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!

What benefit do you think there is in the homework you're setting? Evidence suggests those types of task are not developmentally appropriate (in general) and provide no demonstrable improvement in attainment (in general). If your child enjoys these tasks then that's good for you/her. But policies are made according to broad evidence at a large group/population level. Homework is pointless, particularly at reception age.

My child's teacher send me emails to remind homework to be completed and also discusses with my child why homework isn't done in time and he's 6.

You are boasting though aren't you let's be honest ! Try having multiple children some with additional needs they spend 6 hours a day doing work hometime is family/wind down time my kids will not be little robots that do nothing work thanks

Because all the research shows no benefit and possible negative consequences (loss of joy of learning, backsliding) of homework in primary. Now NEW skills outside of school (instrument, swimming, dance, art)outside of school can be a huge benefit.

I've told school we will not do homework at all other than reading they can piss all the way off

There's not much evidence that it helps learning in primary. So not much point in doing it at the expense of activities or family time.

We live abroad and have set homework

Sometimes the kids are willing to do it, sometimes it's just such a hassle. Feels like homework for me.

I do think some parents do need guidance though

I have workbooks that the kids do before bed, this is self directed and not from school

Because, other than reading (which should be done for pleasure, not as "homework imo), it has zero benefit.

I have two DC 4 & 6. We do spellings and readings and whatever other stuff they choose to practice but I also believe that a lot learning is also done outside the classroom so I don't stress myself or them about it, just f I felt they weren't meeting their expected targets, I would adjust and adapt.
Over weekends and after school DS6 does karate 3x a week, beavers, musical theatre, Pokémon club, plays chess, and swimming.
DS4 has cookery club, french, musical theatre, swimming and flute lessons.

That seems to be by an organization called "2020 Global Citizens for Human Rights."

I was talking about more objective measures, such as PISA and TIMSS.

Because it was my homework. DD didn’t wasn’t interested. Once she got a bit older all was well, but being the youngest in the year she wasn’t into it at all.

I think it’s important because it shows whether your child has grasped the class material, or if they need some help to understand it better. But I went through a different schooling system which saw you having to repeat a year, or change schools if you could not pass exams with the required grades.

Yes it’s tiring but if my daughter struggles with a topic/ subject I want to make sure that she gets the support she needs. There is no benefit in allowing for “deficits” as later class material will likely build on the foundations set earlier.

Finland has not banned homework. I am in Finland, I've posted already on this thread (I didn't mention the country though) about how much homework my DD gets ever since the first grade. Homework is very very normal here and has never been banned. We also have many exams too, contrary to popular opinion.

And Finland has been dropping down the ranks, mostly since experimenting with different, newer education methods (and the advent of smart phones didn't help). Did better when they used more old fashioned methods.

As others have mentioned there is no benefit to homework in primary ages. What you do with your child is great if she enjoys it. If she sees it as a chore, it's actually harmful and will discourage her from learning in the future.

Doing activities like cooking together, going to a new place, playing a game etc would be just a beneficial. Reading to kids lots is strongly associated with future success because it is an enjoyable activity that will encourage future reading. Most people wouldn't view this as homework and instead as part of the daily bedtime routine.

Writing early also isn't an indication of future success. Look at Finland where kids have no formal education until age 7, they are set a lot less homework and they do a lot better than in the UK. Kids should enjoy being kids. It doesn't last long. https://careerteachers.co.uk/what-the-uk-education-system-can-learn-from-finland/

When DD was at primary we left the house at 7.40 and got home around 6.30 4 days a week.

We concentrated on times tables (while she was in the bath), reading and spelling (at bedtime). She needed downtime (she does clubs at the weekend), so we didn't bother too much with anything else.

Despite doing the bare minimum at primary and having no fixed structure, she's very disciplined about homework in year 9. I spoke to one of her teachers and she said the it comes with age when they realise how important it is for their future.

I'm happy that I didn't put too much pressure on her when she was much younger. She's doing really well at secondary in spite of it.

That's not a particularly accurate article, I mean it started off with saying matriculation exams are done in vocational high schools - you don't matriculate from vocational school! And preschool is mandatory now and starts the year you turn 6 so some children will start school at 5 (but preschool is very play-based and the education focus is just learning the alphabet and the numbers 1-20 rather than learning to read yet). Its true its up to the teachers how they teach and assess but using regular exams and plenty of homework is very common for teachers here as they know it works.

Because my Y5 child is already out of her mind with boredom as the work at school is laughably low level and dull and she doesn't want to be forced to do more FUCKING SATS cramming at home. She won't be taking SATS, as they are stupid, pointless and detrimental to actual learning.

She already has to endure the Victorian-era style repetition of basic maths all day at school, I see no need for her to do another 40 column addition / 2 digit multiplication sums at home. She's known her basic numeracy since Y1. Endless parroting of times tables makes her more bored. Homework is never deepening or broadening, it's repetition; it's applied as a blunt tool, with no chance for bored bright kids to go a bit deeper or further in learning.

Yes, I get that practice embeds learning. When the learning IS embedded, it becomes counterproductive.

I hate what primary education has been reduced to by the Gove Nat Curriculum reforms, I won't support it by making her do even more mindless repetition.

PS. FUCK SATS. I hope they fuck off and die in a corner, slowly and painfully.

Because its a pointless pain in the arse and even less fun in the GCSE years when they still don't want to do it.

I don't really see the point when he has been there all day (year 2). Also some of the homework such as building things doesn't really teach them anything and is more for the adults based on the products I've seen being taken in. I have a young DC and trying to get my eldest to do more work when we get home usually results in some drama or the youngest kicks off and I can't give the attention needed to my eldest anyway.

Having said that he loves reading and will reach for 30-45 mins each night before bed but this is choice not being made to.

I had a meeting with the school recently where someone asked for more homework as it didn't take her son long to complete so it's a case of different children different abilities. For some, the school day is enough.

I think your original post is a bit silly op which is why it’s coming across as smug, sorry. It’s as if you didn’t already realise that many people work later than 3pm for a start.

-Even if a parent can do school pick up, they may still have to then pick up another child from a different school or nursery.

-Kids may have hobbies after school, or a playdate, or the family may need to pop to the supermarket, or may want to go for a walk for some downtime.

-Siblings also need attention for whatever reasons.

-A big factor is early bedtime. If kids go to bed 7.30-8pm, they need windown time before this. Which also means a fairly early dinner, which also needs to be cooked. You’re running out of hours in the day and taking a break is important.

-I’ve also read that homework at that age doesn’t benefit young children. I would do reading etc with them anyway.

-Young kids are more likely to have sleep issues, so everyone may be exhausted.

-A lot of the effort is actually on the parents doing most of the stupid homework tasks. No way will i sit there making something something out of lolly sticks if my son is too young to do most of it himself.

-The curriculum itself seems a bit silly and OTT, let alone homework. My friend’s kid having only turned 5 two months ago was being taught about michelle obama and didn’t understand who she was, coming home saying she was the first black woman.

When you have more than 1 child it is a huge chore. My oldest is in yr 6, he has to read every day (which he finds easy but hates), spellings, SATS practice for maths and English, times table app daily, plus a weekly homework,dome od which have been very involved and taken hours, like producing a project on William Morris.

My middle child is autistic, learning delay/difficulty and in yr 4, he has only just started being able to cope with homework. He has times table app (he hates it), reading (school not sending appropriate books, another isssue), 2 maths activities on a PC ( needs extensive support) and spellings. Plus termly projects that he point blank refuses so we just don't bother.

Youngest is yr 2 with ADHD. She has 8 spellings, times table app, reading, term project. We do the spellings, and occasionally reading.

It takes hours a week, and on a lot of days there is just no time. They don't do ASC but all 3 desperately need to zone out and regulate after school or there are explosions and no one will be giving their all. 3 days a week I'm not home til 4-4.30 and then dinner, baths etc take most of the evening.

I just don't see the benefit,and I strongly feel that being forced to read dull books daily has contributed to my oldest's hatred of reading.

Interestingly they have dropped most of the homework for reception, 1 and 2 in my ds's school. They have 1 reading book a week now.
He is in year 1. I am a lone parent who commutes 3 days a week and sometimes I travel, the other 2 days are wfh. I am nd, he is probably nd.
Firstly homework was hugely stressful for him. They actually stopped the homework after I showed them 3 videos of him, I don't know if that was the reason but it coincided. The last was him crying saying his teacher would hate him as his writing wasn't neat enough. He gets very anxious about it being perfect. I was exactly the same and I never criticise or correct, it all comes from him. They tried not giving him homework and he would cry when he noticed. They tried giving him different homework and he cried as his was different. Some of his class would never do their homework, he wouldn't not do it, even when I said let's leave it.
Secondly, our time together is precious and it would take hours at the weekend to calm him down.
As others have said, we incorporate learning into our lives. For writing we are writing easter cards at the moment, we bake, we read every night for 30 minutes but a mix of books he has chosen and car magazines and anything else he finds interesting. He does some learning bits stuff online too.
He is a summer born so he had his trial day at school when he was still 3. This seems crazily young. He hates having to sit still all day and needs to move a lot at night to get the energy out.
I had a education specialist come round and are said he is bright and where he should be but his problem is massive anxiety around being perfect.
I am happy that you get that time with your child and they don't struggle. I wish it was the same here.

Totally agreeing with PP’s points about SATS (still think they were ridiculous 25 years after I did them) and about being made to read dull books.

Come back here when you've got multiple kids, a full time job and two after school activities.

I think it depends on the child and the kind / style of homework given.
If a child is struggling in school for 6 hours, should they spend their 'free time' doing yet more 'work'?
It is a contentious point.
Mainly, listening to them read, and reading to them (age appropriate books), is the best form of homework, and most future learning is based around learning through books, or the written word, and children being comfortable with reading should be the aim.
other kind of homework can be done informally.
As a child gets older (within the primary age), then some formal homework may be a good idea.