Do you agree with homework in Primary

[Toastiesforever]

I disagree with homework in primary school and quite frankly im amazed its still handed out and expected.

I have 3 DC in primary school and we have never done homework, my theory is that my children have enough education in school and as parents we should educate outside of school however we see fit.

For us this includes them reading books, Harry potter, Jacqueline Wilson, david Williams etc - we are lucky that my children love reading.

They will always participate in school talks/presentations and projects.

All my children are involved within the school Litter picking committees, School newspaper, music lessons within school.

And furthermore they are in competitive level sports outwith school which require substantial training hours.

Local days out like airshows, community days and city celebrations.

Ive noticed that most teachers my Dcs have had through the years really agree that homework is not required in primary yet we have this year we have came up against a teacher that says its required for my oldest DC.

I still said no, am i being unreasonable.

Reading, spellings, times tables and some little 5 minute worksheets - Absolutely fine.

Project work and researching stuff. Or writing a whole page of stuff every week. - Too much.

Online stuff - Hate it. During covid they used to get you to log on to online books rather than give you an actual book. Thank god they didn’t carry it on as some great new learning initiative and they brought books back.

No I think it's good. Not all children have the same support at home. I lived 50/50 with my mum and dad, when I was with my mum homework was done and she helped or reminded me but when I was with my dad it wasn't on his radar. I had to remember it myself and throw together whatever I could find when I was at his house. This was really stressful and hard and I remember tearing a cereal box with my hands and unpicking one of his jumpers (sorry dad 😂) so I could make a weaving for homework the next day. It was hard and upset me at the time but it tought me a lot, I always think back to that when I think I can't do something ! I did it as a little girl and I can do it now

I don’t think much happens at all. If they don’t learn them by year 6 then they have another 5 years to learn them before they might loose some marks on gcse papers. For a lot of people (especially people with SEN) spelling tests are actually not a good way to learn spellings. The increase in reading and writing (thus greater repetition of using words in context) in high school has a significant impact.

It isn’t really independent though is it- parents are helping and testing and cajoling primary aged children to do the tasks they have been set.

And in high school it’s micro managed and over directed- that’s why first year students on degree courses struggle with meeting deadlines, writing to word counts and how to do independent reading and research. They have to be taught to use the library and how to use effective search terms etc.

Yes ..I often wonder why we don't advocate 45 year olds moving into a care home to get them ready for being elderly

Totally agree.

Perspective from the other end. My DC are adults now.
I said no to homework for the youngest because it was making him hate school.
Picked it up slowly by y6.
No harm was done. Both DC achieved the highest grades in GCSEs, A levels and degrees and are now in professional careers.
Hindsight allows you to see the things that matter and homework for a 4/5/6 year old isn't one of them.

Not the homework I set, deadline told same day each week, task set crack on. Non completion consequence issued. Tasks able to be completed by student independently- if they are stuck they can come and see me, reminded of these frequently.

I'm not talking about Primary - personally think it's a waste except reading - always read books at bedtime, spellings, tables practice which my yr 4/3 children do on an app very little input from me needed.

My sixth formers have a series of lessons in year 12 to improve study skills to assist with becoming independent.

Anything other than reading spelling and times tables is a waste of time

I agree. The sports and music provision at my ds’s primary is very limited. While I do support doing spellings, times tables and reading at home and my ds has a routine to read and practice tables every morning, I really feel extra curricular activities in a lot of cases offer more benefits than a lot of the homework that is set. At our school, as well as the reading, spelling and tables, the homework typically replicates work they have already done at school, or is a craft type project that becomes a battle of the parents to see whose paper mache solar system or cake Stonehenge sculpture is the best.

I do. It's only a bit and they're old enough in year 5 and 6 and if they don't get used to it secondary school would be horrific.

I think reading, spellings and timetable practise is more than acceptable. I also think they should have little “projects” once in a while so they learn the responsibility of homework without it being so tiresome. It is still a MASSIVE change going into secondary education, no harm at all gently preparing them.

Who do you think is going to help those children learn those spellings in secondary school? I wouldn't have thought it's the secondary school English teachers job to teach them the spellings that the national curriculum has said they should learn in primary school. So who do you think will pick up on the words they can't spell, work with that child one on one to correct them and then check them to make sure they know them? Chances are that they aren't going to get them corrected and will go through life with the wrong spellings. I can think of two teachers at our primary school who couldn't spell certain words and then we found the next generation of children learning the wrong spellings - that wasn't ideal...

The government set a list of words for pupils to learn by the end of year 6 for a reason.

I'm sure that some people with SEN find spelling tests a tricky way to learn spellings and have no doubt that some will need extra help or can't keep up - I know a few children this applies to. But then presumably they will have their own agreed arrangements with the school. OP didn't mention SEN.

It's an unenforceable waste of time imo at any age. Setting activities is fine, but there should be no punishment for students who don't do them. So voluntary.

My son had more homework in primary then secondary school 🤣 his shock was the opposite.

We didn’t do any homework except reading until this year (p6). Now dd is 10 she can do homework actually independently and it’s good prep for secondary but until now she’s been near the top of the class and as with others we felt there was better ways to use her time - cooking and eating as a family, practising a musical instrument, exercise and free reading.

As I said- sitting with someone one to one being ‘taught’ spellings isn’t the only (or necessarily the best) way to learn to spell, it’s quite possible to be successful without it.

Im not saying no one should be taught to spell or practice spellings etc- I’m just saying that weekly spelling tests are not the be all and end all without which all is lost. Learning doesn’t work like that.

So you expect that with almost no experience of homework until GCSE, generally Year 10, children will be able to discipline themselves to do the amount of homework necessary, as well as the revision? Good luck with that one!

I used to hear Year 7 saying that too, they had been force-fed for SATs and thought High school was such a relief! They soon learned otherwise once the honeymoon period of Year 7 ended, usually around January.

I agree with homework, it shows me how she's progressing and what struggling with. We do daily reading, spelling and times tables. The spelling and tt are little and often so 5 mins a day or longer if enjoying the app. Reading is slightly longer eg one chapter is minimum but will often read more if likes the book.
2 additional piece of home work set weekly, usually 15 mins each, if its maths then skip tt that day etc
There's no reward for doing homework or discipline for not, but they do get progression awards, so my dd is happy to do extra at home. There is also options to do spelling and tt in afterschool club which has done several times this year too.

Look at it from another angle. Let's assume that the teacher has a work plan that involves the children learning 10 spellings a week over 4 years in junior school, they hope to cover the syllabus. By sending a copy of the 10 spellings a week home, especially if they covered them in class, most children will know them by the end of primary school and the ones who don't have the opportunity to learn them.

There will be some children who find this doesn't approach work for them (e.g. SEN or dyslexia). But it will work for most, especially those who already read a lot. If everyone took the OP's approach to not even look at the class spellings (and @Toastiesforever has now twice overlooked the questions about whether her DC have spelling tests at school, so we don't know) then the class as a whole is going to make much slower progress in their spelling.

If everyone does do their weekly spellings at home, then the few who are going to need extra support with spelling, or a different way to learn spelling (which I think is what you are referring to @Iateitallofit ) should be highlighted to the teacher earlier and then those other techniques you seem to be referring to can applied at a younger age to help them.

10 spellings a week for 4 years is a hell of a lot more than the 100 words they ‘have’ to know.

In an ideal world maybe it would work like that, but we don’t live in an ideal world where most children learn in the same way and every parent has the capacity to focus on homework- we should have a system that works with reality, not with what people would like reality to be.

Also, if they have to know these 100 words (presumably for Sats?) and no further spelling learning will take place at high school @PollyPut why don’t they all loose marks for spag at gcse? Clearly the subject specific spelling are wider spellings needed for gcse is learnt somewhere?

It's more than 100 words they need to know though by the end of primary school.

Pages 49 - 62 cover the English curriculum for spellings in the last 4 years of primary school (KS2) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7de93840f0b62305b7f8ee/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf

It's not just learning the words - they are taught the techniques at school and supposed to revise what they have learnt at home in the 10 words they are given that week. At least, that's what I've seen in two different primary schools.

And quite frankly, it's the child who needs to learn to spell the 10 words. Not the parent.

OP is in not in England but I assume there is something similar for primary spelling curriculum where she is.

They are learning the words for life. That is what an education is for!