Year 1 Homework

Just do mental maths in the car as part of normal life like how to divide the 4 bar kit kat between 3 children! You don’t need worksheets to engage with anything you or your child is interested in. Cooking board games card games talking about the full moon the tides there’s a wonderful world out there.

Buy a couple of 10 minute workout CGP books off Amazon for maths and English.

Reaching full potential? Part of the way through the first half term of year 1! You will have a long road ahead if you don’t relax a bit. Worrying about grammar school admission is on the crazy side of life.

Follow her interests and learn some cool things, read to her, encourage comprehension and planning the next step in a story. Ask about her day and be genuinely interested in what she tells you - even if that is what her friend had for lunch.

I agree it’s extremely helpful to reinforce learning at home and get your kids in the habit of accepting help from you.

Has the school held a parent meeting to explain what is being taught this term, and sent you a curriculum plan?

In absence of school direction I would work a little bit each morning on phonics and basic words (we had a big pile of cards containing two and three letter words that could be read phonetically. Once dc had learned those we introduced the new phonic sounds he was learning at school but you really need to know if he has done “ng” and “ch” before you ask him to read “sing” and “chat”. You could ask his teacher for feedback on what the phonics work is each week (different ability groups will be on different sounds).

I would also work on pencil grip and forming letters correctly, do a little of that every morning (just pick 3 letters and copy out ten times). Also work on addition and subtraction facts for numbers summing to no more than ten (move on to “up to 20”next term if secure on “up to 10”).

Read to dc every evening too.

My ds in y1 had a maths homework with lovely colourful exercises to do, we did three pages each week. There was always a practical maths task, eg getting a pile of pennies and figuring out if you had an odd or even amount and so on. We also had handwriting practice and a short grammar task once a week (very simple eg making words plural). Then also phonics exercises and tasks on Purple Mash. And three books: a library book, a “read yourself” book and a “read with extra help” book.

I really appreciate being part of DC’s learning journey because he started unable to recognise letters or write, he only knew his numbers up to ten. By end y1 he was a Gold band reader and can write full sentences and has mastered his 2, 5 and 10 times tables and related division facts. I do not believe he could have done this well without consistent homework and he is proud of his progress.

Be careful what you wish for. DS is in Y2 now, but since Y1 has been getting weekly spellings, maths worksheet, maths app task, phonics practice and reading (book changed every time we complete the reading record). I find it incredibly stifling sometimes just to fit it all in, even though the individual tasks don’t take too long. As a PP suggested, if you really want to support what school are covering then spend some time looking at the curriculum and think about how you can create opportunities to stretch the learning at home.

I love that we don’t have the pressure of homework. In my opinion, other parts of home life - sports and seeing friends are much much important to overall wellbeing and learning than extra school.
why do you feel the need to have homework from the school anyway, if you’re concerned just dosh it out yourself 🤷‍♀️

I think even in a school that gives homework, your DC wouldn't recieve any in the first few weeks of year 1. Ours set spellings in year one, then homework from year two and timetables from year three. If you want them to do some work at home, how about signing up to twinkle, reading eggs or times tables rockstars (when a little older).

You do realise you can still do that yourself without the school mandating it right?

We get given lots of things to do at home but they are optional. My eldest is also in Y1 and the teachers advise spellings will be sent home after half term.

At the moment we prioritise reading and do at least ten minutes a week of the online maths games, and then occasionally do some of the other activities provided.

If you feel the reading books are too easy for your child then it is worth mentioning it to the teacher.

My child is very bright (oldest in the year) and I don’t think is particularly challenged at school. I understand their priority is to get all children to a certain standard, and if a cohort has many children who need more work to get there, there is less time for the more capable children. You have to put the effort in as parents.

You could buy workbooks to do or get reading books from the library, if you want to do more learning at home.

I love the sound of no homework!
The most important thing you can do is read with your child so I would just enjoy the freedom of choosing books together and reading them for fun. You can always do a few little exercises based on what you know they are doing in maths… believe me they will get plenty in a few years so I wouldn’t push it

The school should have their curriculum documents available - they are most likely on the website. You don’t need homework to find out what they are doing.

There is nothing at all to suggest that homework helps at this age. Use your time to read with your child lots, try to visit new places and give them lots of experiences. Not all learning has to be in school.

The approach of the head wanting things play based is exactly how it should be. I work in early years and too often the step from reception to year 1 is massive and too much for many.

YABU. No homework policies are great. Focus on enriching your DC’s life in the ways that only parents can do.