to think that parents who moan about their kids gettting too much homework..........

[rudolphsmum]

........to think that parents who moan about there kids getting too much homework can't then expect them to do well in exams.

If my son is finding something difficult I sit and explain it to him and if I can't I speak to his teacher. The most recent complaint I heard was that one mum spoke to the head teacher about her daughter finding homework hard but that she wasn't interested because all she is cares about is the school getting good results ....sorry I thought that was what a good head teacher was supposed to be concerned about.

There seems to be a certain group of parents that send there kids to school and expect all learning to go on between 9-3 Mon - Fri and then wonder why their children struggle and before anyone starts on about children being to tired or need to play and relax when they get home, I am not talking about hours of the stuff either - ok rant over ;)

Is learning spelling at home for a weekly test at school considered homework?

Yes.

I believe that all homework at primary level is completely pointless.

Luckily dd went to an oustanding rated primary which had a zero homework policy (until project work in Year 6) - you were expected to read at home (naturally) and there were 10 spellings a week.

It worked brilliantly - no crappy worksheets (which dd got given by the dozen in her previous crap primary) and no knackered child at the end of the day. She is 15 now and took to homework in Year 7 with real enthusiasm as she wasn't burnt out and bored by years of pointless efforts in primary.

YABU no doubt parents who feel they aren't getting enough will be doing the extra tutoring and drilling their poor offspring each night after school.... the rest of us ask 'you got homework?' and thank fuck for that if they haven't, we can do something far more interesting.

IMO homework is for the children to do, not me.

Didn't get homework until I was 11 and even then spent my time doing the bare minimum prefering to run up clothes on an old singer sewing machine for my mates.

now have successful business.

Its bollocks

I think DD's school has it about right atm , she does homework (year 1) -1 piece a week in her homework book (which seems to alternate maths or writing/english depending on what they have been learning) and 8-10 spellings per week which we practice each morning at the breakfast table which takes about 5 mins.

She's mostly happy to do it and it's part of our routine....

I don't think homework should exist- it does nothing to engender a love of independent learning in children, and seems often only to exist to reassure parents that their children are working.

Interesting article on the Finnish system here where they seem to get the best results and have very little homework.

tether.

Not sure I buy into this talk about homework at primary level leading to burnout. My dd does not get much more than Doris' in Year 2. 10-15 minutes a day?

Reading is set at the level of the child. And the child reads as much of the book they want (they bring the book back the next day to read until it is finished).

Dd could use the practice tbh. Getting good at something through practice makes it easier and makes it more rewarding to do the next time (which is a virtuous circle).

Surely you have to learn spelling by rote? Timestables? Presumably that will all be done at home at some point.

I don't see the problem with a gentle reminder everyday for children that hard work and effort is important and is the building block for achievement.

I think it encourages young children to see learning as a chore rather than a source of enjoyment, and this is a terrible, terrible thing.

What does it mean to say that learning is an enjoyment? How many of us as adults (who presumably had very little homework in our time) actually see learning as an enjoyment?

How do such people as adults behave. Have I ever met any?

Apart from academics (who I hope see learning as an enjoyment), learning is a means to an end. It is a discipline. You need to learn to do your job, to be a good parent, to drive a car, to budget for a household. It almost always starts out as a chore. Then you get good at it. Then you can really fly and might even end up enjoying it.

Learning is different from interests. Learning you have to do. Interests you can enjoy.

My youngest has homework set, yr4, its never a quick half hour and its never something that he can do on his own, there is always parent input, which i don't mind unless I'm the one that is actually doing the work for him and he's just copying, which is most of the time.

If homework is set then it should be something the child can do on their own with an occasional nudge from their parent and should be something that can be easily accomplished within the average persons home.

Agree with all the primary homework-haters - small children need a break, not just because school is tiring, but because a change of activity is actually good for them and for their learning. You need to switch off, play and potter about for stuff to sink in.

Also I have a son in P1 who struggles with reading and writing, and homework is no fun. The same things take him much longer than most of his classmates - so he's enduring struggling and feeling like a failure for ages while they zip through it. He doesn't need more homework, he needs less/none, so he can recover from school and wind down. It's not as if his home life doesn't involve learning after all - we read, talk about stuff, he plays on his computer, we cook, garden, etc.

I also had no homework until 10/11-ish, went to Oxford, got a first and do a professional job. (And went to state school too btw.)

I'm really surprised that so many parents don't want their children to do homework at Secondary school.

Nah, you're wrong specifically because you are confusing HOMEWORK with LEARNING.
Plenty of LEARNING can go on out of school - in fact it DOES but LEARNING should look and feel different out of school.
The risk with too much homework is More Of The Same Syndrome so children get bored and disenchanted with school too early.
IMO

Why does any homework automatically equate to too much or hours of homework?

Harpsi, my children can do homework AND learning by your definition fine. The 2 are not mutually exclusive.

I believe we do our children a disservice by telling them that the only things worth learning are those they enjoy.

blueshoes YOUR children may well be able to, but your experience does not necessarily reflect anything more general.
The OP said that parents who complained 'about there kids getting too much homework can't then expect them to do well in exams.'
I disagree. There IS such a thing as TOO MUCH.

I think the OP does clarify in her post that she is referring to parents who think everything can be done within the school day. Of course if you had 8 hours of homework a night it would be too much.

I agree with people who say that so much can be learnt at home without homework; that is true at primary level. But at secondary school, some learning outside of school time does have to involve sitting down with a book and learning something in the same week as the rest of your class does. A list of French verbs for example, isn't going to be learnt through general experience unless one of your parents happens to be French. Many concepts in Science are also going to require sitting down and reading a book.

Harpsi, the OP did not explain how much homework there is exactly. So we cannot evaluate whether there was indeed too much.

Of course too much of anything is wrong. But does not mean none of it is right either.

Children are capable of a lot if you set high expectations for them rather than write them off as being unable to cope with homework AND the usual chatter and gallivanting of family life, which my children miraculously do plenty of as well.

Of course too much of anything is wrong. But does not mean none of it is right either. WELLI DIDN'T SAY THAT, AND CERTAINLY DIDN'T IMPLY IT.

Children are capable of a lot if you set high expectations for them rather than write them off as being unable to cope with homework AND the usual chatter and gallivanting of family life, which my children miraculously do plenty of as well.

Agreed, but my point remains - too much homework can be damaging to family life and to attitudes to learning in primary school and if a parent challenges the idea that there might be TOO MUCH homework that doesn't mean that the child won't do well many years later in exams it's just not logical. Having high expectations of children is NOT the same as saying all children are the same, and that they can't have too much homework. There needs to be a balance

PS I am a teacher, fwiw

cat64: "dd2, despite being only 9, has the most ridiculous words to learn to spell - she had automobile as one of them this week ... She gets words she is never, ever going to use, every week - what's the point ?"

Dd 7 had 'turquoise' last week. So what if she does not remember it. She had learnt it once, the next time she comes across it, it sinks in a bit more, and so on.

You have to start somewhere. Otherwise, you just end up not knowing it ever.

Harpsi, rather than violently disagreeing (shall I use caps lock too?), we are violently agreeing then.

Am I supposed to be more impressed with your views because you are a teacher? Do you always use the same unnecessarily combative tone when you engage with your students?