Homework amount /motivation /alternative schools

[UrsiHun]

Hey,

DS started Y1 in the summer (is now 7: we're in Germany so kids start 2 years later than in the UK). There was suppossed tobe 10min of homework per day and yet the maths teachers gives what amounts to 20min according to her estimate. In effect my son sits on average an hour per day each afternoon and fights the home-work whilst I sit next to him and help him stay focused. We get home at 4.30pm so we can start at about 5pm after he had a snack and a break. It is awfully stressful as his little brother also wants attention and DS1 himself is really sick of it. He's definately smart enough since he gets his stuff right, build lego very well and speak both German and English perfectly so I doubt my kid is the problem. Others might be faster, I realise that but kids do develop at different speed, or am I getting things wrong?

Teachers in Germany are pretty much untouchable and do whatever the heck they want so there is nothing I can do. Since we are planning on moving to the UK (possibly Solihull or Sutton Coldfield) I am wondering whether education in the UK is also this rigid (I'm a british citizen but have lived for a long time abroad so no idea)? Are there also liberal schools that teach based on idividual character and needs like montessori (but past the age of 7?)?

I really worry he will lose his interest in school if this continues. What I cannot tell is whether schools that are rated as outsanding are so because of putting pressure on pupils or because they manage to keep kids motivated (at least at primary stage)?

I welcome any insights..

It very much depends on the school - there was a bit of a social media discussion about this earlier this year when the comedian Rob Delaney complained on Twitter about the amount of homework his kids get at primary school!

My children's school takes the view that too much homework is counterproductive, a fact for which I am very grateful! To give you an idea, my 7yo gets approx 10 spelling words and half an hour-1 hour of maths practice a week and is expected to read for 15-20 mins every day.

Every school is different however and all I can say is when you start looking at schools for your son, ask them what level of homework they expect the children to do. It may increase as they go up the school, so it's worth asking about that too.

We were in a state primary until recently with a 6yr old. No homework at all except for 6 spellings a week. Just started at private. 20 minutes per day and 30 spellings per week . It could take an hour if the child wasn't used to it or motivated, I'm sure. Maybe spend 2o Min then stop, however far he has got. Regular practice will make it seem less of a big deal for him.

The 30 spellings are very logically selected though.so you might have
Bow
Blow
Below

As long as the child can hear the sounds they only have to remember the 'ow' sound, all the others are simple.

Here is an alternate school. It's not the right area for you but you might find it interesting. I'm not sure how flexible you are on location.

www.brockwood.org.uk/

It varies a little from school to school, but I’d be very surprised if a state school in the UK expected an hour of homework per night for a 7-year-old.

My DD is 7 (nearly 8, Y3) and, per week she gets a maths worksheet (10-15 minutes), a comprehension or punctuation/grammar worksheet (10 minutes), and 6-10 spellings for a weekly test (1 minute). The times in brackets are how long it typically takes my DD, although of course this will differ between children.

In addition, she has a couple of reading books per week, and is expected to log into the online times tables programme and do a bit on there.

She has six days in which to do the work, and it is not onerous at all. I think this is pretty typical.

Thanks you! I'm relieved that there are different approaches that cater for different preferences. Thank you all for your comments.

May I ask iwantasofa why you changed from state to private?

Also regarding bullying : is there a greater or smaller likelihood of that in private schools?

Same as in Germany, it depends on the school.
I teach at an independent school in Germany and we don't set any homework at all. I'm slowly introducing the idea of one Maths and English task a week.
The schools I have taught at in the UK have varied from those not setting any homework, to having voluntary homework to those where I had to do sodding homework detentions every lunchtime because everyone was given ridiculous amounts and we were meant to keep them in.
I preferred the voluntary option and it's what I'm starting to implement in my current class.

Don't German schools have a shorter school day than England? (I think it has been increased recently, but I bet it is still shorter) I wonder if they are outsourcing more work to parents to make up for the shorter school day. If so, that does not sound like a good plan for a country where there are now many immigrant parents who may not speak good German.

Lots of schools now have afternoon provision and homework support, even state ones.
Out timetable runs from 9am-3pm, although we've got wrap-around care from 7.30am-6pm.

Yes there are more relaxed schools around. You will need to visit to get a feel for a school. Some schools aren't to keen on visits for in year admissions but most were ok in my experience. My experience is beware outstanding schools as they can be more pushy. I moved my child to an undersubscribed school, it's great!

Yes, Kokesh123. However I'm not a sahm so I need to take advantage of the additional
care. I pick him up 4pm and by the time he's home, has had something to eat it's 5pm. Since he gets up at 6am, doing homework till half seven is a big deal for 7year old.

UrsiHun, does he not do homework during the after school care? That's usually the idea.

Yes, but they only allow 10-15min for that before play time or courses. That's not enough for him though..he's a bit of a dreamer and says he can't concentrate with all kids moving about the classroom.

That sounds a bit rubbish. I mean, I don't expect an afterschool club to act as a kind of tutoring service or anything, but I do think that part of their responsibilities is to provide a quiet space and sufficient time for homework to be done.

Can you find alternative AS provision? In the country I live in, we have both public and private ones, so paying a bit more in order to get a service that absolutely insists on homework getting completed is an option. Other alternative could be, feeding him a snack in the car/bus/subway etc. on the way back home and then doing HWK as soon as you both get in the door, or getting up a bit earlier.

To a certain extent you may find it gets better as he gets older. My kid is now 8 and she now "gets" that if she focuses and gets HWK done at afterschool club, this frees up her evening for other things. A bit of bribery can also help.