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Original poster

Parents with jobs - how do you support homework?

45 replies

BlueRaincoat1 · 13/02/2022 10:43

Hi,
I have 3 Yr old and a 6 Yr old (year 1). The6 Yr old doesn't get lots of homework, Reading and spellings mostly. We read at least 4 times a week, and do spellings with him once a week. He does maths on a school recommended app on the tablet now and again. We don't do the 'non-essential' homework at all.

He goes to after school club til 6pm 3 days a week, and has other clubs on the other 2 days until 4.15. We both work 4 days a week. So reading and spellings are usually done after dinner around 6.30pm, for.aprund 15 minutes. This is doable, but he grumbles about it. He's doing well in school.

I expect there will be a lot mote homework next year , send after that obviously. I honestly don't know where the time to help him will come from - what do you do?

Thanks

OP posts:
OnceuponaRainbow18 · 13/02/2022 10:48

Yup I’m also struggling with this. I am prioritising the reading together and he also can do a maths app thing on his own (he’s 5) and other than that we can’t do much more! But our school know gives out monthly certificates to those that do it all it feels more pressure is being put on him!

pitterpatterrain · 13/02/2022 10:51

At the minute we do it straight through the door during the week if there is a next day deadline (spellings, mental maths) in YR3 and the longer comprehension see how DD1 feels - sometimes she does bits in the week, sometimes on a Sunday

pitterpatterrain · 13/02/2022 10:51

We both work FT so DC not home until 6.15-6.30

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ThedaBara · 13/02/2022 10:51

Weekends. My DD is in year 2 now and will sometimes do some of her homework at afterschool club, plus she can stay up longer now that she's older, but before that it was all done at the weekend

Original poster
BlueRaincoat1 · 13/02/2022 10:59

Hmm it's a lot isn't it! Both for the parents and the kids. Although he does have fun at after school club so it's not like ot would be school work non stop all day.. Hard for parents to finish work and go straight into homework mode, especially if the kids are tired. Homework on weekends - noooo! Although I can see an hour on a Sunday is probably more achievable than 20 mins at 6.45pm several times a week...

OP posts:
JacquelineCarlyle · 13/02/2022 11:01

When the kids were little, we did all their homework at weekends and tried to do 2 readings in the week also. Didn't always work as it would get late by the time they were home and had food (often they'd read to me whilst I was making dinner).

2 are now senior school and are great at getting on with their work - very self sufficient & doing well so I don't think they were held back in any way by how we did things when they were younger! The youngest is year 6 and because of the Covid lockdowns and us working, he go used to getting on with his work and us just checking it over (rather than sitting with him whilst he did it) so he often now just cracks on with his homework and only asks if he is struggling!

JacquelineCarlyle · 13/02/2022 11:02

We are fortunate that they seem to be bright kids and need minimal help - don't know how we'd cope if they needed a lot of home support.

weansu · 13/02/2022 11:02

My dc get quite a lot, reading and something else everyday. I don't work f/t, dh is hybrid & we live around the corner from the school & we still struggle to do it.

TeenPlusCat · 13/02/2022 11:03

I was a SAHM, but always did reading and spellings in the morning as the DC were much fresher then. So spellings at the breakfast table, and reading after everyone was dressed.
You might find that it gets done 'faster' if you could find 10 mins more in your morning schedule rather than trying to eke it out of your tired evenings.
Homework for DD2 has always been weekends as she never had bandwidth in the evenings, even with me being at home...

pitterpatterrain · 13/02/2022 11:04

Mainly we find it better when it’s not a big deal - come in the door, get it done - then if they want to watch a bit of tv / play etc

The only “musts” in the week for DD1 is the maths and spelling the rest can wait and mathletics is set over the weekend anyway

weansu · 13/02/2022 11:04

Once the eldest turned 7 she is better just doing it alone.

pitterpatterrain · 13/02/2022 11:04

Good point teen. Ours are owls so morning time is usually a bit more roll out of bed and go …

WaterBottle123 · 13/02/2022 11:06

Wrote the school a note saying homework would only get done on weekends whilst kids were in primary. Bunch of other parents did same and eventually the teachers stopped setting anything that couldn't be done at weekend.

ArtemisDarling · 13/02/2022 11:06

It is frankly really really hard. I have 2 Dcs and one needs a huge amount of support due to disabilities (but is in a mainstream school at the moment).

At present I mainly work from home. So the children are home at 5 pm. We have dinner at 6 then at 6.30 i sit with them for an hour. Then they have free time and then bed routines begin. When I go back to the office full time I am not home until 6.30 and we will have to fiddle with the timetable. I am dreading it.

ArtemisDarling · 13/02/2022 11:09

(Mine are aged 12 and 10). The 10 year old can largely sort himself but appreciates me being there with them and the 12 year old needs alot of support.

Camomila · 13/02/2022 11:13

Mine is 5 (year 1), we read 2 or 3 nights a week, and do the online maths homework at the weekend (he enjoys it so it only takes 10mins), we are meant to practise spellings every day but it gets forgotten about often Blush

lumpofcomfort · 13/02/2022 11:17

DH and I work full-time. DC2 (9) is in after-school club and also has activities 3 x per week until 6.30/7 plus a 3 hours activity on Saturdays. I fit homework in on Sunday usually or try to get her to do it while I am making dinner. Luckily she is old enough to read to herself most nights. One of us hears her once a week. We also have to fit in guitar practice which is usually 15 minutes before bed the night before her lesson!

I feel bad because I worked part-time when they were you get and used to support DC1 more with homework and workbooks etc.

lumpofcomfort · 13/02/2022 11:18

Secondary homework has been much more manageable though. DC1 lets herself in after school and gets on with it before I get home.

Original poster
BlueRaincoat1 · 13/02/2022 11:26

Thanks for all the replies, I think making more use of weekends for homework in future is definitely on the cards. It's something I have heard recently form colleagues who are also struggling with supporting homework. It's not something I'd given a lot of thought too until last year.

DH is great and very hands on. He does almost all the cooking and cooks a lot from scratch so dinner often takes at least 30/40 mins, or longer on his day off when he does something which takes more time. My job is stressful and tiring and often puts me in a bad mood. I'm actually considering a sideways move to something hopefully less stressful for a small pay cut for the sake of being more patient.

OP posts:
Undercity · 13/02/2022 11:28

Reception to year 2/3 or so I'll do them weekends with them. Homework doesn't seem to be that big, one task of English and one of Maths per week, with the occasional bit of RE (faith school).

After that they're old enough to sort themselves out 95% of the time, with the occasional bit of project work. I drill the no play until work is done mindset into them from an early age and it persists even in their teenage years.

C152 · 13/02/2022 11:33

It's very hard. There's only 1 day of the week where we can squeeze it in, so that's what we do. (I wish they'd bloody give us the weekend to do homework. If parents work full time, there's just no time for homework - kids go to afterschool care until 6pm-7pm, get home in time to have a late dinner and go straight to bed). Even on late nights, we always read together though, as we both enjoy it.

My child is in year 1, so sometimes the maths is basic, like 'have your child count in twos, tens, twenties etc., up to 100 and back to zero. For stuff like that, which doesn't need to be written down, I ask him the questions on the walk home, or in the bath.

trumpisagit · 13/02/2022 12:10

We used to do spellings on the school run - make it fun though.
Reading at bedtime.
I would prioritise what your child will benefit from most.
Is there time over breakfast?
I can see why your child would feel aggrieved at having to do them at 6:30 pm having only got home at 6.

Jovanka · 13/02/2022 12:19

My DCs are in secondary school now but when they were in primary they would do their more substantial homework on a Saturday morning, wouldn’t take very long at all and would be out of the way for the weekend. We used to do spellings in the morning before school. They also did piano practice before school. Now that they have to leave the house at 7.30am to travel to secondary, I can see how much spare time we used to have in the mornings when they were at primary and we only had to leave this house at 8.45am.

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 13/02/2022 12:21

Dd is only 7, doesn't get much homework but what she does get we do at the weekend or in the morning before school. She doesn't tend to be able to concentrate on it after school as too tired and done with school work. In the morning when she's more fresh it's a much easier and less stressful activity. It helps that she's an early bird so we always have plenty of time in the morning to do it.

timeisnotaline · 13/02/2022 12:24

We do reading every night after dinner, it is hard to fit in, they don’t get any other homework at 6 here. Later I’m hoping that wfh more in the post covid era helps me be here and say do your homework and we help more after dinner, but also contemplating an afternoon nanny down the track. It’s tricky! I really want to be home enough to get them into good habits but I work ft and love my job!