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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

Homework Help

50 replies

auntieliv · 29/10/2016 14:45

Hi All,

I'm a teacher for Yr5 and have just had my niece (Yr1) to stay for half term and together we've done some homework tasks she was set, but I realised that while I was helping her with those tasks, I was using some equipment, some terminology and some strategies that many parents may not have access to or be aware of.

I was just thinking that it may be the case the homework is a real battle for some people out there and - while avoiding the issue of whether or not it should or shouldn't be set - wondered if there is anything that would make life easier for you to complete it with your child?

For example, with her, I used laminated multilink, number lines and whiteboard pens for her maths work and high frequency flash cards to work through her literacy.

I'd be interested to hear any homework examples that you've really struggled with or your child has found tricky, or things that you think would help support you to support them (if you could let me know the year group of your child that would be great).

I might be able to direct you to some online resources and put together some packs for parents at school.

Thanks!

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Original poster

auntieliv · 29/10/2016 18:05

mrsz

Exactly, I agree. That's what her teacher is for.

OP posts:

mrz · 29/10/2016 18:08

And the purpose of homework is to support learning

Original poster

auntieliv · 29/10/2016 18:19

sirfred

No, sorry if I wasn't clear, she wasn't rounding numbers - I meant that a number line is a tool further up the school for tasks like rounding numbers, so it's important that they recognise the intervals represent the value of the number, not just that they need to put 10 lines on it. Think of it as a ruler, just because 1m contains 100cm doesn't mean we can draw 100 lines wherever, they have to be equidistant to show each cm is of equal value.

The thing with counting using fingers, is that you are counting a concrete thing and are using a limited strategy. There are 3 or 5 or 6 or whatever, the same as you can count cars or trees without them needing to be the same size. But what happens once you bridge 10? Or are dealing with thousands? Millions? A number line is a move towards more abstract way of applying number knowledge that can be applied across a much greater number range.

OP posts:

SisterViktorine · 29/10/2016 18:27

Do you disagree with flashcards in general mrz?

I use them to teach phonics, SPaG terminology, tables etc. Anything really, that needs to be rote learned/ over-learned. I didn't realise they had fallen out of fashion.

Original poster

auntieliv · 29/10/2016 18:29

mrz

I'm sorry, I'm really not sure what you're trying to get at? If that was her teacher's intention for the homework, for me, or the parents in the class, to have taught their children to hold sentences in their head and then spell them phonetically, by your own standards, would I not have received those very clear instructions from the teacher with her homework? But I didn't. So, I did what was asked with her - 'Write some sentences about what you did in the holidays.' - That's what she has done.

Really, you're not helping me with anything mentioned on the original post, do you have any suggestions for resources that parents at my school might like to use to help their children with homework? Or are you just getting your kicks from disagreeing with me?

I really don't mind, but if it's the latter, I'd rather not continue. I'm sure you do a very good job, as do all of our colleagues, but right then, I wasn't trying to be her teacher, I was trying to be her auntie and I'm not looking to spend my Saturday night talking to a keyboard warrior.

OP posts:

mrz · 29/10/2016 18:52

"So, I did what was asked with her - 'Write some sentences about what you did in the holidays.' - That's what she has done."

No what she's done is copy some sentences you made using high frequency word flash cards ...not the same thing at all.

mrz · 29/10/2016 19:05

"Really, you're not helping me with anything mentioned on the original post, do you have any suggestions for resources that parents at my school might like to use to help their children with homework?"

My suggestion would be to set homework that supports and reinforces what is being taught/learnt in class and requires no specialist resources beyond a pencil or pen.

mrz · 29/10/2016 19:08

"Do you disagree with flashcards in general mrz?"
Personally I wouldn't use them for phonics or high frequency words as wholes as I'd always teach in context and to apply skills and existing knowledge

mrz · 29/10/2016 19:09

I didn't realise they'd ever been in fashion

Bitlost · 29/10/2016 19:33

My DD is in year 3. What would really help me is for teachers to send home the methods they follow in maths and the actual items they teach in grammar. Growing up in France I the 80s, we had lessons books: books in which we recorded what we were learning. Homework consisted of a "lesson" which you had to go through with your parents and exercises linked to that lesson.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 29/10/2016 19:58

would I not have received those very clear instructions from the teacher with her homework? But I didn't. So, I did what was asked with her - 'Write some sentences about what you did in the holidays.' - That's what she has done.

What instructions do you think you should be given? I'd expect children to use the same skills and processes they've been taught since reception when writing a sentence or sequence of sentences. It really wouldn't occur to me to give that level of detail in Yr1. Although mainly because that process would have been explained to parents in Reception.

TheAussieProject · 29/10/2016 20:37

I think Bitlost completely nailed it.

The homework has the purpose to either consolidate what has been done and mastered in the classroom or in many cases, work on concepts that are still shaky. In an ideal world, all the pupils in one class would understand everything in the same timeframe and the class would happily move to the next concept be it in math or any subject. Sadly it isn't the case, and sometimes a student still doesn't really get the decimals, the % or whatever and the teacher is already doing the next topic in the curriculum.
In that scenario, it is through homework in the sense of work at home that the student will understand and master the topic.

How do you know if your DC has mastered the concept? By going through was has been done in class every day or every week and by seeing the teacher corrections or even the mistakes your child has done, you can determine if something needs to be worked at home. To do so, you need the lesson books or workbooks. At the moment these are not allowed out of the classroom.
I too grew up in the French system, and not only are the workbooks sent home but they did contain instructions for parens such as "work on this, work on that, needs to be redone, write again with more details, ..." sometimes there weren't instructions but you had to sigh every teacher's comment in it. You could see the method used in class and how you child was doing.

Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden · 29/10/2016 22:09

I agree with Bitlost too but I also think to much emphasis on getting through stuff by a certain age eg. all the tables by end of Key stage one would it not be better if it was all by age 10 then more children would master them and less would disengage.

RiverTam · 29/10/2016 22:12

My wish list for homework in year 1 would be for there not to be any, given that it doesn't have any proven benefit. Luckily DD's school are very laid back about homework.

HillaryFTW · 29/10/2016 22:22

Thanks for the search engine tip OP.

QuackDuckQuack · 29/10/2016 22:36

Not quite answering the question you asked...

My DD is in year 1 and seems to be good at maths - grasps concepts easily and remembers them. I think the next step for her is to speed up with the basic arithmetic that underpins everything. It takes her a few seconds to answer 7+3, instead of it being instant. What can I do to get her really fluent in addition up to 20 and related number facts? Thanks.

mrz · 30/10/2016 03:50

Ineverpromised they don't have to know all their times tables by the end if KS1 (expectation is most will know them by the end if Y4 so age 9)

mrz · 30/10/2016 04:34

QuackDuckQuack it really is a matter of practice makes perfect. I'd try getting her to complete addition facts against the clock ...how many can she get right in a minute? Can she get more tomorrow? So competing with herself to improve.

mrz · 30/10/2016 04:38

Try http://www.salesbury.lancs.sch.uk/download/file/Learn%20Its%20Challenges%20Questions%20England.pdf

user789653241 · 30/10/2016 08:55

This ones good for improving speed too.

www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/maths1.html

QuackDuckQuack · 30/10/2016 11:05

Great - thanks. I think the thing I struggle with is engaging her in enough practice, so those look like good ways of getting her willing to do more practice.

Ineverpromisedyouarosegarden · 30/10/2016 12:14

MRZ it seems they do in NI. The revised curriculum states should know most tables and division facts up to 10x10 by end of Keystage 1.

Far too pressurised in my opinion. Although I am a parent not a teacher so that's just my opinion. Very interesting though if its different in GB.

mrz · 30/10/2016 13:07

In England it's tables up to 12X12 but having said that I've had Y2 classes where most knew all tables and related division facts by end of the year (although we were only focusing on 2, 5 & 10 )

Bitlost · 31/10/2016 22:16

I'm amazed, Mrz. Did they learn them at home?

mrz · 01/11/2016 05:25

The competitive ones learnt them at home super fast (I had 2 boys and a girl who knew them all by Christmas) in class we started with 10x 5X and 2x (as per the then NC) and I said once they were secure they could choose which they moved onto.

We spent about ten minutes a day in class plus a one minute challenge to answer 50 questions for whichever table they were working on.

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