Do you get DC to do extra (not homework) practice work at home

[Magnificentbeast]

My DC is in year 6. We have a spelling and numeracy software that we use to practice weekly school spelling lists and maths e.g. topics that have been mentioned at parents' evening or that they're covering in homework. We also use the school programs for which she can login at home.

I bought a SATs book from school to practice SATs type questions with her. We just started yesterday. She wasn't keen so I didn't push it and kept it brief. I sat with her. The plan is just to work on it between now and May in small chunks.

I also encourage her to practice her chosen musical instrument as she never really thinks to do it herself. She has lessons during school hours.

She's bright but will just do the bare minimum required. She's always 'emerging' on the school reports so I guess somewhere in the middle. Nothing wrong in that!

We 'mix and match' what we cover and generally don't exceed 30 minutes on 2-3 of the things above. So, she might do 10 minutes on each of spelling, maths and music practice whenever we can fit it in. Not even every day. The SATs book would add an extra 10-15 possibly. Is this unreasonable?

Outside of the above I listen to her read and read to her. She's not one to go off and sit reading independently. Although very recently she is showing more interest. I know that in high school they're expected to read independently.

She decided not to do the 11+ partly because she didn't want to do extra tutoring. I can't help but feel that the children who have done the 11+ and been tutored for it will have an advantage whether or not they passed.

The thing is that my daughter will initially resist any of the above and I am concerned that I will put her off altogether. My motive is really just to give her extra practice to help her along a bit and improve her confidence. She would happily spend hours watching tv and playing on her tablet but is very resistant to 30 mins of anything like school work. I should be clear that she does still have downtime to spend as she pleases with tv/tablet etc. She only does school clubs now as she says she doesn't want to join anything else outside of school

Do any of you give your DCs extra work to practice? If so, what and how much?

My DD is only in Y4, but I do a little bit of workbooks/online learning with her (approx 20 mins, approx 3 times per week) to consolidate what she's learnt in class, and to get into a good study habit. She also learns an instrument. DD is generally happy to do a bit extra, though if she hated it we'd ease back.

Of course 11+ tutoring will give Y6 children a head start when it comes to KS2 SATs. A friend home tutored her DS for the 11+, and although he didn't pass and does struggle with spelling, he really enjoyed Y6 and SATs were not stressful because he'd already done plenty of groundwork.

My DD won't often pick up a book at home during the day, but as well as reading to us in the evenings, she has reading time in bed before she turns the light out. She has no electronics in her room so there are no distractions, and she loves her reading time. Would your DD read a book in bed?

I think what you're doing seems sensible and not OTT, but only if she engages. Have you chatted to your DD about how she's doing at school, and whether she would like to do well in her SATs and at secondary school? Perhaps if she could understand the longer term benefits of getting good results, it would encourage her to do a bit more studying at home?

I'm sure parents of Y6 children will have more advice.

OP, my daughter's also in year 6, and quite honestly I could have written your
post practically word for word! We drew up a 'contract' with a timetable of maths/English/handwriting for half an hour a night (alternating, not all three!) although it's slipped a bit lately. She also has trumpet lessons once a week at school, and once a week out of school, and extra band practice twice a week leading up to Christmas, so I'm not bothered about extra practicing at home any more!

To be honest , I do it to push her a bit as she would happily do the bare minimum given the opportunity. Homework this year seems to consist of word searches and very easy sheets of maths, and although good at maths she forgets things very quickly.

I'm not bothered about Sats though. I tend to think they're more for the school's benefit than her's. Not that I'd tell her that.

The problem of thinking they are for the benefit of the school is flawed. The teachers work bloody hard to teach your DC. They don’t particularly like Sats but you could at least be positive about what your DC might achieve if they actually did a bit of work. Just putting up excuses about their performance isn’t good for them. The school really will care about your DC but if they just watch tv and use their computers they are already into bad habits and don’t appear to have a love of learning - which is sad.

At the same age plenty of DC are capable of passing the 11 plus, read for fun and write for fun too. They might be interested in history and are already engaging in geography, sciences and maths and other subjects they find interesting. If you have DC who won’t engage you will have an uphill struggle for the rest of their education.

Is that directed at me? 😀. She does plenty of reading and writing, thanks, is above target milestones, and loves things like horrible histories and operation ouch. She just doesn't really want to do extra maths at home!

So what is the point of sats then? 11+ tests have been and gone.

I'm confused - you say she is 'emerging' which means below the expected level? Or have I misunderstood?
I get my year 5 to do sporadic extra maths usually on weekends and during the holidays. We are all exhausted in the evenings. We use time table rockstars, maths whizz and bond books. My child did resist at first as not many of her classmates do anything out of school but she really enjoys the tt rockstars. We don't use the tablet for games so they see it as a treat ;-). Both of our kids are about a year ahead in maths and the extra practice helps.

My mistake @MrPickles73 she's at expected for everything. Not sure why I put emerging!

My aim is to give her more practice and develop good study habits. She behaves as if I'm ruining her life! Although to be fair she does usually settle after her protests. She is easily distracted.

I'm just interested in whether other non-tutoring families arrange extra practice activities for their children.

@LetItGoToRuin I will keep talking to her about the long term benefits of practising & study habits.

I don't put pressure on her about SATs. I support her and the school.

My kids do extra work even now in secondary. I find GCSEs are so demanding that they need to put a lot of effort in to it themselves. If you build up the expectation for independent work from a young age, it will probably make it easier.
If you can get her reading regularly then that’s brilliant. My dcs don’t have tech in their bedrooms after 8 so they read at bedtime.
At primary, I expected them to read at least 20 minutes before bed, practise maths (10 minute papers), watch horrible histories and documentaries and know what’s going on in the world (age appropriate)

I'm with @Charles11 above. DS is now Year 10, so just started his GCSE's. We did nothing in primary school, they didn't set much homework and we didn't get any SATS homework at all and DS pretty much coasted through.
Now, he's spent 3 years of high school also coasting and getting him to do much more intensive homework is like pulling teeth. He doesn't have the inclination or the time management etc (everything is rushed at the last minute) and I wish I'd have encouraged a bit more at home early on to get into the routine.
At the moment, he'll be a turn up on the day and hope for the best in exams type of kid 🙈

Yes we do activities, work books and reading practice, as well as our own research and projects at home. Learning doesn't end in the class room! I do lots of homework too, so I'm not expecting them to do something I don't expect from myself. We try to keep it light and fun and nothing is mandatory, though

I did, dd1 had advanced work because she was way ahead and dd2 had support for dyslexia

My DS is in Year6, and yes, we do extra maths and English.

In less than a year, they will have homework every night, so getting into the habit of a bit of home-work can’t be a bad thing, and it means I have a better idea of where he is with his learning.

I nag/encourage/incentivise about music practice but that’s all. To be honest it never occurred to me to do extra workbooks or whatever. Though I do have a friend (who jokes that she is a tiger mother) whose kids sit down after school every day and do workbooks. Haven’t they had enough of that at school! We are also pretty busy with different activities which I think are arguably more valuable than extra academic work (eg ballet, choir, swimming etc)

When my dd was in year 6 the school recommended some workbooks for use at home but we decided not to go ahead with it as she was doing fine and I didn’t want to pile on the extra pressure.

Another of my concerns about doing extra work not set by school is that with maths for example they have particular methods of teaching stuff. And surely it’s not helpful for the teachers if kids have already looked at concepts before they get to them in school?

And my dd has just started year 7 and has pleasantly surprised me with how she is getting on independently with tackling the large volume of homework. I think let them enjoy havjng more free time before the pressure and workload of secondary kicks in!

I have one did SATS last year and one doing them this year. last year we did no extra work. they got maths and english once a week and due to spld we did have to do some work on spellings but otherwise no extra work and she did very well and I think was comfortable getting what she did so consequently is now finding year 7 straightforward so far. the other one so far we haven't done anything, might do a bit of work on comprehension as she says she doesn't feel very confident but she doesn't seem to be having any other problems so will just leave it to what the school give them again I think.

I would be wary of pushing too far, they do very well in their SATs then they get high targets for secondary school. might not be a bad thing but it could lead to a lot of stress and pressure especially if their SATs marks are really due to doing lots of extra work rather than being comfortably attained

I think there’s a really fine line to tread between being a Tiger Mother and letting your child do whatever they want to do. Youngest DD is now in Year 7. Like me, she’s naturally pretty lazy and would happily spent hours watching completely awful YouTube video’s and playing on her tablet rather than doing anything else. Out of school clubs are important (developing friends outside their existing circle, learning new skills, getting exercise, building confidence etc) - I’m sure DD would very happily do none or drop out of them when she didn’t feel in the mood but we do ask her to do them (of her own choosing) and commit to at least a term.

It depends on where they are heading but if it’s a State school, SATS results may be important. DD is on a music place at a high performing Girls school we are out of area for - they stream initially according to SATS and are carrying out tests this term to make sure they are in the right ability group. Not all schools do this but some will. Children tend to perform to the ability of the people around them and behaviour and focus is better in the higher streams. We bought SATS workbooks last Jan and DD worked steadily through them. We didn’t pile on the pressure or expectation though as that’s counter productive. DD got the results she was predicted (GD for the English elements, just above the pass mark for Maths) so not sure the workbooks made a difference to what she got but they did give her extra practice in the formats.

Just try to add in elements that they see as a ‘bonus’ - for example, DD gets half an hour reading time after she goes to bed. Encourage them to do something outside the norm with their interests - DD has written and performed some absolutely god awful plays to us and has just made a short video about climate change she wants us to show other adults (pretty sure we’re not going to having seen it but a big thumbs up to her for trying!). You know your child, just try to key in to what they are genuinely interested in and won’t feel is lame!

Year 7 is a big shock to them and getting your child in the practice now of doing a bit extra will help. DD’s school have high expectations and she has an avalanche of homework in every subject (including subjects like cookery, dance, textiles and drama which you wouldn’t necessarily expect). Any uncompleted homework gets a detention. It’s hard going and requires a lot of discipline! I’m not sure all schools will be giving children the amount DD gets but expect a lot more!