Yr 3 homework and spellings

[chillie]

Would love others to say what their opinion is before my meeting on Wed morning.

Dd is in yr 3 and has five 'spellings' each week. Last week, in line with other weeks they were " didn't, doesn't, don't, weren't and wasn't" For each spelling she has to write the definition from the dictionary and a sentence with the word in it. I have no problem with the sentence, but the definition cannot be found without my help as it is the verb 'do'. I do not feel that these are spellings but grammar rules instead. I am also trying to get dd to do her homework with as little help as possible to set her up for a lifetime of self motivated studying. She is only 7 but i really feel that the least help(not NO help) I give her the better. I do of course check it when she has finished.
Homework last week was to compare 4 products from 2 supermarkets saying what price they were in both shops, the difference in prices separately and together and what savings could be made with coupons, BOGOF, percentage discounts, buying different brands ect. This was supposed to be done with a parent by going to the shops or online. I have 3 children of 3,5 and 7. Dd does clubs three afternoons a week and I work 3 days a week. To top it all off, Dd has not yet learnt to multiply or divide decimal numbers, nor does she have any idea what percentage means. SO what I want to know is SO 'Do you think the homework is for her or me?'
The burning question I also want to know is ' Do you think that if I am expected to TEACH (not revise or help or oversee) my child then it should be up to me what I teach her? I forgot to say DD is very top of her class and I am an ex teacher and homework is not differentiated.
All opinions would be gratefully received as my goal is to resolve not antagonise the situation.

My dd is in Year 3 and wouldn't be able to do the homework that you describe. The sentences would be easy but the dictionary work would be difficult for the reason that you describe.

As for the maths- she is in the top group but not top of the top group and wouldn't be able to do the percentages. (My son in year 5 wouldn't know what the % discount was unless the supermarket had labels like "25% off" etc

I would only do the bits that my dd could understand. So for my dd, I'd take her to a couple of websites or supermarkets so that she can record the prices and let her do the subtracting and comparing. Eg. Heinz ketchup costs £x more than Tesco own brand and £y more than Sainsburys own brand.

I remember DS got a similar homework last year when he was in Yr3. But that was just to record 5 items from the bills and sum them up. And see how much change would be given when we paid £50 or so.
Even that he was not able to do without my help, as he didnt know decimals. But DS loved this exercise, and tried his best with it. But percentages etc. its just too much !

My youngest's school says that we, the parents are our children's "greatest learning resource" and gives a book of free choice, project type assignments each term, one to be submitted each fortnight. The organisation is obviously down to the parents as is the collecting and collating of much material. I would go nuts if I still had to help the (much) older siblings too. It is laughable to see the wonderful contributions parents come up with and makes things done by children with less help look inadequate. It is also especially hard for children who are less organised or careless or who have any SpLD to come up with something that looks reasonable.

The problem seem to me to be that there is no real consensus in the UK of what homework should consist of or should be trying to achieve - or if it is actually achieving anything. In their attempt to create meaningful tasks, rather than repetitive ones, some schools give out work which causes a lot of stress in busy families. I would ask them what the philosophy behind their approach is and see if their answer seems coherent to you and then discuss your issues from there. If you get anywhere, please let me know and I might try it too - after I have finished painting gold leaf on my Egyptian temple that is.

chillie, I think you might be making too much of the spelling because the Concise Oxford gives the following definitions:

didn't - did not
doesn't - does not
don't - do not
weren't - were not
wasn't - was not

so this may be all the teacher is actually looking for in order to show the role of the apostrophe in a contraction.

However, the shopping homework sounds like an absolute nightmare and more suited to a year 7 home economics tasks than a general homework for a child who has only recently started year 3.

I had to all but walk my DD through her hw last night and yours sounds no more suitabe than ours was.

My DD is in year 2 and the youngest in the class...she had to identify food types, write 5 foods in each of 4 boxes and then on the other side of the sheet "Write about why a balanced diet is important"

I read it out and she said "What's a balanced diet"

DD can only just write!

I was that she was given work which has either not been covered or covered well.

I taught her what a balanced diet is...but then thught...I'm sending her there...paying fees and putting up with all kinds of crap and I bloody have to teach her things nightly!

That sounds very frustrating. I sympathise, I have frequently had to teach my DSDs things when they've stayed at weekends, bringing their HW. Stuff the school should be teaching, but they seem to think homework is for learning entirely new concepts rather than revising and consolidating.

Not that I mind teaching this stuff, would happily homeschool my kids, but FFS why send a child to school if you then have to make up for their failings.

Sorry rant over