can any primary teachers explain why parents are not supposed to help with homework?

[UnDeuxTroisCatsSank]

I get that it is supposed to be the child's work. I get it, really. But I don't get why parents can't gently help without taking over and doing the homework.

I'll give an example. DD is 6 and in Y2. Homework over half term was to write a diary using her own words. DD was highly motivated and everyday wanted to write a few lines although her spelling is still emerging. So, every day, she titled her work: My Holadai Diree (I.e. my Holiday Diary). The first day, I did not correct her, as the teacher's words about letting the child express themselves and the need for the teacher to see what level they were at was ringing in my ears. But by day 3 of My Holadai Diree (or similar) I was regretting not having explained the correct spelling.

I feel I could have shown her the correct spelling and she could have copied it correct and by the end of the holiday, in all likelihood she would be confidently spelling both words. Instead, she learnt nothing over the holidays and reinforced the mistake day after day.

Any teachers around who could explain if this approach is right or if I should have explained?

[G1veMeStrength]

Maths homework is all done online for my DC now, so no chance to explain if we helped anyway. If they get a low score I sit with them as they do it again and nag them to get a proper piece of paper for working out, make them double check things, and lo and behold they DO know what they are doing. Just if they can rush it they sometimes will... Not sure what note to the teacher would be: DS cba with this lol.

[TeenAndTween]

abbsis I think you misunderstood.

If your child is known to be good at maths at school and gets it all correct, then I would expect the teacher to think his homework was all his own.

However if my less able child were to get all her maths homework correct (I wish), I would definitely need to leave a note explaining whether or not is was done independently.

[abbsismyhero]

i spent thirty seconds checking my ds was getting his maths right he did it was all his own work and absolutely correct im surprised to see that a teacher might believe its my work not ds surely the teacher knows his capabilities?

[AndNowItsSeven]

I spent time with my dc doing independent work , reading eggs , jolly phonics work books etc. My year 6 dd has a weekly tutor for English and maths to reinforce concepts from school.
However I do not agree with homework , it's not beneficial at primary level at all. It causes anxiety and stress.

[ragged]

Our guidance is that we may help as much as it takes to get the work done but any actual writing child must do themselves with own hand (even if we did quote letter by letter or number by number).

If I see a wrong math problem or mispelling I try to tell DC to encourage them to correct, but sometimes they are grumpy & not worth the aggro.

It would add a lot to my aggro to have to write a note every time saying how much I helped.

[mrz]

Rougedad as a year1 teacher like your auto check I'd be trying very hard to stop my class writing that way ... phonics would point out that the /j/ is represented by the spelling in that word and well done is a spelling for the sound /w/ but can you remember a different spelling? Etc

[goingmadinthecountry]

What bothers me as a teacher is when a child gets all their maths right - I assume they can then do those kinds of problems. Often it's the parent doing the work. Yes, help by all means but write a brief note to let me know how it went if you gave them lots of support.

[roguedad]

I think it depends on what you mean by "help". It's one thing to make sure a child understands a task by talking them through first and letting them get on with it, quite another to end up doing it! It's a question of where to draw the line.

The spelling example cited is one I encounter. My DD is 6 as well and is learning spelling both through weekly tests and being encouraged to read widely. But at the same time she is encouraged to write her stories (especially the all too revealing diary) with an emphasis on getting her ideas across without worrying too much about the spelling. The teacher encourages her to do that but afterwards writes in the correct spelling of things she's tried to do phonetically. I think for a parent to do the same over a holiday is just fine, and I would not worry about it. I think I have done more or less what Artandco suggested. Let the story be told but gradually improve the spelling.

Another complication arises from the blasted phonics used in reading. If your child is learning to read using phonics it's kinda consistent to let them begin to tell their stories using a phonetic approach to creating words they want to use but do not know how to spell. It's probably better to let them be ambitious with new words in their stories and sort out the spelling afterwards. I've got some great diary stories with very strange spelling. "Dad went very strainj after his frends kaym over to drink whine", or something along those lines with some more regrettable detail to follow. Mumsnet's autocorrect tried very hard to stop me writing that.

[HSMMaCM]

I used to do the post it approach, some examples were:

• DD found this really easy and did it all herself.
  
• DD needed some help with this, but then finished it herself.
  
• DD hasn't finished this, because she didn't understand it and after I explained, she was even more confused.

[MilkRunningOutAgain]

I spent over an hour attempting to explain equivalent fractions to my yr 5 DD last weekend, and in the end she got it. She did the homework questions set by herself though, and got most of them right, we did similar ones I made up while she was getting the hang of it. This is fairly standard for DD and me. I dread to think how far behind she would be if I didn't do this, she rarely gets the concepts in the time allotted at school. As it is she scrapes a good average with a lot of hard work and some regular help from me. The school runs sessions for parents and has published booklets on its website explaining how maths is taught to the children, so we are obviously expected to help. I try hard to follow school's methods so she doesn't get in a muddle. Tbh I love maths and enjoyed seeing how it is taught nowadays.

[mrz]

It depends on the purpose of the homework. If it's to check that the child has learnt what has been taught then having help will give a false impression but if the homework is to inform parents on the work their child is doing in school parental support is great.
I prefer the second reason for homework.

[MadameChauchat]

I think it's fine what you did. You always need to find a good balance though: just help them with spelling of some frequent words and at the same time praise them for what they have written, but not correct every single misspelled word because that would be very demotivating for the child.

[ThatsNotMyHouseItIsTooClean]

My DD is 6 but in Y1 (old for her year) and has a pretty good grasp of phonics. When she gets a similar exercise, we have a chat about what she is going to say, I remind her of using full stops, capitals and finger spaces and to join up her letters and the she launches into it BUT she will tell me each sentence she is planning on writing and will say if she needs help or not or I will ask her if she can spell certain words. So "holiday" she would have got right with a bit of prompting (eg telling her to break it down and that the middle syllable is an "i" and not "ee"); "diary" she would have needed help with but, if her first sentence was "we went to the farm", I would tell her that she can do it herself & should get it right.
I'm another one who thinks that homework is a chance for a bit of 1:1 work.

[Anastasie]

We're not at decimals yet

[eddiemairswife]

You will get howled at for 'add a zero', which does work for whole numbers but not for decimals.

[Anastasie]

I kind of see homework (Y4 here) as an opportunity for my child to ask me for help with stuff they may not have quite understood at school - also a bit of one to one time, to cement it in his brain iyswim.

So he often has an idea what is required and can do most of it when in a familiar format, but he will ask for reassurance that this is what is wanted, and I can explain it again if it is puzzling him, or he might ask me a question and I can give him clues.

So eg 'mum, what is 140 times 20?' and I say well, how do we times by ten, and he will say add a zero, so I say that's right, so...(by this time he will interrupt me with the sum - but if not) what's 14 times ten? So he says 140, and then we say well that's 14 times ten, what do we do now? etc etc.

It becomes a joint exercise.
I don't see a problem with that - but then I don't see homework at this age as being intended to test his knowledge or understanding. It's just more practice. With some help at hand.

When they get older it can be a measure of how much they have grasped, or it can be practice, or it can be a test of their imagination and applying a concept tp a project. So you have to kind of make that call and either let them crack on with it, however badly, or you have to step in and explain something if it still doesn't make sense to them.

[Artandco]

I help mine where needed, but I don't do it for them.

So the holiday diary example, I would show them how to spell holiday diary. And they would continue story. At the end of it I would see what words spelt wrong and get them to write them to a list including holiday and diary correctly so they know how to spell them for next time, plus like I said any other words spelt wrong. Then I would get them to practice those spellings over the week until the were spelling them correctly. The list would be added to each day with new words from holiday diary story and cross off the ones once they can spell confidently 3 days in a row.

[TeenAndTween]

I help my DDs with homework.

I'd rather spend time explaining stuff to them 1-1 than have them either not do it at all or do it all wrong. I always include a note explaining level of help (independent, encouragement, explaining).

I also never do it for them!

[neuroticnicky]

I think -in the state sector at least- it is pretty essential to get involved in your child's homework if you want them to be near the top of the class. As the OP says it is effectively like giving them one to one tuition. The only caveat is that the way maths is taught has changed since our day what with number lines etc. We found one book -"Maths for Mums and Dads"- particularly helpful here.

[Bumpsadaisie]

Mine is 6 (Y2). I tend to let her do it and then at the end I have a look and if there is anything she has muddled up or clearly not understood then we look at that together.

[Millymollymama]

Depends what leisure time is used for though. If it is hours and hours spent gaming, then I would rather a bit of structure with homework. Reading is the best form of homework for primary aged children. However some children do need to reinforce what they have learned at school and it does not hurt for parents to have some idea of what their children are learning and be part of it, in a small way. Complex craft homework leading to parental competition is a waste of time.

[eddiemairswife]

Going back nearly 20 years, the Tony Blair government really encouraged the idea of primary schools setting homework in order to get parents involved in their children's education. I never had homework until secondary school, neither did my children. Not so my grandchildren. I think it is completely unnecessary at primary age, particularly as in so many families both parents work, and homework eats into valuable leisure time.

[itsmeohlord]

I think homework is a great opportunity to ruin kids home lives and cause family stress. Why is it necessary in primary schools - I never did any (other than a bit of reading) and still got a degree.

[MaidrinRua]

hangs head in shame at my own typing errors!

[IguanaTail]

Just pop in a post it note saying what you helped with. Then it's clear. I think it's great you are showing an interest.