Year 6 Parents and Teachers

[flowerfairy]

Just curious as to whether the amount of homework my ds is bringing home is normal/too much/too little compared to other Year 6 children. Since half term he has been bringing home - a list of spellings of which 20 are chosen for the spelling test, a maths piece and grammar worksheet type of thing. Also we having a comprehension piece (writing what each line means in The seasons of man by Keates and Shall I compare thee to a summers day? by Shakespeare, then compare and contrast the two poems) and another piece of maths as he is now in a group working on the level 6 maths. So to summarise that's spellings, 2 pieces of maths, 1 English grammar and 1 comprehension, plus the usual reading.
It's hard enough to get him to do it (we often have a battle to begin it) and he's a good student and lad, but I don't want him to be spending between half an hour and an hour doing homework every night. I want him to be a well-rounded human being, he attends scouts once a week and swims weekly. We eat our evening meal together, we have some family time too and he has to have time to himself too. Advice please how to cope with the Y6 death by SATs. Or am I being extremely naïve and this is good preparation for high school?

DD gets much less. Maths most weeks, but not always. Sometimes a worksheet, at least once a game to play and get someone to sign to say she'd played, some Mathletics. Topic stuff like researching Guy Fawkes in order to write a newspaper article at school. Spellings don't come home. Current affairs - choosing an article each week and writing a bit about it.

The idea (explicitly, from her teacher) is to get them used to set homework routines in secondary, rather than to really add to learning. Trouble is, it's not that routine, and there seems to be no come-back when it's not done. I'd rather they didn't bother, tbh. Part of the problem though is that DD is appallingly scatty and we don't see it all (homework book Is currently MIA, which is not unusual).

School is high-performing, btw, and DD passed 11+ in September, so it's not that the school is unambitious generally, or for her in particular.

DD3 has

1 x English per week
1 x Maths per week
1 x French per week
1 x Topic per week

plus:
25 spellings
reading
Art of some sort

The school however has pepped this up since new head. When ds and dd1 & 2 were there it was less.

DS is in grammar school and rarely spends more than 30 mins on homework. I know he does reading on the bus home though. DD2 is not in grammar and regular spends 1-2 hours on homework.

15 spellings not 25

We have one maths pieceof homework, one literacy which could be to write a poem, a biography or to do some SPAG stuff, 15 spellings to learn and write a sentence using each of them in context and the usual reading.

I am dreading Yr7 when DS goes to grammar and has to do an hour a night, I think it will be hell compared to the minimum stuff he does now. Nothing in his list takes more than 40 minutes I would guess. Maths about 5 minutes usually!!

Dd gets... One sheet of 10 spellings, which she has to use in sentences linked to their topic.

Every half-term she has to do a bigger piece of topic homework such as make a film/presentation/ collage etc.

That's it!

Ds gets 1 piece of literacy/grammar
1 piece of maths
10 spellings
and reading

He maybe doing the level 6 maths paper, but it's not been decided yet, but the school are keeping SATs as low key as possible.

DS gets one piece of Maths and one piece of Literacy each week. This week the Maths took him 5 minutes, the Literacy 20 minutes. He's working for L6 Maths.

He also has to read to me x 3 pw and I need to write in his reading record, and he has 20 spellings.

It's very little compared to what he did in Y5 for 11+ prep, and what he will do in Y7. He's having a rest and is playing football x 5 pw.

DS in yr6 gets 30mins homework per night Mon-Thurs to be handed in the next day. If it doesn't take 30mins they should read their book.
Most recent English was to come up with short lists of categorised connectives (examples were given).
Maths is usually a worksheet.
Geography last night was answer 6 questions on a topic they had researched in class.
Science is usually a worksheet.
Spellings seem to have fallen by the wayside.

I think it is instilling good habits as he would only otherwise be chilling with a screen. He plays sport 4 nights a week so there is balance !

DD currently gets 1 lot of Maths a week - can take up to 45 minutes to do, ! Guided Reading task, and 20 spellings.

From January/February time she will have Literacy and Maths Sats practice - but I am hoping it will be like when DS1 did his and be about 30 minutes each - so not a lot in a weeks really.