Why is homework in primary seen as "bad"

[Iamwaiting]

Inspired by a few other threads. I'm not a teacher or in education so I'm genuinely interested in perspectives, plus those with older children who have been through/ going through primary.

Why is homework viewed so negatively?

Context... I have a DD in reception. She finishes school at 3. We come home (5 min walk) and do her homework (set by me.) 15/20 mins of reading, 5 mins of writing (tricky words / practicing writing words with "igh" sounds for instance / following wibbly lines for pen holding) and 5 mins of simple maths.

Finished by just after 3.30 leaving 4 hours to play / go to clubs / see her friends before bed. Same thing at the weekend but we do it in the morning.

But so many threads on here seem to imply homework is awful in primary, certainly reception. But I genuinely don't understand why. Surely it's just getting her used to a concept that will become increasingly important as she gets older?

For context she can ride a bike, swim well, climb a tree etc etc. Not boasting but just to show she is still enjoying lots of activities despite the "evil" homework!

I suppose it depends on your child and your circumstances. Mine have to go to breakfast and afterschool so that I can work. It would not be productive for them to sit down and do any more "work" at 6pm as they are exhausted.
Studies all show they learn best through play when they are this young, so they certainly might divide an orange in half at tea time and I will always read some good books at bedtime etc, but forcing them to do a worksheet would be entirely unproductive!

@LionMummyRoar I totally get that, and the two nights she goes to ASC we don't do anything either.

But I just wondered why there seemed to be this universal dislike of it regardless of circumstances..

Because of limited time. My kids go to after-school club until 5:30 most nights and have classes on most evenings.

I don't think there's been any research to back up that homework is good for primary aged kids.

But I just wondered why there seemed to be this universal dislike of it regardless of circumstances..

Why do you think it's regardless of circumstances?

We come home (5 min walk) then…

Do you think that you would find it more tricky if your school run was 20 mins there and back?! Wouldn’t be uncommon. Not every child goes straight home at 3.15 either.

I think time is the issue for most people. Especially with anything project or craft based when you have to find all the bits.

@TellYourPartnerWhatYouWant I meant in terms of "regardless of circumstances" is...

What you have said is totally reasonable IMO I.e. I have to work, kids are knackered by home time. Would be totally pointless getting them to sit in front of a worksheet. Fair enough.

But whenever homework for primary is mentioned on here (or with my friends) it's seen as a really bad thing and too much, even if for instance a parent is a SAHM.

So it seems like it's the idea of homework that's not liked, not the fact that (understandably due to work etc) it's just not possible for lots of families.

If that makes sense!

I think some people see it as a negative thing because they think their child has done enough through the school day. And some students who struggle with school might not enjoy doing work home too, understandably.

And, IME, some parents see it as a negative thing because they think it is only the school's responsibility to educate their child (I was shocked when I heard this be said.)

But I think it's a good thing. My DC manages well at school and has a hunger for learning so I do what I can to accommodate it.

It just seems unnecessary. I don't see it as "bad" and I doubt many people do. I just had very few days where we were home that early.

I also wanted to be guided by the school. They occasionally sent home list of tricky words and we always had a reading book on the go. Wasn't interested in interfering in what their teachers were working on by setting my own work.

For mine, it was often "make work", and/or required significant parental involvement. Eg a y1 child being asked to research stuff on internet. Or things that were of no benefit and took away from things that did have benefit (draw a poster of X, when child is very tired or already busy with other activities). When you have multiple children at the same school it can be a massive effort and huge time sink for parents and the child, for little or no benefit. I do see things like learning spellings or maths for older primary as different and important. It's the KS1 homework I had problems with.

I would say your circumstances are more conducive to liking homework than many others.
Picked up at 3, 5 min walk home. They have a parent who by the sounds of it finds reading, writing and maths to be easy. And you don't say specifically, but is she an only, with no additional needs?

Homework just ends up being another chore to fit in sometimes.

There is no good or bad. Its contextual and different arrangements suit different people. For some time is an issue, for others their child simply isn't academic and the school day is enough for them without adding extra at home, for others it's that learning takes place in a different way at home, like cooking with Mum or gardening with Grandma.
It can be pressure on already busy schedules for a lot of families.
And at reception age, after a day of learning provision at school, there is a need for downtime. Bear in mind in Scandi countries children don't enter any formal education as such until age 7 and they have the best academic results long term.

There is little to no evidence that homework other than normal things like reading at primary benefits the children. The ones who need the extra work/time/practice generally don't have the support at home and the ones the don't are the ones who have parents who make the model of the Viking longship themselves without the kid getting a look in.

Homework at primary is flawed, and needs rethinking so the curriculum/government/ofsted expectations are very very different.

I agree. Dd hates colouring in. The worksheets always had to be coloured, I didn't enforce this. I also found the school gave an unrealistic amount of homework, for a 5 year old. She is also on the spectrum, and it was all very overwhelming. We read at bedtime, and maths is something we incorprate into everyday life anyway. I didn't push homework and did what I thought was best for my child. We did do a little if time, but certainly not everything they gave. I may have tried to find a way to do extra at home, if she was behind, etc. I personally think they need time to clear their heads when they get home, and not continue their school day at home. Dd would come in with her hand aching from writing at school, and the poor kid just needed a rest.
The school day was enough of a sensory overload, and she was tired. She is now in year 3 and top of her class.

It largely depends on the child, and parenting style I suppose. I really think you have to do what works for your family.

You’ve answered your own question, most of the mums I know don’t like homework because the later you pick up, the harder it is to complete

I think you are looking at this from a very privileged position. Like many other parents, I have to send my kids to after school club so I can work. We live 20 minutes away from school too. They are out the house from 8.15 to 6.15 every day. Trying to get them to do homework every day would be completely counter productive. Also it would create an unfair advantage for those kids who are lucky enough to have a SAHP who can help with it.

That said, I don't think homework is bad in general. They need to get used to doing it as preparation for high school. My DS is in Y3 and they get the occasional homework on a Friday. They get a week to hand it in though. I think that's perfectly OK, as it gives everyone a chance to do it at their own pace and available time. My DD is in YR. We read every night before bed and when I remember, we do her tricky words over breakfast. In my opinion that's more than enough at that age. They're still getting used to school and learn so much more through normal play than structured learning.

Because countries that don't do it tend be ahead of ours in international tables re academics.

Because it's unfair - it's great that you live close to school and are around to pick up often enough for it not to be an issue for you, but plenty of kids are at ASC till 6pm. Also it's nice for kids to do swimming or clubs after school.

Success often depends on how able or interested a parent is, or how much time they have for it.

In school you have your teacher, trained to teach and support you in the curriculum. When the work goes home you may be supported by someone with a PHD or masters or someone who cant speak English or struggling a with learning difficulties dyslexia/ dyscalculia etc. The infant school curriculum currently covers content I did in secondary school and plenty of things that were never covered - frontal adverbials anyone?

You're also still in the early years. As they get older the work load in the day is harder and kids come out more exhausted by it. Just because it's easy in reception doesn't mean it is in a year or 2.

Perhaps your kid has loads of energy and is totally able but I've worked in wrap around care for years - some will bounce out at 5pm and go to play football. Others come in at 3.30 looking totally frazzled.

With respect, I think you are in a fortunate position that it's something you have time for and your child can tolerate. For some children some of these activities aren't as accessible or won't take a simple 5/10minutes. My son is SEN and struggles a great deal. He's simply not able to get straight to it when we first get home. Making time for homework can be time consuming and frustrating and often pointless, it usually detracts from him pursuing his own creative interests. He has 6 hours at school and his home time is for relaxing and exploring through play. His brother has no such issues and tends to get on with his homework with only a little support if needed. I'm not anti homework as such, I just can't understand how it can become a point of contention. I think there are many circumstances, involving both the children and the parents that can make it difficult and as such make homework and additional and unnecessary stress.Even the educators I know tend to agree that primary age homework doesn't necessarily benefit learning.

I don't have an issue with things like reading, spellings, time tables, a project. A lot of it is just 'busy work'. My nine year old was doing questions like 2x3 this weekend. Spellings were things she knew in reception. Another week it's stuff they haven't learned at school yet. Just seems a time drain. Same with the crap books they were sent home with - just took time away from reading something they were interested in. It takes quality one on one time away to be spent on homework.

I'd rather engage with DS1 in other ways. He's not a child that enjoys sitting in and colouring, or writing cards, or similar "homework". It would be a battle to get him to do it. Instead I feel I support his learning in other ways that we both enjoy, like getting him to read the number on the scales when we're baking, or reading to him, or having him teach me dance moves.

draw a poster of X

Oh heck, the dreaded poster. My dd must have done hundreds of the things.

As a teacher, I hated it. It's completely pointless as an assessment tool, as I have no idea how much of it the child did alone. Any help the parent gives in answering the specific questions in the homework renders it useless.

If parents want to help, they need to make up their own examples and work on them together. Then let their child have a fully independent stab at the homework with no help at all and hand that in. Anything else is completely pointless.

Even when done properly, homework rarely adds any insight that I didn't already have through teaching them and assisting them in class.

Because children that age should be free to relax and make their own discoveries through play, reading, whatever floats their boat. After 6 hours of the national curriculum - they deserve a break! I hated it when I had to “sign off” homework or reading every night when my son was at primary. Forced homework always led to his tears 😭 . I wish I had had the strength and confidence to refuse to cooperate. Of course some highly academic children may love it. But even they need some freedom from the national bloody curriculum to simply be children, to relax, and to pursue what they want without being forced

I hate it. It causes nothing but arguments with my child. I am really strongly against homework in primary (apart from reading and perhaps a times table app). I think there is lots of evidence that says it has very little benefit in primary.

also, I don’t finish work until 5. My son has lots of after school activities (4 hours of swimming per week, another fitness class and Scouts). Trying to fit homework in alongside those, making meals and actually letting my child have some time to just relax is stressful.

You sound privileged and lucky because you have time and don't mention any push back from your child.

In reception, we spent more time trying to get my son to engage and do the work with us than it actually took. I gave up. Year 1 we tried harder and now in Year 2 we also do try to do it. I do however, find it really tedious. My son hates it and it causes friction when we could be enjoying our time together.

That said, I do try to homework with regularly. Agree that what's sent home can often detract from other educational activities that could be more worthwhile. Also, TIME. There just isn't enough of it.

In this house we have to go collect older children and my dh from the train, as well as swimming some days. When I was working until 6 and dh was wfh around pickups it was worse than hell!! It’s a lovely idea that everyone can sit down at the kitchen table and work through homework before six o clock but here it’s rushed. I used to think it was a good way that children who were finding something tough had more time but in reality the children who find it easy fly it, the ones who don’t are miserable or do the bare minimum or take a huge amount of time at it and then it’s nearly bed time