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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

How involved are you with new Y7 homework?

16 replies

treehouselover · 11/09/2013 14:05

DD has been at secondary school 5 days. She got 2 lots of homework on the first day, which she diligently did that night.

She got another thing to do on the Friday, which is due it tomorrow. She's still not done it, and she's out at an activity tonight straight from school until between 7.30 and 8.00. This will be the first piece of homework for this teacher.

The school have advised that they manage their own workload, and that there will be consequences etc if they don't hand it in. I know she'll hate getting in trouble and would be mortified to get a detention. The homework isn't hard and won't take long, but I know she's going to get in tonight, tired and grumpy, need food, need a shower, and will be up until gone 10 doing this homework.

This is exactly what I told her I wasn't prepared to accept, but I was prepared to let her be more grown up and manage her own workload, rather than me having to stand over her and make her do it before she goes out.

I'm now thinking I should withdraw all offers of treating her like a grown up, and insist from now on that all homework is done early, without stress, or her activities (which she loves) get cancelled.

Or should I leave her to it, and let her do it when she chooses (which will always be last minute). That's how I operated for my entire education (and still do with work if I'm honest) but not sure I can cope with her doing it too.

OP posts:

Madmog · 11/09/2013 14:22

I'd be tempted to tell her she's had plenty of time to do it, you're not happy she hasn't done it and leave the school to deal with the consequences. If she gets told off or has a detention, hopefully she will learn from that. Chances are the first week they've kept their homework load light, so it's good to start as you mean to go on. When she comes in tell her, she needs to bathe (assuming she needs to) quickly and you want her to go to bed on time, so needs to pull her finger out and fit the homework in with the rest of the evening.

In time, she will probably work out when it's good for her to do her homework. When my daughter started Year 7 I hoped she'd come in, have a snack and get on with homework. I found myself getting frustrated as she would mess about for the first hour, have a snack then want a shower and nothing would be started before 5pm. She's now in Year 8 and this happens all the time, but I've learnt that she seems to like to do a bit of basic research before tea and then after will happily spend 2-3 hours working solid.

Lancelottie · 11/09/2013 17:37

Still hoping here... one in yr 12, one yr 10, one just started yr 7.

Mind you, I did most of my homework on the bus right the way through secondary school and am currently putting off a work project, so possibly shouldn't preach.

2kidsintow · 11/09/2013 17:42

I didn't get involved with DDs homework at all last year. It was up to her to sort it and be organised. There were a couple of mornings where she was rushing to finish something and I might have thrown a 'told you so' in her direction, but otherwise she managed fine.

Mind you, she'd been organising doing her own homework without being reminded since year 4 (and her sister is shaping up nicely too).

CaptainSweatPants · 11/09/2013 17:51

Maybe she could forgoe a show this once to get it done
It's still early days, I'd support her getting it done tonight
She'll soon realise it's easier to do it the night she gets it or at the weekend

QuintessentialOldDear · 11/09/2013 19:38

We started a new "homework methodology" in Y6 after speaking to a friend whose dd had just started Y7. She advised to always do the homework the day it was given. It helped in y6, and it means ds is onto it right away. It means he does not have to worry about WHEN it is going in, as it will always be done straight away.

I also has a new rule. No relaxation, no tv, no screen time until home work is done. No point starting at 8 am as he will be tired.

I anticipate we need to start moving things around a bit more when more heavy research and larger projects are given.

There has been a couple of occasions where ds has wanted to go in earlier in the morning to work in peace and quiet away from ds2, though...

OldBeanbagz · 11/09/2013 19:43

We're only a week in but i have to say that DD has kept on top of it pretty well. I think she realises that she has to do it on the day it's given to keep on top of it as she has to get up a lot earlier (no chance to do anything in the morning).

I told her that i'd be taking a step back as it's time she took on the responsibility for doing it herself and she's up for the challenge.

Ask me again and i'll probably have given in to a bit more nagging and a lot more grey hair!

invicta · 11/09/2013 19:45

We have a homework routine.

The DC's generally get in around 4.30. Initially, they change, relax and then eat, around 5.15ish. Then they do homework from 5.30/6 - 8pm, depending on quantity. I try to encourage them to do it when they get it, or plan when they will get it done. We have two nights with activities, so none is done on those days, although one dc has actually foregone his football tonight to get homework done.

I have one dc in year 7. He needs a bit of encouragement to do it. Also, he's a little unsure of whatnot do. Ie. quantity, quality etc so needs a bit of guidance there also.

invicta · 11/09/2013 19:45

We have a homework routine.

I have one dc in year 7. He needs a bit of encouragement to do it. Also, he's a little unsure of whatnot do. Ie. quantity, quality etc so needs a bit of guidance there also.

Original poster

treehouselover · 11/09/2013 20:03

Well she's home, had tea and is currently doing it with no stressing. She has just sighed and said she wished she'd done it yesterday.

I'm going to stick to letting her manage it herself for now. My aim is to get her self sufficient this year. Fingers crossed I can back off enough for her to either do it or face the consequences herself!

OP posts:

Schmedz · 11/09/2013 20:06

Have helped DD set up a filing system to put her books in and she has a school timetable and homework timetable displayed on a board above her desk. This way she can check if work needs to be handed in the next day, or at a later date. I encourage her to do the homework in order of what is due first so she can try and fit in all the other activities she wants to do (and music practise too!). She has been a star so far but tends to want to spend too long making each piece 'perfect' so will have to try and help her learn when she has done enough. School helpful in suggesting a time limit so she sets her phone and is trying to stop when the timer goes off.
Have helped with the book covering as she is horribly dyspraxia, but the rest she has done over own.
Very proud of her...especially as she has AS. thought it MIT be helpful to have a list she could tick off, but she just puts the book away instead...much better, and one less job to do!

minidipper · 11/09/2013 20:11

OP, I think it depends on the child. DS1 can do two pieces of homework in the time it takes DS2 to get out his homework diary and find his pencil case.

Some of them need more guidance than others. No shame in that. I help DS 2 a lot right now. That won't last for ever, but he's not capable of setting up his own routine, so I'm setting it up for him and once it's deeply ingrained, will leave him to it.

Like Quint I was given the tip of doing homework the night it's given, and not| the night before it needs to be handed in. We're sticking to that, even if it would feel easier to let it all back up to the weekend. But I want weekends to be fun.

Depends on the child, but for us I think hard work on weekday night and lots of free time at weekends would work best. It's tough though, isn't it, when they have extra curricular stuff in the evenings. I feel shattered trying to fit it all in, so goodness knows how wiped they feel.

BadRoly · 11/09/2013 20:14

Dc1 is in yr8 now but despite being very conscientious she struggled to organise her home works for the first term in yr7.

What finally worked for her was an A3 sheet of paper with a month calendar printed on it. She would write in the day the homework was due and what it was.

She could then see what had to be done, in what order and how it fitted with other commitments (Scouts, Guides etc).

I think sometimes we forget that time management and forward planning is a skill to be learnt rather than something we just do

changejustforyou · 11/09/2013 20:25

well, I think it's a big change from 2 pieces a week homework in year 6 with a whole week to do it, to 2 or 3 pieces of homework every day in year 7. I have therefor helped dc to get organised , at least the first couple of weeks, till they get the hang of it. .

minesawine · 11/09/2013 20:29

I did check my DS's planner every day for the first term of year 7 and nagged him to do his homework all the time. But I was getting more stressed than him, checking, shouting, threatening all the time, so in the end I gave up and said he had to organise his time himself.

Now he is in year 8. The rule is no tv, playstation or laptop until homework is completed, but I don't check and I take his word that it has been done. If he gets in trouble for not completing it, then he must face the consequences with the school.

So far it seems to be working, maybe because he has far less homework in year 8 than he did in year 7

BackforGood · 11/09/2013 20:31

Agree with minidipper - it depends on the child (I have one in Yr13, one in Yr10 and 1 in Yr7).
Currently, I'm going with the 'get it done and show me' before any screens allowed, encouraging her to get into the habit of getting it done out of the way. She's always hated any bits of homework at Primary so trying to make it a 'not optional' thing from the start now.
My Yr10 just sorted herself out without any support when she was in Yr7. They are just different.

ItsDecisionTime · 12/09/2013 17:15

Always do the homework on the day it's given unless there's a weekend available to do it in. If she doesn't do it and gets a detention then she'll learn from it. Help where you can to make sure it's done but by no means do it for her. The amount of homework form Year 7 to Year 8 increases dramatically so getting her into a routine now will be great - for all of you.

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