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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:
TrinityRhino · 27/09/2010 12:15

I dont see the problem
you learn something during the day
then you need to revise it for it to stick

just seems common sense to me

doesn't take long, the kids love it

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 12:20

'the kids love it', yup, I find my children always cry when they are having fun. Hmm
The STUDIES show that homework does not help - it won't make your kids brainer or do better in tests. It is a waste of time, and for many of us, a painful, miserable, demoralising waste of time. I'll say it again. My son reads constantly. If I forced him to write a precis/review/whatever of every book he read, he would simply stop reading for pleasure.

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 12:21

As would I!

whatdoesntkillu · 27/09/2010 16:28

My dd is 3 and has homework from nursery, which btw we refuse to do! We live in Latin America and it's very normal here.

whatdoesntkillu · 27/09/2010 16:30

Actually can anyone post some links to the research showing that homework isn't helpful, or even is harmful?

Algebra18MinusPiEquals16 · 27/09/2010 16:42

homework from nursery, now that is extreme :(

my friend is a reception teacher and the most homework she gives is maybe drawing a picture, and that's pretty rare

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 16:45

Look here or google homework Susan Hallam (a researcher in the field) - homework does nothing for children in primary school.

www.ttrb.ac.uk/viewArticle2.aspx?contentId=11787

Original poster
darcymum · 27/09/2010 16:59

Did you not see my link here

OP posts:
TrinityRhino · 27/09/2010 17:40

why doesn't it teach them time management and responsibility?

and what is wrong with that?

ok, sorry I should have said, my kids love it, even gecko asks for homework, she is 3 and a half, we practise her numbers and counting

I never thought of kids not liking it, what on earth are they being asked to do that upsets them so Hmm

TrinityRhino · 27/09/2010 17:43

its a bit cut and ry to say all homework for primary kids is bad

this quote points to possible causes for the result 'There is a wide variation in the effectsiveness of the homework set by teachers, he says, and children can struggle to work on their own. There are also problems with the home environment for some children.

these are factors and rule out the blanket that all homework for young kids is detrimental

loler · 27/09/2010 17:45

I love the strive idea - might send the link to the class teacher.

I'm so with the view that reviewing a book spoils the simple joy of reading. dd (yr 3) has to answer about 10 easy comprehension questions about every book she reads - should take about 30 mins but the 30 mins is normally me begging her to start, trying to think of bribes, getting rid of her brothers who are stealing the one pencil she reaaaaallly must use - 2 hours later job done, I'm crying - can't see how to make this sort of activity fun? Reading can be fun - writing about it Hmm They either like it or not, and lucky for the parents of dc who love writing, mine would prefer to be running around like loons.

TrinityRhino · 27/09/2010 17:53

mine run around like loons all the time but they know that school work is important

they get down to it and get it done so they can run around like loons

maybe their parents thinking homework for them is wrong isn't helping

why would anyone think that the small amount of time they spend at school is enough for them to learn and revise

there is only one teacher and tons of kids

there is only so much they can do
why would you not want to help with their education

the article say ' some kids dont wrok well on their own' why would primary kids be working on their own anyway?

loler · 27/09/2010 18:20

I don't think homework as such is wrong, I think the sitting down at a table quietly type for a 7 yr old is.

We do lots of educational type things, nature hunts, reading the football results, top trumps, sorting change in shops, playing adding the numberplates on car journeys. We went to a castle and pretended to be tudors for dds tudor topic (for her that was more exciting than producing a poster that, to quote the link, "The thing I detest the most is long-term projects," says Hattie. In many cases, "all you're measuring is the parent's skills").

I guess that all homework is really about the parents skills and I'm just not that skilled at getting mine to write paragraphs on a reading book and yes, that's probably because I just don't think it's that important.

What I do get from this thread is that, like religion and politics and if dc should be invited to weddings, it's something that people have an opinion on and no matter what's said that opinion won't change.

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 19:07

Well, if they aint working on their own, they aint developing those vital (at five??) skills of 'time management and responsibility' are they? And frankly, I don't think little children need to learn these things. There are infinitely more important things to learn that they learn through play and daydreaming and skipping and putting raisins in the cake mixture. There are NO STUDIES that show homework is beneficial in academic terms or that it helps with any other qualities. So why would I enforce something that makes and has made my young children utterly miserable when it is shown over and over again to have no good effect? What kind of parent would that make me? My son likes to sit in bed with his calculator and do sums, or read books. My daughters at that age liked to draw, write pretend stories or make things, learn to skip, and generally muck about. I'm certainly not going to demand they do less of that stuff in order to do stupid projects. As for school time being a 'short period', I think seven hours is actually a pretty long working day for a small child, and in my day (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we learned to read, do tables etc etc without having to take work home and miss Jackanory to do it.

TrinityRhino · 27/09/2010 19:21

i'm off, enjoy

lostinafrica · 27/09/2010 19:24

So...

Homework is probably not all good or all bad, per se - some homework is useful and the rest is badly thought out or doesn't fit with the child in question.

loler, I like your approach: you don't like the history homework, so you do something better. Shame the hw still has to be done, but that's life.

MollieO, don't know how old your son is, but have you tried ways to make learning spellings a bit different? Take away the paper and pencil - spread lentils or salt on a tray and write in it with your (his) finger. Or fridge magnet letters. Or stick on the bath letters. Or alphabet soup! (Maybe not...) Get him to fill in a missing letter. Or say/shout if your spelling is right or wrong. Or put a huge piece of paper on the wall and do it there in big felt tips. Feels less like school, then. Just an idea.

CCF, think I'd encroach on that fun time to get them to help around the house, so don't mind extending the same principle to homework, in moderation.

SleepWhenImDead · 27/09/2010 19:33

YANBU - I used to teach Y3 and Y4 and didn't give out homework much, children need to run about and have some fun! Reading is obviously important but not homework on top of that.

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 19:34

But why do that where serious studies have shown there is no benefit to it? I'm not going to do something simply to make my children unhappy. If I was going to do that, I'd shut them in the cellar and watch the afternoon movie in peace during the holidays (teaches them independence & resilience) At least making them lay the table ensures the table gets laid.

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 19:35

that was not to Sleep btw - with whom I heartily agree. Mind you, I wouldn't even enforce reading with a five year old. Too young.

cordelia28 · 27/09/2010 19:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

loler · 27/09/2010 19:55

If some parents want it and other don't, could it be made optional?

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 22:18

Well, it is optional isn't it, really? I mean, what are they going to do? Put us in prison? I don't do it, and have never had any comeback whatsoever. Might be different in a private school, I guess. If the school started any kind of punishment regime, I would obviously be less than pleased and put a stop to that, but it's never been necessary. I think the teachers are relieved, frankly. One less pointless chore to do for them as well.

piscesmoon · 27/09/2010 22:22

'what did they say to your point pisces? I think its valid.

They actually stopped that type of homework!
I think that it must have been utterly demoralising to be a DC without parental support and see some of the results. I didn't do any work for my DCs but I did support-a lot. For example when my DS wanted to do Nelson we went to Portsmouth in half term and bought postcards, took photos etc-not all parents can do that.
They went on to better things e.g. I quite liked one to produce a minature garden and all DCs could have a go, given a container.They could have fun doing it.
As a teacher I try to make it a bit different and fun-the last thing they want is a worksheet for the sake of it.
I agree with Cordelia-schools give homework because many parents want it-I hope that Kirsty Allsopp makes them think-why?

ColdComfortFarm · 27/09/2010 22:25

Homework is horribly unfair to children who don't have pushy/middleclass/involved parents. They simply cannot compete. i think we all know how much parental 'help' is involved in craft projects, for example.

piscesmoon · 27/09/2010 22:29

Some DCs probably never touch it CCF!