DD struggling a bit with Reception homework - too hard?

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DD gets phonics homework once a week and she has always struggled a bit with it but the latest was asking her to write down a few words with 4 "sounds" in them (i,e train, lend etc)....and then to choose 3 of those words and write a sentence with each one. It wasn't easy getting her to do any of it.
She is in the top phonics group and this ifstheir homework for that group. I don't know...it seems a bit difficult...maybe because she is mid Aug born and still seems so little.
My DS was in Reception last year and was also in top groups and he had no homework at all except for the reading books. So this is a new thing anyway.
Also they are quite pedantic when marking the homework. Last week, she had to write some words under the pictures using certain sounds and I suggested she write "howl" (as among the sounds she had to use were "ow" and "ear") apparently the RIGHT answer was "fear"(a pic of somebody screaming)!!

I'm thinking maybe she is not cut out for top phonics group and should learn at a slower pace.
Any advice?

Wow. Sounds like too much..at least for my dd who can barely form the letters to write her name, let alone a sentence!

Wow, dd1 is in reception - doing really well with reading afaik and she doesn't have any formal homework. She gets a reading book and an online maths programme and can dip in and out of both as we choose. I don't even know what the phases are?! Some schools must be so much more formal in reception than others.

Personally, I would speak to the teacher and do the opposite of pressuring her.

Homework in reception is a crazy idea. Thank goodness my dd goes to a school that doesn't give 'homework' as such. Just a reading book once a week.
I do loads of stuff with her at home to support her literacy and numeracy but don't call it homework and it is driven by her. Things like writing a get well card for her grandfather, writing the shopping list, reading books she chooses and those activity books with simple maths in them. It is all very relaxed and no pressure. She is thriving and loves school. I feel very lucky to have been allocated a school that has a similar philosophy to my own.

Thanks for all your replies!
This week's homework is easier...so I have not talked to the teacher yet and also the comments on her homework were very encouraging rather than finding fault with what she's done. DD's writing has improved a lot in the last 2 weeks and she is more keen on doing it too. I bought her a white board and she is always writing stuff on it...so I think that helps.
She is still not that good at remembering or understanding the phonic sounds she has learnt, but weirdly she can read ok which is puzzling and I'm starting to wonder if she has amazing memory and just remembering the words!

My DD is top set in a good school. She used to have that homework every week in Y1 and it was like pulling teeth. It does seem v hard for reception.