This is getting away from the financial literacy aspect but I was talking with my partner at work who has a son in 10th grade. He said his boy gets out of school at 3, does cross country until 5, does homework from 5 to 8, dinner with the family for an hour, and then homework from 9 to 11. This is his daily routine. He said his son doesn't have time to listen to music, watch TV, talk to his friends etc. He thinks it's way too much.
My (work) partner said he's taking an AP History class and the teacher said there will be two hours of homework each night. I think he said his son had five classes total. Can you imagine if each class said that?
So part of me likes that this kid is having to work hard but part of me is thinking there is more to life and more to being a teenager than spending five hours a night doing homework every day including weekends. What do you others think?
I am a veteran school teacher and I say we have to allow good kids time to be kids. I am a strong proponent of sports programs both school sponsored and otherwise and have worked in both...and continue to...because I see the importance of lessons taught outside the classroom. Math teachers are notorious for giving lots of work for kids to do at home. I really make an effort for the kid to have no more than 20 - 30 minutes of work at home...and there's more than one reason for that. I agree with you cawacko, I see parents pushing their kids to the brink all the time trying to get them ahead, and while that is admirable on the surface (you know, wanting better for your kid), I have seen what the underlying effects can be...burnout, rebellion, even suicide. Again, I am off the thread topic here but this is an area that I am very passionate about. I could talk all day about common sense education reforms....now if only someone would listen.