AIBU to think this is a lot of homework for their age?

[jester68]

My daughter is 5 and in year 1 at school (she will be 6 in a few months).

They have started to bring home homework books every friday. Not a problem but was a bit shocked about how much they had to do this weekend. What do you all think?

1- the five senses- taste,touch,smell.see,hear. Under each they had to write 8 things associated with this.

2- a 20 question math sheet

3- learn that weeks five words. Then write out a sentence using one of the words in each sentence (so 5 sentences)

As well as all this she also had her reading book to do then a share book both of which also get changed on the monday.

AIBU to think this is a lot for her age group to do?She is my eldest so perhaps this is normal?

But stranded she did not just have the 20 maths questions to do for the Tuesday. She also had to learn her 5 words then write a sentence for each of them with that word in.
Then she also had to write 8 things under each of the five senses as well.

So she had 2 days to do 20 maths, 5 sentences, write a total of 40 words for the senses.

Then she also had reading books to do as well

She has reading to do everyday and we learn her words daily as well for her to be tested each friday.

That s too much. DS1 is 5.5 and in year1 at good village school. He has 4 spellings a week but we rarely do much about that. A reading book, but with three DSs we only manage a couple of nights a week. He gets three pieces o homework a halfterm max. and ten days to complete. Usually project based or writing about different materials in the house. No worksheets or pressure for many full sentences. Homework is differentiated too. He doesn't mind homework.

That's too much. I think a 5 year old should have no more than half an hour of homework a day. A gentle word with the teacher may be needed.

I think homework for 5yo is completely unfair. The school day is long enough for them as it is. By all means a bit of reading with parents, but why should they have to bring work home too.

I have never thought homework was a good thing. As adults we dont expect to have to bring work home with us every night, so why do we think children should spend most of their spare time studying too?

that seems a lot to me, ds in yr2 gets 10 spellings (a week) 1 maths sheet (last one 3 questions ) for the weekend and 1 reading book and we are asked to do 15mins reading a day.

Year 1 he had the same but not the maths sheet at the weekend or 15mins a day..

I did wonder if this was not enough but he seems to be learning lots at school and at this age I'd rather he played more and still enjoyed school..

the head doesn't seem to be that bothered about the early sats and the Ofsted report was good..

From a teacher's point of view homework is just a pain in the neck. If a child is struggling, that's pretty obvious from their schoolwork. You can never be sure if homework has been engineered by parents or not so it's never really clear if the children have learned anything from it. If the homework is done badly there isn't really time to go over it so the children who really need the help - the ones who struggled and didn't get help from parents - don't get it. It's one more thing to mark. I do think children should read at home (although it's difficult to monitor that effectively) and I think it's worthwhile for them to learn spellings and tables and then be tested on it at school as that is something they can't fake and it gives them experience of studying something. Plus spellings and tables can't really be learned at school and they need constant repetition to be retained. Acres of writing, loads of maths problems, huge projects are all a bit pointless for younger children IMO.

Hi

jester I was just thinking about to posting too about same subject. I am getting worried my DS (turned 6 last week) is going to get behind with all this and that to get it done I'm just pressurising him too much which will in turn put him off completly!
This is this weeks:

9 x diff clock times to write out
24 words list to understand and write out at least once (words aver 5 8 letters
2x A4 sides of what I do on a Saturday to write out, about 8 boxes on each side.
Story to compose: Beg mid end and characters/location. Fill in 6 boxes with a couple of words and then put them together to write story.
2 x reading books and 1 X sharing book

Yes I agree she is prob only expecting a few words here and there but personally I think it's far too much. I am finding it so hard to get him to concentrate and focus that I am almost telling him off for it and getting really frustrated myself which is making things worse. Yr 2 have less than Yr 1. I am not the only parent that is concerned adn some have already spoken with her and she said that's the curriculum and that there is a big gap developing in her class!! Generally I think she great but I don;t agree with this even if some are more ahead than say my DS I don't care he needs to go at his pace. it's just too young for that much. We can't physically fit it in and he doesn't really go to clubs. He had all day at school already and wants to just have some down time and play.
Sorry for rant.

I though possibly private because in my experience private s hooks oftennset a lot mo homework, and also the idea of children being kept back a year. That doesn't usually happen in state schools. Well, actually, it never happens in state schools- do you mean there is a mixed year 1 and 2 class?

Sorry, posted too soo. Because ifnyou do, then you need to keep a very careful eye onnthe level of work your dd gets- ait's easy for the work to be pitched at the older ones and the younger ones can sometime struggle.

I think that is too much.

DD is in year one of a private school which has a reputation for being a bit pushy and gets nothing like that amount. A week may look like this

Monday: Reading book
Wednesday: reading book and 12 comprehension questions to be handed in on Friday
Friday: reading book, sheet of maths or a maths game to consolidate what they've been doing during week, 15 spellings to learn for test on Tuesday which are always based around a particular phonic sound they've been doing in class

Every now and then they may have some extra bits - e.g write about what your house looks like, write about yourself but its occasional and its always stressed its not compulsory. In fact we're told that if our DCs are too tired or we are busy with family events over the weekend then its fine to do just some of it (though they do have to talk about what they did at weekend if that's the case )

Too much and not necessary.

In Y1 the only homework needed is regular reading.

Looks like it is a mixed Y1/2 class. These can work if handled properly and effectively by the school/teachers. But the children should not always be set the same work and homework. There has to be allowances for the children's maturity as well as academic ability.

DD is in a private school and got far less than that. I often thing this on homework threads, when compared to what some state schools expect their infant/junior children to be doing.

That is a very large amount. I would be complaining I think.

Either the senses or the maths. But eight things x five senses is 40 items, which is a lot at her age.

Agree sounds like alot and all condensed over the weekend.

Could you ask teacher to confirm when it is all due and clarify how long it should be taking DD.

DD yr 1 private school (not selective) gets

10 spellings to learn each day for a spelling test on Friday

Reading book changed every other day

Comprehension sheet about the reading book every other day.

Maths sheet on a Friday to hand in Monday.

1 school library book a week to read

I think it's too much at five and a half. At that age, mine just had to read daily and were set little fun things to do at the weekend more to see if they remembered I think. Things like finding three different coloured pebbles and thinking about the shapes and colours or an acorn and a conker and comparing the differences.

My ds could have coped easily with that though and needed a bit more so we signed him up for Kumon and did about 15 minutes a day, every day and I believe it paid dividends.

DD though, would not have managed with that much every week at 5.5.

My dc are 17 and 13 now. DS is uber bright which was why we moved him out of his primary at 8. DD is top average. Both were reading fluently at 6.
Personally, I think the under 7s should be learning via experience, enjoyment and developing interests.

DD1 is in year 1 and she would love to have that much homework, she left her first school half way through reception and she loved getting homework every friday. She only gets a reading book and spellings at the school she is at now. She said she keeps asking the teacher when they will get real homework I hope this continues as she gets older.

6 yo dd in y1 has at least 2 bits every night plus reading, then 3 each weekend plus reading. Mostly, she loves it - I'm the one who doesn't.

Way too much.

Don't bother doing all of it if you can't. I used to feel very oblged to make sure it was all done and then discovered before Christmas from another teacher that accross all the years, the homework response rate is approx 40%.

No not a mixed class. Difficult to explain.

Last years year ones went up to year two as usual.

3 or 4 children were kept back to stay in year 1 but to continue at year 2 standard work as they will rejoin their old classes in September. One of the reasons was they needed additional support and there is extra help available in the year 1 class. Not sure entirely all the reasons why this happened??!

At the weekends I am just going to let her do as much as she can with some gentle persuasion but not forcing her.

She is coping OK so far so perhaps she will continue to do so.

It sounds way too much. Mind you, I tend to think that most homework for primary age is unnecessray really. I say "most" not "all" because I can still see the value of taking home a book for reading practiuse and learning spellings and times tables.

When DD was in Y6 they had a very experienced teacher for Maths. He never set any homework because he said he could cover everything they needed to do in the lesson. DDs maths was OK before but through that year her confidence and understanding came on enormously and she, along with most children in her year, got Level 5s for Maths in the SATs.

My conclusion, if the teaching is sound then extra homework is awaste of time. I dodn't get any hoemwork until secondary school and it certainly did not harm my education.

Seems like a bit too much, but if she can handle it she'll be a prime candidate for the International Baccalaureate program!

Doesn't matter if she can handle it- she shouldn't.

It does sound an awful lot for Year 1. When DS moved to private for Year 3 that was the amount he would get for the weekend - but not at 5/6 years old!