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

[NoCapes]

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?

Art , you send your dd to bed really late though. Sleep is more important to children's learning than homework.
The school , sounds very results driven , rather than caring about individual children.

I don't buy the story about setting kids up for secondary school. None of my generation (I'm in my 40s) or anyone I know who is in their 30s had homework in primary school, some of us even up to year 9. (besides some reading). We learned all our times tables and spelling at school.

We seem to have managed our time well enough in secondary school and university.

This is so incredibly sad.
These airheads who don't realise most younger children love to learn and are like little sponges at primary . When you have parents who never had enthusiasm for learning themselves it's inevitable their kids won't be encouraged. It's like if your child sees you reading they want to read, if learning spellings or tables is presented as a game and encouraged, these are the kids who will excell. Still I suppose if you just want your child to get by rather than excell it's fine.

Memories of no homework thirty or forty years ago ......every child had their little spelling book and knew their tables and trotted off to the library for their topics. Every child also hD a reading book they took home. It may not have been called homework but it definitely happened.
I've seen eleven year olds struggle like mad with year 7 because they've gone from no homework to having to do it. The kids who were accustomed to the concept and saw learning as something they did at home not just at school had a far better transition.

Some kids are definitely disadvantaged by having parents with some limited views. Homework at primary shouldn't take hours , tantrums and upset but most children don't experience this. (I'm a little gobsmacked at any parent who is incapable of managing their child for ten minutes without a massive meltdown .....even with ASD we always managed it....but maybe the PP didnt mean the child was the one having the meltdown

trafal ODFOD
Thanks

ds is still asleep as he was really late to bed. I forgot how long it takes him to do everything.

And - my year 2, 6 1/2 year old sleeps 11hrs a night. Over the amount recommended for his age. 9pm-8am. Why does he need more? Hes sleeping plenty.
Regardless this thread is about homework. I stated that even with two hours outside play, homework and reading took less than 30 mins. They had finished homework before 7pm

It depends on what he is being set for homework. Spelling, tables and reading require adult support, but the English, maths and topic should be simple reinforcements of work done during the day, to be done independently, or a 'find-out'. So many children go home and create havoc because they won't do their homework, rather than can't. It shouldn't be more than twenty to thirty minutes a night.
Two reading books a week seems quite steep, but it depends on the level at which he is reading.

That sounds a lot op. Ds has just started Y1 and has 2 adult chosen books to read every week plus 1 'free choice' book and he'll be getting weekly spellings too in a few weeks' time. Tbh even at that level I'm worried about fitting it all in because dh and I both work ft and I'm expecting a baby in November. I do feel that so much homework is a huge disadvantage to children of working parents. I believe reading is very important and we always do our best to get it done, but ds is not yet fluent so it's like pulling teeth. By the end of the day he's shattered and does anything he can to avoid doing it, he really struggles to focus. Even getting 5 pages read every evening is taking 30 minutes or so - and that's for a child who is progressing well and is currently considered average. He's not struggling. But I want him to enjoy reading, and this forced focus seems counter productive at the tender age of 5!

I didn't have homework until senior school, yet managed to be a high achiever like many of my friends (inner city comp kids too). My parents were very much engaged in our learning and we went on lots of days out together to museums etc. But I don't recall them standing over us while we did homework during our primary school years! It's too much these days, especially when children want to go to after school clubs too to do sports or cooking or dancing or swimming or whatever - which are also important.

That sounds like a lot until you look at it and actually should come out to less than 10mins a day.
My DS (now yr 3) had something similar last year and it worked out fine. Still waiting to see exactly what he's having this year.
He's had a list of spellings for next week, 2 books (wrong level but will sort that out) tables and not sure what he's having for the weekend but it was all done in minutes...
We practice the spellings on the way to school every day so that by the test he can spell them all easily... we do the same with tables...

We got a similar list

20 min reading per day (must be listened to by an adult even on free readers)
One piece of maths topic work
12 calculations/sums
One piece of English work
Ten spellings for weekly test

Also requests times tables are frequently practised as will be tested at school

It's the 20 min of reading a day that I think is excessive
That's over two hours a week!

I too think that's too much. My doc normally get a reading book, one literacy related and one maths related piece.

DC not doc ffs!

Trafal - I think you make some very valid points, albeit in an antagonistic way.

My 14 yr old was at the same prep school as my younger DC and is now at boarding school in Year 10 and she gets two hours a night. She's organised, thorough and stays on top of her work.

Her best friend attended an overseas school where they had virtually no homework and she really, really struggles. Doesn't focus early on in the evening and stays up till well after midnight completing work that is often a few days late.

I know which approach I prefer.

I ignore reading books other than asking ds about the contents so I know he has read them. He invariably has read them by the time he's home. He reads loads but has got bored reading out loud to me - he will read books of his choice aloud sometimes.
I practice mental maths with him and talk about spellings, but he's a very good speller so once reminded how to spell a word, knows it.

In Y2 homework became more expected than a nice-to-do - we would do lots of discussion of the topic but getting ds to actually produce anything was much harder, so we talked about whether he wanted to do something to be proud of or a half-arsed job to meet minimum requirements - and usually scribbles a picture and a few words at the last minute. Teacher is content because all the assignments are "choose how to present your work" and he will talk happily about whatever it is.

If the homework were more structured - write 100 words about X, or do these 5 maths problems, then he'd probably do it no problem, but otherwise I'm not taking on the job of that.

And yes I agree with above re getting into good habits. My parents never encouraged homework at primary or secondary. We all struggled at GCSEs with timekeeping meaning I would leave it until the last week then spend a week doing coursework until 2am

We never had anything other than reading, spellings and times tables in primary. I really don't agree with it tbh.

My twins started y3 yesterday I hope we don't get a similar list. They've only just moved into mainstream school so will be behind other children their age - first go on a reading book with one of them was hellish yesterday.

My boys school stopped homework last year, they now stay an extra 15 minutes everyday and call it 'practice time' . It wonderful. he still has reading and spellings to do at home but no more arguments . I love his school !

Year 3 teacher here. It sounds similar to the policy at my school but homework should never be a battle to be had at home.
The school should have said a time limit (eg. 30 mins on homework, 20 mins a night reading, etc.) Once your DC has done that, write on the sheet 'DC completed this much independently/with support in 30 mins'. Do spellings and tables every day (but only for a few minutes!) Tables are vital, spelling practice not so much...

It sounds like the standard amount of homework to me.
DS1(yr5) & DS2(yr4) both have had a similar amount from being in yr3 but tbh the teacher leaves them the responsibility of bringing their reading book home, also the same with spellings. They don't need to read the full book just a few pages but if they haven't bothered for 2days then they have to move their name. Mine rarely bring their books home they always seem to "forget". The maths and English is usually something they have been working on that week in class. Unsurprisingly they never "forget" to bring maths and English home or else they miss golden time on Fridays.

I don't know if this cheque has been cancelled yet? There is no proof homework has any real benefits at primary age but it does correlate with negative attitudes to school. www.salon.com/2016/03/05/homework_is_wrecking_our_kids_the_research_is_clear_lets_ban_elementary_homework/

Blake - surely it's only negative attitudes to school if parents portray it as such?

Most primary schools have a max time policy also. They say only do maximum 20 mins per night, then parent write where they got to, and if they struggled. Then tracer can focus on that part more in class. So some children might do 20 maths sums in 20mins, others only 3. But as long as they were concentrating and working hard on those three sums it's fine. So no need to have those struggling working 2+ hrs every night

Depends how long the maths/English homework takes.
Basically every night it's reading, plus 5minutes tables, plus 5 minutes spelling practice.

DC had the same sort of thing in Y3, but the maths/English homework only took about 15 minutes each. So, not including reading you're talking about 15 minutes an evening. Hardly loads!

Lolling at the posters saying 'leave it to the pros' coupled with the actual research that shows that homework is detrimental to kids long term learning. Nice one scientific method....undermining the national curriculum again!

What homework is, is the easiest way to take the fun out of learning.

Pretty sure I have done virtually no homework at any point in my academic career.

I do remember having to write some sort of letter for a french class once...but soon realised the teacher didn't care if you handed it in or not...oh and I did pull an all night to complete some geography coursework once.

when you get to Uni you have to work out how to study without someone telling you exactly what homework to in a pattern of following and developing your own academic interests...so lets prepare our kids for learning by leaving them to enjoy life and engage in the learning that interests them!

Couldn't agree more. Our headmaster is against homework throughout the school and kids at the top of the school are pulling in 43 IB points and straight A*s at A level.

Doesn't sound too much to me but it depends on when a child gets home. Fine if they go home straight after school but if they are in childcare and then have a commute home the evening is short enough.