Mexican teachers love to give homework!

While I realize this might just be an exageration on my part,(the title of this post, that is) the past few months (since school started) my third grader has had at times up to two and even three hours of homework in one day. He is also expected to read half an hour in English and in Spanish daily. I honestly can't find the time. We've had to skip extracurricular classes that he enjoys just to finish by dinnertime. I feel like it is getting out of hand and many of the other parents have also complained. I have read a few articles (I dont' know how reliable the sources were) that say that homework in elementary school does nothing to help children that are already on the right track, and in fact could even have negative consequences for these children since it takes away important playtime in the after school hours. It seems true for my boy because he takes forever to finish and then has no time to play outside. I guess I could better understand if he were in middle or high school, but not third grade. Its just too much!