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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think primary children get too much homework?

18 replies

littlemisssunny · 23/01/2013 19:48

I have children in reception and year 2, and I don't mind doing some work with them at home, I know it's not just the teachers job to help them.

But after school my boys are tired and don't want to be doing lots of homework. My reception child has reading and gets some homework on a weekend which is optional but we do it. My year 2 son gets spellings, maths and reading.

I know it's not a huge amount but in primary school I hardly had anything.

I just feel they spend all day learning the last thing they want when they get home is more work!

OP posts:
Iaintdunnuffink · 23/01/2013 19:50

Literacy
Maths
Daily reading
Spellings
Times tables
A second lot of spellings
Talk home work, they're supposed to discus a topic with parents to write about at school

I can't keep up.

flubba · 23/01/2013 19:52

My DD's school doesn't set homework (she's in Y1). I wholeheartedly agree with it (and am a secondary school teacher).

Your poor boys :(

theotherboleyngirl · 23/01/2013 19:54

I agree, I really disagree with it - the interested parents will be doing stuff to help their kids anyway, the disinterested ones will remain so. DS is in Yr 2 and gets spellings, reading, maths, times tables - probably in total takes nearly 2 hours a week - mad. And it's not enough that he always has his nose stuck in a book anyway - he has to read the (easier) scheme books and be signed off by me. It's also not enough that he can look at the spellings list and get them right in a test and write his sentences. No, he physically has to write them out at least 4 times in his spellings book. Complete waste of time.

ReallyTired · 23/01/2013 19:55

My son had far more home work in infants than juniors. Its laughable. My son in year 6 gets about 20 minutes of home work a week if that, but he had home work every night in reception. (Which we blew off after a week!)

Homework like learning spellings or reading require one to one attention which a teacher simply cannot give a class of 30.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 23/01/2013 20:04

Mine get reading, spellings and times tables, which is fine. But they also get open-ended topic questions which are so lazily marked that I don't see the point. DD1 is very bright but she can be very slapdash and sloppy - does the bare minimum, doesnt really think about the question, lots of crossings out etc. She is NEVER marked down for it, just gets a tick, and it's reinforcing the attitude that she doesn't need to bother. They're actually interesting questions and could be quite challenging, but if the teachers can't be arsed to mark it properly, what's the point of setting it?

Chewbecca · 23/01/2013 20:12

I think my DS (yr 4) gets too much. It's supposed to be about 45mins per night, plus reading, spellings, instrument practice. Sometimes it is less but sometimes more, up to 1.5 hours.

It's especially annoying when he does after school activities and gets home after 5, that's the whole evening pretty much gone. I feel sorry for him.

Thing is though, I chose this school because it gets great results in terms of SATs results and grammar school entry success. At the time, I didn't think much about how they achieve that, kind of assumed it was fab teachers. Now I realise one reason is because they work the children so hard!

So i'm torn between not wanting homework and wanting the good results.

Kafri · 23/01/2013 22:04

I agree. DS is only 5 weeks old but given that I work in a school, education is important to me so once he gets to school age I want him I enjoy school, work hard (time will tell) but then come home and spend time with me or DH. I would like to spend this time productively but not neccessarily on school work. I can see the point in sending a bit home as he gets further up primary, to prepare for secondary but not at the younger end.
I already have story time with my 5ween old and have loads planned to do with him as he gets older and this will continue a he ets to school age.

As someone said above - you're either interested on spending time with your kids (in which case you already do it) or your not. Homework is not going to get a disinterested parent to be interested!

sandylion · 23/01/2013 22:05

YANBU it's pointless. Reading and spelling is all they need to do.

sandylion · 23/01/2013 22:06

YANBU it's pointless. Reading and spelling is all they need to do.

deleted203 · 23/01/2013 22:10

YADNBU. I loathe homework in any shape of form, but particularly at primary school. I think it completely unnecessary for primary aged children. I'm mid 40s and managed to get a 1st class Honours degree without ever doing bloody HW at primary school. It was never, ever set when I was that age. As a secondary teacher I find it pretty unnecessary as well TBH. It's usually a PITA having to chase it up and finding it's either not been done or it's been done with very limited effort.

Original poster
littlemisssunny · 23/01/2013 22:12

I'm lucky aswell in that I don't work during the week so have time after school, but working parents don't have that time, and I guess don't want to get home and have to do homework.

My son in year 2 finds school hard and I want to help him learn but he is exhausted from concentrating in school all day, he doesn't want to concentrate when he gets home.

OP posts:
bluepapertest · 23/01/2013 22:37

DS is at secondary now but I was quite fortunate with his primary school as they had a policy of not setting regular homework. He had occasional tasks set, but it wasn't strict or taxing. The school's reasoning was that it was in a difficult area, with many parents dealing with English as a Second Language, a high proportion of dc with SN and with poor adult literacy levels and high pressures on the local families, so whenever they set homework it was often not completed anyway.

It was good for DS, as he had a lot of after-school activities we could focus on and I think it benefited him more to do that than more academic work. I would always see the kids from the more academic Outstanding primary (with top SATs results) having to do their homework whilst waiting for their swimming/football class to start and I'd feel sorry for them - and their parents too! I think if you send your dc to a more exam/SATs focused school then it's inevitable that they're going to be dragged down with more written h/w though.

SuzysZoo · 23/01/2013 22:39

I had no homework at all in my primary school and still managed a good crop of O and A levels and got into Oxbridge. I hate hate hate the fact that they get homework in primary. Should be banned IMO.

whois · 23/01/2013 23:27

Homework (not including reading and spelling practice) for primary school children isn't really appropriate as a regular thing.

I still remember crying over "write 10 sentences about 20 famous Ancient Greeks" homework in y5. Given to us on Tuesday, to be handed in on a Wednesday. I had drama class that finished at 8pm on a Tuesday night. Mum helped me do about 4 famous Greeks before sitting up on her own to do a few more. Mum called it a day after ten Ancient Greeks (pre Internet days!). I got in loads of trouble, my primary school was not a nice one.

deleted203 · 24/01/2013 00:30

whois that sounds awful! Still remember DD1 being given HW that read, 'Write 10 facts about Edinburgh'. Nae bother. DH is from Fife so I said, 'Dad'll help with it' and 10 mins later she was raging and he was laughing his head off. His 'facts' which he insisted on spelling for her were (as an example):-

1 Edinburgh Castle's a braw wee place but there's nae a cludgie tae be seen (a cludgie is a toilet).

2 There's twa' fitba' teams in Edinburgh - but nane the twa' of thems ony bluidy guid.

3 Ye'd hae a guid day oot in Auld Reekie, but ye'd be awfu' fauchelt if ye daundered roond the lot o' it.

She was NOT amused!

Hollygolightley · 24/01/2013 07:52

Yes agree far too much!! I have 2 kids by the time I get home from work it's 6 and nobody is interested in doing anything and grandma doesn't do it with them. Also they go to brownies rainbows dancing etc so it's hard to fit it all in. I never did homework at primary school. It's just so the schools can meet the targets I think there's not enough time to do it all in the school day so they ask the parents to do some too. I complained but was told that its not compulsory I was mainly complaining about the lack of warning we get to do things sometimes . My kids are a state school b ut I have a friend who goes private and they get a compulsory 30 mins each night ! For those parents that work and don't have time in the evening they have to ensure they do it next morning! No wonder they all get top marks in the 11 plus and get straight into grammar school!

Crazyx4 · 24/01/2013 10:22

I think our school has it about right. They hand out maths & literacy homework every Wednesday, to be completed by the following Monday. Only half an hour for each. It means we can fit it in with after school activities and inevitably it gets done at the weekend. They are learning the concept of homework in preparation for secondary, but it is not too high pressured. I just wish we didn't leave it til Sunday night though, we must get more organised!

foreversunny · 24/01/2013 10:51

DD (Year 2) has too much IMO.

A book to read, spellings to learn for a test, hand writing and mathematics/times table to learn. All this comes weekly.

It's a lot and I do struggle to fit it all in with her.

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