Spelling homework - AIBU

[Ajsjdjdk]

6 year old (year 1) missed all of his breaks (morning and lunch) because his spelling homework was incorrect.

He had done his homework (look say cover) but he really struggled with his spellings. Some of them were incorrect but he'd had a good try. He gets two days to learn them. Obviously we had discussed the errors and were going to work on them throughout the rest of the week.

AIBU in thinking he shouldn't have missed all of his break at that age to practice. I would understand taking 5 mins or so. Is this normal in schools now?

At DD's school they do the test then move on. Words that lots of children get wrong re-appear a few weeks later.
There is a support group for children who are really struggling but think they get different spellings.

No, that's really sad.

Thank you for the replies.
He is the youngest so I wasn't sure if I was just being soft.
What would be the best way to approach this with the school?

I’d be furious - with spellings there’s so much variation and none of it is the kids fault. Some parents won’t take any time to practice (not saying this is you!), some kids refuse to practice at home, some kids find spelling really tricky, some kids just panic that it’s a “test”. None of this should matter for the purposes of break times.

My son was once kept in for part of break for not having tried hard enough at his writing. I was fine with this - they were judging compared to other school work and it was not the full break. He learnt the lesson that he needs to try (not necessary get 10/10).

A spelling test in year 1 is also pretty full on IMO. We definitely haven’t had spellings to learn at home that have been tested.

I'd ask the school for actual evidence that this approach works (there isn't any, because it doesn't). I'd also ask for their behaviour policy and see where not being good at spelling is stated to result in an in-house detention. I'd also ask what the sanctions for actual bad behaviour can possibly be if this the punishment for a six year old spelling incorrectly. I normally defend schools in these type of posts but, if you are accurately representing what happened, this is ludicrous.

I think it's harsh and a great way to make a child hate learning.

Did the teacher tell you that he'd missed all his breaks?

I would be very surprised if he missed all of his break and lunchtime, who told you that’s what happened?

My son is dyslexic and struggled with spelling. He often got 0/5
Every week we spent about 20 minutes practicing and if his teacher had kept him in, I would have been furious because practicing something difficult is an admirable quality and builds resilience and 20 mins a week is more than enough.

His teacher was saying his homework hadn’t been done because the words were spelled incorrectly. He is given a sheet to write the word three times using ‘look say cover’ which he did. He handed in a completed worksheet but with some words incorrectly spelt.

His class TA told me he missed morning break and afternoon break.

I would be furious! At my kids primary they start spellings in year 2 but they practice them in school time too and also get different lists in smaller group, depending on where their individual spelling is at. Stickers are given for getting them all correct but no reprisals or criticism in any way for getting any wrong. One of our kids has dyslexia and always struggled with spelling but their self esteem remained high because he was assessed & rewarded for effort.

If my kids did their homework I let them hand it in mistakes and all. If they asked me to check it then I would point out mistakes and let them correct them but always wrote a note at bottom saying if they’d completed the homework on their own or with my help so the teacher know.

He probably just spent a few minutes practicing the correct spellings. Neither the teacher or the TA will have wanted to give up their entire break for this. You could just as easily find a reason to complain if they could see that he was getting the spellings wrong but did nothing to help correct him before the test.

Now you know that you need to supervise him when he’s practicing spellings so that he’s not doing it wrong.

So not lunch, as per your OP?

I'm a primary school teacher and i really don't think this is acceptable at all. Query this with the class teacher and head if you don't get anywhere. @Hobbi has good suggestions for questions!

Children will have varying levels of support at school so this really isn't fair and discriminates against those with less/ no support - I'm not saying this is your son's situation, I just mean this adds another element and is one of the reasons I don't agree with homework for this age group in the first place!

• support at home, not school sorry

I would be furious!
you can’t punish a child for getting academic work wrong. What if a child just isn’t as intelligent (not saying this is your son, but just hypothesising on their rule) and cannot perform at the level of other children in class, should they be punished daily for being less intelligent and failing to complete to the correct standard?

Surely the lesson they’re teaching him here is that it’s better to just copy the word down, rather than to cover it and try to learn it but take the risk of losing breaks.
Or his takeaway may be to remember/feel that he’s not good at spelling and to have a negative association with spelling. neither seem like positive outcomes

also, children need breaks, or they’ll struggle to focus and learn on the next thing, pushing an already struggling child further behind.
I’d honestly be raging at school over this. How dare they make him feel bad.

Are you sure this is true? If a child got all their spellings in correct I might sit and work through them together at the beginning of lunch but that would be it. It would be lunch as there's no other time.

@Hobbi

They get 2 breaks - 15 mins in the Morning and 1 hour lunch break. 1 hour lunch is split into 30 mins in the hall eating and 30mins outside. He was obviously allowed to eat his lunch but not allowed to play.

I'd go straight to the Head then. Totally unacceptable.

This is ridiculous and totally unacceptable. I would speak to the teacher to make sure it doesn't happen again and if necessary also speak to the HT. I am cross on your behalf.

Bear in mind that they're trying to help him keep up and won't be having break either! That said it's not helpful and perhaps you could do what they're doing in home time if you ask for directions.

Can I suggest you support him by checking his homework at least?

Kids get spellings wrong for two reasons, either lack or practice or lack of ability.

He's too young to take full responsibility for not doing his homework, so it's pointless. I know he did it, but even if he didn't it wouldn't be his fault.

He definitely shouldn't be punished for lack of ability, and if that is actually an issue he should have different spellings,extra support etc not a consequence.

Kids at my school do stay in at break for spellings, that only happens in UKS2 , for the kids where there are no obvious issues and only as long as it takes them to practice the spellings. Definitely not two full missed breaks.

What did he say he was doing in the time he was kept in from play?

Poor little poppet!

he handed his worksheet in, so he'd clearly done the homework.

not being able to get them right is not a punishable offence!!

I would speak to the HoY. It's unacceptable.

it's also unacceptable that MN WILL NOT fix the capitalisation at the start of paragraphs!!!! Grrrr