Schools ask too much of families - AIBU?

To be honest I think it depends on how much spare time you have. If you finish work at 3 like I do and have all afternoon and evening, it's easy to set aside and hour a day to go this. If yout child is in after school club until 6 every day then yeah, it wouldn't get done.

Maybe you should join the PTA then you could make changes from the inside rather than just complaining to the about their free time and work they're giving.

I was ready to agree with you but that just looks like a lot of words asking not much.
I agree grandparents would probably be very willing to do a least one of them.

I think you are looking at the consequences and symptoms rather than the problems itself.

Normally this feeling comes a combination of the parents being too tired/too much work/too stressed, and the general lack of funding/time/resources that schools have.

E.g.

If I took 30% of your work away, I'm sure you would have far more energy and time to devote to your child's education

And, If I gave the school more funding, better resources, better student/staff ratio, less paperwork etc. then I'm sure they could do more of the monotonous tasks in school, and reserve more engaging and fun tasks for parents to do at home.

All of this has been compounded by the need for our children's average level of technical education to increase, due to the way our modern societies and economies work.

The result is you have more of a demand on kids... less resources for the school to do it perfectly... so they give it to parents... but the parents have less energy and time than before... so they feel it is too much.

I disagree. Unless your child has SEN if you do have time in the evenings, you should read, write, do homework with them when they’re young.

me and my husband worked full time. We picked the kids up from after school club, went home quick dinner, do a few hrs of work with them and straight to bed. It reaped dividends as they were ahead and motivated secondary school and are at great unis now.

as a country we need to invest in our children’s education.

The worry is that the school curriculum is so crowded that they just don't have time to spend on times tables or the type of spelling that does require some rote learning. If parents don't make some time for their kids to do some times tables at home it can really hold them back in maths in later years.

I'm sure the kids get more from after school activities than they do just doing their homework. Extras curriculars help prepare children for the real world sometimes more than the curriculum!

And just to add, both DC have done very well at primary school so I'm not sure additional homework would be beneficial.

My DC have never had daily homework at primary school. The only thing we've done daily is reading at bedtime, which we would do regardless and DC pick books of interest to them.

DD8 gets spellings and a few maths questions once a week which takes no more than 10-15min, and can do TTRS if she wants but it's not required.

When DS was in Y6 they used to get homework once a week consisting of 30 maths questions, some SPAG, and a reading comprehension (usually a piece from a previous SAT paper). This was more involved and could take up to an hour altogether.

The research shows low impact in regards to primary school homework, and that shorter more structured tasks recapping the days learning are more effective then the set daily homework. The old quality over quantity argument.

You can parent and be involved on your child's education without this homework malarkey. We like to get involved with their education but we tend to do it in ways that are fun, such as a trip out somewhere if they are learning about a certain place or something or going to the shop with them and encouraging them to work out money etc.

I never did the homework for first school (up to Year 4) but we do reading without fail every night. Eldest is now at middle school and the homework is required but is basically a set of online English and Maths questions with a week to complete so very easy to fit in.
I would say if you don't do anything else then do reading, it is so important.

Completely agree with you. They have long enough days (yes partially on us for being full time working parents and therefore using wraparound care) without then being asked to do more school work in their chill time.

and the number of events!!!! At least your school seems to summarise them nicely. We get random notifications with little to no notice. At least two requests per half term to be in school during the school day when I should be working. I don’t want to miss these things for me personally and for my child but it’s all a lot.

It’s pretty standard but I do feel your pain with all the school events. But at least you get a good heads up. God I remember the plenty of last minute dashes to Asda to find a fucking world book day outfit at 10pm the night before.

I think you needs to ask your in-laws to cover a lot of stuff off before you pick up.

I worked full time but had a nanny and I would get home at 6pm to 2 children who had done their homework, had their evening meal and most of the time had been bathed too. So I could just spend quality time with them then read a bedtime story together.

It’s 15 mins. Not an hour

5 mins each on maths (ttrs does 5min games) reading and spelling

Get the grandparents involved. They can listen to DC read and practice times tables all in less than 30mins.

Break the tasks up and like previous suggestions, use the time in the car effectively. Your DC can read aloud or call out times tables whilst you drive.

For the longer-term pieces (e.g February question) just get it done the day or weekend it is set otherwise it ends up another task on a busy to do list. Again, the GPs can oversee your DC writing their response as long as they know the task.

Time tables rock stars

aka maths

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth

a lot of schools use it

fun games to help learn times tables

and more important in yr 4 as they have upcoming Government statutory Multiplication Tables Check that all Year 4 children sit.

we even had an email about it today

Plus we have gym 3 times a week after school and still manage homework of 5 mins each in the hour we have between getting home after school and going to gym - obv have tea as well and I work nights

so it is possible - no one is saying to spend hours on it , it sure everyone can find 5 mins

it is important to do homework more so once they go to secondary school and have to do it how will they cope if. Or used to doing something

I was exhausted just reading all that OP! I am soo glad primary school days are behind me. All the things to remember to do and the constant money.

I set my dc extra homework as they only got about an hour per week in total apart from reading. Whoever is providing care after school can help with homework, my friend is a childminder and she has all her school she’s kids doing their homework.

I respectfully disagree. Homework should be done independently on the whole. Yes, if they need help then of course that is parenting. But it’s not your homework, it’s theirs. They need to be able to organise their time independently. Otherwise it’s helicopter parenting.
I also disagree with homework before secondary school to be honest.
For what it’s worth, I’m a total girly swot with all of the A grades and a PhD. I wouldn’t have been so academically successful had someone been holding my hand through my homework. I needed grit and determination to persevere through it myself. My parents weren’t there in any exams and they’re not l at my workplace either.

It’s easier if you incorporate things into routine/make them habit. Things like spelling, maths and singing can be done anywhere - we did those in the car, while DS was in the bath, pottering about while I was making tea….

reading done in bed before lights out.

4 kids in 4 schools.

my secondary 2 have a lot of homework. Usually 3-4 pieces a night. All of it online as well.

But my primary school 2 children. Both schools don’t do homework. You get reading every night. But both schools don’t practice homework. Each school has a weekly newsletter with a challenge in it. But it’s optional.

I'm a teacher and mum of 3 primary age kids. Mine do reading and spelling and that's it. They can access TTRockstars if they want to but it's their choice. Your child's school sounds overly demanding and excessive. I wouldn't be able to keep up!

Our school its reading, spellings, TTRS, weekly there's an english grammar sheet & a maths thing.

My DC y4 would read loads anyway so i don't count that as homework. We do spellings & ttrs in the morning, only 5mins each, DC does music practise in mornings too.

The maths & English sheet we do on weekend.

How much of it has to be signed off by an adult who has watched/listened to it been completed? If it all does, then yes it's too much. If most of it is just stuff for the children to get on with, I would have thought a child without learning difficulties in year 4 would be able to do a lot of that, quickly, with no support maybe even in childcare.