Homework in reception

[MadButMeansWell]

DS started YR in Sep. generally I'm really happy with the school, he's settled well, the staff/kids/parents all seem nice. there's just one niggle. He gets homework EVERY night. Its handwriting practice every night. It apparently should take 10- 15 mins, and i know he is probably capable of this but he's knackered and its a battle. Every night there are tears/ threatened phone calls to father xmas etc. I feel like homework already has massively negative connotations for him. He is able to do it- that's not really my gripe- I feel that at his age he should be able to just play when he gets home. Its also quite repetitive- an entire A4 page of the same letter. I counted it up and each night he has to write the same letter 90 times!!!! In fairness I can't believe how quickly his writing is coming on, fluent, neat, correctly formed. However I don't think I did any homework until secondary school- and I still got a bunch of A levels, a degree and a good job.

Just wondered if this is normal???

Not normal here. The only homework we get is a wordless reading book a week. Haven't even started phonics seriously yet!

Not normal here, plus 99% of our parents would totally ignore it anyway.

It clearly is a trade off and your son will be miles ahead of others who do not have this level of writing practice. Key thing is to focus on correct letter formation, so I hope that this is made clear on your homework sheets. If you really think that it is too much I would raise it with his teacher, maybe he could do half a sheet, or have homework every other day. I would avoid not having any homework in your situation as he may get behind his peers really quickly. Good writing is really important, your school clearly takes it very seriously. That is very positive. But I do agree that it is a lot to ask from a 4-5 year old.

Have a word with the teacher. I suspect its not compulsory and its in there for the parents who want it. My ds is yr 1 now but he's not managing all the homework. I mentioned it to the teacher that he's just too tired in the evenings and she said its not compulsory, just some parents expect it. She went on to say that my ds works hard in school so of course he's tired in the evenings and just wants to play and have me read him some stories etc. So we do what he wants, I never force it and I think outside the box (so he's currently "buying" dinner with a pile of 10p's and 1p's to help his tens and units understanding. He thinks its a game and doesn't realise he's learning).

Thanks for the responses. I talked to the teacher after school last week but I can't really say that he can't do it - he can, i'm just not fussed on him having to so young!! But if he doesn't the others get stickers and rewards on their charts and he wouldn't. Think I will just have to persevere.

If anyone who reads this have YR children with a similar amount of homework- I'd love to hear what they do to motivate etc when they're tired in the evening. Cheers.

does he get up early in the morning? My DD is tired in the evening, we have no homework as such yet, just encouraged to practice letters and writing as much as possible each night. So when DD gets up at 6:30am I give her a pencil and some paper (usually remember to put it out the night before) and tell her to do some writing mummy still needs more sleep

She also reads her reading book in the morning once I have my in bed :)

That's such a good idea- I hadn't even thought of doing it in the morning- he does tend to be up before 7 so I think I will try doing a bit first thing. Thanks