All-Day Care 2026: What Changes for Parents and Homework
Since August 1, 2026, first graders have a legal right to eight hours of education and care on weekdays, with class time counting toward that (§ 24 SGB VIII (in German)). By the 2029/30 school year, the right extends to grades 1 to 4 (BMBFSFJ (in German)). That does not mean homework is automatically done: according to a research overview, a third of children often have to finish it at home despite all-day care (Ganztag entwickeln (in German)).
This article explains what the legal right covers, where it ends, which questions you can ask the open all-day school (OGS) or after-school care center (Hort), and what is left for homework in the evening. As of: September 2026.
All-day care from 2026: what applies to parents
The legal right comes from the Ganztagsförderungsgesetz (All-Day Support Act), which took effect in October 2021 (BMBFSFJ). In the Social Code it is found in § 24 paragraph 4 SGB VIII, which makes it a child and youth services benefit. The states shape the details, and local oversight lies with the youth welfare office (Jugendamt) (Recht auf Ganztag (in German)).
- Who has the right: every child who starts first grade in the 2026/27 school year or later, from the start of school until the beginning of fifth grade (§ 24 para. 4 SGB VIII). Children who are already in grades 2 to 4 in 2026/27 have no right under this federal law. According to paragraph 5, a "needs-based offering" (bedarfsgerechtes Angebot) must be available for them, and state law that goes further remains unaffected (paragraph 7).
- How much time: eight hours on all five weekdays, class time included (Glossar Recht auf Ganztag (in German)). Classes and offerings of an all-day elementary school, including open ones, count as fulfilling the right (§ 24 SGB VIII). If class starts at 8 a.m., the right extends to about 4 p.m. on paper. Anything beyond that is no longer a legal right; the law only requires a needs-based offering for it.
- An all-day school does not automatically mean eight hours: Under the definition of the Kultusministerkonferenz (the standing conference of state education ministers), an elementary school already counts as an all-day school if it offers at least seven hours including lunch on at least three days. That is less than the legal right. Families may then be entitled to additional care hours (Recht auf Ganztag).
- School breaks: The right also covers school breaks. The states can, however, set a closure period of up to four weeks (Glossar Recht auf Ganztag, § 24 SGB VIII).
- No obligation: Participation is not mandatory; using all-day care is voluntary (Recht auf Ganztag, Glossar).
- Advice and deadlines: The public youth welfare agency must inform parents about available places and the educational concepts of the facilities, and advise them on the choice. State law may set a deadline by which you must register your need (§ 24 para. 6 SGB VIII). So ask the youth welfare office or the school early.
For many families, less changes than it sounds: 74 percent of elementary schools are already all-day schools, and around 1.9 million elementary school children are cared for in an all-day school or a Hort, which is 57 percent (BMBFSFJ).
OGS, mandatory all-day school, Hort: the forms at a glance
"Ganztag" can mean very different things locally, and the states organize all-day schools differently (Glossar Recht auf Ganztag). The first three columns summarize the terms from the glossary of the federal family ministry; the last column is our own compilation. As of: September 2026.
| Form | What it is legally | Participation | Your first question about homework |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open all-day school (offene Ganztagsschule, OGS) | School | voluntary | Is there a fixed homework time, and who supervises it? |
| All-day school with mandatory participation (gebundene Ganztagsschule) | School | mandatory on a set number of days | Do study periods replace homework, or does something still come home? |
| Partially bound all-day school (teilgebundene Ganztagsschule) | School | mandatory only for certain classes or grade levels | Does the study period also apply to your child's class? |
| Hort (after-school care center) | Child and youth services daycare facility (§ 22 SGB VIII) | voluntary | How does the Hort coordinate with the teacher? |
Two special cases: In some states such as Thuringia or Berlin, school-based offerings are also called "Hort" even though they are not legally daycare facilities (Recht auf Ganztag). And almost all western German states also have midday care (Übermittagsbetreuung), which usually lasts a shorter time (Recht auf Ganztag (in German)).
What it costs: Fees may be charged for the Hort. They must be graduated, for example by income, number of children and daily care time. If you receive benefits for basic income support under SGB II, the child supplement (Kinderzuschlag) or housing benefit (Wohngeld), the fee is waived on request (§ 90 SGB VIII (in German)). What the OGS or the mandatory all-day school at your school costs, you can find out from the school or the municipality. Ask about lunch and holiday care separately. For benefits under SGB II, the costs of a communal lunch are covered. For school children, however, this only applies if the lunch is offered under the school's responsibility or agreed through a cooperation contract between the school and a daycare facility (§ 28 para. 6 SGB II (in German)). Ask the school whether this applies in your case.
What all-day care does not cover
Shortly before the start, the federal family minister said: "Often the homework is already done when they come home" (BMBFSFJ). The ministry's parent portal explicitly lists homework help among the educational offerings in all-day care (Recht auf Ganztag).
Research paints a more mixed picture. The professional portal Ganztag entwickeln summarizes that a third of children often have to finish homework at home, and that children in homework supervision often complain about noise or being told what to do (after Kohler 2019, Ganztag entwickeln). A post in the Reddit forum r/Lehrerzimmer titled The all-day lie: "School from eight to four, then homework" shows how this can feel in everyday life (third-party quote, Reddit (in German)).
The legal right does not regulate, or only partly regulates, five things:
- Whether there is homework. Homework does not appear in § 24 SGB VIII, where the right is set out. That is a matter of school law, and it differs by state. Example North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW): the state school ministry names study periods that replace homework at all-day schools for lower secondary school (Sekundarstufe I). For schools without a mandatory all-day program, which includes elementary schools with an open all-day school, it sets time limits for homework instead (Schulministerium NRW (in German)). You find out how your elementary school handles this locally. Example Hamburg: the school authority writes about Hamburg's all-day schools that homework is done during school hours or replaced by study periods (hamburg.de (in German)).
- How good the homework time is. The professional portal advises schools to consider group size "so that the offering does not become mere supervision and care." According to the same source, the people who most often work in homework supervision are parents, freelance staff or volunteers (Ganztag entwickeln).
- Older siblings. Anyone who is already in grades 2 to 4 in 2026/27 has no right under the federal law (see above).
- The closure weeks. If your state sets a closure period, the facility may be closed for up to four weeks a year during school breaks. If parents have no way to arrange care during that time, the public youth welfare agency must ensure that your child is cared for elsewhere (Recht auf Ganztag, FAQ für Eltern (in German)). So clarify early with the facility or the youth welfare office whether and where your child will be cared for during these weeks.
- The time after all-day care. If you get home at 4 p.m., you have had a long day. Whatever is left, such as unfinished work, reading and practicing, has to fit into a short evening.
Keep an eye on long days
Eight hours is a lot for a six-year-old. Watch during the first weeks: Does your child sleep well? Do they talk about the afternoon? Are they still responsive in the evening? If not, ask the provider about shorter hours or individual days. That is not a defeat, but an adjustment.
Homework in the OGS: questions for the care staff
"Homework supervision" can mean many things. The professional portal Ganztag entwickeln recommends that schools clarify with everyone involved what support is wanted and expected, and names four forms: checking for neatness, checking for completion, checking with follow-up corrections, and explaining what was not understood (Ganztag entwickeln). This is exactly the question you can ask as a parent. The answer decides how much is left for the evening.
| What the care staff provides | What usually remains in the evening (suggestion) |
|---|---|
| Checking for neatness | Correctness and understanding are open: take a quick look, have your child explain one task |
| Checking for completion | Mistakes are not marked: go through two or three tasks with your child as spot checks |
| Checking with corrections | Mistakes are marked: ask whether your child understands the correction |
| Explaining what was not understood | Ask whether any tasks are still open; reading or practicing as agreed with the school |
The four forms come from the professional portal; the right-hand column is our own compilation as a suggestion.
Checklist: what you can ask at registration or in the first parent meeting
- When and for how long is the homework time? The professional portal points out that it is often after lunch, in the "midday slump" (Ganztag entwickeln).
- How many children does one person supervise during this time? Ask for the actual number, not the plan.
- Who supervises? A teacher, an educator, a freelance staff member, a volunteer?
- Which of the four forms applies here? Completion only, or are mistakes marked and explained?
- What happens to tasks that are not finished? Do you get feedback, for example in the homework notebook?
- Is there a quiet room? Noise is a common complaint from children (see above).
- Do the care staff and the teacher talk to each other? The professional portal suggests homework books that list all tasks, so the staff member knows what has to be done and can give the teacher feedback if tasks were too extensive or difficult (Ganztag entwickeln).
- Are reading and spelling words part of the study period? Or does the school expect that to happen at home?
- When is it closed during school breaks, and how does holiday care work?
A shorthand in the notebook saves arguments
Try agreeing on a simple shorthand with the care staff that goes next to each task in the homework notebook: "d" for done, "r" for the rest at home, "?" for not understood. That way you can quickly see in the evening what is still open, without going through the whole notebook.
After all-day care, don't just ask your child "Did you do your homework?" Ask "Which task was hard today?" or "Were you able to concentrate?" Answers like these tell you more about the homework time than a checked-off entry.
What is left for the evening
If the homework time in all-day care is not enough, the rest ends up in the evening. The goal then is not to do everything again, but to get the rest done briefly and in a fixed order.
Example (made up): Tuesday evening in first grade
The homework notebook says: "Workbook p. 14, addition problems up to 10. Reading: primer p. 22". Next to it, the OGS has noted: "No. 1-3 d, No. 4 ?". Your child gets home at 4 p.m. and is tired.
- Look only at No. 4, not at the finished tasks. Have your child read aloud what it says.
- Ask: "How would you start?" At most, help with counters or counting on fingers, and don't do the math for them.
- Then read for ten minutes: you read one line, your child the next.
- If No. 4 does not work after ten minutes, stop and write in the notebook: "Could not do No. 4 at home, please explain again."
An evening plan for children in all-day care
| What | How long (suggestion) | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Look at the notebook | 2 minutes | What is done, what is left, what was unclear? |
| Rest of the homework | 10-15 minutes | only what is open, don't redo anything finished |
| Reading | 10 minutes | take turns reading, reading aloud to your child counts too |
| Practicing (spelling words, multiplication tables) | 5 minutes | only if the school expects it |
| Packing the bag | 2 minutes | pack the notebook with feedback for the OGS and the teacher |
The plan is a suggestion, not a requirement. For orientation: in NRW, homework at schools without a mandatory all-day program must be sized so that it can be done in 30 minutes per day in grades 1 and 2 and in 45 minutes in grades 3 and 4. On days with mandatory afternoon classes, on weekends and on holidays, children there do not have to do homework (Schulministerium NRW). Why children sometimes take a very long time for a few tasks is something we explain in the article why children drag their feet over homework and how to help them get unstuck. The rules of the other states are in How long may homework take in elementary school?.
On the question of how much homework in elementary school actually helps: a large synthesis of US studies (Cooper, Robinson and Patall, 2006) found overall evidence of a positive effect on achievement. But the link was stronger in grades 7 to 12 than from kindergarten to grade 6 (ERIC).
When you should talk to the teacher
- More than a little unfinished homework regularly remains in the evening. Work out with the care staff and the teacher what the cause is and what can be adjusted.
- Your child cannot do the tasks alone. The NRW school ministry says it is important that homework "can be completed independently without outside help" (Schulministerium NRW). If that consistently does not work, it belongs at school, not at the kitchen table. How much help is the right amount is covered in Should parents help with homework?.
- There is no feedback between the OGS and the school. Suggest the shorthand in the notebook.
If you both work and little time is left in the evening, you will find more options in our article Homework help in elementary school: options and costs. If gaps remain in a subject despite all-day care, take a look at Tutoring for elementary school kids: what parents should know and at Learning apps for elementary school compared. Which kind of help fits which child is gathered in our guide to learning apps and tutoring. How photographing a worksheet works in our app is shown on the page Scan a worksheet.
Frequently asked questions
Is homework in elementary school worthwhile at all?
That is debated. A large synthesis of US studies (Cooper, Robinson and Patall, 2006) found overall evidence of a positive effect, but the link with achievement was stronger in grades 7 to 12 than from kindergarten to grade 6. The NRW school ministry describes homework as practice of what was worked out in class, and stresses that children should be able to do it without outside help. For everyday life, what matters most is that the tasks are short and can be solved alone.
How long may homework take in elementary school?
In NRW, the rule is: at schools without a mandatory all-day program, homework must be sized so that it can be done in 30 minutes per day in grades 1 and 2 and in 45 minutes in grades 3 and 4. On days with mandatory afternoon classes, on weekends and on holidays, children there do not have to do homework. Other states have their own rules; in Hamburg, for example, homework at all-day schools is done during school hours or replaced by study periods. Ask the school which rule applies in your case.
Should my child go to afternoon care so they have more contact with other children?
That can be a good reason, but there is no obligation: using it is voluntary. The federal family minister describes all-day care as a place where children play, make music, do sports and learn together. Ask whether individual days can be booked, and watch in the first weeks how tired your child is in the evening.
How much should parents help with homework without taking it over?
As little as possible with solving, as much as necessary with getting started. In NRW, homework is supposed to be set so that children can complete it without outside help. Help your child understand the task, let them explain their way, and don't do the math for them. If it regularly does not work without help, tell the teacher instead of filling the gap every evening.
Help for the rest in the evening
Gennady reads the task aloud, explains the method step by step and checks your child's answer. If the answer is wrong, there are hints first; Gennady shows the correct solution for comparison only on the third try. Try it free for 7 days.
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- Reddit, r/Lehrerzimmer: post title "Die Ganztagslüge" (2025). reddit.com