Home Work?

[sharry]

Do parents and teachers value the role of homework and parental involvement in their childs education?

As a secondary school teacher I would say that generally the answer is yes IF the homework set is being done for a reason, and not just 'cos homework has to be set according to some policy. At secondary parental involvement in homework isn't really something I consider to be honest, although I do feel that parent's should be involved with knowing what their child is doing and what he/she should be doing - hence I like the idea of homework diaries which parents have to sign.

In general terms I think that parental involvement with education is very important and that schools and parents should work together as far as possible. Without that mutual cooperation education will just fall apart to no one's benefit.

I'll second that CnR

How do you feel about homework for ks1 children?
There usually is a lot of parental guidance, with reading and games but do children now need this? They used to play out all day, when i was a child no one had mobiles, you could play-out all day! everyone was the same, we all drank water from a hosepipe and never got ill! We rode bikes in packs of 5 & 7, we always had coats on our heads, there was no national curriculum, SATS,SITS. We learnt to be creative, if board we often made a new games, we learnt how to get along with others! Times really have changed!

I still think the parental involvemnt with school is important, in fact even more so at that age.

I don't see any problem with reading homwork for key stage 1, or maybe a little bit of numeracy to do with mummy or daddy's help so long as it is just a little bit in moderation, and again with a clear purpose.

I am a bit concerned by the amount of homework I have seen on MN for some children, especially at KS2, and I do wonder how much of some of that is useful homework.

times have changed! I never got homework at all til I was 11 and remember really pitying a friend of mine who did and had to stay in in the evenings to do it. Can't say it seemed to make much of a difference to our future academic development. I also wouldn't want my children to be doing homework at a young age unless it was something like a project box that could be worked on for fun at weekends. At secondary school though there's so much to learn that those who don't do homework or whose parents don't encourage them to do it will usually see their work suffer. That said though, if you're a bright spark then maybe not - my sister never did a jot of homework and went on to get a first at uni.

My DS got in a right state yesterday about not doing his homework. His school has a policy of setting Maths, English and Reading homework every night unless there is other homework set. They are expectd to do 45 mins to an hour each evening.

Is this about the norm and/ how does it compare with your children's? I need some ammo. for this evening!

My ds (Year 5) is supposed to read a bit every night. He gets one piece of literacy and one piece of maths hw per week . All in all the 2 bits of hw take him about 1-1.5 hours to complete.

DD (Year 8) doesn't get anywhere near as much hw as I used to get at that age. About 30 mins per night!

Thanks SpaceMonkey. I used to get about an hour a night at that age too.

Maybe he's at the age when he starts asserting his authority. Boy for sale, anyone?

I do value the homework, as it is really useful for finding out not only what your children have been up to, but how they are doing, and whether they understand the work they have been set. In general the homeowrk mine get doesn't take too long, but some is set every night, except in Yr-2 inc who get weds off - so my Y1 boy gets a maths worksheet on mon, reading on tues, spellings on thurs and reading and a worksheet on fri. The older 2 get more but rarely takes more than 30-45 mins (Y4 +5)unless there is colouring involved in which case they will spend all night at it.
They gert plenty of time to play outside - most nights they go strainght out hwen we get in, i see the homework as a change from TV or playstation not from having the chance to get out and romp around.

I agree with Morocca. Age 11 is plenty young enough to start. Loathe the idea of taking work home for adults, let alone kids. Poor mite - let them play I say! Liberate our children from homework tyranny! No homework at primary school!

Did anyone see this article about homework on the BBC website ? It's some food for thought!

Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!!! I end up having huge rows with DH because he thinks they should do it. (DS1 is 11 and DS2 is just 7) as it prepares them for secondary school!!!! What?? Should I start preparing for my old age now??? I'm happy to do reading, but holiday homework can take a hike, as can doing something to prepare for a new topic. That's NOT my job - it's the class teacher's. And if they've got any sense, they'll realise that they'll be starting from a very uneven playing field by doing it that way. I'm a KS1 teacher and feel that they do more than enough in school in KS1 and KS2, without bringing mountains home for me to end up doing - I've enough with my own planning thanks!! Secondary school is another matter - but within reason please. No reason to give them exam levels of homework before they need it.

I've got a 6yr old in year 1, gets maths homework once a week. that's ok, we can manage that. i hear that some others same age/year get h/wk every night -how do they manage this? i'm sure we're not unusual, we don't get home till 6pm, then tea, bit of play then bath/bed by 8.

My dd is 6 and in primary 2. She gets reading homework and that's usually all. She has a reading book and a homework diary which tells us which pages to read. But the teacher doesn't listen to them reading every day so sometimes she can be on the same pages for over a week so we usually read ahead. Occasionally if she hasn't finished work in class the teacher would send it home for her to do at night which I was quite happy about.

My ds in year 4 gets a pice of literacy homework one week and maths the next and is also expected to read each day. I personally wouldnt mind if there was nothing except reading, but the school has to consider the wishes of all parents (some would like lots) and govt/Ofsted guidelines and come to a compromise. It used to be a bit randomn but is now well targeted and connected to work they are doing in class. The homework takes about 30 mins usually so its not too onerous. DS1 in Yr 7 has about 45 mins to 1 hr per eving on average. I had expected more but am glad its not too much.