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Original poster

from state into private sector in year 4 - I'm worried about homework

16 replies

mckenzie · 04/10/2009 17:47

DS currently gets three pieces of homework per week, one maths, one spellings and handwriting and one other.
If he gets a place at the private school he will have homework every night. Does anyone else have any experience of this please and how did their DC cope?

TIA

OP posts:

LIZS · 04/10/2009 19:12

dd is year 4 , sometimes it is reading for 20 mins then one evening is maths, one creative writing (usually have moro than one day to hand in) another spellings and worksheet related to it, weekend is either history, georgraphy or science usually a worksheet, task or factfinding. tbh it doesn't feel particularly arduous but dd is ratheh mreo motivated than ds was at the same age ! There are also other optional things to do plus music practice etc to fit in.

fivecandles · 04/10/2009 19:22

My dcs get homework every night sometimes just reading a short book, sometimes spellings, times table prac etc.

Since they've done it from a v. early age they just see it as something they do. We do it at the same time every day. After tea and before tv/stories/play time/ bed and Sunday morning. Very occasionally we do use bribery e.g. a sweet for every correct spelling. When dc1 occasionally isn't up for it we don't push it but she knows she will have to face the consequences the next day with her teacher and all her friends having done it so she does it. End of.

wicked · 04/10/2009 21:38

Will your Ds do prep in his independent school?

If so, it will take all pressure off you and your home life.

Original poster

mckenzie · 04/10/2009 21:50

forgive my ignorance wicked but I don't know. And the reason I don't know the answer is probably a lot to do with the fact that I don't understand the question .
What do you mean by 'doing prep'? please. I thought prep meant preparatory as in prep school.

OP posts:

englishpatient · 04/10/2009 21:54

Prep's just another name for homework, I thought. I don't understand wicked's comments either!

Original poster

mckenzie · 04/10/2009 21:58

sorry, thank you for the other replies too! I guess it is something that we will get used to. A little every night actually doesn't 'sound' too bad , especially if we get in to a routine of doing it at a certain time. He hasn't got a place yet but I think I might try doing something myself with him every night for the next few weeks and see how we get on. After tea sounds like a good idea fivecandles. He usually gets a little burst of energy then after the calories have been consumed. We'll give it a go. thanks

OP posts:

SofaQueen · 04/10/2009 21:58

I've been doing the rounds of Open Days for prep schools, and the common message seems to be half and hour of homework every day in Year 3 and 4. It increases in year 5.

lostinfrance · 04/10/2009 22:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

GoppingOtter · 04/10/2009 22:02

isnt prep after school when they all do homework?

Original poster

mckenzie · 04/10/2009 22:10

thanks guys. We haven't got a place yet lostinfrance - we're at the in between stage now of finally deciding to make the move but now having to wait for either a child to leave the school or for the head teacher to decide to increase the class size. I hope it will be worth the wait.

OP posts:

thedolly · 04/10/2009 22:13

Some Prep schools that finish late (probably those with boarding facilities) have a homework session ('prep') before the day pupils go home for the evening. This is usually supervised by a member of staff and all books stay in school.

Original poster

mckenzie · 04/10/2009 22:14

thanks thedolly. makes sense why they call it prep then and not 'home' work

OP posts:

LIZS · 05/10/2009 08:28

Ours can't stay for "prep" (ie to do homework after school) until Year 5 and then it is optional how many times per week.

LadyMuck · 05/10/2009 08:58

As other have said, the homework itself isn't usually too arduous (other than the start of creative writing which was torture!).

But I think that the "difficulty" for me comes from the other activities that have to be fitted in. If you have a sporty child then there are extra sports practices after school one or two nights a week. Ds1 probably has a sports fixture eating into after school time once a fortnight or so. Whilst the boys do drama at school, the main school production has boys from a number of school years in it so again practices are after school. And if your son learns an instrument (and I cannot think of a single child at either ds's school who doesn't learn at least one, often 2), then music practice has to be fitted in. And of course there are plenty of clubs etc to be fitted in after school. Ds1 finishes school at the official time about 3 days per fortnight, and on average finishes an hour later on the other days. In addition to homework the boys are expected to read for 20 minutes a day, though they can choose freely what is read - beano is fine.

Obviously sport, music, drama and clubs are part of state school life too, so this element may not be so much of a change. but personally the issue isn't so much "how do we fit homework in", but rather "how do we fit it all in?".

ICANDOTHAT · 05/10/2009 09:37

My ds1 moved from state at the end of year 3 and started private in year 4. The homework was a shock for about the first month, but we got used to it. I say 'we' because I spent hours helping him with it - we were both exhausted.

ICANDOTHAT · 05/10/2009 09:39

Sorry , forgot to mention .... try not to sign him up for extra curricular activities for the first term - give him time to 'suss' out his timetable. If he's finishing school at 5-5.30 some evening, homework can become a real nightmare.

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