To not bother with weekly ‘busy work’ homework tasks?

[MissYouForever]

My daughter is in year 1. She has weekly spellings with a weekly test and of course her school reading book. Both of these I fully understand the importance of and we do always make sure these are all completed.

But we are also being set weekly tasks for English and Maths that I really, really do not have the time to organise and motivate my child to do. It is clearly to support their learning in whatever they are are being taught this week, but in all honesty it just feels like a box ticking exercise from the school/teacher.

AIBU to just not bother? She is 5! She is doing great at school, no problems at all. I know it will be brought up to me in the the parents evening and I hate that feeling that I’m letting my child down or not being a good enough parent to force these silly tasks to be completed every week. It’s just too much. I have a younger child, trying to manage work, the household and maintain my own sanity.

I just feel like it’s yet another expectation on the parents. Another thing we are scrutinised with and made to feel inadequate about. And I just find it irritating seeing an end of year report for my child with top ticks on all the ‘exceeding expectations’ criteria for academic progress and behaviour except a big red X on the homework heading because we didn’t do enough of the tasks (this was last year)

The thing with the "homework grid" was that we were doing lots of out of school learning anyway - nature walks, baking, taking the kids to museums, all that sort of thing. We are engaged and educated parents who value education. The whole thing was just very patronising.

Interestingly, it lasted about a term then was quietly dropped. I suspect the school had feedback.

What a nasty post in every way

@MissYouForever YANBU there’s no evidence that homework at primary age has any academic benefit.

Also, in case you are worried about outcomes/attitudes… many moons ago I let my DD refuse to do any homework she liked at primary school. It didn’t do her any harm. She’s got a great work ethic, she’s predicted A stars at A levels and has applied to study at Oxford.

Personally I think kids should read and do maths every night from an early age, and 20 minutes isn’t a long time really.

I basically let my kids to do it when they remember and organise themselves. What I do do is make sure they have a big chunk of reading before bed because that’s easy to remember as it’s part of their routine and doesn’t involve faffing about with different log ins. First one is now at grammar remembering her own homework by herself now thank god. Second is on track too … for me it’s reading, reading, reading

Why is it nasty?

I did not begin homework until I hit secondary school. My parents took no interest in my school work and I can never once recall my mother or father asking me if my homework was done. In fact when I was taking my GCE it seemed to irritate my father to see me with open books. He was constantly telling me to "get in the kitchen and help your mum." I had to motivate myself. I studied with friends or in the library.

My parents' lax attitude did not prevent me qualifying for a profession and going on to earn several degrees, including a Ph.D.

YABU

If you think your DC's schools are going to teach them to read and write well, you are in for a big shock. By the time the teacher(s) have dealt with all the extra things they have to deal with in their classroom, I doubt your child is getting much attention, especially if they are bright and just get on with things. For example, how much time does your teacher or assistant spend with your DC every week teaching them to read? I doubt it is very much.

Reading, writing and maths has to be massively supported at home. If you do, your DC will excel at school and do well. I learnt this early on with my DC. I have seen so many parents surprised when they realise their DC is behind because they just let the school get on with it.

Also, I lived in Singapore and HK and my DC went to local schools. Please don't insult them by comparing our education system to theirs. OK, so we have some good stuff, but overall I found the schools over there without drama and individuals monopolising the teachers time, parents making a massive effort with their DC's education, respect towards teachers and genuine enthusiasm and hard work. The DC are very academic, but not that creative. It works for them.

I've mixed eastern values of education with west, and I have never ever relied on the school for anything. In fact, when I moved back here to junior school I really felt that the school crossed boundaries and I disliked it so much that I did all extra curricular activities away from it. Elsewhere the school is there like a business, a service provider, to teach your DC. Here it feels like the parenting is outsourced to the school. It really feels like this, and I hated it.

I took my DC to a maths class and they can add up and take away like a demon. One just got A* Maths A'level. I refused all books from the school once past the phonics stage and sent my own in. The school never said a word about it.

Sneering at the girl who was keen at primary school for going to a ‘crappy university’ and being just a primary school teaching helping kids - compared to the hotshot sons on megabucks

This is incredibly lame. You don't have the time for a little bit of Y1 maths homework? Come off it.

Homework is a fact of school life and it’s your job to support the school in their policy not undermine it. In Y1 it’s not going to take long and it won’t be every night, but it’s an important routine to establish. Get them to do it while you prepare tea and ask any questions as they go. Then spelling test or tables can be done in the bath. And of course bedtime reading. By the time of GCSEs do you want kids who come in and sit straight down to study, or ones who will find any and every excuse not to do it? Or do you think studying after school for GCSEs sucks the fun out of life too?

@BritishFakeOffMy ds is 5 and he can already read and write pretty well. We do the odd bit at home but that’s it. They learn quickly at this age. They don’t need that much homework in year 1

People blindly follow. I expect most of these posters don’t work much or have full time jobs anyway.

That's great, little and often.

I just feel that here in the UK we put too much faith in school. I actually teach DC (not at a school) and most of my time is spent firefighting due to DC with behaviour issues, lateness, parents interfering, and paperwork. It sucks the joy out of teaching them. Not a lot gets done.

I have seen the difference with my own DC and the DC I teach, when the numbers are really low, say 1 or 2 of them. They learn 10 times more in half an hour, than in a group setting over 6 weeks.

I hear what youre saying OP! My ds is 6 and has weekly spellings, his reading book and a library book. He also has a termly topic and has to do a bigger piece of homework for that. Usually a project to present to the class or similar. Whilst this in itself does take a huge amount of time, trying to fit it in alongside the other homework tasks IS tricky. Especially when he has beavers, football twice a week and swimming and with myself having another DC and a job it all gets a bit much. I try a 'little and often approach' with my youngest. He comes home and does his spellings twice a week after school with a snack. His maths homework is always due in on a Wednesday so generally that gets done on a Tuesday evening whilst im cooking dinner. The projects have to be 'a bit here and bit there' to make sure its not all needing to be done in a last minute rush. Take a breath. If you're struggling with it now, itll only get harder as the homework amounts increase as they get older, so does the expectation on parents. Fit in what you can, not what you can be bothered with.

Out of Interest why maths? And why not read and draw?

I use our homework like an activity book - if they say they are bored at the weekend or in the evenings - bam homework time!

DS is in reception and he has a flexible homework book, a big list of about 20 activities that can be completed by the end of term - some of them are key tasks that must be done.

"These silly tasks" are the foundation of her learning to manage and complete work (semi) independently. They should come with guidance as to time required, and in Year 1 I wouldn't expect that to be more than one hour, if as much as that. Don't teach her that they're not important.

Going forward, your child once in the latter half of Junior/Primary/Middle school all the way up to the end of secondary school, homework won't be optional. So many parents don't enforce homework, and they set their child up to struggle further down the line, when the school WILL enforce it and they have to do homework. Your child, the further she goes through school will have increased homework too. Start how you mean to go on...a routine - drink, snack, homework. No 'downtime' until homework is completed. It's what I have done since my son started Reception and he's now Year 10. He might have a grumble now and then, but he gets on with his homework and now he's older is able to time manage the various subjects on different days. Yes, you can fit the homework into the day, you have to prioritise, like millions of other parents do across the country. By not enforcing it, you are giving your daughter an option, and she'll struggle further down the line, when there's no option.

My kids are older, but when they were that age I basically refused to have them do anything other than reading, spelling and times tables. It's so much more valuable to them to have a conversation over dinner, a relaxed evening and be read to than to complete rote tasks that have been shown to have no educational benefit.

They've all gone on to be responsible citizens who got great university places.

Couldn't agree less. It's very often meaningless twaddle.

They don't need any homework whatso ever at Primary level.

The idea of training is also false. Mine were " trained " to pack book bags, be responsible for PE kit and so on. Now they are very untidy. It's all bollocks to keep people in line.

Taking into account that all kids and families are different, I just don't agree with this. I think young kids really do need downtime. I think mine benefited much more with some time to run around outside, do legos, get out some art supplies than they would have from doing worksheets. The last thing I wanted was kids who were only motivated by having tasks set for them, and they did not struggle down the line.

My kids’ primary school don’t do homework. It seems to be a school policy.

Which is great. However, my eldest goes to secondary next year and having to do homework of an evening is going to be a massive adjustment for her. I sort of wish the primary school had introduced it towards the end.

See this is what is interesting. A lot of teachers saying that the actual homework in if itself is of no benefit, but we know that parental engagement with kids learning/school is the biggest factor in positive outcomes. How do the school create parental engagement? Homework encourages the parent to engage with their child and creates positive reinforcement.

If a parent who has no time for homework but engages with children in other ways with learning through the week disregards said homework then it might not affect the learning outcomes of their children.

I think it’s a bit disingenuous for so many teachers to be saying that they don’t agree with homework because it gives other parents on here the idea that it will be the same in all circumstances but really the child of a teacher is in a much better position because their parent has a higher level of education which likely means they can engage with their child it other ways without prompting from the school.

A lot of children whose parents aren’t teachers or doing a similar white collar job, will really benefit from the parental input that homework encourages.

Don't bother.
I think it's a total myth that if you don't get 5 year olds used to doing homework, they won't be able to manage as teenagers 🙄

My children never did homework in primary (beyond reading/spelling/times tables) and guess what? They managed fine in secondary school!