to say to my kid" if you can't do your homework then take it back in UNDONE"

[AugustusGloop]

rather than me trying to explain it?
Because that is what I ( very rarely) do.

Primary.

Are the parents of children who are obese and hate PE to be excused for writing notes saying their child doesn't like PE? Much the same IMO - rules, life skills and long term health.

Loobey, on the whole I completely agree with what you say & although I don't agree with homework for primary school children, I do make DS1 do his, often to the detriment of the atmosphere at home.

However I am not a teacher. I have no skills whatsoever in that department. I'm not even a particularly good parent TBH. By vocation I'm an artist/designer-type so I am used to working on my own, sorting stuff out in my head and not having to explain every little thing.

So, in an ideal world all parents would spend hours teaching their children; in reality some of us find it incredibly difficult.

"It's not that my children don't like homework, it is that I don't like them doing it." By StarlightMcKenzie on Fri 16-Jan-09 20:11:37

I don't get this at all if they are happy to do it then why not let your children get on with their homework.

Managing your time is a life skill. I would imagine that most professional jobs require some independent work or work at home. Di you not want your children to aim high.

I am against compulsory homework for young children in primary school as I said earlier but not if they are happy to do it.

Starlight whether you agree with homework or not, it is compulsory. By excusing children from it when they have been asked to do it by their teacher is to completely undermine the teacher and is akin to a child playing one parent against another 'can I do x? 'no' well daddy said I could......arguments between parents over discipline and a child who becomes frustrated at the lack of boundries and consistency.

The trouble is that homework in Primary school is usually set because parents refuse to believe that a school is any good if it doesn't.

Secondayr school homework is a good idea, up to a point, because they do independent work and research and consolidate their learning. In primary school it is VERY rarely like that. And I would never say to my child that I was overruling the teacher. If I had a 5 year old who was getting stressed over homework, then I think I would be entirely right to say to the teahcer that it was too hard, the child was too tired or whatever. I REALLY don't think this would put said child on a downward spiral to the gutter.

I agree, by the way, MB is much missed.

Agree with Starlight apart from the bit about not wanting the children to do homework when they want to do it.

And a reminder that this thread is about homework in primary school.

Also, as I'm sure people are aware but thought I'd mention it anyway, it is the parent's responsibility in law to educate their children. Most people choose to delegate some/all of this to schools but at the final count it is the parents who decide.
As Starlight (I think) has already said it's compulsory for children to attend school(if on the roll) but once home that is surely their own time. And if that time is judged to be better spent as a family (by the parent) then maybe homework should take a back seat in the priority list. Just because some parents don't spend family time the way other people think they should shouldn't mean that all parents should be tarred with the same brush or even that the 'incorrect' way that those parents spend time with their children is always the wrong way.

AHA!

BUT I AM A TEACHER!
And as one I would rather know when my kid can't do something.

I write a note to the teacher if my ds is struggling with the homework and cannot do it without lots of input from me.

I expect to help a bit, but want ds to think for himself as well. I expect ds to have grasped the basics of his homework task at school.

If this has not happened, something is wrong, either with the way ds has been taught or ds's attitude to learning the topic. It is up to me as a parent to hightlight this problem to the school.

I think it's dishonest and couterproductive to pass work off as ds's if in reality I have answered the questions for him. If ds is struggling, Ideally I will help ds to complete the task but if I am in a rush, would let ds not do the work and write a note to the teacher to explain why.

When ds was in reception and year 1, this happened from time to time as ds was quite a late reader.

Wouldn't the teacher be able to tell whether a child had understood a lesson or not by looking at his/her classwork? So if the work done in class is not so good and the homework is very good wouldn't the teacher realise that someone else had been involved?

Isn't homework at primary just for extra practice and to let parents know what their child is doing in school...and to get parents involved?

Yabu. If you are able to rxplain it then do. If you can't explain tell your child to take it in and tell the teacher they couild not do it.

I say " She found this really hard"
I ALWAYS asterisked answers i had helped with.

Is homework outdated?????????????

I'm a teacher (teens) and will help J with any humanities type homework, to the extent of teaching it if necessary because I understand how to and I know the teacher might not have time to go over it all again...especially when he probably missed the first explanation because he was kicking off in class.

J is 7 with autism and ADHD, bright but completely incapable of settling to work independently, and I see homework as a chance to overlearn the stuff he's learned in school BUT...I will not do Maths explaining if he doesn't understand it - it goes back undone with a note because I don't have a clue how to explain Maths the modern way and was never that good at it first time around!

He'll do what he can do and the rest isn't done.

Homework causes the most horrendous trouble here.

"Not helped at homework = falling behind in class = loss of motivation due to lack of understanding = poor grades at school = no further education = potentially (unless they go into building apprenticeships or similar) low paid employment requiring few qualifications = less money =poorer housing = worse health = shorter life expectancy. All facts if you research the links in sociology, psychology and health promotion."

Utter toss.

I didn't have any homework at primary school. By the time I did have homework, I got no help with it (unless you count testing on spellings and vocab, which I would call practical support rather than help)because it was beyond my parents and they didn't really understand it. I was exceptionally motivated, got excellent qualifications, and (from a state grammar) went to Oxford. I make good money, thanks - the rest we'll have to wait and see.

Why do some people confuse the Daily Mail editorial with fact? Probably got their parents to do their reading comprehensions for them ...

Not helped at homework = falling behind in class = loss of motivation due to lack of understanding = poor grades at school = no further education = potentially (unless they go into building apprenticeships or similar) low paid employment requiring few qualifications = less money =poorer housing = worse health = shorter life expectancy. All facts if you research the links in sociology, psychology and health promotion.

Never helped with homework = still managed to understand class work = no further education (no money for 6th form or uni)= no apprenticeship = earning twice nat average as project manager for major company = great house = good health = still working on life expectancy = but then my education was in the 60s.

MIFLAW - a sample size of one? Easy there, crunching those stats will burn you out if you're not careful.

I think yab perfectly reasonable, as long as you send a note to the teacher saying that he couldn't do it.

All homework at my DD's school is optional, so if I didn't let the teacher know she couldn't do it, then the teacher would just assume she hadn't wanted to and might not know tht she couldn't.

i think you are reasonable

if they say they cannot do it I have started saying why not? Not listening??

Of course some individuals will excel at school without any support or help at home, just as some will unfortunately struggle despite a great deal of support.

Individual examples can be given to support any viewpoint, but the majority of children will benefit from encouragement, support and being the one to one interaction that parents can provide by helping them with (not doing)homework.

Its not rocket science (that comes later)