, folding laundry is a great time to show your child the concepts of sorting in a real world application. Also, Driving to an event is a perfect time to talk about clocks, time and elapsed time. The debate will continue I am sure.