DS, Y7- pls suggest how to structure homework so it doesn't overwhelm us!

Roisin, I would agree and leave the kids to organise but take an interest in what they are doing but not in teacher mode.

"NEVER use comic sans or similar!"

See, of course, here.

"You will find out if DC not doing hw at secondary school apparently because the school will be quick to tell you."

I think that depends very much on the school and the individual teachers tbh.

I do like my boys to be independent and get on and manage their own work. But I still monitor their planners and exercise books closely, so that I know what they're up to.

Perhaps I am lucky to have a DS who is concientious because he is currently in Yr 6 and my DH and I have taken the decision to stop reminding him about homework because he will be at secondary school next year.

When we started last year we had a few tears at night with a memory of homework and hasty work done in the morning but now in Year 6, he is doing it on his own with help from us when he asks for it. He is an eager to please kid though who hates being late for anything to phobic proportions to the point that he gets himself ready in the morning and to the bus stop rather than waiting for my DH and my DD who are chronically late for everything. Hopefully this should carry on in Year 7. I spotted some work he was doing the other night which was really good. There is a preconceived idea that boys are lazy but that is all it is a preconceived idea and the more parents fall for it, the more boys will be. Quite often boys are worse at GCSE level but really come into their own at A Level. Interestingly my sister's boy is the same and the girl is disorganised.

You will find out if DC not doing hw at secondary school apparently because the school will be quick to tell you.

Thanks roisin - DD has a homework to make a poster of something on publisher, so I'll show her the tips

Ds' homework has been looked after since Yr 4 by the simple threat of lunchtime detention, but I suspect as he goes onto secondary next year that I will have to look into those parental time management sessions (aka nagging) as doing a project over a period of two months is not quite the same as doing a sheet of maths.

We remind the dds after tea (about 6.30ish) because that's a good time to get in an hour of homework if needed. We can usually help them then if necessary.

Also, if we know they have homework and remind them after tea, I can syggest they don't go out to play with friends that evening.

Ampere - the boys do get quite a few poster homeworks, but I don't mind really. Some people think they're a cop out, but I don't know why.

Students have to revise information, retrieve it, sequence and order it, collate it, sort and select it, and then present it in an effective manner. It's a great way of consolidating learning in the class or of demonstrating what they've learned through a research task IMO.

bigTillyMint
Simple tips for attractive posters:
Choose and use one font only. (Possibly one other for a major title or a specific purpose, if you really have to.)
Maximum of 3 different font sizes, preferably 2.
Use blank space effectively - this can make your poster look far more attractive than just filling every space with text/pictures.
Choose a simple colour scheme - two main complementary colours and stick with them: don't be tempted to get too fussy.
Make sure all images used are high quality
NEVER use "rainbow" colour fill - looks very tacky
NEVER use comic sans or similar!

Ampere: yes definitely. We gave ds1 a lot of support in yr7 in getting himself organised, sorting out his stuff and getting on and completing his homework properly to a high standard. (As we are now for ds2 in yr7).

Now (yr9), ds1's pretty much independent and gets on and sorts himself out. I do keep a very close eye on the homework diary and check through his exercise books that he is working hard in class as well.

Yaer 7 really is the time to establish good routines with homework, then hopefully they'll carry them on right through school.

Fascinating stuff. As someone whose bum always hit the sofa first, and eventually did homework after dinner, when I was far too tired, it's useful to learn some better methods!

ampere, you're right - the homework in primary did need me nagging parental input, until DD got more self motivated and at least vaguely aware of time in year 6.

I'm glad her school did that, some parents complained about hw (mind you, some wanted more in the early years) but it was useful breaking-in. Yes, if your DC haven't had this thrust at them early you probably will have to guide them more now.

I completely agree with your post Ampere DS needed a lot of help in year 7 on how to decide which pieces of homework to do first, how to handle a larger project (the dreadful oh it doesn't have to be in for weeks) and how to actually get stuck into a piece of work. Now in Year 9 he just gets on with it independently so he did need to be taught those skills.

DD2 needed no help whatsoever and continues to be "little miss organised" but DD1 needed the same sort of guidance as her younger brother. Unfortunately by Year 9 she had decided that she wasn't a homework kind of person and so you can imagine what the GCSE years were like in our house!

DH and I have negotiated a flexible working deal with our boss, so we're doing 2/3 days a week each, but we work from home after picking kids up anyway (so now they're having a break but in a minute DS1 is going to get an hour's HW done...); and I am sitting here working (with the odd MN moment in between) and will also work most evenings to catch up on stuff I might have missed after 3...

Soon I'm going to get a babysitter to pick DS2 up one day a week and supervise DS1's HW so that DH and I are covering 2 days a week each.

It seemed important for DS1 that he could come home and do his stuff and have someone here, and because we have another boy in school, and another one who'll start in reception next year, we're ALWAYS gonna have to work out what to do at 3.15, for years. So I am hoping this arrangement will work out for us, though it will mean much more evening/weekend work. DH and I are VERY lucky to have the kind of jobs/managers with that kind of flexibility though...

Interesting thread but do ANY of you work until 6pm and get home at 7pm and then have to tackle the homework/food/shower/prep for the next day (and have a toddler who wants all of the attention)?

My son is only in year 4 and gets quite a lot of homework and he also does alot of sport afterschool and we are struggling with fitting everything in? In fact by Friday evening we all are exhausted (and then have a football match at 9.30 on Saturday)!

Agree with what chibi said at the start.

Most teachers.schools set a target time of 20 to 30 mins per piece, if a child is spending longer, find out why and resolve it with the school or child. That's my suggestion.

And I'm not suggesting that this is the case, but a child doing homework in front of a TV, or while on Facebook will take at least 3 times as long.

They do the homework as they get it, if it goes over 1.5 they leave it till the next day. Some days they have very little, some days more, they have to time manage themselves.

Dd has been used to having HW at junior school, so no great shock here. She seems determined to organise herself well though so that she has time for playing/relaxing, etc. She has 2 pieces of HW a night, about 30mn each in theory.
She gets in around 4.30, 4.40pm (but has 2 hours of theatre group on mondays and another hour on thursday after school, so has to plan for that), slumps in front of the TV for a bit, then goes to do HW, then shower, music practice, dinner, play.... It is rather busy but she knows it all needs to be done and she has already planned that she will do most of her HW tonight. This is only the first week, though......

Lucky you, lullabybaby. I'd love to be completely hands off.

DD is a very conscientious child, and is beginning to take more responsibility in deciding how to go about getting all her homework done in time, but she is looking to us for guidance and reassurance.

And it's only the end of week 2.

Structure homework? sounds horrible.

My DC are teenagers, apart from helping with spelling, reading and times tables in early primary years DH and I have only got involved with their homework when they have asked for help. Youngsters have to learn the big lesson: it is they who must structure their homework, not mummy, if they want to succeed.

DS is off to uni in a week or so - and there is absolutely no way I could have possibly helped him get his A* in maths, let alone the further maths, physics and chemistry...

inthesticks - I agree with what you said about being unsure just how much they are supposed to write sometimes. My DD had some homework about solids, liquids and gasses. It was really unclear whether they wanted a couple of sentences, to show a basic understanding, or more in depth 'stuff'.

She gets home from school on the bus at 4, has a snack and does her homework until it's all done. She resisted at first, but now realises that she is probably going to have a free weekend, because all the homework is out the way.

Our problem night is Wednesdays, when she leaves for dancing as soon as she gets home and doesn't get home til 9pm. Luckily this week, she had some reading to do, so she took that in the car (where she also are her snack).

tokyonambu
I actually agree completely, but as we - along with the majority of the world - have succumbed to the brainwashing and world-domination of the Microsoft Corporation, it isn't often an option.

I will do a quick summary of poster tips later tonight or tomorrow bigtillymint. (Nothing world-shattering: don't get your hopes up!)

roisin, we could have done with your poster tips last week! Please can you give us your top tips in anticipation of further poster homeworks?