Am I being a horrible pushy parent?

[runawayrunaway]

Ds is in year 3 at a lovely local state primary. He is very happy, has lots of friends - it's a small, inclusive, very welcoming school. I knew when he started there that it was the least academic of the three local primaries, but I went for it because of its lovely atmosphere and have not been disappointed on that score. Ds has done well so far (great KS1 results, free reader since Yr 1, consistently good reports from teachers etc). So far, so good.

However, since he's gone into yr 3 I've become increasingly concerned about the level of work he's being set, and have been particularly disappointed with the homework he's being asked to do. A couple of weeks ago the h/w was to draw the Fairtrade logo and write a sentence about what Fairtrade is; before that it was to draw a fairground ride. This week it was to write a list of the healthy foods you've eaten over the week (oh, and draw them).

It's not that I'm against these activities in principle (I have no problem with him learning about Fairtrade or whatever, obviously) - but where's the maths? The grammar? The geography? The science? Am I being ridiculously old-fashioned in thinking that now and again he should be coming home with some multiplication, or some spellings, not just 'draw a picture of your dinner'?

In Yr 1 , for example, his teacher saw that he was quick with reading and gave him a book review notebook to fill in - read a book, write a review - he loved doing it. I try to do extra stuff with him at home - mathletics, reading, freerice.com etc - and I write it in his homework book but it rarely gets any comment from the teacher.

Am I being horribly pushy in thinking he should be stretched a bit more than this? And if not, what can I do about it? Do you think this is reasonable homework for Yr 3?

It's parent's evening next week - I want to say something but am not sure how to couch it. And given that last parent's evening I was in there for 2 minutes and literally all she kept saying was 'Yes, he's fine', I'm not holding out much hope of a constructive response. I know that Yr 3 can be a crucial year when kids that started off keen can slack a bit if their enthusiasms aren't stimulated, and I don't want this happening to ds.

Sorry for the ramble. I am quite willing to hear that IABU, btw

'some stupid line ' about ... being creative? Do you really want your child's school life NOT to be creative? We could, of course, sit them in lines, work in complete silence, do little other than spellings and tables tests, punish the less able for less good marks by keeping them in at playtime for extra practice, do nothing other than mock SATs from January onwards ... I have colleagues like that. But it seems like a very sad way to pass your childhood.

Why not get your child to draw his weetabix and then write a few sentences underneath; for example: 'I had weetabix, which gives me energy from the carbohydrate and a little protein from the wheat. I had sugar and milk on it which gives me ....'

Re: Not colourful enough - maybe his weetabix could be served with sprinkles on top?

I can see that perhaps at the start of the year, before she had got to know the children in the class, she may well have been a bit vague.

Ask to see the exercise books; although this should be a matter of course at a PE (ours are all laid out for you to look at before going in to/after the meeting)

and go in with a list of specific questions/concerns and pin her down to an answer.

oh, and my DS gets both literacy and numeracy homework, has to read aloud 3 times to us (and we get snippy notes home if we haven't recorded it in his planner), and is expected to read a library book a week as well and has done since year 2. I personally think it's WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much.

Rhadegunde - exactly. I don't mind if the h/w is creative (although I am a complete dunce at things like that, which I suppose might partly explain my antipathy toward it) but I do think there needs to be a mix of stuff coming home. Drawing weetabix wouldn't put my back up so much if it wasn't the same thing every week. I like a maths worksheet now and again - nowt wrong with that, surely?

BalloonSlayer - I'm honoured that you would consider my little thread worthy of a 'get a grip'. You don't want to be chucking those piercing insights around willy-nilly, after all...

I guess I don't really get what is wrong with knowing your child is bright and wanting them to be given appropriate work to challenge and stretch them? There seems to be a real attitude of "it's all right to push to get your child's needs filled if they have SEN, but don't DARE infer your child needs more challenging work than the norm....". And parent's evenings and homework are the only opportunities you really have to find out exactly what your child is learning and how they are doing. In addition to which, research has shown that the more involved a parent is in their child's education, the better they are likely to do academically. In fact as I understand it, it is the single most important factor... more important even than the teacher....

So yes "get a grip" - get a grip on what your child is doing and how well it suits him. I really liked the idea of taking the colouring worksheet and getting him to write a bit about it at the bottom. The only homework my daughter brings home is spelling words - she finds this very boring so tends to use the words to write a story or poem.

Could you make an appointment to speak to the teacher after school to discuss how your child is getting on, and ways you can help thim?

spelling seems an odd one. my year 3 boy comes home with 14 words a week (carriage, thermometer, chimney, crystalline) and generally gets them all right in the test. Then in his creative writing will spell says as sais, maybe as mayby etc. The two processes (tests and free writing) seem to use completely different parts of the brain!

Where I work there is no school wide spelling policy, it is depends on individual teachers and generally not 'taught' systematically. Consequently spelling is generally appalling especially years 5 & 6 now approaching SATs.
At my DC's school there is a comprehensive system of teaching the spelling methods from day one and they bring home spellings every week to learn (ie 'ai' words, prefixes etc.) that they have looked at in class. They are good spellers.
I would agree that random tests don't work, but teaching 'how to spell' does.
This as homework is useful & reinforces learning in school. More useful than drawing Weetabix? Creative homework can be fun though, specially in the form of a self researched project.

Balloonslayer - I fully agree. From what I can remember year 3 was about doing your best to convince the teacher to let you outside to do a nature 'project' e.g. run about like a fool. I have distinct memories of convincing her to let us measure the distance around the whole school with one of those walking clicky things.

We had very little homework at all in primary school - a little bit in year 6 but otherwise nothing. In fact even in high school we sometimes had none.

I have a PhD. Strangely, these early experiences did not ruin my chances in life. Stressing and worrying about a 6 year old however...

I think you need to see the whole picture. Is your ds' homework creative/basic because the school can't be arsed or because they are doing such an amazing job covering the heavy stuff in class? Are these illustration jobs in lieu of learning or to enhance the learning that has already taken place? Makes a difference, doesn't it?

TO my mind, homework can be a good resource, at least for older children. But it should never be where the real learning is taking place.