To be slightly annoyed about DD2s homework...and to tell her not to do it....

[unlucky83]

First I have to say I think a bit of homework isn't a bad thing and I don't recall ever feeling like this before ...
DD2 (7) gets reading homework once a week, ideally to be returned asap but they get a week. No problem.
She gets some more home on a Tue to be returned by Fri. It is this homework I'm annoyed with.
First time wise it is a bit of a struggle - she has an after school activity on these three nights. As the weather is still nice she is also enjoying playing with her friends after school. I'm a SAHM and I'm sure it would be harder if I was WOHM.
But my biggest gripe - I strongly believe their homework should be their own work and therefore they should be able to do it with maybe a little parental guidance if they really need it.
So the homework is some maths work (they have done in school), learn some spellings (20) and a spelling activity. All fine. And something else.
This 'something else' has been to 'research' something and do xyz. The 'research' - with three days and the local library only open for one of those days -is obviously 'google'. Most people have internet access at home now but I don't think the school should expect them to. And that isn't actually 'research' in the true sense of the word - no independent thought required.

And what they are 'researching' is potentially complicated. Not this but eg How does a seed grow? Google obviously turns up things suitable for everyone from preschool to a Phd student.
I am finding that every week I am having to help her more than I think I should (and that is not laziness on my behalf - more I am doing it for her - choosing the content etc).

And from what she has said on this week's work they haven't covered it at school at all (or she was totally not paying attention and I don't think that is the case).
I have spent 30+ mins finding an appropriate diagram from hundreds, explaining it to her. It would have taken her literally hours. And then finding the answers was equally tricky - I found myself starting to tell her the answers.
So I've told her if she can't do it to leave it.
It is not my homework ...maybe I'm missing something?
Am I being unreasonable?

I am a teacher of Ks 1 children and I never give homework beyond reading . I think children of this age are in school for more than enough of the day, they do not need to do extra work at home when they should be playing, being with their families and enjoying hobbies. I would complain about it too. In fact, at my school (primary) we very rarely give homework beyond reading and spelling right up to year 6. Our children make great progress and we were recently rated outstanding.

we got fed up of the "research" type homework during the week and just wrote on it
"Internet down, library closed, will do at the weekend if needed - please advise"

Never asked us to do it at the weekend, and the frequency of that type of homework diminished rapidly.

I hate homework at primary level but Ofsted like it so it's here to stay. OP the content of your daughter's homework sounds pretty par for the course, similar to the stuff my DS gets, and I end up doing a lot of it!

However, what's different is the length of time you get to do it. We used to get a week, but there were complaints about the volume of work, so now we get 10 days, which includes 2 weekends. I'd ask for more time if I were you.

I hate setting homework but I've just read that link posted earlier (hoping for some ammunition for school!) and it's been done by that Unconditional Parenting guy, is that right? I'm not sure I can trust his opinion. :o

YANBU

I dislike research homeworks too unless they are very clearly delineated.

Try googling Woodlands Junior School. If the information you need isn't there then just don't bother.

When I was a class teacher I hated setting homework for the younger children but it was a requirement from my HT and lots of parents would come in asking for homework if there was a week without it. It seemed to be some kind of comfort blanket for lots of parents and I even had the implication from some particularly pushy ones that lack of homework in yr1 would impact on their child's overall education.

IME homework was a pointless rehashing of what the kids had already done so it wasn't too hard or you could set them work in advance of teaching the following week but that of course relied on parental support. Plus I had enough marking to do without another 30 lots of homework that I had no idea how much the child had done on their own. So YANBU OP.

ds has only just turned 3, and the nursery school have given him a homework book. sigh My other ds is now in year 2, and has been getting homework since year 1, when a new head teacher was brought in.

The spellings he got were ridiculous. Words like 'brochure' and 'surprise'. He seems to have more sensible words this term. Words like 'have and 'said'.

The homework is still ridiculous though. I did write to the ht and was invited to a meeting with her. She said that it didn't matter if the parents did the hw for their dc, but it was about the parents spending time with dc. I refuse to spend more than 10 minutes on any piece of hw, because I feel that is more than enough for very young dc.

"Well you'd better get used to it now because high school is just round the corner. "

IME secondary school homework is very different - 99% of the time it's about completing a task started in class, practicing / reinforcing skills already learnt, or taking information already learnt and presenting it in some way (the joy of powerpoint!).

If they don't have resources at home they have access to computers and printers in school at break and lunchtime with a librarian (+ older students) who will point them to appropriate sources if they do need to research and are stuck.

Panzee, this chap John Hattie on Radio 4 who's the author of a big meta-type project (can't remember what you call 'em) referred to primary education making no difference and 'do a project' type homework being the most pointless - maybe worth checking him out.

I have to say 'if I don't like the homework that has been set then we don't do it', we often get silly homework that involves researching, going to a shop ( we live in the middle of nowhere ), asking people questions, chopping up 50 bits of card and then sticking them together etc....etc....

Homework should take no longer than half an hour ( so we are told ) and should be based on what the children have done that week at school, to technically they should be able to do it on their own.

Dd2 (8) has to read every night, do spellings plus 2 pieces of work ( usually maths), we don't always do this as I feel it takes up too much time, she's tired when she gets home and wants to play outside or relax in her room.

Dd1 (10) has to write in a reading journal twice a week plus 2 pieces of homework ( usually maths and something related to spellings ), she does this by herself, finds it easy but boring.

I thought the idea of homework at primary was to involve parents? Reading every night etc has been done for ages. You can tell the difference between children who have good parental input into their child's education from those that don't.

Even if you disagree with homework for primary, surely it's not that hard to find time to assist with it if needed. Most of my friends and I work but still have time to fit in homework between school and activities. It's only going to get worse at high school.

Takver, thank you! I shall be settling in for a good read. :)

Happydaysarehere My feelings exactly but teachers are duty bound by the school's policy. Of course over the years I have put my viewpoint forward. It has never been well-received.

It's interesting that the teachers on MN are saying that their experiences are that parents are keen on homework, that's not my experience from talking to other parents. I wonder if, at many schools, a vocal minority of parents are asking for homework, or even asking for more homework! I've felt frustrated sometimes at how much homework my kids get but would never have thought to speak to the teacher about it as, tbh, I wouldn't want to seem unsupportive or critical. Now having heard what some of the teachers on this thread have said I might raise it on the next feedback questionnaire we get.

Ilovepud. You definitely have something there. It is often those parents who are willing to go straight to the HT and complain. I think most HTs are worried about not appearing to be 'productive' and homework daily removes an area of criticism in their mind. I am totally opposed to it for its sake alone and believe children need 'down time' after a day at school. Please do share your views with HT.

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if I'm repeating something already mentioned, but on google search page if you go down to the bottom and click on settings, then advanced search, you can scroll down the page that open up and select results by reading age, which will then filter out the higher level stuff for you, and hopefully come up with some age appropriate material.

Amazing - and sad - how homework policy has changed over the years.

I went to primary school in the 1960s, until age 11. NO homework ever.
School finished 3:45, so we walked home and played outside until bed-time. No overweight kid in my school.

At grammar school, homework built up to 90 mins Mon-Fri by 5th form and school finished 4pm
Parents were officially forbidden to help because:
. teachers didn't want amateurs teaching the wrong way / giving wrong facts
. it perpetuates educational disadvantages & differences between homes
. it was regarded as cheating and unacceptable.

Anecdotal I know, but lack of homework didn't stop me gaining a hard science PhD and good jobs.
I think I gained in many ways from having more time to play throughout my childhood.

Oh and parents in primary school were discouraged from teaching reading or writing. The school wanted only professional teaching.

Use kidzsearch.com for child friendly websites.

Dd1 has never had much I put from me with her homework, I never read with her ( havn't done since year 1 ), she is top of her class for reading, writing and maths and always does her homework on her own apart from the odd occasion where she hasn't understood a question ( usually because the teacher has messed it up ), she reads every night before bed and refuses most of the school books so choses her own ( this is ok with the teacher ) even though so e of them are probably not appropriate for her age, I'm lucky that I have never needed to push her to do homework or read. Her sister is the opposite, she has ASD and struggles to write due to hypermobility in her hands, school keep saying they will provide a laptop but we have been waiting over a year and still no sign of it, she's a great reader, can read very well but doesn't enjoy it so making her read a school book is very hard work, she loves maths but can not show her working out which is causing some problems ( she is quick at writing down a answer but can't tell you how she got the answer ), she hates homework and I have to spend time trying to force her to do it, if I can't get her to do it them we write a note for the teacher to explain why.

I bottled it and told her the answers in the morning . I will at first opportunity (in a week or so there is an open day) have a word with her teacher.
(I must be earmarked as a difficult parent anyway - they have a reading scheme to encourage reading of a broad range of categories at home. I really don't like it. It isn't supposed to be a competition - but tell that to the competitive parents. My Dc was upset she hadn't finish one stage - and someone in her class had done 7! (On a playdate I noticed that child also had been working on the same maths workbooks they use at school- don't know if it was before or after they did it at school )
DD2 reads at home -but for pleasure, she could have filled in some categories 10 times but others she didn't enjoy. In the end, so she could have finished one, we sat down and read things from the missing categories - she hated and I hated it - it was torture . I'm worried it discourages reading for enjoyment but had kept my opinion to myself. School wanted feedback and sent a questionnaire home - I said exactly what I thought and it wasn't in a sealed envelope or anything. DD2 read it and spouted it back to the HT in front of the class. And the HT apparently upset and embarrassed her by saying you know it isn't a competition and you shouldn't feel you have to read things you don't want to etc. I think the HT comments may well be aimed at others in the class more than DD2 but she took it really personally .)

A PP said use an encyclopedia - we actually have them - they are a bit dated and this probably wouldn't be in there - in fact you'd be lucky to get the detail they needed from just one non-specific book.....
The tip about google reading age search and kidzsearch is fantastic - I'll give them a go - maybe suggest to the teacher that they might be good pointers for parents.

Well I work in a school. Parents Do ask for homework and others obviously do not encourage their children to do it.
It bothers me that so many parents do not think homework is useful. It enables parents to see what and their children are doing, regularly. It also means that as teachers we can see which children are confident doing a task independently and which rely heavily on classroom tips and other children to help them. Often homework helps consolidate the skills they have been learning e.g grid method addition.
I also have primary aged children and enjoy short homework sessions with them to see how they are getting on.

I do sympathize with children that have less than a week in which to do homework though. Time is hard to find every evening!

pamela that only works surely if you can be sure that the child did the work themselves, i know of plenty of parents who just dictated answers to their children's homework , one even used to write it herself in an imitation handwriting to avoid the angst of getting the child to do it!

As a parent, I know that when my DC's primary sent home an anonymous questionnaire to parents about homework, almost exactly 50% of parents said there was 'too little' homework. An equally exact 50% said there was 'too much'. Less than 1% said that there was the right amount......

As a teacher, 10 days into term (the normal routine is 2 short pieces, spelling related and maths related: one set on Thurs for Tues, one on Friday for Weds).

• I had several notes demanding homework a couple of days into term.
• I have had a very lengthy meeting with a parent demanding that I set their child additional homework in 3 subjects every week, individual to their child and in addition to the class homework.
• I have also had several parents already anxious / upset at the amount of homework that their children are going to get this year.

It really is a battle that teachers / schools can't win.

You are right, some parents help. Some write that their children needed help (that helps us go through their homework with them), others obviously have had help as their work is suspiciously faultless.
Parents doing the work for their children are not helping themselves or their children.
If children need help in our school we spend time going through what they need to do before the homework deadline.
Homework is useful when children attempt it at home with encouragement (not answers from carers) and I do not see why some parents not agreeing to it means that we don't set it for all children, it isn't fair on those children that do their homework and make the extra effort. After all, we could all do without the extra marking but can see the benefits for most children.

But I definitely do not think some of you get enough time to do the homework!