I would like to tell you a fact about my dd1s class re: homework, could you imaine you were me and give me your view please

[TrinityRhino]

at the start of primary 4(this year) dd1 started to come home with sheets alongside her reading
once a week
she would have about 6 comprehension questions per sheet about the book

usually this is given on a thursday
tonight I asked her if she had a reading sheet tonight

she said
'we don't have them anymore,
the teacher said that some mums had said they were too hard and so we dont have them anymore.
the teacher says she isn't going to tell us which mums said it'

My DS is 4 and started reception in Sept. Is you DD at the same stage?

if your dd was happy , ask for them anyway

I would be v pleased as I am anti-homework pre-secondary. Seems reasonable not to mention which parents were involved too. Are you pleased or peeved?

What age is primary 4?

malfoy
she is 8 and a half
in her 4th primary school year

also not quite sure what is your question.

My DS gets "homework", sheet with one letter and the phonics picture to go with it. He is meant to practise writing the letter.

Sorry! apologies... feel like an idiot. Was brought in France so still unfamiliar with the terminology. We had loads (about 1.5 hrs a night) from the age of 6.

I would be thrilled

what do you think?

I'd be annoyed. That sounds like a very gentle introduction to homework, and if other parents aren't happy with it why not just send in a letter to say their child won't be doing it?

Seems a reasonable amount to me - considering how many children start secondary school with very poor reading skills. Perhaps they should be optional?

could I ask ramon and scummy why you are anti pre- secondary school homework please
I am genuinely interested about why you feel that way.

anyone else want to tell me how they would feel?

I'm anti-homework for primary school bar spellings and times tables. Because I think it's done for the sake of it, rather than making a difference to the child's knowledge and understanding. Little children should be playing after school, not working.

I just don't think it's needed, really. I think they benefit more from doing their own thing. Never did me any harm! (God- I sound like an old bring back the cane supporter) And worksheets really can often tend to the boring and unimaginative, ime.

i would be surprised at teacher being so indiscrete

i would be surprised that school had changed homework without consulting or at least informing parents

i would wonder why those kids / groups who were struggling couldn't get easier homework

are they doing literacy circles? my DD did this in P4, where they each have roles - summariser, illustrator, question master and word finder.

I would be annoyed about this. If they are acting on the views of parents then they should get opinions from all the parents.

FWIW my ds (Y2) enjoys doing HW, and I think he benefits from it.

Regardless of whether the children should be having homework or not I'd want to know who is in charge of the decision making within the class - the teacher or the parents!

Did the answers to these questions have to be written down or were they just discussion points to accompany the story? Agree that the teacher should be in charge of homework - not the parents. If a few parents go in next week and say they found the homework was too easy, is she going to start giving out sheets with 12 questions instead?!

Parents at our primary school staged a revolt, I mean a massive REVOLT, which means that homework was cut drastically. For instance, in Yr4 (8-9yo), we now literally just have times tables and spellings, with a bit of writing to show the children understand the meaning of the words they are learning to spell.

What surprised me was how much time other parents said their DC used to spend on Hwork, I kept quiet as although DC moaned about it, the h-work was pretty easy for them in general.

I'm not complaining, mind, it's nice that the H-work is even quicker, now. The school is doing lots of new strategies this year, to improve literacy and maths, it will be intresting to see if they pay off in spite of less homework.

Well what did you think of the homework TR? Did your dd find it hard? was it interesting? Seem worthwhile?
My ds1 just 9, yr 4, gets an awful lot more homework than that.
I'm not keen on the sheets, but they only take him a few minutes. twice a week they have big literacy and topic work. topic is WW2 and involves fact finding and internet research and then writing it. the other is world news, writing about a current event. both of these I think are really interesting and actually important. ds1 would quite happily remain oblivious to the world outside of football and ps2.

Spill TrinityRhino. Are you annoyed or are you one of the mothers who complained?

I would think

In terms of the end result

• generally as I'm not a fan of homework (I don't think the research supports it as being helpful, and basic stuff like "does X understand what he/she is reading?" ought IMO to be tackled in school anyway)

In terms of the rationale

• assuming it was general comprehension, then "too hard" sounds like a bit of a pathetic cop-out; if a child can't answer basic comprehension questions on their reading book then they need an easier reading book.
• If the teacher was going to bow to parent pressure on this then she should probably have just said they weren't going to do them any more, rather than go into the whys and wherefores to the children.

Bah. Missed off part of sentence...

In terms of the end result

• generally I'd be happy as I'm not a fan of homework (I don't think the research supports it as being helpful, and basic stuff like "does X understand what he/she is reading?" ought IMO to be tackled in school anyway)

Hmm, well dd2 is in year 3 and is to do her own project about the origins of food, do her own research, etc etc. So in comparison, Id think it was lame.
She also has to do spellings - and write a sentence, this week including a connective, and go over times tables too.

I have one foot in the anti primary homework camp because I think it CAN add negative pressure within the family. I, for example, lose it when they mess about/don't do it right/ etc.

HOWEVER, reading at home with Mummy & Daddy, I think is and should be encouraged as homework.

That said, I think one sheet with a few comp. questions, which basically do a double check on their reading and subsequent comprehension, is fine and about the right amount.

How would I feel about it being scrapped because some parents objected? Naffed off and I would ask school for the sheets for my child anyway. It helps me get a grip on where the kids are up to. Without it, I'd have no idea where or if problems were occuring, until parents evening, by which time, I/we could have helped and solve many stumbling blocks.