IYO - should homework be something your DCs are able to sit and do alone, with minimal intervention from a parent?

[MegaLegs]

Or should it be the case that you sit with them, quietly tearing your hair out because they don't understand what they are meant to do.

I thought that hw was an extension of what had been learnt at school and so should be something the child can sit and do without lots of help.

Tonight I have almost come to blows with DS2 who utters the imortal "I don't geddit." before I've even begun explaining his, to be honest, bloody difficult Y2 maths hw.

DS1 on the otherhand (Y3) tears through his in 5 mins and then always has a bloody maths game that needs two or more players, a dice, a pack of playing cards, a roulette table, a troupe of acrobats,a herd of elephants etc...

I've done my usual thing of posting at tea time.

I will return later with an example of DS2's maths hw and perhaps someone can enlighten me as to how to enlighten him.

Yes I think they it should be an extension of something they have done at school that day.
Never seems to be though.

Megalegs - it's because everyone is helping Wannabe with her emergency 'design and build from scratch an engine of propulsion' homework that her 5 year-old has to give in tomorrow - presumably after sitting alone and geting on with it by himself!

As I am not busy with tea (dd round at a friend's house) I will sympathise. IMO, homework should be something dd can sit down to do by herself at the kitchen table asking me the occasional question should she need to. It should NOT be ''make a model of your house'' (cue competitive parents making one with real miniature bricks), ''make a model of a London Landmark'' or ''make a model'' of ffing anything!!! Can you tell that I am not keen on model-making?!

See, homework is now defined as something that a child sitting alone can accomplish as long as his Mum and 11,000 MN-ers with a variety of professional experience in everything from astro-physics to Sanskrit poetry are on hand to help as they get the tea on.

Blu I've splattered tea all over my keyboard . (was it not you who caused me to ruin a keyboard on that buggy thread? if so, please stop making me laugh)

here is poor Wannabe's homework challenge!

A MN-er wrote an article for the Times on 'homework for parents' and used my antics making an iguanadon costume for world book day as an example!!

i dont agree with parental involvement with homework - esp coursework!

Blu: have asked mumsnet HQ for that to be quote of the week

Have popped back in the post tea/pre bath hour of lunacy (I just let them get on with it). I showed Dh DS2's maths and asked him to explain how he worked out his answers. DH pondered this for a few mins and then replied "in my head". Give me strength. Will return after dishwasher loading.

Idling - the model making is yet to come, friends DD had to make an Anderson shelter in Y6.

Glad I'm not wannabe tonight though Blu.

I think a lot depends on the age of the child. At infants school level (ie. reception, keystage 1) a parent has to sit with their child to make them do their homework in many cases. As children get older they get more independent.

My son does his home work in the kitchen, I am often doing something else as well as keeping an eye on him. I find the use of cooker timer helps prevent him from day dreaming. It also helps to see if he is really stuck or just being really lazy.

He he as done absolutely nothing after half an hour, then I do not let watch any TV or play on the computer for the rest of the evening. I don't make him sit for any longer.

We have to practically do DS's!!

Yes I do. Minimal intervention if help asked for. But it's their homework, not mine. However, if my primary aged children are tired then I have occassionally almost done it for them or told them to leave it.
I don't think I've seen more than a passing glance of my secondary aged children's homework. Have had some interesting conversations about work they've done in school that's related.

I loathe art homework, where we always have to provide "textured materials" or similar stuff......

Right, DH doing bedtime. DS1 is in Y3, he has maths and literacy hw each week, officially 20 mins of each but the literacy usually takes him 5 mins (tonight he had to correct the spelling mistakes in a letter from baby bear to Goldilocks.) He need very little help although always check it as he is prone to careless mistakes. Maths nearly always a game which he plays with DS2 at kitchen table whilst I cook etc..

DS2 has literacy which he usually manages with a little guidance or spellings to cover, copy write etc.. Maths though is always very tricky. He is good at maths and we usually get there. The problem I have is that I find it hard to explain a concept to him in the same way that he has learnt about it at school, also I feel I shouldn't have to, the hw should be extending or reinforcing whatever concepts are being taught at school that week surely.

Tonight we did this:

Add pairs of numbers in the group below to make three new numbers. Each number in the group can be used only once. The three new numbers are one apart from each other.

The numbers in the group are:

8 2 7 9 3 4

Write the three new numbers in order.

Explain how you worked them out.

I We worked out that the missing numbers were 10 (8+2) 11 (7+4) 12 (9+3), (actually I started DS2 off with 8+2 and he did the rest but how would you explain how you worked it out.)

I'm sure it's blatantly obvious and I shall be getting my coat in a bit but with 3 doing hw and DS4 clinging, whingeing or flooding bathrooms it's not easy.

That was just question 1.

I've bored you all off my thread haven't I never mind. I think the solution might be to talk to the class teacher, get a copy of this terms plans for maths so I can see where she is coming from. Still this does not alleviate from my inital bugbear, that is, in a perfect world my boys would sit at the kitchen table silently doing their homework whilst I flit about cooking tea and drinking wine.

DS's usually get worksheets which they are able to complete independently quite easily. They are 8 and 10 now, but other than insisting they sit down and get on with it, we rarely get involved at all with this sort of homework, and haven't done since they were 5 or 6. We certainly don't sit with them or check their work.

They do have project-type homework or games, or occasionally something they decide to strop about, and then we do get more involved. I also still listen to ds2 read and sign his book.

I teach and my view is 'It is their homework not mine'

Often homeweok that I set it to check understanding of something that we have done in class. I'm not interested in knowing if the parents can do it, I want to know if the kids can do it!

Are you secondary though MB?

DS2's teacher is a great teacher but she has returned to the infants after many years teaching Y4. I think they are using her to 'troubleshhot' a tricky class and it's working.

I admire her, she isn't afraid to stretch the children and DS2 is thriving on it. I just wondered if my perception at what hw is for was wrong?

troubleshoot - tis the wine!!

Couldn't agree more. I get sick of doing homework for reception, y2, y6 and y7. Especially because my dd's think I'm thick!

I agree, I think primary school homework is set to torment parents, and a complete waste of time at that age AND I'm a teacher

I hate homework! felt the same when I was at school!
My boys all appear to require my input but i'm finding it increasingly hard to help as my yr6 ds is doing things beyond me! dh is great with maths thank god! I'd be up a creak without a paddle on my own!!!! Tonight my two eldest ds rolled their eyes at eachother when they realised dad was out on maths night! and ds3 shouted 'whey hey i'm alright ive got art!' What im going to do when all four hit secondary I dont know!!!