to be seriously tempted to tell dd she doesn't have to do her project?

[emkana]

She's not even eight yet.
She's in Yr 3.
The project is about climate zones (yawn).

sanae - I agree with you re hw in general. I hate work sheets - they are they devil's toilet paper But I do see some benefit in doing little projects like this. They can be fun for the children and teaches them many more skills than filling in missing words on a sheet of paper

Sunny -- would you agree that little thought though has been given to the possibility that, depending on the teacher and the parent, it eases into them the lessons that

a. it's optional
b. mum will do it
c. the consequences for not doing it are trivial
d. trying their hardest may not be good enough
e. it's an unpleasant experience

Dreadful lessons to take to Y7.

Teachers are under such stress, and class sizes so large, you need a very brilliant and committed teacher to make it work in the way it should.

Absolutely disagree with homework at primary level. It is very obvious when projects have been completed by parents. My dd hated doing the homework, when they are very young (Year 1) they are so knackered when they get home, they should spend the evening playing and not doing poxy worksheets. I think it is by far enough for kids at primary level to read in the evening, anything else is a complete waste of time.

DD's first primary schools has a very rigid homework policy, however when we moved to Cheltenham a couple of years ago her (very good) primary had a no homework ever policy, just reading and the occasional spellings. It was great!

DD is now 13 and in year 8, she experienced no problems with the transition to a mroe strict and enforced homework regime. There is actually some point to homework at secondary level. It is, imo, utterly useless before then.

basically I think I'm with sanae and getorf -- leave it to secondary apart from reading, spelling, times tables etc.

Surely children learn that there are things you absolutely have to do in life through the reality that they have to turn up for school on time every day? I can't see how that lesson needs to be repeated.

"Bleating"?

how about gloating? how about judging?

how about a bit of understanding of the issues?

Quite. I wouldn't say that the mums who come on here and say "my child created 50 pages of fabulousness" are gloating so why accuse parents on the other side of bleating? That, I'm afraid, is judgemental.

Everyone's children gets homework, it doesn't mean everyone has an understanding. I don't, for example, but I have experience of how it's gone right and wrong, and I know for a damn fact that being positive is not a panacea or a magic potion.

Why would you lie to your children and pretend to be positive about something that you consider to be negative?

I understand the perspective that you should make your child do it because it is the school rules that they do. But pretending that something is worthwhile when you think it is pointless is just bizarre.

Bleating is a good word if we're talking about behaving as sheep and mindlessly following suit with something that may have undermined the value of 'hometime' for years.

It may have been how it is for some time but that doesn't mean we cannot act to change things now.

Primary schools are notoriously stifled by a lack of vision and staff commonly staunch in their views. This is the thing with institutions. Schools need this rigidity in order to function well in the main but that doesn't mean there isn't room for a widening of horizons and opening ears to the voices of parents and children.

The Children's Act was very important and I'd like to see it referenced far more often in schools. Children now have a recognised voice, but headteachers have always had a louder one and that needs to change.

had a similar experience recently , my ds1 had 2 do a 13 page (A4 size pages) project for school , they were given 3 weeks 2 compleat it , but coz my ds1 decided to fill 3 of the pages with large drawings , teacher increased the number of pages to 20 (shock)
(angry) he's only 10 . needless to say my hubby & i ended up finishing the project , ha

FWIW I don't agree at all with no homework.
My dc's went to a school where they did no homework.
not a spelling or worksheet in 4 yrs.
There was reading, but only if you actively went and got a book.
That's why the SATs results were poor imo.
and that's why I moved them to another state school.
They now have a lot of homework.
Their work has improved loads.
Ds2 has gone from being a serious underachiever to average in less than a year. His spelling age beginning of yr 3 was 5. It's now 8.5.
On top of that. homework is about parental involvement and communication isn't it?
I know what my dc's are doing.
I know how they are being taught. I can help, if I want.
I understand what you are saying about parents who are unable to help, but I think our school has covered that.
They have an optional drop in homework club 2 nights a week, where a teacher can help with topic work.
They also have a lunchtime homework club for those who have not done the work they should have.

YABU

Research evidenc on the value of homework:

From Review of studies on homework
by Caroline Sharp here

There is a positive relationship between time spent on homework and achievement at secondary school level (especially for older secondary students). Evidence at primary school level is inconclusive, because fewer studies have been carried out at primary level and results have been inconsistent.

Time spent on homework explains only a small amount of the variance in pupils' achievement scores, even at secondary level.

Studies conducted in the USA indicate that among younger (primary-age) children, lower achievers spend longer on homework.

And

The limited research into pupils' preferences indicates that pupils dislike being set routine homework tasks (such as finishing off classwork) which do not contribute to their learning. They prefer interesting, challenging and varied tasks that are clearly defined and have adequate deadlines.

Pupils' attitudes to homework appear to be related to characteristics such as age and cultural background. Several recent studies show that girls are more willing to spend time on homework than are boys.

There are contradictory findings regarding the relationship between amount of homework and pupil attitudes.

The suggestion that setting homework for primary-age pupils instills positive attitudes towards studying has received very little attention in the research literature.

Alfie Kohn is a prominent writer in the area of homework, especially at Primary level. He is widely respected (if not always agreed with!)
His research shows little/no evidence for homework being valuable at Primary school

Here is a link to an article by him
here

I wish my parents had be enthusiastic and encouraging about my homework when I was at primary school - I would've had a much better time later in completing homework. But my parents didn't give a stuff.

It's not just homework, it's the basis of learning as someone here has already said, and involves the basics that learning later will involve (research, writing, etc).

And climate zones might be boring for you but your dc might find it interesting to find out about the conditions in other climates, the animals and stuff in those climates and how other people live.

I don't agree with no homework either. But I would prefer to help them with spellings, tables, maths etc. The bits of learning that may be boring but need repetition and IMO they will benefit from your doing this with them at home. In my experience these things are quick and easy to do at home, cause little conflict and do not seriously impinge on their time to do other things. My problem is with more complex time consuming activities, particularly project work,which in our house has done nothing to inspire a love of learning or improve their general ability to study.

I don't get this argument "if she doesnt' do her project now she won't do her GCSE revision"

A family like ours will encourage learning and educational activities outside school without doing project work, she just limits us in what we can do and has an impact on our other children because when dd has to do her project we can't for example have a family day out

And if you read the title you can see that I feel tempted, I have not said anything negative to my dd at all

that's exactly how I feel sanae

I really don't see how that amount of project work would stop you having a day out emkana.
Each page would take and 1.5hours tops!
And that's leaving 1 hour to look things up, print out pictures on the internet and draw some graphs.

Do people who want to bet set homework to do with/for their child want it because they actually feel unsure about how to educate a child themselves?

If so, I can understand that there is a value in getting told what to do by a teacher. But the fact that some parents and children need support at home from schools doesn't seem an adequate reason for homework to be imposed upon the rest of us.

ingles

1.5 hours while one or two younger children tear around being distracting, needing entertaining, or are plonked in front of the tv, with further tidy up time/food time/nap time etc, and it still might not get done -- yup, that eats into a family day out

my younger two were just spit spot, fine

my eldest would have spent an hour of that lolling and refusing and stoically ignoring while playing lego fifteen minutes sitting sulkily at the screen while I scrolled through and fifteen minutes staring out of the window while i cut out pictures

with him, I wish I'd said, do you know what, forget it, we're going to the park

I am not saying everyone should change to suit the few like him: I am saying do NOT forget these children for whom homework is torture and who will have resentment drilled into them from y2

do NOT make assumptions, oh ye parents of happy homeworkers