Fitting in homework - how?

[LifeD1lemma]

I’ve got a 4yo (preschool) and 7yo (year 2) and I’m really struggling to fit in homework - how does everyone manage when both parents work full time?

DC1 is learning an instrument and does 15 minutes practice morning and evening, we read to both at bedtime (and listen to both read) but really struggle to do more than this as they just want to play after school/are in activities. DC1 is supposed to be doing times tables and spellings and though we usually do a bit at the weekend I don’t think it’s enough, and worried about how we will cope when DC2 has homework as well from september. They’re at a normal state primary in London.

What does everyone else do?

Nonsense. I’m a professional musician and have to be “cajoled” a lot of the time!!! and I wasn’t even playing the instrument at 7.

Fair enough

It hasn't been my experience. I had a lot of friends who were very musical at school, one who went to Chetham's and she definitely needed zero cajoling to practice. She started at 4 too.

My son is 8 and plays the piano - nowhere near as talented as the OP's son but most days, he will do his practice totally without being prompted. Sadly he doesn't do his homework without prompting!

Oh they're still so young! We simply did what we could at primary school. If we couldn't manage it all we simply didn't do it. The teachers never said anything because I believe it's not compulsory at primary school (different matter when they get to secondary school!). I didn't have homework at primary school and I really believe the primary school years shouldn't be stressful or such a slog.

The OP says he does do homework at the weekend, just not in the week, so far from ‘zero’

The whole “exceeding” thing in Year 2, is particularly difficult in writing, for example.
If you really want to support in a targeted way academically, look at the detail of the National Curriculum and do a few KS1 SATs papers. Then you may quickly come to understand where exactly the gaps may be. For bright children, it is very easy to plug the gaps with minimal 1:1 intervention at home. You just need to understand how your DC’s brain works. The writing element is a bit contrived by the way in terms of how they have to build up their writing and what they need to show “independently” to the teacher.

With times tables, one issue with the apps is they test all facts within a table, rather than focusing on the specific ones that need to be learned.

Before using the apps, and to fit ‘homework’ into tiny pockets of time each day, I would suggest ‘a fact a day’ initially.

Write all the 5x table facts on slips of paper. Find out which he already knows (can reply to the question as quickly as to the question ‘what is your name?’) He should already know 1x, 2x and 10x - if he hasn’t made the link between 2x5 and 5x2 etc then this is REALLY important to embed at this point. Put them in a second cup.

Put the remaining slips in a cup. Draw one out each morning, and that becomes the ‘fact of the day’, to be asked at every possible point in the day - putting on his shoes, clipping his cycle helmet, putting his bowl in the dishwasher, while putting his violin away etc etc. Then put that slip in the second cup with the ‘already known’ facts. Repeat until all the slips are in cup 2.

Check which facts he now knows (if you start this on a Monday, this will probably be the second weekend) and repeat for those few he still doesn’t know. If he’s just wobbly on a few, you can do 2 each day or a mix of 2 ‘known’ and 1 ‘wobbly’.

Once he knows all or almost all, then it’s time to use the apps for increased speed and revision, in a single block of say 10 mins every few days or even just at weekends.

The trick is wedging seconds of homework in many many times per day rather than having to find ‘a clear 10-15 minutes’.

You can do the same for spellings, by the way - test what he knows already from the list, do 1 of the unknowns each day, check them all just before the deadline for knowing them.

@civilmars he’s only just turned 7. He doesn’t particularly like doing anything that he’s told to do…I thought that was normal?! He really loves playing his violin, he loves being able to play his pieces and perform them for us and others, but he doesn’t so much like having to break off a Beyblades game to practice scales because I’m rushing out the door to work and so need to hear them now. I think this is understandable?!

I’m sure as he gets older he will become more self-motivated with it but it’s a skill he has to learn, which is partly why I think learning an instrument is really good for him. I guess I just need to apply the same attitude to his school stuff and make sure we have enough time for both.

We do his written homework every weekend - usually 4 activities, some of which just involve talking through stuff he’s learned.

Thanks so much all for the tips on how to squeeze the spellings and tables in - @cantkeepawayforever really useful - I will try this this week! We also walked to school today rather than cycling which gave us more time to talk and I threw a few maths qs in there - will do a bit more of that as the weather gets nicer 🤞🏻

I think all I was really trying to say is that cajoling him into violin practice twice a day is quite a lot for his age and some of that time would be better spent on homework.

It sounds like you're a very dedicated parent, and it's clear you care about your child's learning. Also, your support of the instrument practice is amazing.

Juggling work, after-school activities, family life, and schoolwork is incredibly demanding. You've already got such good advice and support here, so I'd just like to add this:

Given your DC1 is only in Year 2, this will be mostly about building foundations for a habit of practice. So, 5 minutes of times tables and 5 minutes of spelling per day will be enough, but consistently every day. Short bursts of consistent practice are very beneficial at this age.
If you can make this a bit of a routine/habit, that would be ideal.

It's really helpful to give children about 30 minutes of rest after school or swimming/after school activities before starting on times tables and spelling. Ideally, playing or reading, not on a device. That gives the brain time to reset. This break actually could be used for the violin practice, as music does help the brain to relax and reset. Since he has shown he can learn with his instrument, that is a great strength to build on.
If you manage to make this a sort of routine/habit, it will be already in place when your DC2 joins in with homework in September.

You can turn the times tables practice into a game to make it more fun: "Let's see how many 5 times table questions we can answer before the timer runs out!" Use music and rhythm: As you mentioned, he loves music. Could you create or find a simple song or rhythm to learn the times tables? Maybe he can learn to play the song on his violin.
For spelling, there are some activities that children enjoy even if they are not on apps. For example, rainbow writing – write each word in a different colour of a rainbow, or pyramid spelling when you write the words starting with one letter, then add a second, then a third, etc. (e.g., the word school: s, sc, sch, scho, schoo, school).

I hope this helps.

It's understandable to feel worried by the school's expectations. But you are already doing a great job by trying to change things for your DC1 and these small changes will make a difference. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or just need a listening ear.

Good luck.