In not making child do homework

Try having 2 in secondary school who get an hour a night, both who play sports to a high level so often aren’t home until 9pm, a school day that doesn’t end until 5.30pm and weekend matches! That’s stressful trying to get them to fit their homework in. Really, what you have is absolutely nothing and you are doing your child no favours!

IME it’s the opposite.

Many hate secondary school because they’re already turned off by all the homework forced on them at primary school/SATs. And the curriculum at secondary is so demanding and dry, and the PIs and demands on teachers so huge, it’s sucks the joy out of learning.

IME the ones who do well, because they’re pushed at home by parents, can end up nervous wrecks by late teens, with various MH issues, or crack up at uni.

Learning should be fun. Not like an anxiety-inducing job.

It also may not. Secondary school is a new environment that will naturally have new rules anyway which isn't difficult for an 11 year old to understand, not to mention they are likely to face consequences at secondary school if they don't do homework.

Last time I checked the EEF evidence toolkit there wasn't any decent quality evidence that primary homework makes a positive difference.

@lightsandtunnels You sound like you were a very good teacher ❤️

You create a love of learning by encouraging kids to be curious and enjoy the process, not by practising for the sake of it and crossing off a check list. A love of learning is much more important than valuing education.

There was a thread recently which was largely about how children hate secondary school and maybe this thread goes some way to explaining why, other than the obvious that it coincides with puberty and all its problems! If a child in primary school is allowed to disregard a small amount of homework then this attitude may be carried forward at 11 and will cause them problems in secondary school. If a child sees their parent is at least making some effort they too may have a better attitude.

Do you value education? Do you want your child to value education?

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, there's little evidence that homework improves outcomes, particularly a worksheet.

On the other hand, this is a very light homework load for a Y4 child.

Practising spellings is not a huge ask, and we know that reading DOES improve outcomes (and, to be quite frank, a Y4 child should be reading every night even if it's not set as a homework task.) It's also helpful for them to get into the routine of doing homework before secondary school.

I think the message you are sending to your child is that school work and their education is very far down the list of priorities. Maybe it's a good idea to tell them that if they cannot fit in one sheet of homework over a whole week, 5 mins a day of spelling practise and 20 minutes reading each evening then they will have to drop one of their after school activities as they are obviously too overscheduled if they don't have half an hour a day to do something important.

Ex teacher here. Sounds like you've got a good system for the reading and reading is really (arguably) the most important. Other than the reading I absolutely believe that homework like a sheet a week is pointless for primary children - if they can do it easily then there is no reason for them to do it and if they can't do it then it's too difficult for them so it ends up being done by a parent.
I would probably get a whiteboard and write down the spellings words each week and verbally read them out and talk about them over breakfast or whatever but I'd keep it light and quick.
If the school aren't asking for sheets of paper to be handed in then there is also no reason to do it. Any homework that does get handed in I can guarantee is often not even looked at by the class teacher, or they may tick a corner or stamp it. Though I'm sure some teachers and parents will happily tell me they/the teachers spend two evenings a week marking theirs - which would be madness by the way! Of course there are some children who just love doing homework for fun, which is great but if it has to be forced and causes upset and arguments then don't do it.
When DCs are 11 and at secondary school, that is when they learn the importance of homework and independence and the onus will be on them to be more responsible. At Y3 I wouldn't worry about it.

Love them and read to them!

My eldest was home educated until year 5. I’ve never enforced reading or homework. He was encouraged to read what he liked, as much as he liked. In secondary now and way ahead of his peers across all subjects with a much higher reading age than average. Similar with my younger two who are still in primary but joined in year 2 and year 4. You don’t have to make your life more difficult or stressful. Encourage reading books they enjoy and don’t make it a chore.

Haha! Assume that’s dark humour, rather than cattiness or education snobbery.

If the latter, perhaps your kids did go to Oxbridge. But may I remind you Professor Benjamin Zephaniah (one of our most popular contemporary poets, whose work is in almost every school library) left school at 13 and never went to university. But he always found joy in words.

The greatest geniuses don’t conform.

DS has ASD, he also thought that school work should be done at school not home. Reading is the priority OP, that doesn't have to be the often awful school reading books. Read with him whatever he enjoys.

I would just pick a few spellings to test him on each day. Get him to spell them out to you rather than write them out then you can do it in the car, it'll be much quicker and easier if he is able to do it that way.

I would try and do some of the homework sheet at the weekend. Do it with him when he's eating breakfast or something. Loads of praise, and lots of help if needed, to make it more enjoyable. Just pick a couple of questions on the sheet and make sure he's knows how to do whatever it is, as long as he's confident then no problem.

To me thats way too much. But I grew up in a country where some of the 6yo arent even in school yet.

As a Mum of three children I was quite lucky that they happily did their reading,usually in the morning when they were rested . Spellings generally on the way to school,just kept everything relaxed and not an issue.
Grandchild definitely more resistant and doesn’t have the personality to cope with too much pushing! Again we just introduce spelling and reading whilst out and about ie in supermarket look at labels etc .
Just don’t make’ homework’ a hill to die on but don’t ignore the fact that your child needs to learn and progress,unless you have absolutely no aspirations for your child!

If you really feel it’s too much, then perhaps don’t do all of it. But I think you should do some of it. And I say this as someone who hated primary school homework with a passion when my kids were at primary. I don’t believe it serves much purpose in terms of learning, but I think it’s good practice for secondary. If you spend the primary school years teaching your kids that homework is entirely optional, you’ll struggle to persuade them that it’s compulsory at secondary school. And then they’ll get into trouble for not doing it.

So by all means be a bit selective if it makes for a more harmonious life, but don’t dismiss it all.

The other thing is lots and lots of praise. That’s what kids that age respond to. Praise and fun, making things a laugh.

So, if he gets frustrated when he gets things wrong, focus on what he gets right and be really encouraging. Like, ‘you almost got that one right: look, only a couple of wrong letters, you’re nearly there, you’ll get that next go’. At that age it’s building their confidence, making sure they believe they can do it and reminding them how much progress they’ve made and how getting it wrong to start with helps them remember in the long-run.

Lads that age love zany (toilet) humour. So, I used to make jokes when testing mine on spellings: Like, ‘the next word is start, sounds like fart’ and stuff like that. Or I’d contextualise the word in a funny sentence, e.g. if the word is ‘because’, say something like: ‘I can’t come to football this week, because the cat pooed in my football boot’. Or, stuff they respond to, like ‘Salah is a great striker because he can burst away from defenders’. Just silly or fun stuff they relate to, makes them laugh and lightens the mood.

As long as you’re reading then don’t worry about the rest. I’ve taught primary for 20 years and the only thing that has been proven to be effective is reading and times tables practice. The rest is usually to please parents and tick boxes. I imagine your child’s teacher feels the same if she’s not pushing it.
My youngest hated most books so we would read everything and anything while we were out and about; signs, maps, food labels, anything. My oldest who did very little homework is now a graduate and out-earning me by miles.
Children are quite adaptable, they pick it up fine at secondary.

School has them for years and years, and for hours and hours a day. Then homework in case they cheer up. Consider it optional. If they are good enough (or bad enough) it will make little difference.

I had no homework whatsoever in primary other than a school reading book. There were thirty eight kids in my class. Are children now at a significant advantage statistically when they leave school because there is more homework in primary school? If not then I don't know what we are doing it for.

Both my children have SEN. Reading and homework was really tough going during primary school. I agree that there is a marked difference in family life when that is removed from the equation. Ultimately though, I’m glad I persevered, or I think doing secondary school homework would have been really challenging.

a bit of reading and spelling ? gosh. very lazy. of course you can do spelling in a car.

I think it's a good idea to get into a routine of doing a small amount of homework during primary school otherwise it can come as a shock when they start secondary school. A few spellings, a reading book and a homework sheet doesn't sound like a huge amount.