I am an elementary school teacher. I think homework should be done by the child and it should take only about half an hour. Parents should write a note if they had to help a lot, and this tells the teacher that the day's lesson needs more review. Some things are more easily learned if they are practiced at home. Students should develop independence and organization. I send home fairly simple homework because I do not wish to see how creative mom, dad, the neighbors and grandma are with large projects…what is this teaching the child? Independence? Creativity?
Many readers are noticing the alarming trend(趋势)to test, test, test. These new tests are not like the ones we remember. They are really difficult and abstract. Besides the usual math problems, third and fourth grade tests now ask about probability (概率), tessellation and flips, slides, turns. Some teachers have had to increase the pace of their instruction to cover all the topics that will appear on the tests, thus, they send home homework that kids may not fully understand or send more homework home so they can, they hope, cover more content faster. It's not a good idea, but the trend of testing has driven teachers to push, push, push. Parents should be concerned about the testing that is such an important issue. I would advise parents to walk to the teacher if they find the homework too hard. Is the child not getting work done at school, or is it simply too much? Some teachers will change the amount of work. And yes, I have been on the other side of the blackboard and had to make my son and daughter do their homework. I was a sticker for not doing it for them.