DD1 has just started in year 7 so it's all new to her and to me. Last week I read a some homework she had done and explained to her that she'd spelt some words repeatedly wrong and that I didn't think she'd done enough. She just answered the question, where it was clear that she was supposed to give an opinion and discuss it a little. Sure enough the homework was given a low mark (4c) with notes saying exactly what I had told dd. I am quite cross with her because she is capable of doing much better, she'd just done the minimum and I had asked her to go back and look at it, which she didn't.
As we've had so many exams in the last year (SAT's and 11 plus) we've been trying not to put too much pressure on her and have emphasised that as long as she does her best we're happy. I'm not sure what the best method is now, I don't want her to slip into lazy habits and just do the minimum required. However I'm also aware that there's been a lot of change in the last few weeks, so I don't want to tip her over the edge. Also I haven't been checking all her homework, just the odd bit and I'm wondering if I ought to be. Any ideas others with secondary school dc's?