Homework in preschool

[Sceptre86]

Hi my dd attends preschool in Scotland and is 3 nearly 4. She has been attending since Auguat 2019, since January of this year she gets one or two pieces of homework a week. The first being four words we are to encourage her to use in sentences so she understands what the words mean and how to use them. The words are taken from a book they have read that week. Also this week she had to draw a picture of what she saw in the sky at night time.

I was hoping to find out if other kids in preschool are given homework and how often? Is my dd's homework a normal amount and typical?

I work at a preschool and absolutely we don’t issue homework!

Didn't go to preschool but think they got a few worksheets in reception. I don't think homework is necessary in primary school really.

Pre school is playing time not homework. We ignored homework until senior school.

We’re in England and one of my children was in a state nursery and the other private and none of them got homework. That said, the work seems reasonable.

To be honest I am not sure how helpful it is. She can recognise all the letters of the alphabet and over the course of the year I want to support her with phonics and holding a pencil but I wouldn't expect her to be able to write letters yet? I am not sure if my expectations of her are too low? I wanted her to attend preschool to help her increase her confidence and make friends as she is very shy but friendly.

@Parker231 we ignore lots too. The pointless shit doesn’t make the cut.

But are they expecting her to write letters? They are encouraging an expanding vocabulary and some mark making. I wouldn’t term this as homework...

@Sceptre86 you’re 100% right not to expect her to hold a pencil and write yet! Pick and choose the work will benefit her. The reality is her social skills are more important now and the rest will come at school. My children were very shy, nursery is great for that.

My almost-4-year-old is in pre-school. No homework. He does get a reading book each week. Sometimes with words. Sometimes just pictures. We ‘read’ it together talking about the story/characters/feelings and looking out for letters he knows. That’s it.

Like you we’re working on phonics a bit and on holding his pencil. I’ll try to get him writing his own name by September and he already recognises numbers and enjoys basic adding and subtracting. I wouldn’t be impressed by homework though.

I also don’t think they are expecting actual ‘art.’ They are expecting you to have a chat about some new words and for her to scribble on a piece of paper. That doesn’t seem very onerous to me. If you don’t want to do it then don’t but it just seems like a suggestion for 1:1 parent child time over the weekend as opposed to ‘homework’ to support learning.

We did the work over the weekend and dd had fun explaining what she could see in the sky. She also enjoyed talking about what colours to use. Otherwise she drew some scribbles on the page with not much discernible unless dh did it for her. I can see how it has benefitted dd. It's difficult when it is your first child and you don't know what to expect in terms of homework or support work, whether they are getting too much, too less or shouldn't be getting any.

Spectre86 thats not really homework though is it? rather look at it as extending learning from the Pre-school to the childs' home to ensure the child is having continuity and feels secure with all adults. We never would send homework home, no Pre-school would just because we want to include parents in the learning journey doesn't mean it's homework as what you get in KS1 onwards.

Sorry Sceptre86

Pre-schools are not expected by Ofsted to do Phonics, and they have stated this clearly. Phonics are preferred by our school (and many others) to be started in Reception when the children are better able and ready to learn this skill. Pre-school is about learning through play, the practitioners are well educated and know what they are doing, they will not overload your child with things that might be nice to do at home, and make yo feel involved in your childs' learning journey.