homework... how much is too much?

[lingovise]

i don't really remember ever having any "real" homework until middle school... and even then most of it could be finished in about an hour or so. in High School I took a lot of AP [advanced placement for college credit] classes and even then, never spent more than 2-3 hours on homework [that i remember] and it wasn't like that was an every day occurrence. my parents were always far too busy working and never had the time to be overly involved in helping me out with assignments. i managed the work load just fine on my own and was a very good student, and went on to do extremely well in college too. and i even had an after school job in high school and had to help work my way through college.

BUT these days... i just don't see how kids could possibly keep up all on their own. i have HUGE issues with all the homework my 2nd grader has. i find it all to be so ridiculous... i totally get the idea of getting them prepared. but he's learning stuff in 2nd grade that i don't remember doing until i was in 5th grade. i'm a SAHM and even with my help/guidance it still takes him about 2 hours to complete all of his homework, every single day!! and that's before the required 20 minutes of reading. i can't begin to imagine how working parents or kids with learning/attention issues get through all of it, every single day. and when you add in any extra curricular activities/sports on top of that mix, it's insane. i hate the crazy amount of pushing and pressure they put on kids at such an early age these days. and when my poor little guy sits at our kitchen table and literally breaks down and cries because he couldn't finish 1 or 2 of the problems on his math fact quiz [24 math problems competed in 2 minutes] seriously makes me angry beyond words. and the fact that we have to practice these damn things everyday [in addition to all of the homework], as they are tested on them every week... is just stupid. he's SEVEN and is very bright, scoring well above his age level in all areas. i strongly feel that learning should be an exciting and FUN experience for him, not something that oppresses him, stresses him out or even worse, leaves him feeling incompetent and full of self doubt.

it's ultra frustrating for me and leaves me feeling incredibly stabby.