Teacher asked me to ‘support his learning’ - should I write back and explain??

[Janus]

I have a boy in year 4, aged 8. Homework for English for the past few weeks has been Alice in Wonderland, my son has hated it! 10 questions each week on falling down a hole, growing big and small, knave of hearts stealing tarts etc!
Last week’s was awful and was all about her falling down the hole and one question was

What does Alice mean when she says ‘Reaching the heights I am now would be an impossibility’.

Erm, I didn’t know the answer!! He’s 8, he didn’t know the answer! He has cried every week we have done this homework. We have no communication book any more as our school didn’t think we needed them so I wrote on this question ‘X doesn’t know how to answer so I’d have to answer for him’ and then left it blank.
Getting homework back the teacher has put
‘Please support his learning!’
I sit every week and do this English with him, maths he’s much better with but I will help if he asks. This week the homework is finally on the Victorians and he has loved answering these questions.
I hate that she thinks I can’t be bothered to help. Would I be wrong to write a note and stick it on this week’s homework saying something like
‘I just thought I’d reply to your note of last week. X has found the Alice in Wonderland homework very hard and this has resulted in tears each week. We both honestly didn’t know how to answer that question so that’s why we left it blank. I don’t want you to think I don’t support his learning, I sit with him every week and make sure it’s completed and never late.
I’m a bit angry to be honest. One question in the whole year we haven’t done! We’ve completed every other piece of homework, often handed in early but never late.

And I hate Alice in Wonderland. It's a dreadful book.

What about “impossibility and height” though?

I am writing this as the mother of two extremely high achieving, top drawer kids who (now at top end of primary) are absolutely smashing It, top in class/school (at a high achieving school).

If you instil your children with a love of reading, exercise and healthy eating, limit screen time and provide a loving home environment then they’ll do well. Whether or not one question is missed off on a homework once is of little to no consequence at age 8.

OP I think the teacher’s comment was unnecessary and rude, I’d hazard a guess that the teacher has no children yet and doesn’t realise the upset homework can cause when given at such a young age. She clearly has no perspective. Maybe she’s stressed and has a hard job but it’s still rude of her, unnecessary and a bit silly and small minded.

I’d completely ignore it, continue supporting the home learning as you are and forget about it. I personally disagree with homework at primary age as I think children should be playing out, doing sport, reading for fun and enjoyment and generally being kids. However like you OP I do ensure home learning is completed as their school does allocate homework, and as such like you I work with the school.

I'm a copy-editor and I can't answer that!!!

Would be interested to hear @Reginabambina's answer 🙄

I'd need the text and the context to support it, and I'd have to read the book.

IME, four lots of homework on a TEXT THE PUPILS HAVE NOT READ IN FULL AT SCHOOL is insane and pointless. What are they learning??

Plus, Alice in Wonderland is an acquired taste. The language might be hard for many dc to access. And it's bonkers - I'm not a fan at all myself. Can see your son's point!

The teacher's comment was very rude. I suggest making an appt to go in and see her - it would be easier to resolve this face to face.

@ConfusedButAngry the sentence is meant to be confusing in structure because she’s confused. She’s experienced something which she believed to be impossible. If you explain the literal meaning to a child and ask them how they would feel in her position most would understand.

The question was: What does Alice mean when she says ‘Reaching the heights I am now would be an impossibility’.

@Reginabambina: your answer does not make sense. It seems pretty straight forward. Just pick out the key themes (impossibility and height). What else could it possibly mean?

What would your answer be?

You do have to bear in mind that this homework was given to a young child, the teacher isn’t expecting an enlightened and novel interpretation, just a decent effort to understand.

@Reginabambina

You've still not answered the question......

Regina doesn't know the answer.

REgina I agree with you she saying how can I be this hight as it,s impissible right? Well that is what I would explain to my child.

You do have to bear in mind that this homework was given to a young child, the teacher isn’t expecting an enlightened and novel interpretation, just a decent effort to understand.

Could you be any more condescending?? And you still haven't answered it!!!

Still think you’re rude Regina, this isn’t AIBU so take yourself off and go and have a chill somewhere where you can’t hurt anyone.
I think I will go in and talk to the school tonight, the very last thing I want is for someone to feel I am some sort of lazy parent that doesn’t care for my son. I will and do always have time for them to do homework, I want the teacher to know that.
Thank you to the kind posters who have cheered me up by saying they too find it a strange question to answer.
I hate Alice in Wonderland!!

Can I just say - I hate Alice in Wonderland too.

@Janus you are not alone.

I don't get the question either.

I'd go with a tongue in cheek answer like

“I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?”

I have, multiple times. An acceptable answer (there’s no right answer in literary analysis) would range from a very literal ‘she says it’s impossible for her to be the size that she is’ to a ‘WTAF’.

@OP I really didn’t mean to offend you, it was merely an attempt to excuse the teacher’s response. We all have things which we just can’t do. I have a friend who cannot read analog clocks, many people wouldn’t believe it if they hadn’t come across it and a teacher might think she was refusing to help her child with analog clock related homework. I categorically cannot sing to tune/hardly tell apart tonal differences (to an extent which most people find difficult to believe when I try to tell them). Unlikely to come up in homework but if my children were involved in some kind of singing or something their teacher might think I was refusing to help them when it was simply a case of just not being able at all. That’s all I’m saying, she probably just doesn’t understand. Go and explain it to her.

@tenlittlecygnets sorry, tag failure. See above

@Reginabambina
So 'WTAF', by which I assume you mean as an abbreviation of 'What the Actual Fuck', would be an acceptable answer for a child's piece of homework??
A ridiculous answer to, it must be said, a ridiculous question set by a ridiculous primary school teacher.
OP I'm a copy-editor like a PP, and an English BA Hons graduate, have never read the book, and I would struggle to answer such a question. Maybe it refers literally to Alice growing bigger/smaller in size. It seems paradoxical in that if Alice has already reached the heights she is now, then it is not an impossibility is it? OP I'd ask the teacher what the answer should have been and watch her squirm.

Spoke to the teacher, she tried to tell me all boys are a nightmare and she understands that he gave up. ??!
I said he didn’t give up, we tried, we couldn’t find an answer. I also said I wanted to point out I’m not a lazy parent and we did try but couldn’t find a suitable answer so we left it blank rather than confuse matters and cause him to get even more upset. She said I should have written that 🙄. I wrote ‘X didn’t know the answer so I’d have to answer for him’. That took up the space for the answer!
Anyway, I feel better that I got my point across. At least we’ve finished Alice in Wonderland!!

I don't like the "all boys are a nightmare" attitude. It means she's likely to dismiss any difficulties with "oh he's just being a lazy boy". Glad you made yourself clear OP, I can see why you didn't like the original note!

It's a ridiculous question to give a year 4 child. How to put children off literature. The curriculum is really trying to kill off love of reading and writing. I am a teacher btw and it saddens me the pressure we are under to perform and push children on and on without giving them a real love of learning.

Id probably just leave the one off comment for now. But i do agree speaking is better than notes back and forth if you do decide to tackle it. For example, i felt the teacher may have been trying to say its ok for you to answer for him and talk him through the answer in the 'please support his learning' and not realised you meant 'i didnt understand the question or know the answer' as i wouldnt have got that from your comment. I took that your son dudnt know and you didnt tell him as it didnt seem much point.

Oops seen your update. She doesnt sound very positive!

She’s a horror, just keep going till the end of year...,.there are always teachers who disappoint and she seems to be one of them.

oh gawd she’s one of those teachers. all boys are frogs and snails and puppy dogs tails, right? DC were at a school that had a ‘girls are sugar and spice and all boys like football’ culture, best decision we ever made.

posted to soon, getting DC out of there was the best decision we ever made.