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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is a little bit too much for Year 3 children?

167 replies

NoCapes · 07/09/2016 20:06

DS1 has just started Year 3, today he came home with a newsletter type thing telling us what will be happening each week, when he'll need pe kits, when his homework is due etc
I'm a bit surprised by how much work he'll have to do at home

Each week he'll have -
Homework consisting of 1 thing topic related, 1 piece of maths, 1 piece of English
2 reading books
A list of 15 spellings to learn for a test each Friday
&
He'll have a times table test each Friday so we've been asked to practice times tables too

This feels like a lot to me for 7 year olds and is quite a big jump up from what he was expected to do last year

AIBU to think this is just too much?

OP posts:
MirrorMirrorOnTheFloor · 07/09/2016 20:53

Oh, and I ignore the school reading as she's a fast reader and whizzes through whatever the school book is at school.

0pti0na1 · 07/09/2016 20:55

It looks OK to me TBH, assuming that each task isn't too long. Perhaps they just have to get as far as they can, in which case I'd ask the teacher how much time they should spend on each item. Then stick to it and don't over-run trying to do the impossible.

Wavingnotdrown1ng · 07/09/2016 20:57

This is exactly the same as my daughter had in Years 3 and 4. I'm an English teacher too and I would say this is the right age to do lots of short bursts of spelling, grammar and tables practice. A 10-15m blast every day makes a huge difference. It is so much easier for children in secondary if they have secured these basics at this age- it's very hard to break bad habits such as misspelled homophones etc if they haven't secured them aged 7-9.

Selfimproved · 07/09/2016 21:02

Mine had that in form 2 AND a reading book every night. As long as you set aside time to do it, it's fine. We did 'No homework thursdays' as he had a longish activity that night. It motivated him to try really hard on the other nights.
This year will be the same no doubt.
Honestly only takes 30 -45 mins or so per night (and that's including the 34 page reading book)

JammyGeorge · 07/09/2016 21:03

Sounds about standard for our school.

I hate homework, DS1 struggles with schoolwork and is below his levels in some key areas, although he's trying hard and has support in place. By sending masses of homework home it brings his struggles & stress home as well.

They say it should only take 10 mins etc well it might if you've got a child that's exceeding and sits down happily to do it - that's great -but for poor DS1 it's never 10 mins and it's never done happily.

Johnny5isAlive · 07/09/2016 21:05

We've also had that from year 1

herethereandeverywhere · 07/09/2016 21:06

DD had almost the same last year in year 1 (but no times tables and 20 spellings)

TBH I think maths is neglected for primary school homework so I'd welcome the times tables work. Help him with strategies to remember, to work them out. Agreeing that he struggles is setting him up to fail.

DianaMitford · 07/09/2016 21:09

That's hardly anything. Ours are given two separate pieces of prep each night from Year 3 upwards. Prep starts at 4:30pm and finishes at 5:45pm. It isn't compulsory for Yr 3s but they still take the prep home.

UnderTheGreenwoodTree · 07/09/2016 21:13

I would be dancing on the streets of London if primary children no longer received homework - it's annoying and eats into family time. 6 hours of schooling in a day is quite adequate imo.

However, that is pretty much identical to what my yr3 dd daughter got last year, so can't be that unusual. YANBU though.

atticusclaw2 · 07/09/2016 21:13

Mine had about that in Year 3. Not two reading books but they were onto long chapter books by then and had to read 10 a term from a list.

maths - page from text book plus an online maths topic and 1000 points on mathletics
english comprehension homework
either science or history or geography homework
spellings
times tables

basically one thing each night plus reading every night

chickensandbees · 07/09/2016 21:17

Sounds about right to me. We had that in year 2 apart from the project. We read and fid spellings every day and did homework after school on Friday whilst watching her sisters gym class for an hour. Get it done straight away so it's not left till Monday morning.

strawberrybootlace · 07/09/2016 21:21

What you describe sounds like an awful lot for some kids. One of mine would have struggled to complete it. Agree with pps that exercise and free play are just as important as schoolwork at that age.

I have never had dc at school in the UK. What would happen if you just said 'This is amount is unmanageable for my child and our family. I'll ensure he does x (e.g. reading, tables and spellings) but won't make him do y (e.g. the other homework)'. What would the consequences be? Genuinely interested as this comes up a lot on MN.

In the country where our dc went to school - much shorter school day - we were told to make sure they spent max 30 mins a day on homework age 7. Then just to stop, sign to say they did 30 mins and send them out to play if still unfinished.

notcoolintheslightest · 07/09/2016 21:23

My son has just started p4 (Scotland) and since p2 the school decided to no longer hand out homework. In p3 he used to get an A4 sheet, each term showing what topics they would be covering, a list of spelling words they hoped all kids could spell by the end of the year. And some maths games we could try at home. They also said to encourage reading at home of any sort.

As much as I love the no homework idea, I do feel he is missing out on practicing compared to other schools in the area.

KittyandTeal · 07/09/2016 21:25

As a teacher is say homework has very limited value. Especially if that child has parents who do other enriching activities with them (I don't mean multiple visits to museums twenty or anything just chatting and talking about the world, going on walks, encouraging a love of discovery etc)

I think reading and times tables are the only things really that are worth doing regularly. Unfortunately times tables just have to be learnt through practice.

However, with my teachers hat on, I'm also very unsurprised at the amount he's been set. Unfortunately we have come to a point in our education system where the government and lots of parents think that if a child is not 'working' or 'learning' every min of the day then they are failing and will fall behind.

I argue there is a good place for head space and a chance for kids to mentally breath. Not many in the ed dept will agree with me though!

Original poster
NoCapes · 07/09/2016 21:27

strawberry I'm not sure tbh, I really struggled to get him to do homework last year and he ended up being put in homework club at school - the teacher just kind of signed him up for it and told me the day so I don't think just not doing it is really an option

I think I'll take the suggestion of a few PP's and ask for a recommended time to spend on it and just not do any longer

Any suggestions how to make spellings feel less like just sitting and memorising spellings though, I can't think of a way to make it casual and fun?

OP posts:
ReallyExhaustedLlama · 07/09/2016 21:29

Last year when in Y3 my DD had a piece of either maths or English to do alternating weeks, weekly spellings (writing them out x3 and in sentences) and regular reading encouraged. The occasional
Project piece they usually had over a few weeks including a half term jol. So yours does look quite a lot in comparison.

I'm also not a fan of formal homework too young - I read up on it a bit and research seemed to find the younger the children the less useful it is. I can see learning timetables is useful but I find things like a random but of tricky maths out of context can just knock their confidence. Particularly when you can't necessarily help as they do work things out differently now - leads to frustration all round!

MissClarke86 · 07/09/2016 21:30

Just don't do it if you don't think it's beneficial.

Legally we as teachers have to set homework - legally, you don't have to complete it. Nothing will happen. Children who bring homework back are generally rewarded for their efforts though so they may miss out on this.

My advice would be to do the spellings, reading and times tables at the very least though as it really will help.

Original poster
NoCapes · 07/09/2016 21:31

Kitty I agree, I think it's sad that kids have to be seen to be doing and to be learning constantly
Tbh I think playing out with his friends and learning social skills, independence, responsibility, awareness and road safety are much more important at this age
So he's spent most of the night running through the house and garden and through other houses and gardens on the street playing with various children who kept popping up in my kitchen
I'd much prefer he do that than sit at the table trying to spell 'accidentally'

OP posts:
Artandco · 07/09/2016 21:33

Strawberry - ours are at private school in uk, if they don't complete all the homework each night without a valid reason they can literally just say you have no space at that school from the next term. So a child who repeatedly didn't do homework between now and Christmas, wouldn't have a school place there in January.

whywonthedgehogssharethehedge · 07/09/2016 21:36

That's exactly what ours get from reception but it isn't as much as it sounds.

In reception the English and maths tasks took literally 15 minutes for both max. The books took probably 5 mins each and the spellings he had already learnt I class for the most part. It would be around 45 mins or so in total.

As they progress the work increases but even in year 6 it was max 2-3 hours of work depending on reading level and it's per week not per day.

High school expect 45 mins per day from year 7 so I think if they had done nothing in primary they would really struggle. The adjustment is hard enough as it is

Artandco · 07/09/2016 21:37

You can play and then work though. My sons managed to finish school today, walk to park, get ice cream, play on zip wire and in woods with friends 2 hrs. Home around 6pm. Between 6-7pm Dh and I prepped dinner whilst they both did maths homework, and listened to them read 10 mins each out loud. Both children took school book to bed and read another 15 mins alone also before sleep. They have exercised, played with friends, and had fun. And still managed to easily fit in the compulsory 15 mins maths and 10 mins reading ( plus extra)

arethereanyleftatall · 07/09/2016 21:43

I agree artandco, I've never really understood why people talk about hw vs play as if they're mutually exclusive. There's about 5 hours between finish school and bedtime for a y3, 30 min hw/reading still leaves over 4 hours play/eat/exercise. Not that we do any hw at my house, but it is doable!

TealGiraffe · 07/09/2016 21:47

Sounds like what the kids in my school get. It sounds like a lot but in reality it's one numeracy sheet (about 8 questions) one literacy sheet (again about 6-8 questions), 10 spellings a week, 2 books a week (but they are very short) and times table practice can be 5 mins a day.

Some kids do their homework at after school club and it takes about 10 mins to do both sheets. So they realistically in a week do

10mins a week worksheets
5mins a day times tables
10mins a day reading
5mins a day spellings

I dont think 20mins a day then 10mins on a weekend is too much.

Original poster
NoCapes · 07/09/2016 21:52

No I know he can play and work
I just think he's worked all day at school, I don't want to pin him down for hours to work again at night
(He's not a 10 minute kind of child)
He wants to be free and shake off the stress of the day, and yes school and all the routine and micromanaging does stress him out

OP posts:
nennyrainbow · 07/09/2016 21:56

Sounds similar to our school in yrs 3 &4 but we don't have the topic-related homework so one less. We have the weekly spellings and times tables tests too. I find it about right. I think it's good to gradually build up or else it'll be a shock when they go to secondary and get an hour or so every day.