Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Homework in Reception...is this normal?

33 replies

DataColour · 09/02/2015 10:55

Our school has started giving homework to the Reception children. My DD is in Reception and my DS was in Reception last year, so I know that they didn't do this last year.
Once a week, they bring home a homework book and it normally involves writing words with sounds that have learnt that week and then to write a few sentences with those words.
I was wondering is this usual is most schools?
Getting August born DD to write a sentence is not easy at all! Is it a new curriculum thing?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

WowOoo · 09/02/2015 11:03

My children's school gave 'homework' in reception.

I think it was things like tracing letters and words. It was mostly phonics based. If child wanted to/was able to there was space to write the words freehand and a short sentence and picture.

We had a letter explaining there was no pressure with this. It was simply to encourage home learning and as much mark making as possible.

I'd guess your school has the same intention. Don't let it stress either of you!

mabelbabel · 09/02/2015 11:09

DD1 never had anything apart from reading books. DD2 (currently in reception) has reading books... and we get a weekly newsletter with some 'suggestions' of things we could try at home. But it is not as formal as homework. It includes things like writing a sentence about their current topic at school. We don't push it. I think formal homework could be quite counter-productive at that age.

However, I did here from a friend (possibly not 100% reliable!) that there is a new target for reception children to be able to write a "story" by the end of the year. Possibly that has changed things (if indeed it is true).

Original poster

DataColour · 09/02/2015 11:10

See, I thought it would be tracing letters and words. DD is not great at writing and doesn't seem to enjoy it and still needs help (I do do work with her at home too) writing letters the right way. So trying to get her to write a sentence when she doesn't write her letters properly is like putting the horse before the cart!

OP posts:

mammuzzamia · 09/02/2015 11:16

We were talking about this last week, parents wondering how they're going to balance extra curricular when they begin (presumably) to get homework at secondary. No homework, and rarely even in primary.

I'd say unusual. Is it a large over subscribed type of class?

lynniep · 09/02/2015 11:33

They get 'holiday homework' but weekday 'homework' is just reading the books they send home. Holiday homework is usually just a sheet of something or other asking them to learn key words etc. They do encourage the parents to get their children to write at home but its not mandatory or anything. He can write sentences (he's November born so one of the older ones) and is really enthusiastic about it so needs no encouragement. He still does letters the wrong way around and some letters are MASSIVE and some teeny and rarely do words start at the left hand side of a sheet of paper - but we're getting there.

RiverTam · 09/02/2015 11:38

no homework in DD's class, she has a reading book each week which I normally forget is in her bag and that's it.

I'm not keen on homework for this age, and I thought I'd be all over the academic side of things, but I'm not.

tinkerbellvspredator · 09/02/2015 12:06

We have it fortnightly, whatever the theme they're learning about at school they are encouraged to write some words and draw a picture. DD usually manages one sentence with lots of help.

tinkerbellvspredator · 09/02/2015 12:10

Also 2 reading books a week and rainbow words to learn (haven't done much with the rainbow words)

Wozald1989 · 09/02/2015 12:12

Mine had homework weekly in reception, a sound a week to practice writing, find things beginning with that sound ect

HumphreysCorner · 09/02/2015 12:18

DS gets a homework book where he either writes words, numbers or draws a picture, a sound book where he sounds out words and a reading book. This is given out on a Friday and is handed in by the next Wednesday. When my girls were in reception they had the same.

noramum · 09/02/2015 12:41

DD got to write sounds in the first 5 weeks until they covered the single letters.

She then got a book to read each day and each Thursday a homework book with a small task to be completed by Tuesday the week after:

Find different shapes/patterns in the house, make a picture of them or draw them.

Draw a picture of a flower and name the parts

Draw a picture of your favourite scene in a book, name the book and what the picture represents.

We got a game with dice every couple of weeks to help with numbers

I would say it took around 20 minutes max and DD loved doing it.

Each holiday, apart from Summer, we got a homework in connection with the next topic. Normally an arts & craft thing she couldn't do herself but it was designed to be done with the help of parents. I prefer the weekly one to these disasters.

Barbeasty · 09/02/2015 17:00

So far DD had a sheet for every new sound, with tracing/ writing the letters and colouring an associated picture or circling the words with the right sounds. This was 4 days a week (as they did each sound). Some weekends had a bigger sheet with eg numbers 1-10 to write.

This term they get a new reading book once a week, and this has a related task. The task is something like draw a picture and write a sentence of an alternative ending, or last week's book was instructions to make a rocket out of cans etc and the homework asked if they could follow the instructions.

Conversations between parents reveal that the attitude to homework varies from parents throwing it straight in the bin to children asking for more. And everything in between.

MrsChocolateBrownie · 09/02/2015 18:00

Ds gets reading books which we do every night.
Weekly homework is the sing and sign song which we usually forget to do, literacy and maths homework suggestions which are based on what they covered that week - sometimes we do them but don't force it

SpottyTeacakes · 09/02/2015 18:06

Dd doesn't get anything like that. She has a new ready book each night. Word cards she has to learn by sight about once a week (takes her about two minutes) and her phonics book which has new sounds in but she already knows them from class.

Original poster

DataColour · 10/02/2015 10:28

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like there is quite a variety in terms of quantity and type of homework for Reception.
The thing that got to me was that it was very formal homework...like write a few words with these sounds and then write a few sentences using those words....the type of homework my DS in Year 1 gets. I would prefer if was more "fun" stuff like tracing letters, drawing a picture, writing numbers etc.
I spoke with the teacher this morning and it turns out that they give different homework to the different ability groups (makes sense I guess) and DD is in the top phonics group as she can read quite well and good with sounds...so she gets the homework for that phonic group, even though her writing is nowhere not as good as her reading.

OP posts:

KatoPotato · 10/02/2015 10:34

Homework every night except Friday.

Issued on a Monday for a Friday hand in is a spelling jotter with six words that need written four times then use one in a sentence.

Number worksheets Tuesday and Thursday.

10 minutes reading every night.

Original poster

DataColour · 10/02/2015 10:42

wow that's a lot Kato!
I think a lot of it depends on the age of the DC too. My November born DS last year in Reception could easily cope with daily homework if it was given and he even wrote little stories this time last year in reception. But my August born DD seems so tiny to be doing any homework and we already make her read 10mins daily (she is keen on that) and a bit of writing when she is willing (not so keen on that).

OP posts:

KatoPotato · 10/02/2015 10:46

Thankfully DS does seems to enjoy it, and when they first started in August it was tracing etc. I do think it's a lot though, particularly as he's on ly just turned 5!

RiverTam · 10/02/2015 12:40

what do people read for 10 minutes every night? DD has one reading book from school (which takes her all of 3 minutes to read), but all the (many) books we have at home would be completely beyond her own reading level (whatever that might be). And frankly after ballet, swimming or gymnastics, all of which she loves and personally I think are just as important, we don't have the inclination to be doing additional schoolwork!

noramum · 10/02/2015 13:02

RiverTam - then I would speak to her teacher, it sounds too easy.

DD read around 15-20 minutes each day, she always wanted to finish the book. We also had lots of books from the library in her level and other books she read what she could and we read the rest.

vladthedisorganised · 10/02/2015 13:49

DD gets a new reading book most days - if she's hesitant about any words (or if both of us forget about it) then it will come back for another reading.

Other than that, they have 'talk' homework in reception - a topic they need to discuss at home that will usually be pretty general. It whiles away our walk to school very nicely.

A neighbouring school insists on 25 minutes' formal homework (writing, phonics, maths) every day for reception which I think is way too much.

elfonshelf · 10/02/2015 14:02

We had school reading books once a week, a reading record book for recording books read at home (every night), cards with phonic sounds for whenever possible plus books of sight words and blended words also for whenever possible.

There were holiday projects and also a weekly home-work project... sodding class bear, or making an animal out of a pebble. Nothing written by the child though.

I don't mind homework so much, but if you are a working parent and your child is at ASC, by the time you get home it's almost 7pm and you've got to do supper, bath, bed, story as well as actually spend some time with your child.

That means that the only time you can do homework is at the weekend. If you are away visiting family, or have other things on, it can be really hard to fit it in when they need so much parental help - and making Easter bonnets takes resources and time that can't be found halfway down the M4 motorway.

My take was that we would do what we could, but I didn't apologise if it wasn't done because we'd spent the weekend doing something fun and probably more educational.

KatoPotato · 10/02/2015 14:25

RiverTam I think the 10 minutes is more a guideline of not to go over. DS reads his assigned book in about 3mins, we have a chat then leave it.

I think its more that if you child was struggling, you give it ten quality minutes max then leave it?

*I could be so wrong!

RiverTam · 10/02/2015 15:10

yes, maybe! As I say, there's no homework at DD's school, so far, I don't even think we've been given specifics with reading, just that they have a reading book once a week (like a Biff and Chip style book, I mean).

I might mention it to DD's nice-but-uncommunicative teacher.

Violetta007 · 11/02/2015 00:16

Only do it if she wants to. Reception is too young to push things, you could easily turn her off writing.

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread