To think two hours homework a night is not excessive for a year 10 pupil

[Challenger5]

DD 1 is adamant that two hours a night homework, is against her human rights. She has been stomping around, refusing to start her homework. DD 1 is being exceptionally rude to me swearing at me for sending her to a prison camp and claiming to be-having a nervous breakdown due to the schools expectations.

I am trying to calm her down and reason with her, that two hours a night is quite proportionate for a year 10 girl at a Grammar School. This especially as the school as stated her target grades are 7-9 in all ten GCSE subjects.

She has also informed me that her head of year as given her a after school detention, today for calling her English teacher a 'mean cow' for a poor homework mark. DD denies calling the teacher that, saying she was misheard when she pulled her face at the teacher.

DD is saying the detention is unfair and against her human rights because it is grossly an excessive punishment even if she had accidentally muttered 'mean cow' when the teacher spoke to her. DD argues that her face pulling was justified because someone has to stand up against the schools unrealistic and unreasonable levels of homework demanded.

Homework should have a purpose.
If the DC has understood the lesson on trigonometry (during which they will have worked on questions independently) then they may not need to do anything outside of class, or only 10 minutes worth just to finish a question sheet. Making them do tons of examples "just because" has no value. So homework should be set with a definite aim in mind, not just a timescale. Some people's DC on here are clearly getting work for the sake of giving homework.

Extending your work beyond what is required from class is more of an A Level skill. You don't get marks at GCSE for knowing stuff beyond the syllabus (although there is an educational value in this, of course). At GCSE students are not required to read 3 chapters of a book for tomorrow. They read at a very slow speed in class. Also, they probably only have 1 or 2 hours per subject per week. There's a limit to how much can be covered to need homework to reinforce.

But how is understanding if a subject in a 45min window in class measured, during which some of the time is taken up actually teaching it? And the teacher is on hand to assist. Surely in order to make sure the topic is fully embedded, there needs to be additional checks done independently?

Ah yes, investment banking, which has one of the highest burnout rates of any job in the world. Fantastic argument.

2 hours is the expectation in year 11 at our secondary school (not grammar but gets similar GCSE results). This is to cover homework and revision time, think it’s around 1.5 hours in year 10. My kids aimed for this around 4 times a week and then had 3 days (usually including both days at the weekend) to have a break from school/studying. That suited them and their learning styles/extra curricular commitments.

Most people would argue that's what exams are for.

Well I am sure that those who wish to fulfil their lives in that way would manage just fine. Those who find fulfilment in other ways probably wouldn't like it much.

I won't be lying on my deathbed wishing I had spent my life working 12+ hour days in the investment banking industry. That I can assure you.

Competitive overworking isn't something to be proud of.

Difference is, this is a 14 year old kid that you're comparing to an ADULT

So are other people "I don't do those hours now" type posts are comparing adults and children.

Children's minds are sponges. They have more energy and more free time that adults, as so they should. Its not unreasonable to use some of their free time, their energy, and their propensity to absorb things easier than adults to educate them well, in order to make sure they can pursue a career path they want.

Do you think that's the right time to rest knowledge? Surely that's far too late.

Mock exams and tests in class also exist.

I also don't think the average child will get outstanding results with minimal effort.

Why do you assume I put in minimal effort?

There's a sensible middle ground in between working for two hours a night after school and doing the bare minimum.

dds are at a girls grammar.
dd2 is year 10.
She doesn't get anywhere near that amount.
About an hour most nights, depending on how long it takes.
She rarely does anything on Fri and Sat, then mad rush Sunday night.
Lots of it is finishing off stuff.
She is predicted high grades,

dd1 is A level year and probably doesn't do that much. She had a clean sweep of grade 8s in her GCSE.

dd2 would not cope with 2 hours per night, as she is wiped out after school. (but she is probably autistic)

for me the key is to let school respond, so for all mine, there is space and time to do it, if they choose not too, then they are accountable to school. If that measn after school detentions etc then that is fine, they must take the accountability.

I have occasionally written in for dd2, as she finds it impossible to speak up and say I can't do it, but mostly, I leave it between the child and the school.

That works well, as they are usually not willing to look poor in front of peers

If your child needs to do 3-4 hrs work a night in Y10 and 11 then the school is clearly not very good, or your child is struggling and that amount of work is probably not good for them. GCSEs aren't hard enough to warrant that amount of work. It's absolutely crazy.

What is more crazy is forcing them to, how will they ever have any self motivation if parents force them do study for 4 hrs a night.

DS revised at the level he felt he needed to, he got mostly 7-9 grades but also got 2 x 6s instead of 7s by 1/2 marks on each. If he had studied for 2 hrs a night he probably would have got that however he is a musician and spends a lot of time rehearsing, writing music, performing and recording, even at 16 he makes good money from it already so whilst he is naturally academic it is more important IMO (and the schools opinion) for him to have a more rounded education. If he had been studying for 2 hrs a night then this would have been detrimental to his music.

No one will convince me we have brought him up to be lazy, he puts hours of work into music as well as working hard at school but it has been his decision to decide what level of effort goes into it. It's definitely paid off.

Two hours is too much but it does sound like she's got a bit of an attitude problem at the minute and she needs bringing down a touch with that. Nothing wrong with sticking up for yourself but her teachers ARE in a position of authority whether she likes it or not and you just can't speak to them like that!

This is what our schoolkids are competing with. 2 hours homework is nothing in comparison. It's no wonder the UK is falling further and further behind on the league tables.

What makes me laugh on this thread is the fact that 2 hrs a night means gaining 8s or 9s and not doing 2 hrs is 'minimal effort' and the expectation that the child will not succeed and is lazy.

DS2 has autism, ADHD and a learning difficulty, 2 hrs a night would never be possible and likely to be detrimental to him, he could do 6 hrs a night and still won't get 8s or 9s, he works hard though and will hopefully get 4s and 5s which will be amazing. He also will still have a good work ethic and hopefully a good career, they do exist for non-hot housed non- academic children, although this seems to have escaped the minds of quite a few narrow minded people on this thread.

and one of the highest suicide rates amongst teenagers, and one of the highest unhappiness rates.

They also learn much by rote, and the teaching of how to think and have an opinion is missing from their education.

I would not, ever, want my child to learn under this system.
It really is not comparing like for like.

What China is doing to its' young people is hardly something to be admired or copied 🙄

Is that the purpose of having kids? To provide your nation with small humans who are then made to study longer and longer hours so that it can be at the top of an educational league table?

That's a completely funked up way of looking at things.

Exactly!

Good lord we do not want to emulate China in any way..

@DontMakeMeShushYou China is an authoritarian regime.

@Feelinglikeachange22

Yeah, I know. Did you mean to tag Florenz?

Ah yes!

This. ^