What sort of homework does your 8/9 yr old get? Because I think DD's teacher has dumbed down homework too much!

[ElizabethWakefield]

DD has just turned 9 and is in Primary 5 (not sure what the English equivalent of that is, but it is a class of 8&9 year olds)

Since her first year at school they have been given homework almost every night and this is something I agree with and am happy for DD to do.

For the past 2 years they have been given 4 or 6 words most nights, they have to write the word out 4 times, look it up in a dictionary, write down the meaning and then put the word in a sentence. On a Friday they get these words in a spelling test.

At the start of this term DD's new teacher dropped the dictionary work, as she said it was too hard

So last week was parents night and since parents night it has been decided that the homework is just too hard now (despite it being what they have been doing since they were 6) so now each night they can pick to do one of the following.

Write each word once using bubble writing and colour in.

Write each word once using a different colour for each letter (like a rainbow)

Write each word once but colour vowels red

Write each word once but colour consonants blue

Write the words in alphabetical order.

Does this not seem like a bit of a waste of time? And a total turn around from what has been done previously. I would rather DD done no homework than write rainbow words.

So I would be interested to hear what others in her age group are doing.

(Obviously she gets other homework too, maths once a week and various things to do on topics etc)

DS is 8, and he gets one bit of literacy homework a week (usually a piece of writing - this week a poem), one bit of maths (worksheet), 10 words to leaqrn for a spelling test (which he usually refuses point blank to do) and they are supposed to read everyday (no problems there!). Project twice a year. It's enough!

ds gets a weekly 'project' like a poster to design, or maths problem, or ''keep a chart of how much water used' or food diary with list of health/unhealthy food. He gets times tables to practice, 10 spellings to learn and has to read each night.

My DD2 is a year older than yours and each week she gets one lot of spellings, one piece of homework and she has to make two entries in her reading diary. That is plenty IMO.
I imagine the reason for the bubble writing, colouring in of vowels/consonants etc is to get them to actually focus on the spelling of the word rather than just writing it out mechanically and repetitively. It doesn't seem any more of a waste of time than writing it out four times to me. As for looking it up in the dictionary - I would always check that my children knew the meaning of the words they were learning, yes, but not necessarily by having them look it up.
But then, I DON'T agree with homework every night so we probably have different perspectives.

I don't think like you but maybe my totally different viewpoint will be relevant to your thinking...

What purpose do you consider the hours between 3pm and 8pm, say, to have?

After you have answered this on to question 2!

What purpose do you consider the hours between 9am and 3pm to have?

DD in Y4 at a selective private school (the sort of place that is supposed to overload kids with homework according to mumsnet lore). She gets homework Monday-Thursday (none on weekends or holidays, none in summer term) which is supposed to take no more than 20 mins.

The nearest she gets to what you're talking about is 10 words every Thursday which have to be included in a sentence. To make it more interesting the sentences have to do other stuff as well, so last week it was include the word in a sentence which contains a metaphor. There is no spelling test.

I'm not a huge fan of homework but can tolerate the levels she gets as it's generally well thought out, not the endless worksheets or colouring some of my friends kids seem to get.

I don't have a Year 5 child, but do have a Y3 and Y6. The Y6 hw is pretty similar to Y5.

Every night, my DD has reading, spelling/definitions (the definitions are a real killer, btw), some kind of writing, maths, and, depending on the day - history/geography/RS/music/science/French. She might also have ICT.

This all sounds like a lot, but she has 50 minutes of prep straight after school, and then perhaps just 30 minutes at home.

Thanks for your responses.

I see the point you are making LGP about focusing on the word. I just think that writing a word out colourfully serves no real purpose where as before she was getting an understanding of the words and able to put them in context, if you see what I mean.

Homework takes on average about 15 minutes max each night, well now it takes about 30 seconds, but previously, so I don't really think it's too much. I think it's fine although I wouldn't like much more.

Hobbgoblin, I see the point you are making, but as I said she doesn't do much homework, but if she is going to do any I would rather it had a point to it, really.

DD also only gets homework Mon-Thurs, nothing on weekends, holidays etc.

To me, (baring in mind I am distrcted by 3 DC arguing over Dino Valley) the first homework helps with appropriate use of the particular vocabulary and the second reinforces word recognition.

So, each has merit in its own way, maybe?

DS is 8 and in Yr 4. They get a spelling sheet every Monday with 10 words on it. The have to put them into alphabetical order in one column and then also put them into a sentence. I also get him to just write them out every night too. They are tested on them on a Friday. His teacher is about to come down hard on him for his laziness with regard to the sentences.

They also get other literacy and numeracy homework too - usually given on a Monday and to be handed in on Friday.

One should also consider that I have not yet established the correct use of the word bare and should remove my bear costume, baring all before asking you to bear in mind my arguing child predicament.

As a teacher of 8-9 year olds I would set one twenty minute prep 4 nights a week. Sometimes this would be reading but often its spellings or written work.
Hope this helps!

DS is 8, in Year 3, and gets bugger all. They have just started bringing a short list of spellings home, but these aren't tested. They do have a reading book, but rarely anything else.
Am I bovvered? Not really. He has years ahead of him of nightmare homework schedules. Why not relax and watch Horrid Henry when you're 8, or go out and play.

dd gets 10-15 spellings tested and a new list set each week . Sometimes there will be a sheet to consolidate them ie. to look up meanings of homophones or form sentences. If colouring them helps with recall then why not. Today she had to identify key parts in planning a story and what they should include. Another day will be some maths.

Weekend homework is more topic based and might be to design a poster, do some creative writing, completet a sheet etc

Hello A Curriculum for Excellence.

Many primary schools in scotland are reviewing their curriculum like crazy this year in preparation for ACfe and one of the things many of them are doing, is coming up with more 'fun' homework tasks. The sort of tasks you mention are becoming very popular.

I am a little sceptical.

We(yr 6 & 4)15 spellings and 1 times table to learn every week.
Then there is a project to do each 1/2 term like producing a pamphlet or going to the local museum to answer some questions.
I'm not really a fan of masses of homework

Not sure from your original post whether previously your DD had a new set of 4-6 words to look up in a dictionary and put into sentences. I think this sounds rather a lot and a bit tedious to boot.

DS2 is in Y4 (8-9) and he typically gets 20 words for spelling every week, with an optional task (eg find other words with an irregular plural). I check he knows what the words mean too. Each week he also gets one piece of maths and one piece of English and a project twice a year - which then replaces all other homework for 3 weeks.

My Dts are 8 and in P5 and I would not think the first homework you described would be too hard for a 9 year old. Dt1 is doing this sort of thing for homework and finds it easy. dt2 struggles but to be honest would probably find the 2nd homwork harder as he struggles with sequences and things like alphabetical order would be more difficult for him than writing sentences and meanings.

My year 6 girl gets none.

My year 8 girl gets very little.
They are both very bright frankly.

i dont think its necessary in Year 5. Goodness knows they already work hard hours at school compared to what we did.

My DC only get homework (apart from 10 words of spellings a week and reading books of course) from yr 3 ie age 7-8.

I think this is a good thing - homework largely there for parents' benefit IMHO.

DD is 8 (yr 4) and gets talk homework (we talk about a topic and she writes about it next day), maths (takes about 5 mins) and topic (maybe a picture to draw, small bit of research or similar), all of those once a week.

DS1 is in yr 6 and gets even less.

Fivesets..., phew, 1hr 20 mins of work a night!

Ds is 7, in year 3 (7-8) but working at year 2 level (6-7). He gets 8 spellings which he has to write out each night (Mon-Thurs), and which also need putting into sentences (we have built up from 2 a night, Mon-Thurs, to 4 a night Mon and Tues). Friday he comes home with a piece of Maths homework and a piece of Literacy homework, normally a worksheet for each. He also reads each night, and due to problems with his fine motor skills I try and get him to practise his letter formations/handwriting at least twice a week (this is not set homework, but is supporting his school as well as working on concentration issues). Oh, we also have a topic to talk about each week. This has ranged from 'How do I feel about being back at school' (first week after summer hols) to 'Why should we remember soldiers who have died' (last week) to 'What should I do if I am being bullied' (this week). The topic is also discussed in class and assembly during the week.

I know, however, that other children in his year group get spellings and another piece of homework each night (maths or literacy or topic etc), as well as reading and the talk topic.

I almost forgot, he has a spellings test on a Friday.

Ds is in Yr 5; he gets one sheet of maths, one sheet of spellings and one sheet of science a week. I think that is quite adequate. He does after all have other, equally important things to do in the evenings: playing, getting fresh air, exercising, doing a hobby and learning things that home teaches better than school.

A bit of homework at this age imo does them no harm, teaching them to organise work themselves and take a bit of responsibility. But as hobgoblin points out, they do spend many hours of the day in school, so should have plenty of time to do school-based learning; the bulk of that imo needs to be done at school, leaving enough spare time to learn other things that are also important.

In Ireland...my 9 yr old gets six sentences to look up and put into sentences = also has to write out definition, (either irish or english) maths - maybe five to ten sums, additional five questions - maybe out of reader or maybe having to come up with questions on what he's read, five spellings english, and five spellings irish, and times table - every night mon to thurs! Generally takes up to one hour...seems like lot more than what most of your kids seem to get in uk?

My Y4 DD gets really hard homework.Things you have to think about like anagrams and making a number square so every row and column adds up to the same number.