To be irritated at homework that involves hours of walking around locally during a weekend when ds isn't even HERE?

[WideWebWitch]

The homework is to go to a local park and write some stuff about it and then to walk around the shops and note how many of everything there are, do a bar chart etc.

Ds brought this home on Monday. On Mon/Tues/Weds/Thurs dh/ds/dd get home at 6pm. I get in at 6.30 ish. We're all knackered by then. Ds makes his lunch, baths, has a story and is in bed by 8ish. This Friday his dad (ex dh) collected him and took him to London for the weekend, as he does every other weekend.

WE HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR THIS! Give him something that achieves the same objective, sure, but I don't want to traipse around shops/park this weekend and in any case, ds isn't here. I typed up a list of all the shops I could think of and emailed it to his father, who is going to help him do it but that was work FOR ME.

AIBU? Ds is 9. I am 40. We're all knackered TIA.

[TranquilaManana]

doesnt sound in the least unreasonable to me.
i am tempted to advise talking to to the teachre and explaining the time issues. no idea what youd be loking for, nor what she/he might say... nor do i know if i would if i were in your position.

not much use am i?

still, i sympathise. dunt seem much point to it if youre the one doing it, does it?

[Ladymuck]

Well if he has ever been to the park and to the shops then couldn't you just supply some raw data for the exercise and let him od it? I don't think that thee teacher is assumign that you won't use some common sense - it is not as if they are going to check up on you is it?

[Ladymuck]

And in terms of a weeks worth of homework, no it is not unreasonable (though I can see if you felt that you had to make the literal trips then it might be).

Do your children have a cm, and if so couldn't they help out with some of this?

[WideWebWitch]

He's been to the park in question about once, not enough to be able to provide that info without going there. He mostly plays football elsewhere. On the shops, yes, I sat and typed the data since we didn't have time to go round them. No cm/nanny, he goes to after school club, dd is at nursery ft.

[SoupDragon]

I would have just made the data up.

[Ladymuck]

Oh, well if it was a visit to a specific park, then agree - that is not on. But again I would have suggested an alternative and got him to wirte a description based on that.

[WideWebWitch]

I AM being slightly unreasonable aren't I?
OK, I will just grin and make it up! Actually, he can do it on a London park, there's one right opposite ex mil's, where he is now.

Sorted. Thanks. And we are lucky, it's a v good school but he only gets homework once a week, which I am very happy with.

[beansprout]

YANBU. If they are so keen for them to do this, they should take them out during school hours - oh yes, sorry, they probably don't have the time!!!

[RosemaryWoodhouse]

I teach (not in a school though) and the government sets guidelines for everything. Schools have to schedule a set amount of homework, so often work gets set that wastes everyone's time (the child's, the parents, and the teachers who then have to mark it) and doesn't have any educational objective. I'd personally write a letter instructing the school to only set homework that can be carried out in the home since you're not going to have your 9y/o traipsing around town on his own and they don't get to dictate how you spend your time.