Fucking Primary School homework.

[YippeeKayakOtherBuckets]

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.

The best way to kill DCs enthusiasm for learning, is to force it upon them and hold them accountable by loss of privileges when they fail to achieve. Homework is not compulsory; it is very beneficial when the recipient desires to participate. Homework should only be encouraged by the school, the homelife of modern families is NOT conducive to a set programme, given separated parents, after school activities, and parents with unsociable working hours. YADNBU

the homelife of modern families is NOT conducive to a set programme, given separated parents, after school activities, and parents with unsociable working hours. YADNBU

And I would be totally on board with this, if people were willing to accept that it will hit standards. But they don’t. They pretend that reading and spelling can give way to football and after school club, without a resulting impact on their child’s education.

I think I might know which school you are referring to!

Our school is consulting on dropping homework (apart from nightly reading) entirely, as all evidence shows it is of no benefit at primary level.

There is either something seriously wrong with the teaching to make that necessary, or the school is wrong-headedly pursuing top SATS and progress results. In either case it’s no good for the kids and families...

We have the same homework regime as OP (8yo, Yr 3) but on the other side of the world. We also have tennis and music lessons on 2 nights and music practice at home 3 nights. Plus a term-long homework project that needs about 45 mins a week of dedicated parent help (teacher expects weekly updates on progress). I work p/t and it was crippling me.

I can’t imagine how I could make it all happen coming home at/after 6pm from f/t work. I feel for you.

I have finally sat down this term and replanned the homework schedule to suit us. I’ve told the teacher via email that we promise to achieve the same amount and mix of work, but we’ll consolidate some aspects. We give maths a solid run on given nights, and reading tasks on others. We do the term project on the weekend only. We replaced the ‘maths games’ which require parents to play, with worksheets that kiddo can do while I make dinner/run around, then I sit and go through the answers afterwards. I tick off the diary as though I’m doing it their way.

Haven’t heard a peep of protest yet from the school. I assume most other people are outright lying or getting the nanny to do it with them.

If we can’t manage homework on a given night, I write ‘family birthday’ (or whatever) and do a double tick in the next day box.

I agree with you OP, an extra 5 hours a week is too much for an 8 year old, and I would be questioning it.

75 new spellings a week is ridiculous.

You could always print out this thread and post it to him/the school!

I think if other parents are feeling the same, you all need to collectively raise this with the school. A complaint here and there from exhausted parents will not change anything, but a big long list of names saying it is affecting both the children's and parent's mental health and you will hold them responsible for it if anything goes wrong might have more impact (bear in mind in most places like this, the hint of any risk and scruitiny has them reconsidering their position). It's rare, but not unknown for parents to collectively make a stand against a stupid policy and refuse to abide by it, and it can sometimes attract a bit of media attention, which soon has the school "reviewing" their policies. It is a shame it has to come to this though and I hope it doesn't.

You could just pretend they have done it. Less hassle, but then the school is kind of forcing you to set a bad example by doing this.

I ALWAYS always defended homework, saying it gives the child a place to sit in peace and quiet and time to figure stuff out without the teacher interrupting because the fastest kids are done but now I've kind of seen the light as the kids are expected to copy whole sentences into their copy instead of just filling out the book. My 9yo gets reading, maths, tables, spellings grammar, a few Irish sentences (Am in ireland) and either history or geography or science (2 or 3 questions). By the end of its he's crying and fed up, and he's the hard working one!! What ends up happening is th a t you help to push them along and they learn nothing. As someone said, if they had no homework except reading and a few spellings and sums there'd be time to do it in school as there'd be no chasing of homework, correcting etc!!

church DC are in school 6 hours a day. That is plenty time for spelling and reading and sums. If the teacher cannot do the job in 6 hours then an hour at home with tired parents and DC is not going to compensate. The average 8 year old is better off switching off and playing football to rejuvenate for the next school day.

There is no way that unusually high level of homework at primary, for an above or on track student, is beneficial.

It sounds like it's having a massive negative affect on the family, and is likely to form resentment & other negative connotations in said child! Madness.

I would write a letter explaining why your child won't be doing this, but include what they will be, with a clear, unemotional rationale. I would encourage a discussion about it but if there is a problem, escalate to Head etc.

And I would be totally on board with this, if people were willing to accept that it will hit standards. But they don’t. They pretend that reading and spelling can give way to football and after school club, without a resulting impact on their child’s education
I agree.

For what it's worth, I think that from the OP's post that's too much.
Learning a set of spellings a little every day / recalling times tables a little every day over the week, reading daily doesn't seem too unreasonable to me, but if the policy is new spellings and maths daily then it's too much.

What confuses me is when parents pick schools for their outcomes and academic credentials etc, but then seem surprised that there's lots behind the scenes to get those outcomes. I've often found the same with some former colleagues who've come to work in a high performing school, but then seem surprised at how much goes into supporting children of all abilities. It's almost like people (parents and some teachers) think that the outcomes happen by chance.

We had a delightful letter home from school yesterday to inform us that our children will be getting another reading book on top of the current reading book scheme and library book, spellings to be done nightly and work sheet once a week. All reading and spellings need to be done every day including weekends. It's currently taking us 30-45 minutes of an evening to complete this yet with another reading book this will increase by a minimum of 10 minutes. My child's only in YR 1
When I asked my child how many times a week does she read to an adult in school she said only on the day I change my reading book.

Skittlesandbeer well done, great idea!!!

Wow! I would be extremely unhappy about this.

Unless the child is very motivated to do school type work at home this amount of homework runs a serious risk of alienating the child and making them resent school.

IMO the main aim of primary school is to instill an enthusiasm for school and a love of learning. You lose that at age 8 and there is a long hard road ahead:-(.

I also believe strongly that while parents should support school learning, home is for developing other activities and skills and giving children time to play, be with their families, be outside, enjoy life!!

I would also be mad at the attitude of berating you for daring not to comply with their instructions!!!

I think this does suggest the school are trying to get the parents to fill in the gaps the school are leaving and I would definitely be asking why they are struggling to provide an adequate education in school time if they really think children will fall behind if they don't do an hour extra work at home every day.

My dc school is ofsted 'good' where the children make good to excellent progress and they do weekly spellings, roughly 1-2 pieces of homework per week that are optional and encourage reading.....

Do you have time to get anything done in the morning? DC here have breakfast, get dressed and then do their piano practice while I'm doing lunches/ getting things ready - 10 - 15 mins each.

I agree that does sound like a lot of homework - we get a fair amount but what annoys me is that it's all generic homework set to the class, so if we want to work on something child specific (like DS's terrible handwriting or go over maths to reinforce) then that ends up being extra.

howabout

That’s actually not very logical. More time spent productively on reading and writing and numeracy is more likely to result in better reading, writing and numeracy. If the child is too tired to read a book they’re too tired for piano.

I agree that it’s too much in this case, but the anti-homework rhetoric is deeply flawed in my view.

They pretend that reading and spelling can give way to football and after school club, without a resulting impact on their child’s education.

it shouldn't. And "academic" education is not enough for a child, they NEED physical activity - their sport is as important, if not more, music and the rest just as much.

Our (state) school day is just very badly designed. The days should be longer, but with MORE PE and sport. If the kids were busier on site, there would a be a lot less time wasted ferrying them around and they could do more homework.

It works with (some) private schools, it works in other countries. We end up having kids finishing school at 3pm, but having no time to do anything, it makes no sense at all - but it's true.

Sod that, just fill in the diary to say he's done it!

Just fill in the diary as if he's done the homework. I used to read with children and so many said "my Mum just filled it out, I haven't read it".

Unless this is private school there will be around 10 or more children who never read, never do homework and always get 0 in all spelling tests.

I would ask if your child specifically needs help (I should have done that as mine did) and I would speak to headteacher about missing breaks. As a mothers this rages me. I would rather my child stay for 15 minutes after school. Breaks are there for a reason, rest and fun.

Plus, I object to “if the teacher can’t do the job in 6 hours...” It’s not a job with a limit on it. Children are never “done”. They can learn more or they can learn less.

-55Happyspud-

-I’d focus on the stress and upset it’s causing to family life. Because believe me, I don’t underestimate how awful forcing exhausted, small children to work is. They’ve been at school all day. Homework should be unnecessary and I think home time is for all the other life lessons they need like helping parents cook and lay the table, maybe preparing their uniform for the next day themselves. Maybe practising piano or other extra curricular that might become a great love or hobby or escape for them in the future. Freestyle drawing and self driven creation projects before dinner. And yes, resting before he next school day.-

THIS ^ WITH BELLS ON

when my kids were at school I hated HW and refused to make them do any of it. There are other ways of learning

That is an absolutely bonkers amount of homework.

I think my ds gets a bit too much, and it’s nowhere near that amount.

Daily reading is ok, 10-15 minutes, occasionally read out loud to just check all ok. Then spellings once a week maximum, and maths top up (ie times tables practice for fluency).

That’s all that should be done, imo.

Topic homework usually ends up being parents homework (and this is where I have an issue with my ds’ homework, as the tasks set just aren’t realistic for him to achieve by himself).

I would definitely be talking to the school about such ridiculous expectations.

That's ridiculous. My DS got 1 hour max homework a week at primary. Now year 7 he gets max 3 hours a week homework which he manages fine. He didn't need excessive amounts in primary to get used to it that's a huge myth.

it shouldn't.

It will.

And "academic" education is not enough for a child, they NEED physical activity - their sport is as important, if not more, music and the rest just as much.

I don’t disagree. But when time is finite and parents insist on prioritising sport or music over literacy and numeracy (their choice), the academic side of things will be affected.

Ha, I was all ready to wade in with "but homework at primary helps them get ready for secondary, when they'll have so much more" but I'm actually flabbergasted at how much you're expected to do with him!

Our primary school (granted in Australia) used to have weekly homework sheets, that included a sheet of maths problems, a spelling list that they were supposed to copy out each night (but rarely did) and home reading every night. It added up to about 90 minutes maximum in total. And people still complained about that, even though it wasn't compulsory. I liked it because it gave me an opportunity to talk about spellings and meanings of words, and to see how DS1 was going with maths.

Then they got rid of it and now all they're expected to do is homereading, and a project-based assignment once per term.

But what your son is being expected to do is ludicrous - far too much for his age so YANBU.

Freestyle drawing and self driven creation projects before dinner.

With all due respect, I would love to know the ratio of children playing on iPads/consoles to freestyle drawing and self-driven creation projects before dinner.