Fucking Primary School homework.

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Ds2 is 8, yr 3. His teacher is new this term, I’m not sure if he’s an nqt or just new to the school but he’s a keen bean.

DS is expected to do homework every evening. He needs to read for twenty minutes to an adult, do his fifteen spelling words and do twenty minutes of maths. So an hour an evening. There are also two spelling projects to complete every week, ie write them with your left hand, recite them on a tape recorder (?!), write them in squiggly letters.

I think it’s complete overkill. Not to mention we just don’t have the time. We both work FT so he’s in wraparound care most days, he also does Beavers and swimming, I have one child in college and one doing GCSEs so they also need support and it’s just all too much. I don’t want to spend what precious little downtime we all have doing (IMO) unnecessary homework. We do read together and do his spellings and maths but not every single night.

I’ve been collared this morning again to query why he hasn’t had his various diaries filled in every day to show he’s done it. I said well he hasn’t done it all. We are busy. It’s too much. The response was that I really need to make time to do it as otherwise he’ll be behind.

I kind of think if he needs that much extra work outside of school then something is going very wrong with the teaching...although I haven’t said that to the teacher.

WIBU to escalate this? I know I’m not the only parent feeling this way. Is it worth taking a stand?

I should add that DS loses playtime if we haven’t filled in his diary so obvs there’s a lot of pressure and guilt on us as parents and we do honestly try to fit it in but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

I get where you’re coming from but I don’t think reading or spellings are excessive. 20 minutes of Maths nightly is a bit much. I think the 8 year old should be the priority over the college age or GCSE level children.

Can he do any of it at the wraparound care?

Even if it's school policy, it's not set in stone, it can be changed!

You can still raise the issue - ask parents first if you want, or write a letter to the head quoting the website and complaining and explaining why it's not practical and it's negative for the kids - and then forward same letter on your year group page or something.

I would strongly complain if my kids were punished because of daily homework, we all have life and sometimes a competition or even a party or training session is more important and homework can be done at a later day.

I do think that 15 spelling words A DAY is excessive at that age.

I bet most won't remember the spelling of the first week by Christmas because they won't have time to go back to them.

This is an interesting article. matr.org/blog/homework-debate-disadvantages-benefits/

It’s a lot by British primary school standards, but frankly you ought to be grateful and get on with it.

OP, try managing it.
The reading CA be done in bed, good habit to develop.
Your husband does the maths.
The spellings your child needs to learn and come to you when they think they know them.
All my children completed their piano exams successfully and did max 10 minutes a day, 6 out of 7 days a week, except in the couple of weeks coming up to exams. A little every day is enough.

Sign all his copies that you have attempted the work and done as much as you can.

Speak to the teacher and follow up with a polite letter stating that you feel the homework is too much some nights and you will be doing as much as you can.

End of.
Perhaps tell other parents what you are doing and they may do the same.

My childrens schools gave them lots (couple of hours) of homework in the latter years of primary.

They were hugely prepared for secondary school as a result.

PS. Can no-one else walk the dog?

That's similar to my DS & DD's work load for Grades 2 & 1 (but we aren't in the UK). It is way too much. My husband recently got a job but we've decided he has to drop it because with both of us working full time, we were too exhausted to properly help the kids with their homework.

UnrelentingFruitScoffer

grateful for what? care to elaborate your goady post?

P2 here (6) and it's about 1 reading book and maybe 10 spellings and 10 sentences a week, handed in on a Friday, given out on Monday or Tuesday. That's insane.

Definately too much. To the point of if theres an hour to do each night then wtf are they doing in school all day.

That's more than secondary school each evening

YANBU, but the homework policy is not under the individual teacher’s control, and if they don’t follow policy, they will be reprimanded.
You need to complain further up the food chain, to the head and governors and ask for change. There are numerous studies that show the majority of homework has no positive impact on primary children.

I honestly hate homework, my dd is 6 and gets two reading books per week, 10 spellings, religion page , social learning page, maths every night and English writing every night.
It’s to much !

Yr3 child here too, youngest in his year. He has a reading book every day, easily completes this in half an hour. Library book every week. Does this when he goes to bed. I ask him questions about the story, if he explains well he gets some tablet time.

Maths one week, English the next and it's usually a full sheet of questions with the weekend, Mon & Tues eve to do it. He does it in about 10 minutes.

Half term/holidays he has a bigger project- usually crafty that requires a lot more help. Not a problem.

My other DS is in Nursery but once he's in Reception he'll have phonics and reading and number work to do at home and I can already tell he's going to need a lot of help, he's no where near as advanced as his brother. As a single parent I'm going to struggle to cope with that, plus swimming and gymnastics, and my training course and my own homework!

Basically eldest will be sent to his desk to do his homework, any questions he can come and ask, and I'll try and give him a different approach so it makes sense. If he doesn't do it, he gets punished in school, they have a punishment system where each childs name goes on a list and they miss out on "golden time" on a Friday afternoon.(fun activity) It's his own small responsibility not mine which I think is good for a 7/8 year old.

That's more than my DSS is doing now, and he's doing his A Levels! Admittedly he's a lazy sod and should almost certainly be doing a lot more, but still ..

I hear your pain OP ! Sadly I think this is about average really .They often push the bright children too .Can he not read before bed ? (I used to devour EB every eve!) when a child .Also what about doing some spellings on the way to School? he reads them to you when you are going along? What about Saturday Morning doing some of the work?DS is good with Maths you say so should rattle through! It seems a lot now .,but he is at a key stage of his education ATM and this will pay off for him in the future .Also can he do some of the work while in Childcare?

Sunshine Angel My Son was doing 2/3 hours per eve with A levels!

DS is same year and he we do reading 3 times a week and homework on a Friday handing in on Tuesday.

We also do handwriting 3 times a week, but that is because he is behind on handwriting

my son is in Y4 and hasn't got as much homework. Talk to the head. It is totally unreasonable of the teacher.

He’s 8. If he’s a fluent reader he doesn’t need to read to you. He could read it in wraparound care and you ask him some questions on the way home. So that’s 20 mins gone.
Come home and do 20 mins of maths. Have dinner. Do 20 mins of spellings. I think the spellings are ridiculous but if it was do 20 minutes of reading and 20 mins of ‘something else’ would it be that ridiculous? Or he does the 20 mins of reading in bed and you ask a few questions in the morning.
So maths in wraparound care. Come home, have dinner. 20 mins of spellings. Have a bath, read for 20 mins and sleep.

It’s also not really the school’s problem that there are so many other limitations and priorities for you. Wraparound care, Beavers, piano etc., are things that are necessary or important to you, of course, but the school is going to ask you to prioritise his learning. They might hear you if you said it was all to do with working patterns, but when it’s a result of other choices coming before reading, they will challenge you and rightly so, in my opinion.

Mine is in year 2 and that sounds like a big jump from what we are doing now (weekly task, weekly spellings, bit of maths practice and some recorder). The key is that none of ours is compulsory and is supposed to be enjoyed!

Our year 3s have more homework but again nothing is compulsory and there is a homework club they can join as part of the after school wraparound club. So it's a bit more realistic for working parents.

I'd request a sit down with the teacher and talk through why he feels it's necessary. If he continues to push it at such a rate a chat with the head will be needed.

Have you any idea how the other parents feel?

At the very least the spelling is totally counter productive. There's no way he can absorb that many words if he's got another 15 to do the next night. I'd have no problem ticking the diary to say we'd done it even if we hadn't. I'd possibly consider asking the school to clarify what they were trying to achieve setting that much work.
Or my usual tactic if I don't agree with school is smile, nod and ignore.

My DS is 8 and has at least an hour of homework every evening not including reading (we're in France).

I agree it is excessive but there are ways you can tweak yours.

I'd refuse to do the writing with left hand/squiggly writing --> pointless

Is the spelling 15 new words every night or every week? My DS has an average of 40 words to learn every week, but we know them in advance and can start learning them at the weekend, then just brush them up during the week (and once they're learnt, we've been told not to re-test).

Reading - this can be done in bed.

Maths - is it set maths exercises or just "learn times tables/subtractions" etc? DS has certain maths "lessons" to learn and I'll test him quickly with 5-10 examples and then let it be.

I really do sympathise though. DS has 6-8 tests a week that he needs to work at home to prepare for. We have

• reading (including looking up words in the dictionnary and writing them + definition in a vocab book) every night
• spelling and dictation test to revise for every week
• A poem to learn off by heart every 2 weeks (+ drawing and will be recited in front of the class)
• Various lessons to learn every day, to be tested on: grammar, maths, English, science, geometrie, history and music

YANBU

I have a bright 8 year old. She gets 10 spelling words a week which we check she can spell on a Monday. That is it.

Because she gets so little homework she has plenty time to choose what she wants to read, write and count - her choices are always much more entertaining and educational for both of us than endless HW. I also teach her piano myself and agree 15-20 minutes a day is ideal.

My older 2 had more regimented HW, though never as bad as what you describe. They were similarly bright and all it did was demotivate them.

In your position I would lie in the diary but explain to the teacher that you are doing so. As long as your DS is performing up to standard in the class tests they have nothing to complain of and because you are being honest they may start to see the wisdom of your approach. By ticking the paperwork box you are prevent the teacher getting caught in a battle between you and "school policy".

If your DS does start to fall behind then he may have to do the HW unfortunately.