fucking HOMEWORK. Really cross.

[k2p2k2tog]

Our school has apparently been consulting stakeholders about homework. Who the fuck they have actually consulted I have no idea because nobody admits to being asked.

Anyway. Upshot of this consultation is that they have replaced the traditional spelling words/sentences/activities, maths and reading with a Homework Menu.

This menu contains gems such as "Ask each person in the family to sing their favourite song. Each person has to write down why it is their favourite" and "Plan a menu for a healthy family meal. Make a shopping list. Each person has to prepare a part of the meal".

WIBU unreasonable to point out that DH and I have finished our education and our two older children are busy doing their own homework, instead of twatting around singing songs and cooking meals?

Fucks sake.

P1 homework is ridiculous. The worst homework was when we had to find words in magazines and newspapers. We don't OWN fucking magazines and newspapers. I had to go buy them. And a P1 child can sit there all night skimming a paper and never see a certain word, so then it's up to us parents to do the work for them.

I love homework club for P2 and up because at least I can send them there to save me from doing it anymore. I didn't do my own when I went to school so I don't want to do someone else's!

Urgh I would not like DD getting homework like that! But it seems they don't really require you to send in evidence that it's done so just forget about it maybe.

Glad DD gets more reasonable homework - the last two weeks it's been to bring in bits of recycling rubbish so they can make it into things at school (less pleased that those things got brought home so now I have recycling that I can't put in the bin because it's all houses for her littlest pet shop figures now) and this week it's to keep a tally of all the times she does different kinds of exercise this week like running, dancing, swimming etc.

homework is very unlikely to have any benefit in primary school, and worksheets probably the least. So homework no-one bothers doing, rather than wasting time or getting stressed over pointless homework seems like a good thing to me.

DS had to look at his poo over Christmas in preparation for learning about the digestive system. Year 4.

My song would be "mouthful of shit" by Chumbawamba. I'd offer to write the lyrics out too.

Two highlights from this months choices

Make a picture suitable for a blind person

Make a model of a Haggis

My DS's school did this last year. Brought in by the DHT. He lasted a year. This academic year, homework is back to the simple spellings and reading. Say no more.

Oh hell- don't even mention the word "poster" to me!

Rainforest Environment
DD: spends 18 hours recreating a painting worthy of Rousseau being coached by Leonardo. Gorgeous, but she hasn't learnt anything about actual rainforest species or environment.

DS: spends 1min 20secs drawing a Minecraft rainforest, i.e. a green square, a wither, and a creeper, that takes up 2 square inches in middle of an A3 sheet. Could tell you all about the level of rainfall needed to define rainforest biome, list 30-40 species found there, could point out three different rainforest areas on a map/globe, and tell you what the current threats to the rainforest environments are.... but he can't be arsed to write/draw.

This has just reminded me of my a-level geography teachers. One of them gave us normal homeworks (writing essays, reports, looking lots of stuff up, etc) the other did virtually everything through worksheets with the odd essay thrown in very occasionally.

When you compared our notes from worksheet teacher vs the other set with a 'normal homework' teacher (and indeed normal note making during class too - worksheet teacher had worksheets for class as well as homework) - our files were about a third of the thickness of the other class. Some people were really worried about this, that we didn't have enough information and would do badly. Actually it was the opposite. We all had excellent information to work through that contained all the facts needed, all nice and concise. All got excellent marks in our exams as a result of it!

Shit what a huge ballache. I'm dreading all this crap when mine start in September

Wrongornot: blind peope can feel. The homework was all about texture. Did you not understand that?

I do get that some peope are living in very difficult conditions however that does not mean other children in a class cannot benefit from a good homework topic if they wish to do it. Surely this is not a race to the bottom for everyone? I can see from reading these posts very many people do not care about homework so that presumably might be applicable to the person living in grotty conditions too. It also lends credence to the position we find ourselves in this country that it is parents and their jobs and attitudes that mean children do well. Those that cannot be bothered often have children that cannot be bothered too. It seems a shame when people are proud of that, RowenasDiadem.

I know that homework in primary is very hit and miss but reading really does help. No-one needs to buy magazines and newspapers. Go and ask a hairdresser to have what they are throwing out. Better still, go along to the library. It is free! Make some time after school or on a Saturday.

But the thing is, bubbles that there is very little evidence that primary homework helps those kids who have a favourable home life, while there is more evidence that it increases the gap between them and the kids with a tough home life- so it makes things worse for them.
Reading at home is helpful, of course you are right, but there is a better chance of fitting that into busy days when there isn't other homework to contend with.

OP that sounds horrific. I would be opting not to participate.

I think children get far too much homework but at my son’s school if they haven’t done it then they have to stay in at playtime. He’s 7 and gets times tables which he has to copy out, he has a maths app on my iPad and has to get so many points a week, different spelling activities again to get so many points a week, a separate piece of English or Maths homework and reading books every week, as well as a topic-based ‘project’ every holiday. He does a lot of extracurricular activities so it’s a nightmare trying to fit all that in.

I really can't see why a child can't get anything from making a model or growing cress. Some of parents do it anyway, but some won't, without suggestion from school. So, there is nothing to lose for engaged parents, and more chance of kids with less engaged parents to experience joy of learning?

Our school goes from one extreme to the other. They either get next to nothing or way too much!

We’ve also just had the annual homework survey out. Shame not all the questions made sense!

We are halfway into a whole year of 'resilience based family sharing tasks'. One piece asked the child to ask a parent about a difficult time in their lives and how they overcame it . Yeah because that's something you want to discuss with your 8 year old and then have read out in assembly. Thankfully his teacher is equally unimpressed and says it's optional, we don't do them. They get more than enough as it is and whilst I appreciate these tasks may be helpful to some kids, I feel a lot of these topics veer into parenting territory. And like OP we have better things to do, it's not that I can't be bothered as pp mentioned, kids learn in all manner of ways and most do not like sitting down to do homework after 6 hours in school.

I do not agree with primary school Home Work. I explained to the first teacher who set some stupid bloody project that my 3d model days were over and that this would not be happening. 3 kids. Never did any of it . With the exception of reading and spellings.

Just say no. Kids never felt left out. And preferred to have fun at weekends rather than getting stressed sticking cereal boxes together in the style of an Egyptian Sarcophagus (seriously- this was one of the 'projects'. Utter bollock aching stress inducing nonsense.

Fineas I would check that they can do that, im sure i read somewhere that it is illegal to deprive a child of breaks. I would
Not be happy about that! Bloody homework.

I'm in the north of England and my Y1 daughter's school has recently changed to a homework grid, coinciding with the appointment of a new head teacher. Since September the only homework we have undertaken has been practising her spellings, counting and reading. We undertake many educational activities as a family but I feel no need to send in evidence to the school so my daughter can earn equally pointless credits. (I'm not a big fan of credit reward systems as those who consistently try their best are always rewarded less than the disruptive pupils, so inmho it teaches them nothing- but thats a whole other rant). If I feel she has done something reward worthy we reward her at home. She is excelling at school according to the mini report we received a few weeks ago, tbh I'm not sure photographing her filling the washing machine would have an impact if she was struggling!

I have not RTFT but this has just happened at my DS school.

He is in primary 2 and we had to make a shopping list, go shopping for that items and make a meal - cost me money I really could have been doing without spending.

We have make up a rap using your spelling words ect

The other day I had to write a song in Chinese and English (for Chinese New Year) and write an essay about dinosaurs. Each of them took ME over an hour to do.

I mean I don't mind doing homework but I've been to school, college and uni I don't want to go through it again.

I think it should be more suited to the child's age.

I live in Glasgow too.

Any homework any of my DC's brought home that they were unable to do all by themselves was sent back with a post it note saying so. If you start doing the kids homework for/with them then how on earth is the teacher going to know what they do or don't understand?

I was a fan of the worksheets I could sit my son down he done them while Istanbul beside him and if he needed help I would well but most of the time he managed on his own.

He liked them also as e felt w achieved something on his own. (He is 6)

M my DD starts primary 1 in August so I'm going to have 2 sets to contend with now.