Would love honest answers...

[RamonaThePest]

I did not go to school here.

Where I went to school there was basically no homework (except reading books) until I was eleven or twelve. Even then it was not much.

My child has just done KS1 SATS and I did no additional work with them besides school homework and reading.

Now it seems that other mothers are letting me know just how much additional work they did.

So far I have heard of:

• kumon classes
• tutors
• using booklets for scheduled sessions at home each week
• daily multiplication practise, etc

My child is very happy but I worry that by taking my homeland approach I have let them down.

Honestly and hand-on-heart what additional out-of-school work do you all do with your KS1/KS2 children? Please??

My initial reaction would have been to say, that we did nothing in those early years. The school asked us to do reading every night, plus there were spelling and tables to learn.

But I suppose that would be disingenuous because we have done all sorts of unstructured things. But I never made the causal link between doing that and doing well in school.

Now I volunteer in a local primary and as an earlier poster said, not all children are getting any interaction at home, let alone opportunities to learn.

I wouldn't hesitate to use a tutor if I felt it necessary, even for a 7 year old. If my child was falling behind - if it was affecting their confidence and interest in learning, if I wasn't confident in providing support at home and the school were less than responsive in dealing with my child's need's...I don't think I could shrug my shoulders and say 7 was too young for a bit of extra help.
A tutor doesn't have to be for exams - sometimes people just use a tutor to plug the gaps that some schools seem to plough through and at 7 years old, gaps in Maths are a recipe for disaster, inability to read can also see a child struggling.
I help my dc at home and the difference it has made to their confidence has been invaluable, their confidence has grown, their interest in formal learning has grown because my dc now believes it can be done - feeling like you're crap and stupid does not help you learn better.