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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Homework!

21 replies

lottysmum · 03/02/2008 20:52

My Dd is 5 she is in year 1 and since she was in reception we have had homework....in reception homework was not too bad because it was easy to make it fun and there were no formal books.

It maybe possible to turn the year 1 homework into fun but because there is s formal homework book which she has to record her homework in ...it becomes a little to structured and not only is my DD not enjoying it ...I'm not enjoying it either!

We are talking about 5 year old's, the only time we can reasonably do homework is over the weekend because I won;t do it after school 9am till 3.30 is enough learning in a day...I'm totally cheesed off with having to to take 10- 20 mins how of the weekend...I just want my dd to turn off from school and relax.

She;s bright doing exceptionally well...she already reads every night and practices her spellings...I just want to say No ...we are not doing it!

Has anyone questioned homework with teachers?

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snowleopard · 03/02/2008 20:58

I was talking to a friend today who told me about this scientist who has researched homework and found it to be educationally useless
here

I haven't had time to look at it myself yet but it might be worth a look if you're planning to approach the teachers about it.

My DS isn't at school yet but I do find the fact that they give 4- and 5-year-olds homework really appalling.

Hulababy · 03/02/2008 21:04

DD is 5yo and in Y1. She does get homework this year, on top of daily reading (reading only in reception) but at present she managges it no problem and enjoys it.

As an idea of what we get:

Every day - reading
Monday - small amount of literacy or numeracy work (lit one week, num next week) - takes about 5-10 minutes max at the moment
Tuesday/Wednesday - spelling; they get 3-10 words to learn depending on literacy ability
Weekend - reading journal - write a few sentences about a book/magazine/any material they have read

However the teacher has said to parents that they must tell her if they think the child isn't managing homework for whatever reason, including time to do it or if the child isn't happy. So could be worth speaking to the teacher.

cba · 03/02/2008 21:07

ds2 is in reception and he gets alot more.

daily he gets a reading book and literacy and he also has a spelling test each week.

I to think it is not necessary but what can you do?

mimsum · 03/02/2008 22:00

a spelling test?? in reception??????????? ffs half the kids in the class won't be reading yet so what on earth is the point of a spelling test

dd's in reception and hse gets one reading book a week and er that's it - we read a lot at home and she often asks to do 'homework' when her brothers are doing theirs so I give her some writing patterns or something similar to do but only when she asks

if you think it's unnecessary, tell the teacher that your child isn't doing it - ds2 who's in Y3 came home with a snarky note from the cover teacher in his reading record asking for him to write a bit about the books he's reading. I had a word with his 'proper' teacher explaining that although ds is fantastically good at reading, he struggles with writing (fine motor skills problems), and I don't want to him to start associating something he finds really hard with something he loves and in the process put him off reading. She agreed that in pursuit of our long term goal (happy reading and writing) that it was fine for him not to write in his reading record

so just be assertive!

TheodoresMummy · 03/02/2008 22:57

'I to think it is not necessary but what can you do?'

you can tell the teacher that you think it's not on...? (if you are bothered enough obviously ).

Every parent who thinks homework at this age (or whenever) should refuse to do it and make a stance.

Same goes for all the parents on MN and the many, many more who aren't on MN, who think that children should not start school until they are 5 or 6 or 7 or....whatever !!

Stand up and make some noise about it !!

Nothing will change while we sit around moaning amongst ourselves.

(sorry, don't mean to sound so irate, but am currently steeling myself to either refuse to send DS to the school we have been allocated - which is our first choice - or send him and give 'em hell about all the stuff I think is crap.)

TheodoresMummy · 03/02/2008 22:57

'I to think it is not necessary but what can you do?'

you can tell the teacher that you think it's not on...? (if you are bothered enough obviously ).

Every parent who thinks homework at this age (or whenever) should refuse to do it and make a stance.

Same goes for all the parents on MN and the many, many more who aren't on MN, who think that children should not start school until they are 5 or 6 or 7 or....whatever !!

Stand up and make some noise about it !!

Nothing will change while we sit around moaning amongst ourselves.

TheodoresMummy · 03/02/2008 22:57

Sorry - pressed the button too hard....

DrNortherner · 03/02/2008 23:02

My ds is 5 and in year 1 and we get no formal homework. He gets 3 reading books on aMonday whuch are to be read at leisure over a whole week, plus they get a Friday challenge which last week consisted of getting mummy's purse an sorting the coins into matching sets.

Fireflyfairy2 · 03/02/2008 23:07

My dd is 6. She is in p2.

She has reading every day plus a work sheet to fill in. The work sheets can be maths, english or science.

She also has 10 spellings to learn.

They have a mini test every week that they bring home for their parents to see.

They are asked their 10 spellings, asked to make sentences from 2 of the words & their maths skills are tested also.

If dd is tired she doesn't do it. The teacher says if the children are tired it doesn't matter.... dd always wants to do it though.

Original poster

lottysmum · 04/02/2008 12:31

Thanks for the replies...I think I am just going to say No we are not going to do it anymore at the parents evening in early March.

She reads from a book every evening and also reads freely too because she loves it and is doing very well.

Ten spellings each week which she does daily and tested weekly...once again she is getting 10/10.

The homework is always literacy and numeracy....this week it was drawing an animal and labelling its body parts...which they had already done in class...so she found it boring. Numeracy was doing a substracting counter game using a dice....which went on for a while. In the past I have really tried hard to make the homework interesting by making it a little more creative...but sometimes this is hard to do when you have to do the work in a formal book.

We tend to do little science projects at home which she loves and there is a lack of science in her class at the moment so I would much rather do this than repetitive homework which she turns off from.

Thank you for the support!

OP posts:

Smithagain · 04/02/2008 12:37

Can you talk to her teacher about the specific issue of the homework book? Explain that it is demotivating your daughter and that you would have more success actually getting her to enjoy the homework if she didn't feel it was a chore. It might be something the teacher hasn't actually considered?

And talk about the science stuff you are doing, so the teacher knows you aren't just trying to get out of the whole thing!

FWIW, my yr1 DD gets two worksheets each week, to be done by the end of the following week. She normally does them at some point, but there is no detectable follow-up if she doesn't.

She also gets spellings, but they practise them in class as well and we don't do them religiously every night. Her spelling seems OK for a five year old and I don't want to make it a bore.

Smithagain · 04/02/2008 12:38

What I meant to say (and didn't actually say) was try to negotiate with the teacher that you will carry on doing it when she wants to, but it won't always be in the book.

NKF · 04/02/2008 12:38

I'd rather take 10 - 20 minutes out of a week day and not have the weekend interrupted. That amount of work can be done while you're getting tea ready, one day a week.

But if you're dead set against her doing it, then I think you have to speak to the teacher.

SaveFerris · 04/02/2008 12:42

Are any of you in Wales? I am and this year DD started reception and she is a guinea pig in the new 'Foundation Phase' which is being implemented totally in Wales next year, up to year 2, I think.

I seem to have the opposite problem to you - we have no 'formal' teaching now. I wish she came home with more books to read or a bit of homework!!

I'll see if I can link to a page which summarises this 'Foundation Phase' thingy:
accac.org.uk/eng/content.php?mID=655

Basically, lerning by doing: in an indoor and outdoor classroom.

Original poster

lottysmum · 04/02/2008 12:54

Saveferris

It looks like the Foundation Phase is very similar to the Foundation Stage that applies to Reception Class in England ... the children are graded on achieving certain goals and graded on a scale of 1-9...but this is by observation and not tests.

When the children move into Yr 1 they start prep for key stage 1....where they undertake formal tests at the end of year 2.

I will endeavour to be construction...with the homework scenario...I'm sure the removal of the formal book would help!

OP posts:

mrsmalumbas · 04/02/2008 12:59

I think legally the school is not obliged to give them homework until KS2 i.e juniors - but my DD's school does from year 1. To be honest I also think it's too much for them on top of a full school day and so I take a very low key approach, if she wants to do it that's fine, and I'll sit down and do it with her, and if not I won't push it. Her teacher knows my view and is okay with it. However the teacher has told me that some of the other parents are very keen on homework and have actually asked for it to be given! Have you discussed your views/concerns with her teacher? Maybe you would find that the teacher would be supportive of a more relaxed attitude. Really, I'd see it as your choice at this stage.

Katiekin · 04/02/2008 12:59

I'm in Wales but we still get homework sheets, reading every day and a handwriting or sums sheet every weekend for my 5yo

SaveFerris · 04/02/2008 13:05

Katiekin is your school doing the foundation phase this year or are they implementing it next year? Also, which year is your 5 y/o in?

bosch · 04/02/2008 13:07

lottysmum - it sounds like your dd eats up most of the work she is given but doesn't like repetition of work she's already done in class, and doesn't like working in a formal book. Is it worth talking over the specific problems with the teacher - I'm not clear that you want to say that your dd doesn't want to do the homework, more that she needs challenges that interest her???

Original poster

lottysmum · 04/02/2008 13:44

Bosch

You have probably hit the nail on the head...repetitive and formal...certainly not fun. From memory I was told that one of the reasons why they give out homework at such an early stage was so that they got used to it for later years...at the moment this has the opposite effect.

TBH her teacher is very approachable so I think it will be a case of just being honest and lets see if we can find a way forward.

In the past with body parts she has laid on the floor and I have drawn round her and then we labelled the drawing...it was fun....and if they are giving out homework it should be fun.

Thanks again for replies.

OP posts:

LindzDelirium · 04/02/2008 21:12

DD is in yr1 and has 3-4 reading books a week, 7 spellings for her weekly test and numeracy, literacy and handwriting sheets every Friday, seems reasonable to me if a little early, I think I started getting homework when I was about 13!!

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