Is something the wrong way round here...?

[TheBadgersMadeMeDoIt]

5yr old DD's school is pretty heavy on the homework. One of this term's home learning tasks is to get familiar with the concept of fractions. Over the weekend we cut shapes out of coloured paper and practiced dividing them into halves, quarters and thirds. Then we started working on "how many quarters make a half? etc... It was clear to me from her puzzled expression that there had been no introduction to fractions in class so I was trying, inexpertly, to teach her from first principles. I'm ok with that in itself, but...

Yesterday she came home from school with a bag full of pictures she'd coloured in. I asked her what else she'd done in school and she said they all went outside and practiced riding balance bikes.

Now, I know this isn't typical of every day at school, but how come I'm teaching her fractions on a Saturday (among many other home learning projects that take up a chunk of every weekend)...and then she goes to school to learn to ride a bike and do colouring in?

Is it just me?

[FrenchJunebug]

my son is in year 1 and doesn't do fractions or write poetry. Your school has no concept of age appropriate learning!

[MummyBear1536]

Is the homework based around the term's topic?
Is it actually aimed at KS1 children or is it a whole school system? Some schools do it across the school with KS1 choosing only 3 or 4 tasks (parents then choose appropriate ones).

[FrenchJunebug]

Trifleorbust good for you my dear but you do know that learning to read and write early is not a sign of intelligence or future learning? In most European countries formal schooling doesn't start until a kid is 6 or 7.

[Trifleorbust]

FrenchJunebug

Unsurprisingly, I'm not going to respond in full to your condescending comment! I'm not your 'dear'. DFO.

[MummyBear1536]

FrenchJunebug

As you can see, if your child is not learning fractions in Year 1 then it is your school that has no concept of age appropriate learning. It is in the curriculum!

[NoSquirrels]

FrenchJuneBug loads of PPs have said their Yr1 DC have done simple fractions and simple poems in school/for homework. It can of course be age appropriate - or not, depending on how the task is set!

I'll tell my YR1 DC that she can't make up a poem or divide by 2 ...

[CrazedZombie]

Write a poem for a y1 would probably be more on the lines of an acrostic poem so

Warm fires
Ice and snow
Night sky
Tree with presents
Everyone's cosy
Reindeer in the sky

Would have been the sort of thing that a y1 might have a stab at. Rhyming is way too hard!

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Well, I would never support such young children missing play for homework not done. At that age I think it is the parents' responsibility

So you are saying I should do it or sit with him which I did night after night getting him to form letters one bit at a time. (M would have 4 bits to it. A would have 3) It didn't leave him with a great learning experience.

[blackteasplease]

DD didn't have any homework in Yr R and very little in Yr 1. Only starting in proper earnest now in Yr 3. Her school is outstanding and does brilliantly (london state school so not an easy task).

I agree with learning at school and play at home broadly although there does have to be some give in this - I wouldnt like to think the whole school day was noses to the grindstone.

I prefer it when homework is worksheets or write a story or poem. The internet research stuff is annoying as it's all down to the parents really at this age.

[CrazedZombie]

Y1 fractions was never more rigorous then colouring in a shape divided into equal portions and learning that the bottom number showed how many pieces there were and top number was how many pieces to colour in.
2 quarters = 1 half is much further than you'd have to go.

[FrenchJunebug]

my son is learning half of but i would hardly call it 'fractions'! as for writing a poem. I am happy he writes his own name in a legible way. :)

[Trifleorbust]

Oliversmumsarmy

I'm not telling you what you should do. I don't know your child or his specific difficulties. I am talking generally, about students who don't struggle to that degree with the basics. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule and I would expect teachers to be reasonable when a child is distressed, but I also think it is a parent's responsibility to prioritise homework and education more broadly.

[NoSquirrels]

What on earth is half of if you wouldn't call it a fraction, Junebug?

[MummyBear1536]

FrenchJunebug

If your expectations of your Year 1 child is only that they write their name legibly, I'd be questioning your low expectations. Your poor child has no chance. Goodness me

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Isn't that the issue we have. A lot of countries don't even start school untill they are 6+ and yet end up with better levels of literacy and ultimately better qualified than uk students

[Trifleorbust]

Oliversmumsarmy

There are reasons for that that extend beyond 'start school later, do better', though, aren't there? The education systems where this works are very different to ours because the cultures are very different. You can't simply copy their system and expect the same results. For a start, my understanding is that, in Finland, the children can be relied on to do their homework and parents can be relied on to support teachers when they ask them to do homework!

[patheticpanic]

A lot of the home learning assignments have been way beyond what I would think a 5yr old can cope with. Last term she had to write a poem!

A poem is absolutely not beyond a 5 year old; they aren't looking for Milton or Wordsworth.

I saw a snake by my gate
Hurry hurry, don't be late
I saw an owl by my gate
Hurry hurry, don't be late

would be a suitable poem for a 5 year old

[elkegel]

Your poor child has no chance. Goodness me

You're talking about a 5 year old, MummyBear. Chill out.

[IDefinitelyWould]

My dd is in reception but streamed with yr1 for maths and literacy and I have had the same conversation with her school. She is exhausted at the end of the school day (the youngest in the school so not 5 for another 3 months) yet is bringing home writing and maths work. At school she plays out, gets muddy and painty and has a great time, then I'm expected to get a tired, hangry child to sit at the table and start rearranging sentences to form questions and learning times tables. We have stopped doing any work she doesn't want to do. It's not doing her any harm as she's currently performing close to the top of yr1.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

There are many studies that say starting school at 7 years old gets better academic results and more mentally stable children. I could not find one study that showed starting school at 4/5 was a good idea.

By the time children get to 7 they are tired. the parents are tired of the homework. all in all it doesn't foster a great learning experience.

For those with any form of SEN like dyslexia they don't test until they are 7. So these children are taken out of the class for 10 minutes per day so they can read to an unqualifed TA then returned to class where they sit trying to work out what has been written on the white board and what the lesson is about.

There is no safety net for those that aren't able to keep up. No wonder our literacy rates are abysmal.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

I think by the time other countries children get to school at 7 they are ready to learn and raring to go.

Not this

She is exhausted at the end of the school day (the youngest in the school so not 5 for another 3 months) yet is bringing home writing and maths work. At school she plays out, gets muddy and painty and has a great time, then I'm expected to get a tired, hangry child to sit at the table and start rearranging sentences to form questions and learning times tables.

[Pouncival]

Children often have no recollection of stuff they've spent hours on in class. I wouldn't necessarily assume she's spent her days playing on bikes - might have been the most memorable half hour all day

I agree

When my DS3 was in year 2 he said they had spent the whole week doing art - it was actually SATS tests in the morning and art in the afternoon - he had no recollection of the SATS

[elephantscansing]

Why on earth has the teacher asked you to introduce fractions to your dd as homework?? Surely the school would want to teach fractions to the whole class at the same time? Odd.

Playing and riding bikes is just what Reception dc should be practising at school IMO.

[IDefinitelyWould]

Oliversmumsarmy I completely agree. I would have loved for my dd to start at 7. She would have been much better able to cope with the physical demands of a school day. That said, she is loving it.