Parents with jobs - how do you support homework?

[BlueRaincoat1]

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

We do reading in the morning over breakfast, I read a chapter of a book and DS then reads his book to me. I get a much better response from him doing it in the morning than when he’s tired on an evening.

We don't do any homework other than spellings and reading. Spellings we do in the car although year 2 ds says his teacher doesn't like that he doesn't write them in his book!
We try and do reading c. 4 times a week although we have to hand in the book Tuesday morning and get a new book back Friday so we don't have 7 days to choose from! I feel guilty but between weekend and evening activities and two parents who work full on full time it's hard!
We're lucky that ds does his own projects sometimes (writes a story, writes using his iPad, searches for stuff in Google and asks for help with spelling stuff on the iPad, reads stuff in context (signs, subtitles etc). I reckon all of that is more educational than building a papier-mâché castle!

We fortunately chose a school that recognises lots of parents work.
Homework is set for and done on weekends.

The school doesn't set lots of craft style 'build the coliseum' type stuff. They focus on reading maths and spellings. (Kids do plenty of project/craft type stuff in the classroom.)

The school focuses on trying to teach as much as possible in the classroom and keeping homework fairly light.

There's a recognition that children's home lives vary and not all parents are in a position to help children with homework for varying reasons.

We do a lot of spelling and timetable practice in the car when driving places. Mainly do homework at weekends. We used to do a few activities where the dc would take turns (swimming lessons, horseriding lessons) so I would do homework with the dc who was waiting for their go.

The other thing that works for us is that we do homework and instrument practice the second we walk in the door during the week as it is much easier than trying to get them started when the have started a game or are watching something.

We do reading at bedtime - they read us their book then we read a chapter of whatever book we are doing at bedtime.

Spellings are on an app so they tend to do 2x 15 min sessions mid week then a couple of longer sessions at the weekend.

That's all my Y2 has.

The Y5 has more, all app based, and she is self directed on it - does it on the laptop while I work during the week, with time to mop up at the weekend.

We mostly treat it as optional tbh and the teachers haven't complained! (2 x full-time working parents here and a YR, Y2 and a toddler).

We do spellings while out and about (don't do look-cover-say-write or whatever it is, I just give - usually silly - sentences with the words in and they spell them for me). Mathletics is done on the iPad while the other one is at music lessons on the weekend then swap. I'm lucky they're book worms so they read unprompted but again I get them to read things - signs, menus, etc - when we're out and about at the weekend.

I am a bit nervous about how we'll fit it in as they get older but I guess they'll stay up later so we'll have more time? Will cross that bridge when we come to it!

We do homework on whichever day I have off at the weekend. We get it done first thing in morning before we do anything else.

DD is 9 (year 5) so she does reading herself before bed. She then does some spelling and times tables stuff during the week once I get home, while I cook dinner. Or I'll ask her quick questions on the way to school or home from work.

We tend to do quite a bit of game based learning. Or I will make up a quiz based on a theme like the weather etc. We read at night and in the bathroom as well. l like to control the level of homework however.

Mine do theirs in after school. I do the reading at home.

2 primary DC here. We do spellings and reading in the week. Everything else at the weekend.

@tinyperson

We tend to do quite a bit of game based learning. Or I will make up a quiz based on a theme like the weather etc. We read at night and in the bathroom as well. l like to control the level of homework however.

Good point, we do stuff like this too. Think of activities that support their learning without needing a devoted time to sit and do it. An example would be when DD was struggling with the concept of money and how to use coins. We set up a snack box on the dining room table, put prices on everything and gave her a box of coins, for a couple of weeks, every time she wanted a snack she had to pay for it with her coins.

I would suggest getting Edshed for spelling. I enter all the word list they get for the term in one go and set them as weekly homework. They are in year 2 and 6 and they get on doing it themselves. Same as using timetable rock star and numbots for maths. I think mostly it’s doing it in the weekend when they are younger, and then assigning the work so they do it when they are home themselves. You just don’t have the time sitting with them doing it.

Similar set up to you. I do reading / phonics with reception child while DH does maths with Y2 DD after dinner, then I read with DD at bedtime.

2 in primary and full time single parent.

Eldest has SEn - basically don’t do any with him.

Youngest - always do reading. Other than that just do it if we happen to have time/remember. He’s only year 2.

This has all been very helpful, thank you. I think (especially once the younger one starts school in september) being more organised and having set times will help. Also committing a bit of the weekend to homework seems like the way forward.

All homework is done on the weekend after breakfast so it doesn't eat into our day. Ds is tired after school and needs a rest and he is much more productive on the weekend!

Mine is younger but we practice letter formation in the bath with bath crayons. Could you do this for the spellings?

Can they not do it in after school club ? Once they don't need as much help it gets easier

He's too young at the moment to do his reading without support - it has to be reading aloud, and after school club don't 'help' with homework- understandably. I hope when he's a bit older he (and his brother) will do some of it by themselves at after school club.

We do a lot of 'talking maths' , the 3 Yr old is obsessed with numberblocks, so we do a lot of talking about different sums etc, which is quite nice really.

We don't agree with homework in infants. So only do reading (4 times a week) and spellings. Most (if not all, I don't know I've only read a selection!) research shows that homework in primary school has minimal impact on attainment both short and long term, so we don't worry.