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Primary education

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

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Original poster

Help with homework

34 replies

Katymac · 20/11/2006 21:19

DD (9 tomorrow) is having homework problems and so by implication is Katymac

It has taken just over 4 hours to do 1.25 sides of A4 - she rewrote Little Red Riding Hood

This cannot go on - it is supposed to be 20 minutes of homework

So is she getting too much? Is she a lazy cow? Am I a pushy mum? What is going wrong?

I cannot cope with this

Please help

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MamaApronstrings · 20/11/2006 21:23

my children often seem to take
an inordinate amount of time to complete their homework. Mainly I have to say because they dither, don't concentrate and get down to it. DD (10) has adhd and that is one of the main problems here. check, can she actually Do the work - or is she struggling woth concepts? If you feel she has worked hard for a reasonable amount of time (say 40 mins) sign the sheet, and mark 40mins.
I find getting homework done very stressful...do you have younger children about like i do?

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 21:25

kinda I childmind so I have 4-5 of other peoples - but we do the homework away from them (she jsut wants to play)

How does the teacher take to writing 40 mins on the work?

OP posts:

MamaApronstrings · 20/11/2006 21:42

ours are fine - I have told the teachers my dcs will ALWAYS do their homework unless they have a note from me. They get it done probably 98% of the time. 4 hours is not reasonable.

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 21:47

I think I might discuss it with her teacher before agreeing with that - but I really like it as an idea

I do think that 4 hrs is ridiculus - mind you I can't spell

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charliecat · 20/11/2006 21:47

We have these issues in our house. Was she whinging throughout?
My dd, whos also 9 tommorow BTW takes 2 hours to look up 8 words in a dictionary.
Drives me mental.

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 21:49

Yeh whinging, moaning, lots of I don't want to do this & very little work

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hairymclary · 20/11/2006 21:50

I think that 20 minutes is pushing it for a rewrite of little red riding hood. I doubt most adults would be able to do that.
that said, I think 4 hours is probably excessive, was she prevaricating? or did she not understand it?

popsycal · 20/11/2006 21:51

When i set homework for my year 5 class i say do 40 mins max then stop (but that is 40 mins work and not 5 mins work, 10 mins picking your nose, 15 mins watching tv etc)

Waaay to long to spend on homework
Speak to the teacher - could dd have got the task wrong? Could it just have been part of the stopry that she was meant to write? or a plan for a story?

popsycal · 20/11/2006 21:52

way too long even

Posey · 20/11/2006 21:53

If you think that she is working hard, trying her best, (not watching TV or being distracted by others) then I would allow her to stop after 30 mins or so and write as much on her homework.."dd has done x minutes of homework which is x minutes more than the stipulated amount. She is unable to complete all the required homework as she has to eat, have a bath, have a life, sleep. Yours sincerely K Mac"

roisin · 20/11/2006 21:57

I've always insisted that mine sit down and give it their full attention and effort for the amount of time specified, which they do. If it doesn't get completed in that time (extremely rarely), then it goes back to school incomplete.

They have got the message that if they get their head down and concentrate and get on with it, it's sorted and we don't have battles about it; and they can go and get on with all the other things they want to do.

I'm sure your dd's teacher would be horrified to think she spent over 4 hours on it.

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 22:03

She had a worksheet and had done a plan in class - it does seem to be what she was asked to do

She is a perpetual motion machine

I think if we could do it over three nights it would be better- but because of other stuff (brownies etc) it must get done tonite.

Maths gets done (correctly) in about 3 minutes flat

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popsycal · 20/11/2006 22:06

I think then, it may be owrth chatting to the teacher. Either DD has not understood the task or the teacher has totally pitched it wrong. I imagine the teacher would be horrified to know how long dd spent on it. Do you know any of the other parents? Might be worth finding out how long it took others?

FWIW - a 20-30 minute activity would be a MAXIMUM of 3 paragraphs of writing in Y5 in my opinion. In the QCA5 tests, they get a short writing task of 20 mins (or may be 25) and they are expected to write between 2-3 paragraphs. Just as a guide

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 22:09

It's a great story with good spelling, sentence construction & dialogue

So I do need to chat to the teacher

How do I?

We aren't welcome at school Do I write in the homewrok book that I think we need a chat & put my phone number? or should I ring?

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roisin · 20/11/2006 22:12

Is her handwriting very slow, or is she doing a lot of thinking about it, or just lots of prevaricating?

When my ds1 (yr5) writes he tends to splurge it out extremely quickly now (particularly when he's done a plan and some thinking beforehand); but the speed is almost to a negative extent now as he's very reluctant to do any editing afterwards.

hairymclary · 20/11/2006 22:13

I still think, even with a plan that 20 minutes is too long for a 9 year old to write that much.

Is it something she doesn't particularly enjoy? as you say she gets her maths done no problem.
as I say, i think on this occasion she'd have been hard pressed to do it in 20 minutes, and i'd definitely have a word with the teacher.
but in future could you do some kind of reward scheme for her doing her homework without moaning or prevaricating?
otherwise just say that if she doesn't do it then she will have to face the consequences?

I hate homework at primary school. we never had it and i think it's totally unnecessary

roisin · 20/11/2006 22:14

I would put a note in to say that:

homework has become a bit of a battleground
dd spent 4 hrs on this piece of work
you would welcome her advice on this
could she give you a ring when she's free

hairymclary · 20/11/2006 22:14

katymac why aren't you welcome? is this still the same school she was being bullied at?

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 22:15

Very slow handwriting (& very poor)

Lots of prevaricating

Real argument won about a year ago about writing in rough fiorst

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popsycal · 20/11/2006 22:16

ditto what roisin said

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 22:17

It's middle school & we must collect outside school gates

It's her new school & seems to be going very well on that side & they have reg lessons about respect/responsibility etc whoch is good

I like the note so I will do that

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roisin · 20/11/2006 22:17

I agree with HM on the "not moaning and prevaricating" reward scheme.

In the light of this thread I actually just went to look in ds2's bag (he's 7 in yr3), because when I came home this evening he was doing his homework. I rarely even check his homework now (unless he's stuck and asks for advice), and certainly not for ds1; they just get on and do it. And as HM says if they do it badly they get to face the music at school.

popsycal · 20/11/2006 22:18

Middle schools are FAB
The school gate thing is just part of the whole improving independence thing. Pop the note in the diary and ask for a chat on the phone. Hope DD is ok.

hairymclary · 20/11/2006 22:19

glad that the new school is better in regard to the bullying problems.

maybe she needs a bit of extra help with handwriting to boost her confidence. it's difficult having to write a long piece of work when you don't like writing and aren't that great at it. I can understnad why she wants to put it off.

Original poster

Katymac · 20/11/2006 22:20

Hmm - I can't just back off and let her take the flack...can I?

So I will go with the letter/note

Thanks guys - i don't know that she was expected to do that much - she is ver opinionated (I don't know where she gets it from )

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