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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that primary school children should not be given homework.

106 replies

darcymum · 26/09/2010 19:06

My eldest DC has just started reception and came home one day with three pieces of homework! Ok it was only a few reading books and a picture to draw but still... AIBU to think she should be out playing.

OP posts:
Original poster
darcymum · 26/09/2010 19:37

It's not because of me I don't want it, it's because I think her time is better spent running round with a bucket on her head or whatever nonsense she is getting up to.

OP posts:
80sMum · 26/09/2010 19:37

I don't think it's fair (on the children or their parents) to give homework to primary school children. Home should be completely separate from school. School can be a stressful experience for children, so home should be a sanctuary where school does not encroach. Far better to have a longer school day than to impose homework, imo.

motherinferior · 26/09/2010 19:39

The parents at our school are frequently heard going on about homework. And about reading journals for KS2 kids, which I absolutely refuse, myself, to implement. I'd be madly insulted if someone made me write up every book I'd read.

Original poster
darcymum · 26/09/2010 19:39

I think it is just the trickle down of us all working too hard.

OP posts:
dandydorset · 26/09/2010 19:57

this is a bug bear of mine,have struggled for years to get one of mine to do it other is ok

trouble is i really dont agree with it and at all parent meetings have told the teachers so,but accept that we signed the school contract so abide by it but really urks me

would i want to do a full day at the office then come home and do some more at their age I THINK NOT

mine now just started seniors and ive never had so many rows,stress over it.I HATE IT

am shocked peeps saying that parents started the trend for homework

i cant be the only parent really having a battle with it at the moment totally disrupts things at home at the moment,theyve had homework since primary so i wouldnt say its preparation for seniors quite the opposite

rather they were out kicking a ball or something,life skills are more important to me

Ghostie · 26/09/2010 20:10

I agree, I'm a secondary school teacher and I think that all children are given too much homework. It is a pointless circle where teachers often set meaningless tasks because we have to set something on a particular day, often due to presure from parents.

It seems from my dealings with parents that either they think homework will "push" their children or they want you to provide things to engage their children and keep them occupied. I agree with littlefish that children need to be reading at home. However, the kids who do best are the ones whose parents enage with them independently outside of the curriculum and they can't do this is they are constantly busy with meaningless homework. This doesn't mean that they should never get set stuff, but that it should be really well thought out and not too often, so the children have time to complete something which is meaningful and really makes them think.

vespasian · 26/09/2010 20:13

Why not just set a meaningful task?

lostinafrica · 26/09/2010 20:22

Not unreasonable at all!

I've been surprised this year by DD2's reaction to homework (just started Y1). DD1 was in Y1 last year and loved the chance to "get it all right" as someone said here earlier. She rattled through it all in 10 or 15 minutes and went off to do something fun. No probs.

But DD2... She writhes around on the floor whining "I hate homework!" Isn't that so sad at that age? No-one should have to say that before they're a teenager!! :) And then she dawdles and delays and gets distracted and the whole thing takes about an hour and a half - which is most of the day gone.

I started off nagging her through it - and very quickly gave that up as, no, I don't really see the point of it, either! So now, I read any word she can't, read some sentences I'm sure she's "supposed" to be reading herself, write some answers for her which she then traces over, point things out on worksheets to help. Basically, support her in any way I can. IMO, if she's not enjoying it she's not going to learn much.

And also, I'd much prefer her to have some fun in the afternoons and NOT be able to spell a few words than the opposite to be the case...

Spinkle · 26/09/2010 20:26

Well, how do you define 'meaningful'? What's meaningful to me as a teacher could easily (and probably is) be regarded as pointless by the parents.

Homework is a pointless waste of time. I'm sick to eyeballs of setting it and seeing it come back in adult handwriting.

I don't need the parents to practice their literacy or numeracy skills (though some of them still get it wrong). What I'd like is for the kids to actually stop talking or farting about long enough to actually do the beggaring learning at school.

And oh, how I hate the work that comes back reeking of fags and/or chips. Well, if it comes back at all..

vespasian · 26/09/2010 20:30

I appreciate I clearly work in an environment that is in the main very different and in secondary but I just don't set meaningless homework.

My dd's homework is probably the most meaningful work that she does.

minxofmancunia · 26/09/2010 20:33

YANBU, i'm still not decided on which local school i would prefer dd to go to next september and their homework policy will have a lot to do with it.

Reading, a few spellingss and times tables ok but any more than that i would NOT be happy. stressful for child and parents.

I don't do work for my job in the evenings except in exceptional circumstances. i've got a good job that involves reports/paperwork etc. Evenings are family and me time.

vespasian · 26/09/2010 20:34

I am genuinely amazed at the number of people who have a choice in their schools. We have never had a choice.

minxofmancunia · 26/09/2010 20:35

spinkle your POV as a teacher is v interesting, it also seems to be fairly common. Can you not influence homework rules in any way?

Original poster
darcymum · 26/09/2010 20:35

How can I join Kirstie's campaign, anyone know?

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 26/09/2010 20:36

There is absolutely nothing wrong with homework. The only parents who complained about homework at my DD's parent-teacher meeting were the ones who get in so late from work that they don't see their children in the evening. Maybe the problem isn't the homework?

Bonsoir · 26/09/2010 20:37

spinkle - don't set homework that can be done by parents. Set homework that can only be done by children:

  • learning poems
  • learning spellings
  • learning times tables

etc

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 26/09/2010 20:40

Atm we are at the beginning of the education process, DS1 is i yr2
BUT I have to say the homework he gets is never difficult and doesn't take much time.

we have reading to do but no set amount
we have spellings to learn,
and we have one activity,
last weeks homework was about goldilocks, if she was setting the table for the bears how many spoons would she need? How many forks, How many knives and how many plates and then how many things all together.

this is the sort of level of stuff we get. I have no issue with it at all.

xstitch · 26/09/2010 20:41

What annoys me about dd's homework is it doesn't come with instructions. I have to sign it to say she has done what she is meant to do. However sometimes I haven't a clue what she is meant to be doing. One day it was an A4 worksheet with five squares drawn on it and that was it. I know they were probably told in class but in yr 1 I think it is rather optimistic to expect them to remember the details.

Shock at homework in adult writing that is disgusting behaviour on behalf of the parents.

I remember being told at school (secondary mind you) that we should do 2.5hrs per subject per night. Got sent to headmasters office for impudence for pointing out that with 8 subjects each and taking into account the 6.5hrs spent at school it was completely impossible to do that. Confused

ModreB · 26/09/2010 20:42

YANBU. when my DS's came home with homework before Y5, I wrote a polite note to teacher, backed up at parents evening, "DC will not be completing homework this year. I am of the opinion that learning at this age takes place in school, and there is no need for additional pressure at home, after school hours".

Never ever got an argument Grin

traceybath · 26/09/2010 20:42

DS1 is in Yr2 and gets reading books home and times tables to be learnt over several weeks - and thats one not all of them.

Spellings are learnt in class.

His day is from 8.35am - 3.30pm and I think thats a pretty long day for a small child.

I know that from next year he'll start getting more homework but for now - just reading and tables is enough.

But he is lucky in having a small class and small groups for reading/numeracy etc.

GrimmaTheNome · 26/09/2010 20:44

DDs primary set homework - starting with just reading in reception, gradually increasing each year till in yr6 it was up to 2x max 30 mins a night.(ie if she hadn't finished one piece after 30 mins she was supposed to stop)

Now she's started secondary, I'm glad she got accustomed to it like this.

Algebra18MinusPiEquals16 · 26/09/2010 20:47

I don't have a problem with it, but only if it meets the following criteria:

  • it must be doable by the child and not the parent (so it'd also need to be well differentiated for ability) and if they say 20mins it should be doable in that time!
  • it must cover what has already been done in school - i.e. recap, not just as a substitute for actually teaching the topic - my DSDs' school does this all the time, it drives me nuts.
dandydorset · 26/09/2010 20:49

must be me just having problems with getting kids to do it,

what happens if they dont do it in seniors,is it dealt with by school only i assume the parent wont be hauled before the courts lol

MollieO · 26/09/2010 20:52

I didn't have homework at primary school. I went to a very academic grammar school and had lots of homework. It didn't matter in the slightest that I had no previous experience of doing homework. Everything was different about the grammar school compared to my primary school, not just the existence of homework.

MollieO · 26/09/2010 20:53

dandy if we didn't do homework at grammar school we got detention.

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