To not make DD6 (Year 1) do homework?

[Thesnailonthewhale]

She was 6 in December, an she's above age related expectations in all areas. Reading age of 8y6m.doing Year 2 maths etc

School are getting a bit uppity about her not completing the set homework each week. (Spellings, some maths sheets etc)

She reads every day without being prompted and is incredibly inquisitive etc helps around the house, plays creatively, is active.
She counts coins at shops, does puzzle books, can tell the time to quarters and halfs and (still working on 5 mins) - weighs and measures ingredients for cooking and baking etc. (all applied maths)

Should I make her do the extra stuff? I can't see the point personally.

What will a GP do?! Mine literally couldn't have cared less!!!! At any point, ever!

@Thesnailonthewhale. Homework is not looked at by Ofsted. They could not care less. They possibly expect to see a homework policy but don’t check what’s set or who is doing it. What matters is the quality of education offered at the school, not what parents do at home.

Am I supposed to magic up a GP that believes me, and will refer her? We've been back maybe 4 times, we get dismissed. The School are building evidence,as am I. Then I can. Hopefully go with the letter.
I'm looking at private,bit our areas have long waiting lists too.

I feel like a lot of people who are giving you a hard time, actually have no idea how difficult the current system is to navigate. I could write a book about the hurdles i've had to jump over to get my son the help he has needed. To so many people who have no experience, it is so easy to just say 'get help', as if it's that easy, you click your fingers and everything falls into place! The amount of people who said to me over the years, 'can't you just move him to a special school', as if you just fill in an online form or make a phone call or something!

I’m a primary teacher and a mum. I’ve only ever made my kids do the homework when in primary if I’ve genuinely found it necessary and not just a task to tick the ‘set homework’ box.

My kids read a lot and did lots of other activities in the evenings and weekends so I didn’t feel it was necessary.

I didn't force my DCs to do primary school homework after enduring all those vile months of "home learning" aka sobbing on my knees daily feeling guilty about their distress and lost education. We did the nice, cosy bedtime reading, but not the repetitive tickbox death-by-worksheet tedious tasks. School cost them a lot of energy, and they didn't have the space for that to intrude into home life while they were still at primary.

At secondary they had more maturity and more interesting, varied, relevant tasks and we haven't had any bother with that transition. Both have an excellent homework record.

Where both (due to dyslexia) struggle with written tasks, they go to tutoring to address their specific needs which is more useful than a generic worksheet on fronted adverbials was. Home is a place of general learning about the world and getting other experiences as well as rest.

I didn't see the benefit of brewing years of distress and negative emotions about homework just because they will need to do it in the future. I don't let my 15yo practice driving in my car so he's ready to drive at 17.

My oldest's additional needs were identified around 8-9. We're still on waiting lists for my youngest. It is taking years longer this side of 2020.

As a teacher, the most valuable learning skill a child can have is curiosity and love of learning, and that needs to be nurtured not quenched.

This. If your child is curious and wants to learn, they will learn at their own pace and in their own way. As a parent you encourage and support, and provide wide opportunities.

You can't force 'learning'. If a child is distressed their brains can't take anything in. It is utterly pointless to try to force it, because they just can't learn if they are disregulated.

Can you evidence homework in different ways? My daughter struggled with the home learning set, but provided with the learning objectives, we sent in our own versions. This was well received by school, my daughter had learning reinforced and we avoided the battles. Win- win.

Well, that's new information you don't mention in your OP.

It's not that you don't see the benefit, but rather that your DD throws a tantrum when asked to do the homework, and that's difficult for you? That's a different issue, and one that still needs to be addressed, albeit in a different way.

Your DD may be incredibly bright, and exceeding expectations, but she also needs to understand that school tasks and homework are important and non-negotiable. One day, her natural ability will not be enough to excel, and then the importance of a strong work ethic will be apparent.

It. Is. Not. A. Tantrum.

@MathsMum3 So what though? My dd didn’t get homework from y4-y6. Made no difference to anything. She did lots of other activities. Some dc really can sail through fairly easily but learn so much more by doing more with their time. Homework should not be a burden at primary school and dc don’t need to be beaten into submission for their alleged needs later on. My dd didn’t mind prep at y7. Just did it, and works hard as an adult. What homework they do or don’t do makes no difference to anything for most dc.

Some dc do need extra practise in some aspects of the curriculum and the school should tailor these and engage parents.

Don’t do the homework! Like you’ve been doing, work in spelling, reading and maths into real life situations and speak to the teacher to say you won’t be doing the official homework. There is no benefit to this - your child is in a high pressure learning environment all day and needs time to de stress and be a child at home. Pushing through could damage their natural joy of learning for no benefit. As a teacher, I’ve been pressured by the Head Teacher to ensure homework is getting done, so I would recommend speaking directly to the Head Teacher also to explain you won’t be doing it.

People have the weirdest reactions to this! Your child is doing a full work day (with no choice in the matter!) but they shouldn’t be punished with more unpaid overtime!

@FloraFaunaFires It’s not an ofsted criteria though. Good progress is of course the main aim of any school but there’s no legal requirement for homework and heads cannot enforce it. It’s all optional legally but in secondary it’s seen as vital. I have been a governor where parents barely speak English and never help with reading for example. Just how it is!

Oh yeah, I just mean that the class teacher might keep asking if they’re being pressured by the head teacher (as I was). Whereas, if the HT is spoken to directly, it’s clear homework won’t be done and so class teacher should then just leave the subject alone!

This is a complete separate point to the thread but it's shocking that there's grown adults who don't know English.

Well, there's many valid reasons why the parents can't speak English...

That's not shocking, plenty of recent immigrants won't know English very well. Even longer term immigrants who live in an area with lots from their own country so less need to use English (this is also very common for Brits living abroad, not learning the local language so not being able to help their children with their homework)

I think I've massively changed my mind on OPs situation. Her DD is doing well at school already and is well above expectations.

My posts were due to many kids i knew in DC's primary, who didn't try at school, didn't bother at home. Wasted hours just on x-box and PlayStation and were years behind. Her DD is already doing well. So I admit I was wrong.

I have opinions on this. But topic for another thread.

@Jdnd Yes and some of us might not find them acceptable,

Just have a word with the teacher. Tell her your child is the cleverest girl in the class. She may not have noticed. Tell her homework is too silly for your little precious one. I'm sure she'll understand. Tell her your child is bored with all this silly homework stuff. She's special.
Tell the teacher that you want extension tasks and stretch and challenge tasks instead of all this humdrum boring stuff. Tell her you want something more enjoyable and more suited to your exceptionally clever child.
Your child actually has special needs. The school has a duty to provide for these needs by teaching to her high ability and helping her to develop according to her very high intelligence. As she is a year ahead of her peers, maybe she could move up a class.
Smaller schools often have mixed age classes, moving up a year is perfectly possible if her educational needs dictate this

What a snarky, mean spirited post. Its quite long too so you really got to spend a little extra time getting all that cynicism and sarcasm out of your system.

I wouldn't worry about the homework @Thesnailonthewhale , although the reaction to the idea of homework is potentially concerning.

Secondary is when homework becomes important and its quite common to have homework clubs there, so - if your dd is still so rigid about keeping school and homework separate - you may find she's perfectly happy to complete it there immediately after school.

Hello op. She sounds very much like my now 14 year old did at this age. COVID happened when she was 8 and it was an absolute nightmare trying to get her to do any school work at home.

I should say that I don't agree with any homework in Primary school other than reading, spelling (10 words per week) and timetables in primary school - I don't think it's necessary and often causes more upset.

Anyway, the now 14 year old is diagnosed with ASD/ADHD and struggling with school - her attendance is about 65% at the moment and we've had a meltdown today because she has an English test in two weeks and might get moved down a set - anyone would think it was life and death. But she's very academically capable - she just doesn't respond well to pressure.

But actually, what I am saying is listen to your child. If you can get things done one way or another - great. If not, please don't push it. And see how things go

Is she one of those kids who have EBSA and can just do all the work at home?