Sorry if this study is old or this topic has been done to death but is there really any benefit for home work?

[Italiangreyhound]

Sorry if this study is old or this topic has been done to death but is there really any benefit for home work?

www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/rethinkinghomework.htm

www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-24/study-finds-homework-has-limited-value/4330514

happychild.mobi/articles/what-is-the-value-of-homework-research-and-reality

My dd is dyslexic, 10 year old, and is really struggling at school. Home work is a total battle and pretty much has always been so.

She hates it, resents doing it and often ends up in tears. Tonight I was the one in tears.

Is it all for something or just a massive emotional waste of time?

Any replies very gratefully received.

Thank you in advance.

As a teacher the only useful purpose homework serves is to inform parents what their child is doing in class. The evidence suggests it has minimal impact on achievement.

Spelling tests are useless as well right?

Most teachers I know loathe homework, it's a pain to differentiate and assess properly given variation in support children will receive, the children that need the extra practice are the ones that never do it, it takes ages to mark, feedback is usually ignored, time is spent chasing up those that won't/don't/can't do it that would best be spent elsewhere and it doesn't do any good.
Ditto spelling tests.

I'm not that old (early 30s) and went to state school. We had no homework at primary, just when we got to the local comp, and then we were eased in gently. From what I remember it was mostly based on re-emphasising key points from lessons durin the day and we usually had a week to do it. I don't yet have children but have been surprised at the number of threads on here about primary school homework. When did that start?? What's the point? I think after a day at school (kids) and work (parents) the last thing anyone wants to do is sit down and wrestle with tasks that have no bearing on academic achievement. And just in case anyone is concerned my academic attainment might have suffered by not spending hours of my time doing homework. I can assure you it didn't

I have mixed views on homework and I sympathise with you OP. I feel that topic or project based homework involving research or making something is pointless as this often ends up being done by parents. Our school is a fan of this. It's just torture and homework for the sake of it.
Homework that supports maths or literacy work being taught in school is useful because it allows the child to practice skills at home and also a parent can pick up where the child might not have grasped something. In the last few years of primary it is good to get used to the routine of homework or secondary school will be a huge shock.

Nope. No point.

You see threads on here where MN wear how much hw their DC get as a badge of pride... as if its a good thing. See the yrR and Yr1 threads...

I m a fan of decent structured and well thought homework. It gives me the chance to see what my DD does in school, where she struggles so I can catch it.

Infant was useless in this. No structure, no difference between the ability groups and completely pointless as DD could decide how much or less she wanted to do, it was mainly less. After three weeks in Juniors I get a proper work, not set my DD but by the teacher so I know what she should be able to do.

The negative, it doesn't come back marked, they mark the daily work but this we only see 2x a year.

The worst was the arts project in Reception and Year 1. Most times it was over the holidays to prepare for a new topic and always meant the parents had to help. Grrr.

I think its a good thing, as long as it doesn't take too long. I can see where dc are struggling and give them 1:1 support with that. Maybe it shouldn't be like that, but dd has struggled on some stuff, and 5 mins explaining it to her has made it all become clear. Maybe research shows that homework is unnecessary, but personally I think that support at the end of the day has really helped my dc.

I think homework in primary serves the purposes of enabling parents to see what the child is doing and help to spot any issues with understanding but is mostly about forming the habit of getting it done.

DD has just started secondary and is getting a lot of homework but I'm so impressed with the skills she is developing in terms of prioritising her workload and managing her deadlines. It's not hard to see how this is a transferable skill. A lot of her new classmates are struggling with this having come from primaries where little or no homework was the norm.

Can I ask if anyone knows of any empirical evidence that homework is of use, please?

I'm also curious if parents who think it is helpful have children who like or enjoy homework or can do it without a tantrum etc, please.

Thanks.

I'm on the fence.

I think a small amount is ok , but I remember finding it hideous from around year 9. It was just lists of fractions etc photocopied out of a book and if you got really stuck you ended up just asking Mum or Dad to do it.

I don't think there are any.

One department of a 6th form college decided not to set any homework on the basis of evidence. However I do believe it is really useful at that age.

Not even sure about yr 8 and 9, apart from the odd revise for a test. Where I used to teach the students would spend hours creating posters for each topic.... that could have been spent extra curicular or resting...

I'm also curious if parents who think it is helpful have children who like or enjoy homework or can do it without a tantrum etc, please.

Well yes. Dc like doing homework and insist on getting it done. That helps obviously. If they didn't like it, then I would be less supportive of homework for them.

I'm a secondary teacher and if I had my way homework would be banned until year 10 (gcse). Any half decent teacher should be able to deliver the curriculum within school hours until year 10. I don't make my dc do it - Childhood is for playing ffs!

Yes it's rubbish, (primary) they should be out playing IMO.

I also loathe it and feel it is a waste of time. My DD loves school and I think works hard while she is there but hates homework. I deeply resent the arguments and unhappiness this causes at home. At 7 she should be allowed to relax after school, I think. Reading is very important but everything else should be done at school.

ds is six and has asd. he has a writing task, spellings to learn, reading book, and a maths task, he needs his hour to destress after school and he has regular physio/OT and SaLT we do not do all the homework. He loves reading so the reading books get done.

I have just done homework with dd, it was beneficial, though she was tired at the end.

Wherehaveall: what happens if your DC don't do it? Do you get called in to see the teacher or anything?

My ds is also dyslexic and homework was a nightmare through primary school. From full on tantrums about reading/spelling when he was little to refusal when it was all those stupid projects. If it didn't get done (or handed in, also an issue for him) then he missed playtime, resulting in him being even more angry and wound up (they did realise this after a while and found other punishments). dh tried to take on the school about it but was told that we had signed up to homework as part of our parent contract thing (not that we had any choice about signing that). The arguments in the homework policy were clearly lifted from secondary level (getting ready for work) and irrelevant to a five year old.

dd on the other hand loved homework and got it done super quick.

Then we moved to the US and a school that expected two hours homework every night! Although at least it was straight extension work so both children were confident and motored through it OK. Very time consuming and really only possible because I wasn't working.

After that we moved to Canada and a system that doesn't really do homework, so they had a few years break. High school just has expected work, if you complete it in class you are done, if you need to work on it at home you do. Neither dd or ds has had an issue with this at all, so the lack of practice clearly was not in any way a problem.

I withdraw DC from homework and arbitrary punishments for not doing it too.

ExDH LOVES it, frequently uses constant time to make the kids do their homework (this is less about homework more about showing how lazy I am).

DD needs desperate work on her tables, homework this week is a nature diary. We listen to times table CDs in the car instead.

This sort of thread makes me wonder how well the children who never do any work outside school do at GCSE/A level. How well do your DCs know their tables? What is their mental maths like? Will they be fast at calculating change etc as adults? What is their spelling like? I went to schools which had homework as did my DH, our children had spellings (which were also writing practice as they had to write sentences involving the new vocabulary), maths sheets and as they got older French vocab & English comprehensions. Only occasional projects/posters & the instructions were not overly prescriptive so they could be a 10 mins or 2 day effort (all displayed equally).

Yes it's rubbish, (primary) they should be out playing IMO

^

EXACTLY THIS

I loathe homework. My dd loathes homework. I see no benefit in making exhausted fidgety children sit down and do work their brain can no longer focus on after six hours in school.

I find it incredible that parents want this. Perhaps they just like showing off the gold stars.

Let them be kids and play..Learn a damn site more bug hinting, tree climbing etc.

How funny. Showing off gold stars? To who? I'm happy for my dc to do as well as they possibly can. Not sure why that would be showing off . And homework helps identify and support them with problems they might be having at school. It takes 15 mins a day. Maximum 30 mins as they move up the school. So plenty of time to play as well. I find it surprising that parents complain about this, when it gives you an opportunity to solve any problems quickly. Each to their own though I guess

15 mins? We have never had homework that takes 15 mins.ever.

What about parents who don't get back til 5/6 in the evening. What's more important then? A meal at a reasonable time with some play and nice early he'd time or turning come bottles into sea creatures?

I'd rather my kids ate and slept tbh

Coke