Is it actually proven that homework helps with anything? For elementary school at least.
Reading perhaps. Math, when there's no parent at home capable of properly explaining it if the kid gets stuck, doesn't sound like a very productive use of time.
Are you aware of any skill where practice isn’t necessary?
There is research in this area [0] so feel free to check it out.
Of course practicing math helps. Parents help too, but working on problems at home to find areas that need help and then working with the teacher helps as well.
I don’t think you need hours and hours, but the goal of homework is to reinforce the lesson, practice, and show mastery of the material and areas to work on before the exam.
[0] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/003465430760010...
I was under the impression that, before a certain age it was basically a cargo-cult because the assigned work is generally repetitive, busywork or not graded at all.
I still learn a lot as an adult using this antiquated, antideluvian method.
It lets the teacher know how well students understand a concept so they can spend more time teaching it, or get a student extra help at school.