Too Much Homework Triggers A Mother To Begin Homeschooling

NEW YORK (CBS) – It's the great homework debate. Kindergartners average 25 minutes of homework a day even though the national education association has not endorsed homework for kindergartners.

First graders have up to three times the recommended homework load. But, when did it all become too much?

Frania Corniel's living room is now set up as a classroom. Two years ago the New Yorker started home-schooling her sons and niece. It was Olivia's workload in kindergarten that drove the change.

"Every day she had to do reading, phonics, writing, words, and math," Corniel says.

"It was very hard and I didn't like to do homework," says Olivia.

When children have too much homework, many argue kids don't have time to be kids.

"You want to help kids to manage their time well," says Dr. Jamie Howard, a clinical psychologist with The Child Mind Institute.

She says younger children should get no more than 20 minutes of homework a day. That's in line with the national PTA's recommendation of 10 to 20 minutes per night in the first grade, and an additional 10 minutes per grade level after that. By twelfth grade, that's 120 minutes per night.

"Their attention span is short and… they need to excel at other things, they need to be making and keeping friends and spending time with their families," Howard says.

Corniel agrees. With the time they save on homework, her kids learn life skills.

"They expose themselves to other things," Corniel says.

Like museums, the park, swimming and music lessons. So her kids can enjoy being kids.

Frania Corniel has a Master's degree in education and she says she is prepared to teach the children through high school.