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.

My 9 year old gets homework every night - about 20-40 minutes depending on how much he waffles around, and he should do 10 minutes of reading (although to himself, not to an adult)

BUT, he finishes school at 2 (Ireland) so he has plenty of time, and he doesn't generally need my input with his homework, he just settles down and does it himself.

Is there anyway he could do the homework at wraparound care? Is the care attached to the school? Any chance it could be modified to be a homework club?

If this is too much for your child and your family, then it doesn't really matter what other families are doing.
I'd bypass the teacher - he's already shown you that he isn't sympathetic or flexible. Go straight to the head and politely tell them what you are going to do and what you won't be doing. I'd suggest alternating reading, maths and spellings and no hwk at weekends - children need downtime.
Schools don't have the right to dictate your family life. Many teachers don't even agree that homework is necessary and set it because they have to.
I think you need to take back control of your parenting and family life.

church banging your head off the wall for an extra hour only gives you a sorer head. Deciding to look for a door because you have given your brain a diversion / rest is far more effective.

Why on EARTH is he being told to write spellings with his left hand??? I presume your DS right handed. This sounds like what they were doing in 1900’s, making left handed children use their right hand by tying their left hand behind their back, this is widely considered nonsense, until now by the looks of things. How ridiculous.

DS used to learn the spelling by looking at them so we never did all the other nonsense that was 'homework' for them. Teacher was fine as long as they got them right on the test. Any tricky ones, we used old school method of asking him to spell them verbally whilst one of us was cooking/doing something else.

Reading - yes, that's sensible to do. DS was a good reader so often read to themselves. A good thing, if you can afford is to buy one of the kids' newspapers (especially when they have an offer on!) like First News or Junior Newsweek and the other one I can't remember (or any other magazine they like) and get them to read out bits from there while you are cooking/ironing/etc. It's still reading out loud. Doesn't need to be the school book, just reading out loud so that you can guide on pronunciation, etc. Reading out a recipe to you can also count. If kid can read in the car, get them to read to you on the way to swimming or wherever.

Maths - if it needs to be handed in, then have to do it. If not, and the kid is ahead then skip it.

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.

it depends if you take into account the school hours - I consider them to have done the academic work between 9 and 3. They don't have 6 hours of after-school clubs.

Well I’m glad almost all of you agree.

It’s 15 new spellings a week. The wrap around care is in the form of various clubs, before and after school (not every day) so unfortunately not the setting he can do homework in.

I think I’m going to start lying about the reading and just fill it in daily. Spellings is trickier as he has a worksheet and they want to see 5 columns of written spellings. And the fucking stupid spelling ‘games’. I might dig my heels in about that or offer up some articles about how counterproductive they are. Maths is less of a problem.

I feel a bit better about it now tbh. I was drowning.

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
I'm a teacher and I agree with you.

But people can't have it both ways. They can't want a school that pushes academic achievements, pick the school that Ofsted says is great, pour over progress data to pick the one that scores highly or best for their area, and then turn around complaining or being surprised that part of what goes into those outcome will often involve more homework and revision and prep than school B with average outcomes.

I'd happily see most homework in primary removed other than sensible homework for core subjects in KS2. I'm also quite vocal as a teacher about setting pointless homework to tick a box. But a lot of the arguments proposed on here against homework don't stack up a lot of the time.

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

don't go there, I am in despair when I read people defending the use of TV and tablets because they are so educational and taught them SO MUCH from the age of 6 months... It really is appealing.

My ds is in year 3. We get spellings on a Wednesday to be in for the next Wednesday (they are tested this day in school too). And we have homework on a Monday to be back in on Friday morning.

Apart from learning times tables in their own time we were told at the start of the year that the focus would be on English and maths and as they'd just done sats they wouldn't be putting much pressure on the kids this year or for year 4.

Yours sounds overkill anthers no way id be able to keep up with all that, swell as after school clubs then his swimming and martial arts. id be drained so goodness knows how the children are expected to cope with all that.

*appalling even, FFS

Standards being Maintained. Like all professions their are teachers of mixed ability, some teachers who can engage fully with the class, and are of exceptional ability as educators, and other that are acceptable.
When parents opt for a school with high standards, they expect that whilst at that school their educational needs will be met. This homework regime the school are participating in, is likely to have a detrimental effect on standards, as they bench mark is set too high for them to achieve. But I take the point that if achievement rates are high for the school it follows them must be pushing their students a bit more to maintain the standard. YANBU

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

There is room for both.

Some days, my ds will sit and fiddle about with Lego, some days he will flick through a magazine, some days he might do some colouring, some days he might play on the wii. All part of a varied life. And all part of him just relaxing after school.

Regarding iPads etc, they actually have to do at least half an hour a week on TT Rock Stars which is a maths app where the teacher can see what they are doing. So that bit isn’t a problem (it’s in the format of a game). Trickier to get him off that and onto writing spellings.

That is ridiculous. Not only is this sort of pressure having a detrimental effect on your family life but also interferes with activities and socialising outside of school which are also important. I would go straight through to the Head since this is a school policy and not the fault of the teacher.

Keeping children in at playtime for not having a homework diary completed is outrageous. They need fresh air and exercise.
Sounds so stressful all round.

My DC are in a school that I feel has a heavy academic load. Nonetheless, we have a normal life with work etc (and tired DC and adults!) so we need to make it fit. Here's what we do:

• reading in bed, every night (I listen/doze, they read)
• spellings and times tables in the car on the way to/from school
• maths and science one weekend morning
• english and project the other weekend morning

They do 1 after-school club and 1 non-school club per week; anything more than that is counter-productive because they're shattered.

This all just about works until you want to do something wildly spontaneous like have friends to stay over at the weekend but so long as that's not too often, it still just about squeezes in.

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

Mine does both.

Read her Minecraft how to book. Watch Stampy on Youtube for guidance. Draw out her new grand plan. Write out her to do list. Actually implement the plan on her computer. She even fits in building it irl with her lego etc and boring me senseless with the details on the walk to school.

She is far more productive than I was at her age. The days of entertaining yourself endlessly with paper and pencil and string with only Blue Peter for guidance are gone.

@churchandstate music / sport / extra curricular stuff is as important at this age, unless a child is hugely behind and needs additional work to catch up or keep up (but even then they are really important). It's a balance, and since now primary schools have to focus on he academics often at the extent of arts / sports, the other side of a rounded "education" is often done outside of school.
At primary, reading every evening should be mandatory. But there is no need whatsoever for an additional hour every eve spent on traditional academics. That's just going to lead to a whole heap of children who resent learning.

howabout

I’m sure she does. But I would like to know the ratio, all the same.

weymouthswanderingmermaid

I don’t think they’re not important, and have said so. But I don’t think learning leads children to resent learning either.

All this stuff about choosing schools is surely a bit of a distraction. My child is at their catchment school and almost al the other kids there are there because it's their catchment school. The local primary schools are all OK, the ones with outstanding Ofsted results are impossible to get into unless you live in catchment area so almost all kids just go to their nearest. I would have chosen one with a no homework policy (except reading) in EYFS and KS1 if I could have but none of them did. So it's very reasonable to challenge it if it's not suiting your child/your family.

I'd sign the book so he doesn't miss his break time and if I get hauled in by the teacher because results are showing he's falling behind - I'd lie and tell the teacher that he can't cope with all the homework and it's too much for him.

I consider them to have done the academic work between 9 and 3.

That’s your choice. But logically, children who are doing an extra hour of meaningful learning will learn more. And if you accept that, fine.

Thats madness! Reading fair enough ( maybe not 20 minutes a night though- 10 would do!), once a week maths and aome spellings? Anymore than that and they are taking the piss. Its too much. (primary teacher here...)

On a different track can you get together with other parents and suggest that wrap around take on some of the homework. They could make a quiet area available for half an hour or so after school for all the kids to do their homework.