MN teachers! Please help....why is homework set for primary aged children that needs parents to do it for them?

[Aloha]

Eg the Easter bonnnets that hardly any child of four could possibly make themselves? Or the dressing up costumes for World Book Day (thinking of Blu's iguanodon here!)? What is the rationale or is it a government initiative?

I'd be interested to know too, it pisses me off no end.

This isn't an attack btw! I love ds's school and his teacher!

It gets us all in practise for doing their GCSE coursework for them.

I think it is so the teachers can have a laugh at my rubbish efforts!

We did Easter Bonnets at weekend - we weren't to feel pressurised to do them (per note from school).

However, we did have alot of fun, I made basic structure (ie band round head and band from front to back) and DD cut out and stuck on.

Yes, she couldn't do it all by herself - but what she could do, she had loads of fun doing, and it was a fun to spend time doing the activity with her.

And next year i'm going to get a thesaurus and replace the word fun with other words.

i am a teacher and tbh i have no idea but it pi$$es me off too.
we don't do it at our school-well it is a unit.

at my last school the children could bring stuff from home to decoarte their egg/hat/whatever or use school resources but it all had to be done in school time so then parents couldn't do it for their DCs. this really really really naffed some parenst off so much that the head started an egg dec comp for parents only!

at another school a friends DD had to decoatre an egg-she was 3 - friend boiled the egg, her DD felt-tipped it brown and stuck 2 googly eyes on (in the wrong place) - on her way into school she dropped it but when friend went to pick her up...there was DD's smashed 'mouse' with a sign saying FIRST PRIZE. all the others had obviously been done by the parents. if only all schools wwere like that.

Perhaps the idea is that you do it with them? Not for them.

Costumes/bonnets etc are optional at ds's school. And although there are some tremendous creations, most aren't, and indeed bear unmistakeable evidence of 5 year old input...

Ooh sorry. An arsey first sentence from me. My boiler has just been 'failed' and I am in a bad mood

I was under the impression (not a teacher btw and I don't have school age kids, but my mum was a teacher and she rants a lot) that there was some research that showed that kids whose parents take an interest in their homework tend to do better at school, so typically confusing correlation with causation the people who make education policy decided that parents should be made to help with homework more.

It makes me very angry actually as I see it as part of the movement away from a philosophy where children were considered to have the potential to transcend home environment and the right to be judged on their own merits, towards one where it is considered ok to treat them in a certain way based on what their parents do - whether that means stigmatizing children for bringing in unhealthy packed lunches, or allocating university places based on parental education levels.

I did say sorry...

my wasn't aimed at you BB

I set practise for my pupils that is a million times better the next week if an intelligent adult sits next to them while they do it. But it's only sitting there for 10 minutes a day, and having a cup of tea at the same time is encouraged.

Anything that comes back from Kindy that ds either can't or won't do does not get done. Decorating bike for sponsored cycle for instance - I just don't think that a child of 4 can decorate a bike and it still be safe to ride.

Crikey you must all have co-operative children. My ds2 particularly always has extremely strong opinions as to how something is done, and refuses to let me help or interfere at all!

Fortunately we get very few of this sort of homework, and no Easter bonnets/eggs/dressing up at all.

But I agree that parental support is important. Unusually ds2 has had quite a few bits of homework this hols, and we are gradually getting through it by me encouraging him to do a bit each day.

i agree that parental support is vital but some parents believe that parental 'support' means do it for them!
and tbh things like decorating eggs/hats/costumes are not chosen for their educational value but for the fun element, which is somewhat lost when you add the word 'competition' and prize. it is completely differnt to homework

Projects are my pet hate. No guidance was given at dd's old school hence some children in Y5 did great pieces of original well researched work, some downloaded and printed a load of guff from the internet and some produced very little. All down to parents' understanding and interpretation of the task. Very unfair.

Oh god.....don't get me started!!

This drives me mad!

Ds1's homework is to do a project on our town history.

He's 7 FGS and we've only lived here for 15 months so hardly know the place well yet.

I know it'll be a easy thing to do but the thought of taking ds1,2,3 and 4 around the town to do this project makes me want to scream.

It is me that helps with the homeworks mostly but this time I've siad Dh can do it.

I guess the idea is that parents get involved in doing something with their kids to do with school; that they take an interest and promote a positive school/home liaison or some such guff. I think the principle is fine but the projects need to be very carefully thought out - anything that clearly allows alpha mummies and daddies to display their skills in a compeitive way is not going to foster good relations or attitudes and I guess the teachers/school need to adapt their thinking according to the area they are in and the kind of parents they have.

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