homework, how much is too much? and it s not just students complaining anymore apparently. one father says his 13-year-old daughter s unbearable homework load is turning her into a, his words not mine, sleep-deprived teen zombie. to get a better idea of just how much she had to do, he did her homework for a week. that father is journalist carl terrell greenfield. we enjoyed it so much we wanted to invite him on. he s also the author of seven books, most recently the novel. joins me live now from california. carl, good to see you. hi there. your first night s homework assignment consistent consisted following, 11 algebra equations, 79 pages of angela s ashes and
find three important and powerful quotes from the 79 pages and then had to write a one or two-sentence analysis of its significance and study for the next day s earth science test as well. again, first night, took you somewhere between three and five hours according to the article. how did it go? well, that was what i was trying to figure out. like many parents, i d noticed how much homework my daughter was doing every night. often two to five hours a night and it was cutting into family time and extracurricular time, so i thought i d sit down and actually do her homework for a week along side her. i didn t do her homework for her. and what i was trying to figure out is this is taking up such a big part of her time and it s obviously such a great influence on her life that i would try to find out firsthand what was really going on here. and i was first of all surprised by the sheer volume of homework, the amount of work, the amount of reading. angela s ashes is a great book, but 79 p
he was the smallest star in the heavens. his name was little star. little star was sad. and lonely and the other stars didn t make fun of him, they simply ignored him, because, he was so tiny. martha: according to the story, this little star had a very important role on christmas night, anthony destafano is the author of this book, we love your inspirational books and they are wonderful and give children a sense of the true meaning of christmas which we try to remember, this time of year, and make it central to everything and tell us the story of writing the book, pretty special. actually wrote this story about 30 years ago, i m sorry to say, 30 years! in a high school english class, taught by frank mccourt, who became famous, and wrote angela s ashes and before that he was a high school english teacher and i was one of his student and he assigned everyone to write children s books,