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!

DDs school has a homework schedule with 3 subjects per evening, and the guidance is that it should take roughly 60-75 mins.

Her primary school used to set 2x30 mins plus 15 mins reading anyway so she's used to it and it's not been too bad so far, despite having to get up earlier and not home till 4:45 or so.

She went straight out to play with her friends tonight - she should turn up again soon for tea (though yesterday she ate there, returned at 7, sat down and did an hours homework without a word from me). She's always preferred doing her homework after dinner rather than straight away.

However - I shall definitely heed the advice about doing computer stuff ASAP! Her first glitch is that she didn't get onto something straight away, and it turns out that the teacher had made a template in Publisher - which (a) we don't have on our PCs, (WTF do schools use non-bog-standard software?) (b) she's been unable to access at school from her account, and having not realised the problem till a couple of days ago hasn't been able to find the IT tech bod

So she's gloomy and saying she'll get a penalty point, I've told her to get the content in some other format to prove to the teacher she's bothered, and to make it quick to do properly when she can - do you really think a teacher would penalize a new yr7 for IT problems?

ps - I'm sure I've heard gripes about schools using Publisher before, is it worth buying and does anyone know of a cheap student edition, it seems to be quite expensive.

I don't ban x box entirely but it is only allowed in strictly allocated time slots (2 boys), and subject to homework / sports activities.
Plus one day a week it is switched off completely.
I am in the process of drawing up a new x box rota because DS1 is now in Year 10 and his homework has increased, plus he is going to a tutor once a week. It's like the Treaty of Versailles.

I've been reading this thread with great trepidation.

I have three dcs, and ds1 (the eldest) is currently in Yr6. Their Primary School has a ridiculous system called "Home Learning" whereby they get a sheet every three weeks with lots of "ideas" and "suggestions" as to what they might like to do at home; they only need to do one task in that three week period. Everything is very vague and unspecific, often with no measurable outcome. A good idea for Infants perhaps, but for children about to move to Seniors??

Ds1, like many, always chooses the easiest thing and spends about twenty minutes on it, and this is all he needs to do for the next THREE WEEKS.

Pleading from Yr6 parents that the homework really ought to ramp up in preparation for senior school have fallen on deaf ears at the school, so we are all very worried about how we will deal with the shock of an hour of homework per night in Yr7.

Some great ideas in this thread, though, but with 3dcs I think the challenge will be getting them to take responsibility for their own time-management to a large extent. I also feel an exercise in X-Box rationing coming on!

I don't ban xbox either as it can be a useful carrot. DS did masses of homework earlier in the week to free up time for the imminent arrival of "Halo Reach" (its a big deal in boy world if you don't know what it is!).
LOL at the Treaty of Versailles inthesticks

DS1 has just started in Y7 and seems to be getting between 1-3 pieces of homework everyday, some longer tasks, some very short.

We've instituted new 'rules' for the two eldest boys, because they challenge every boundary so we decided an 'all or nothing' approach would work. So DS1 gets in about 4, changes, gets drink/snack and starts on homework straight away. And so DS2 has been doing similar but with much more low key stuff (reading, spellings - he's in Y1)

We had the benefit of DS1 having done all his homework before his first weekend 'off' so he just got to do whatever he wanted over the weekend (whereas in Y6 there was lots of lastminute argy-bargy about finishing things on Sunday night). I've been encouraging him to get ahead of himself, so the weekends are his real 'downtime'.

He gets to watch tv or go for a bike ride (though is getting a bit dark later now...) once we've had dinner and he's finished, but we have (following Swedes' lead from another thread...) banned all electronic/screen games between after dinner on Sunday until after dinner on Friday.

This may seem harsh to some of you but we have 3 very volatile boys, and the games just wind them up. So in fact everyone is much calmer and happier and getting on with the homework. And I don't particularly see much wrong with DS1 beginning to learn the difference between 'work time' (midweek) and 'playtime' (weekends)...

Slight disclaimer: we are only ONE week in . I'll be back on soon tearing my hair out because novelty has worn off and battles have resumed...

Publisher is available from as part of the bigger Office bundles. You can get Office Professional Plus (the all things and every thing bundle) for £40. See here.

By the way, and I know it's a little late for this, but I have a simple solution of video games for my two children: we don't have any in the house, and never have done. Sorted. Probably easier in an all-daughter household, but there have been occasional outbreaks of "but all my friends have them".

Software4students prices are amazing tokyonambu - I was about to link to them too. It would appear not many know about it - even the young chappy in Currys was amazed at their prices when he checked their website to check the info the doddery old lady (me :) ) has told him!!

Seems like DDs account wasn't set up correctly before but by tonight when DH helped her get connected to the school VPN it was working properly(including using publisher remotely, but would be good to get local copy so thanks for the info). So DD is mightily relieved and Daddy is a hero . Whew. I passed on the advice about doing computer stuff ASAP, striking while the iron was hot, and I think for once DD took note!

I would encourage anyone to get Publisher tbh. It makes it so easy for them to do posters and leaflets as homeworks.

I am very passionate about layout and design and when ds1 was in yr7 I taught him various key rules to stick to on design and now he's superb on this and very, very quick at pulling something together. I actually commissioned him this week to do a poster for me for work, because I was frantically busy and knew he could produce a really professional-looking piece in about 25 mins!

"I would encourage anyone to get Publisher tbh. It makes it so easy for them to do posters and leaflets as homeworks."

Without risking to start a religious war, it's worth noting that for those in the Mac camp, Pages (the word processing component of iWork) has a very effective page layout mode as well as a Word-alike word processing mode.

My kids use it heavily for posters and handouts and suchlike, this being a Mac/Linux/Solaris household, and the results look good and because it's part of Pages, the learning curve is eased by being mostly the same as the stuff they use for writing. This won't help with templates, because Pages can't read or write .pub format, but there's an extensive library of templates in Pages and a bit of "do it yourself" rather than "fill in the blanks" never hurt anyone.

And of course this way my children have access to a complete suite of Helvetica Neue, which as I'm sure roisin will realise is about a million times better than the horrors of Arial or (shudder) Cmc S*ns.

roisin, we could have done with your poster tips last week! Please can you give us your top tips in anticipation of further poster homeworks?

tokyonambu
I actually agree completely, but as we - along with the majority of the world - have succumbed to the brainwashing and world-domination of the Microsoft Corporation, it isn't often an option.

I will do a quick summary of poster tips later tonight or tomorrow bigtillymint. (Nothing world-shattering: don't get your hopes up!)

inthesticks - I agree with what you said about being unsure just how much they are supposed to write sometimes. My DD had some homework about solids, liquids and gasses. It was really unclear whether they wanted a couple of sentences, to show a basic understanding, or more in depth 'stuff'.

She gets home from school on the bus at 4, has a snack and does her homework until it's all done. She resisted at first, but now realises that she is probably going to have a free weekend, because all the homework is out the way.

Our problem night is Wednesdays, when she leaves for dancing as soon as she gets home and doesn't get home til 9pm. Luckily this week, she had some reading to do, so she took that in the car (where she also are her snack).

As the OP, can I ask, regarding doing posters (of which DS has now completed 3 or 4!) if it's likely to be ongoing? As in can he expect to be producing posters throughout his secondary school life? Or is it a 'ease the Y7's into the concept of homework' only thing?

TIA

Structure homework? sounds horrible.

My DC are teenagers, apart from helping with spelling, reading and times tables in early primary years DH and I have only got involved with their homework when they have asked for help. Youngsters have to learn the big lesson: it is they who must structure their homework, not mummy, if they want to succeed.

DS is off to uni in a week or so - and there is absolutely no way I could have possibly helped him get his A* in maths, let alone the further maths, physics and chemistry...

Lucky you, lullabybaby. I'd love to be completely hands off.

DD is a very conscientious child, and is beginning to take more responsibility in deciding how to go about getting all her homework done in time, but she is looking to us for guidance and reassurance.

And it's only the end of week 2.

Dd has been used to having HW at junior school, so no great shock here. She seems determined to organise herself well though so that she has time for playing/relaxing, etc. She has 2 pieces of HW a night, about 30mn each in theory.
She gets in around 4.30, 4.40pm (but has 2 hours of theatre group on mondays and another hour on thursday after school, so has to plan for that), slumps in front of the TV for a bit, then goes to do HW, then shower, music practice, dinner, play.... It is rather busy but she knows it all needs to be done and she has already planned that she will do most of her HW tonight. This is only the first week, though......

Agree with what chibi said at the start.

Most teachers.schools set a target time of 20 to 30 mins per piece, if a child is spending longer, find out why and resolve it with the school or child. That's my suggestion.

And I'm not suggesting that this is the case, but a child doing homework in front of a TV, or while on Facebook will take at least 3 times as long.

They do the homework as they get it, if it goes over 1.5 they leave it till the next day. Some days they have very little, some days more, they have to time manage themselves.

Interesting thread but do ANY of you work until 6pm and get home at 7pm and then have to tackle the homework/food/shower/prep for the next day (and have a toddler who wants all of the attention)?

My son is only in year 4 and gets quite a lot of homework and he also does alot of sport afterschool and we are struggling with fitting everything in? In fact by Friday evening we all are exhausted (and then have a football match at 9.30 on Saturday)!

I am seeing a bit of a pattern here, on the one hand:

Parents whose DCs don't seem to need any actual help in STRUCTURING their homework time management due to one or several of these factors:

• being in a private school where the school manage homework via in-school 'prep'

• having been at a primary/prep school where a heavy homework burden was imposed at an early age thus I would guess with considerable parental input the DC learned by 7 the need to Get On With It thus didn't find themselves 'up against it' at 11

• having naturally motivated/industrious/conscientious/possibly anxious to please DCs who do as they're told when they're told it

• having girls (reaches for tin helmet!),

And on the other hand:

Parents whose DCs need to be taught the art of time management or being encouraged to remember all the lessons they have already had in that art; whose DCs need help in structuring a piece of work (that daunting piece of blank paper, that sort of remembered instruction from class..); whose DCs need to be brought around to the idea of the 'importance' of homework- perhaps harder to impart when it's sticking pictures on an exercise book ...

So whilst I take on board the 'You must never get involved with your DC's homework' tack, as I know my DS, I know that though he'll usually try to do it to the best of his ability, he'd soon give up in frustration, confidence dented- but would be far better placed to turn in a reasonable piece of work which he could be proud of if I input some strategies, help him come up with some ideas, (which is very different to telling him what to do!), help him experiment with layouts, ask him to tell me in his own words what he's trying to get across then suggest ways he might structure that.

I would love him to be able to do the TV/ snack/drink then homework for an hour, hour and a half- more or less independent of me, but my hope is that in helping DS now, 2 weeks into Y7, by Y8 and 9, he will be confident about tackling it alone having learned, from us, ways of coping with it!

happystressedmum- indeed! I get in at 6 to 6.15pm 2 nights a week- I have to rely on my own mum who looks after the DSs til 5.30pm to get the homework ball rolling! Not always easy as she is of the opinion that 'Childhood is for play' (read: HOURS or Wii with a bit of back-yard badminton thrown in.). I would like to agree with her but unfortunately in our stress driven world, there are detentions for un-done homework and no jobs and few prospects for DCs with lacklustre GCSEs!

DH and I have negotiated a flexible working deal with our boss, so we're doing 2/3 days a week each, but we work from home after picking kids up anyway (so now they're having a break but in a minute DS1 is going to get an hour's HW done...); and I am sitting here working (with the odd MN moment in between) and will also work most evenings to catch up on stuff I might have missed after 3...

Soon I'm going to get a babysitter to pick DS2 up one day a week and supervise DS1's HW so that DH and I are covering 2 days a week each.

It seemed important for DS1 that he could come home and do his stuff and have someone here, and because we have another boy in school, and another one who'll start in reception next year, we're ALWAYS gonna have to work out what to do at 3.15, for years. So I am hoping this arrangement will work out for us, though it will mean much more evening/weekend work. DH and I are VERY lucky to have the kind of jobs/managers with that kind of flexibility though...

I completely agree with your post Ampere DS needed a lot of help in year 7 on how to decide which pieces of homework to do first, how to handle a larger project (the dreadful oh it doesn't have to be in for weeks) and how to actually get stuck into a piece of work. Now in Year 9 he just gets on with it independently so he did need to be taught those skills.

DD2 needed no help whatsoever and continues to be "little miss organised" but DD1 needed the same sort of guidance as her younger brother. Unfortunately by Year 9 she had decided that she wasn't a homework kind of person and so you can imagine what the GCSE years were like in our house!

ampere, you're right - the homework in primary did need me nagging parental input, until DD got more self motivated and at least vaguely aware of time in year 6.

I'm glad her school did that, some parents complained about hw (mind you, some wanted more in the early years) but it was useful breaking-in. Yes, if your DC haven't had this thrust at them early you probably will have to guide them more now.