DS, Y7- pls suggest how to structure homework so it doesn't overwhelm us!

[ampere]

DS1 started secondary last week. It's a comp and quite high achieving, hence it is nose to the grindstone, Day One.

The homework to date has been covering exercise books, a poster to promote RE.. a poster to promote Lab Safety, plus some proper maths and proper English. We supposedly get at least 2 evenings in which to do any piece of homework- it is usually to be returned in the next period of that subject which'd be at least 2 days hence, sometimes a week.

The school say they give 2 days to allow DCs to do other things like Scouts, which is fine BUT so far, in less than a complete school week, he has had at least 2 half hour things to do every night! So even on Scout evening he had to do at least one homework task so as not to be overwhelmed!-which of course means THREE things the next night. Sigh.

Now, I know I can't change this but I want some advice please:

What do your DCs do when they get home? (3.15pm for both mine) Neither of my 2 are the type to break out and go mad with a football or go for a 20 minute bike ride, which is a pity- they want to slump in front of the TV with a drink and a snack, which I guess is OK, BUT...

What time would you start the homework thing? 4pm?

Do you time them per subject to avoid them struggling on for 'hours'?

Do you make them do it all as they bring it home even if it is 3 subjects on the assumption it should mean only one subject one other night (hope!) and even if some isn't due back for a week?

When do yours do weekend homework? Friday night? Saturday morning?.. of course bearing in mind that other stuff gets in the way and nothing can be carved in stone!

All advice listened to, but the old 'It'll fizzle out in a month/ don't worry about it' is most certainly not the case!

Hi ampere,

not really got any advice but mine has started at grammar school this week, so I know how it is.

He doesn't get home until 4.30pm, so there's no option but to slump in front of the telly, then tea, then any homework.

It's not been a lot yet, but it does take up time and needs support. He's having a whole day off today and I can see weekend homework happening on a Sunday, late afternoon.

I'm in exactly the same situation except poor dd doesn't get home till 4.30 ish. She gets between an hour to an hour and a half each day. We've agreed that shell have Friday evening off and all day Saturday and then do homework after breakfast on Sunday. I will be watching the thread to see what others do during the week. Hard though isn't it.

i teach at a high achieving school

there are time limits for homework - eg in y7 a student might have 1 homework in science per week, which should take about 20 minutes

there is also be a homework timetable so that students always have science homework on a friday, and english on monday for example

students should really only do what they can reasonably accomplish within this time, they should certainly not be spending hours a night, especially in y7

if i were you, i would ask your child's tutor about your school's policy

DS is in year 9 and he has a routine of coming in having a drink and a (very large!)snack and then starting his homework at about 4pm. He then does a couple of pieces of homework that are due in the soonest or does a bit of a project type homework. I don't time him but if something is causing problems I would probably tell him to have a break from it(like last weeks complicated history homework about all the different European empires at the start of world war one ) When he was in year 7 he used to do a lot of homework on a Friday night/Saturday morning to make sure he was on top of it but now he's more likely to do stuff on a Sunday. I don't mind him leaving it till then because I know it will get done but I just usually check every so often that he's keeping it all ticking over. The small homeworks are ok its the longer project type with a deadline ages away that cause the problem. Little and often is the answer to those.

I am a Y7 form tutor and also have a DD in Y7.

We have a prep timetable, which works out at 3 subjects per night x20 minutes, so a total of 1 hour. If it regularly takes longer than this, then the child can stop and have their parent sign at the bottom to say that the full time was spent. This enables the teacher to make allowances and adjust tasks for pupils who are on the slow side.

For parents who have to nag their children, we recommend that the child stays at school for prep. We run this until 6pm. They are completely different when stuck in the library, in silence, compared with the distractions at home.

We recommend that they do their homework on the day that it was set (hence the hw timetable), but they can do it any time before it is due. This is unlikely to be a whole week as teachers who have only one lesson a week will get them to hand it in early so it can be marked before the next lesson.

If they have an assignment that requires a computer, they have to do it straightaway in case of technological problems (no printer ink, the dog ate my memory stick, etc.).

As a parent of six children, I have a real mixed experience. I've nagged, and I've been nagged. The easiest way is seriously to have them do it at school. Even for my keen, conscientious child, she drives me mad at home asking me to check her work, etc. She was doing something for English today and ended up writing 4 pages, and I thought "her poor teacher".

If they are doing after school activities, they have to fit these around their homework. There are several hours between the end of school and start of evening clubs - plenty of time for homework and supper.

It was easiest when ds was at prep as he stayed there for supper and prep and I picked him up at 1900; bargain, and no nagging.

For the last 3 years now he is at secondary I have reinstituted prep. He gets in at 1620. He has til 1700 for a drink, toast, and a dibble on the PS3. He then has to do h/w until dinner, which could be 1930/2000. We go through the planner and work out what needs to be done by when and work accordingly. For instance, he has done his maths in private study this week and started his English. Tomorrow he will complete his English, do 250 words for a French oral presentation, and have his first RE GCSE lesson. He will also learn 5 words of his Dutch vocab for a test next Friday. If we do 5 a day, it splits it down and then the second, third and fourth nights will be new words and revision of the others.

Ds is now in Year 10 and doing 11 IGCSEs/GSCEs so the work load is more. He hasn't just realised how much yet!

Ds has just finished his first week of Y7. Same as everyone else he gets 2-3 pieces of homework each day but, so far, he has managed to do at least one at lunch-time.

He gets home at 4.15pm, gets changed and has a drink and a snack and slumps in front of the box until 5pm. Then I insist on homework being done - he sits in the same room as me (rather than using his new desk he insisted on having bought ) so I'm available for queries. I do keep an eye on the time but, so far, the work has been easy peasy compared to his old school. I have no illusions that this will continue, however!!!

Ah- if only our DCs could do 'prep' at school! Even lunchtime, ours being only long enough to eat, chill for 15 mins then back into it! It's a 8.30 to 3pm day.

Actually, to be honest, whilst I fully understand wanting your DC to come home later (7pm?!) having 'done' with school entirely for the day, I would prefer my DS to be able to manage to work unsupervised or monitored at home as I think it's good preparation for real life where tasks that require concentration etc cannot always be accomplished in the sepulchral silence of a library!

I have worked out that all his homework to date has to be in on the next lesson, not before hand, which helps.

I have a plastic storage box with all his exercise books in it and have sectioned off a bit called 'completed homework', the idea being work done on the evening it was set but not due in for a week doesn't get mashed into the bottom of the bag with the muesli crumbs and leaky bottle detritus but will get sent in on the day it's dues.

Thanks for all the input so far, and any more thoughts please!

I would not want my children to do their prep at lunchtime, nor do I encourage my tutor group to do this.

Lunchtimes are for eating together (obviously) and doing clubs.

It's fine if they need to print something out, but that is it.

I worry about my students who work through lunchtime, and will try to get to the bottom of why they are doing this and not doing something extra curricular.

Find out from the school how long the homework is supposed to take, at my DCs it is 20 min for year 7 (for each piece). After that time you sign that they have spent that long on the piece and you stopped them. If there is any come back then you contact the heads of year.

My kids do sometimes work during breaks, but usually because they have fallen behind, doing whatever they doing in the evenings instead. Extra curricula doesn't mean it has to be in school.

20-30 mins per subject, 2 to 3 homework items per night (averages out at 2).

It's great that you are interested and motivated in supporting him to establish good homework habits.

Q: What do your DCs do when they get home?
The boys (yr7 and yr9) get home at around 4.20. They get a drink and a snack then we chat about their day: highlights, lowlights, any messages, etc.
If they have evening activities, then they crack on with homework immediately. If they don't, then usually they choose to chill first (computer or PC or sometimes outside in summer) and do homework after tea.

Q: Do you time them per subject to avoid them struggling on for 'hours'?
I think this is a good idea. Get them to set a target for how long the piece should take and get them to stick to it.
My boys actually have a tendency to want to spend "too long" on their homework. From early in yr7 I chatted to ds1 about the merits of an individual piece. If he is learning a lot through doing it and if it's an important piece for the teacher, then I don't mind him spending extra time on it if he wants. But some homeworks set have little educational merit, but often have the capacity to take up hours and hours of time! In these cases I insist they set clear time targets and try and persuade them to stick within them.

Q: Do you make them do it all as they bring it home.
We encourage them to do an hour each night (unless they have no homework), as that means generally they can have more free time at the weekend.
If they haven't finished all their outstanding pieces in an hour, then I don't insist they do more.

ds1 pretty much monitors himself and has done for some time, but generally he wants to get them completed immediately, unless it's a longer essay that he wants to spend more time on.
Once they've established a good routine, they see the benefits of getting it done promptly and tend to stick with that IMO.

Q: When do yours do weekend homework?
ds1 often likes to have a session on Saturday morning to do extended pieces or essays or catch-up if he's got a lot to do. I try to encourage him to have at least one day at the weekend which is completely homework-free. We also go out a lot as a family at weekends, so then he has to fit his homework in around the other schedules.

I think the perspective of a teacher/tutor/mother-of-six must really be 'seen it all before'!

My ds is in yr7 too - prep system though, so not yet secondary. However, the homework has been quite a mountain to climb since the beginning of yr6, so we've got our system down. The routine is: back from school around 4.30 (apart from chess club once a week (back at 5.30) and piano once a week which squeezes work time that day); apple; drink; get out the bookbags at once and work out what's on the agenda. It's all done in the kitchen in environment of companionable working - one person cooking & ironing & doing admin, the other chewing on a pencil.

Ds is a disorganised and distracted child, naturally, so what's in his homework diary is only about half reliable. After some experience, we put together a 'homework flowchart' (all smartly laminated) which gets him to ask himself the questions he needs to get oriented ("What day is it? What subjects am I meant to have today? Have I got anything written down for those? If I don't, can I remember why I haven't?"). I find making sure he has everything to hand, knows what he's meant to do, and feels the road clear ahead of him = (fairly) smooth process.

We have to get started on homework right away, that day, because of the distractibility thing. We do often end up with catch-up sessions at the weekend, but at least an inroad has been made, and there isn't that awful rabbit-in-headlights freeze when he realises he hasn't left himself time. (To compound things, when he does get oriented & through the distractions, he likes to do a really really good and thorough job - poster of Perseus that retold the whole story: 1,000 words, we counted.)

Not sure if that's any help - it might just be our rather unique experience.

not much more to add, but just wondered if anyone had any tips on combining homework with high-level sport?

ds1 has a 2 hour training session every evening and all Sunday morning plus competitions several times a year during weekends

we have disagreements about his priorities - I say homework comes first = he says sport ....

I thought I'd have a problem with my son but e just got on with it. Didn't need me because knowing he had to get it in was deadline enough.

We do have a draw in which he puts school stuff instead of leaving it lying about the house but he doesn't put homework in there, he carries it with him, so he always has it for the next lesson to hand in.

They do find their way themselves if allowed to do so. My son was completely disorganised at primary but he has sorted himself out and now, by year 8, he'd go mad if I got involved (other than when asked - like to test on spellings). I always signed his planner on a Sunday so that was my check of the week. Plus you get regular reports so if they don't get a good grade for homework there, hopefully they will want to improve.

He'd usually get homework equivilent to an hour a night in year 7 but some would be for next week and he tended to do those at the weekend. He still had plenty of time in the week to do his hobbies.

Great thread ampere!

Lots of tips, which we are going to try. Plus I am going to speak to her form tutor and HoY to check on how long each homework is meant to take, given the homework timetable specifies 16 pieces a week

• good point basildonbond!

MmeBlueberry - re lunchtime working, our DD does sometimes work at lunch because on somedays she wants to do lots of activities afterschool. If there is netball training afterschool she will get home 6.30+ then goes to guides at 7. It can be like that any day. What I'm saying is there is a definite place for it. She is 13 and is very sociable but has got to make homework timing work for her.

I am reading this with interest because DS has just started Year7. I am glad he did hw yesterday because he is free today. We are doing the xbox on Friday to Sunday only rule. So guess where he is now?!

BigTillyMint - at the boys' school they don't have a homework timetable, it varies. But I'm pleased with how it has balanced out. Generally the smaller subjects (just 1 50min lesson per week - IT, music, dance, drama, art, etc etc.) tend to set just one homework per half term. It tends to be a longer one (an hour rather than half). But this seems more sense to me, as then the teachers have time to mark it properly, rather than setting something basic every week just for the sake of it.

Basildonbond - that sounds a pretty demanding situation to start with! What's the sport? But basically he has got to get himself organised and time-management sorted. If he wants to compete at this level, he needs to be completely dedicated.

Personally, I would say the homework is a higher priority than the sport, because - despite his abilities - the likelihood is he will not end up earning a living from his sport, so he will need his education.

But time-wise it is eminently achievable. But TV, PC, X-box, hanging out with his mates etc will all have to be relegated to last priority! Special treats for times when training is finished and homework is all up to date!

DS1 has just gone into Yr9. He comes in around 4.10pm has 20 mins or so relaxing. We like him to do at least one piece before tea. We always ask him to do the homework on the day he gets it.

Basildon - no tips but my sympathies. Both my DS's had training every day for two hours after school, as well as training or competitions on a Saturday and training every other Sunday. In the summer they also had training before school - 7am start.

Isn't the grotty kit just lovely??

The 4pm rule works well for us.

My DC get in from school at 2.45pm, they're in Y9 and 11. They then relax on FB or PS3 or TV until about 4pm with large snacks as like most teenagers they come in from school really hungry. They then spend maybe one to 1.5 hours on homework. Sometimes they don't have any HW at all, but I don't let them stay on computers, etc in 'homework time' but instead try and get them reading (which DD enjoys anyway) or my DS might go to our neighbours and play football or table tennis in their garden or ours, weather permitting... neighbours don't mind at all luckily.

My DD does dancing some evenings and most of Saturday, but catches up with any bits of homework on a Sunday.

They are generally pretty good about getting homework done, but DS sometimes needs a bit more nagging, especially as he's got GCSEs this year.

If it came to the crunch, schoolwork would definitely come before sport, but neither of my DC participate in sport or dance at a high level, so easy for me to say that.