Y7 Homework in the first full week

[mychildrenarebarmy]

How much have others got?

DD has had 9 pieces. None are of the covering books variety. All are proper work. She is a little shocked by the amount.

Mine has had about the same over the past week (which is DD1's first full week of school):

French - learn song & vocab
- more vocab
- worksheet (reviewing two lots of vocab & extending)

Science - cut & paste lab apparatus work
- worksheet describing results you first have to graph yourself

ICT - worksheet related to using excel spreadsheets/ including answering questions about a spreadsheet table

Math - write a paragraph about what makes a good mathematician

English - worksheet about personality, goals & what you want to be when you grow up. Some questions short sentence answers - others can be a paragraph or two.

PSHE/ SKILLS - design a poster explaining what makes good teamwork

there may have been one or two small things - finishing up worksheets she started in class (in one case part of class missed for music lesson).

DD1 still learning to remember to write down things in her planner - but talking through her day with me & showing me notebooks often reminds her.

Still very novel to have homework - primary rarely sent any home - so she's really excited. Lots of using coloured pencils & pens to decorate homework as well.

I think the longest homework day was Weds - about 1 hour - but partly that was my fault - I started looking at what she was doing & her new school books.

Hope the enthusiasm for work continues. So far she's enjoying it - I think it makes her feel 'very grown up'.

DS2 (yr 7) has had:

Science x2
RE
German
maths
English x2
Geography
Computing

Phew! As well football x3, hockey, climbing, basketball... I am exhausted just thinking about it.

DS1 (yr 9) has hardly opened his books.

Difference DS2 at private (non-selective) and DS1 at good but chilled State which hands out projects which he does at a rush at the last minute.

Think somewhere in the middle would be good!

DD2 has had very little. The thing that has taken the longest was art.

Dd has something for each subject. She was a bit

We've not had a huge amount but Monday was the first day so they had no lessons at all on Monday, dd has had one piece a day each taking about 45 minutes each.

DD's secondary doesn't give out any homework for the first full week of Y7.

Normal homework timetable (1-2 pieces every night) starts next week - and until at least Christmas, every piece is due in the following morning [this is interesting on the night she is due 2 pieces of homework but also has 3 hours of dance lessons].

Year 9 DS has had about an hour each night (1-2 pieces, but suibstantial) since the start of term.

No 'makework' of the covering boojks cvariety, fortunately. All 'proper' wrk.

DD2 has had one lot of French, one lot for Music, 2 posters (science and ICT), Spanish vocab, English reading and online maths - so quite a lot. Mind you, the school has a rep for putting homework out in clumps - lads one week, much less the next.

DD1 has quite a lot too, but the school does a 3-year GCSE course so that's fair enough. Some of it is proper heavy stuff at last.

Art - Design a cover for her sketch book with the title Colour Theory.
Textiles - Design a cover for folder following the theme of the term.
Drama - Write down three personal targets and answer questions based on the first lesson.
IT - Think of an everyday problem, draw and write a 6 step solution.
Maths - Write down a maths related word for each letter of the alphabet.
History - Explain what happened to a missing person based on the evidence from their bin bag.
RE - Write own version of The Lord's Prayer.
English - Reply to a letter from English teacher telling him about yourself. At least four paragraphs.
Science - Find 5 hazards in a picture of a science lab, explain why they are dangerous, suggest how to avoid them in future.

Some of your y7s seem to have had way more than my y11

Science 1- graph of work done in class re. Temperature of acetones.
Science 2 - vertebrates/invertebrates.
Maths - BIDMAS stuff. Basically reviewing stuff DS did in primary so took about 10 mins.
ICT - definition and uses in daily life poster.
English - reading comprehension questions.

DS has loved it as not at all challenging yet. Have told him they are easing him in gradually and they set them at half term.

Methinks he will not be so casual about it all then...

Blimey, dd3 has had hardly anything! They are supposed to only have maths, English and science for the first few weeks, but she has had "spot the hazard" for ICT and Food Tech, and has more ICT this weekend. Half an hour reading for English, nothing for maths or science. Cover a couple of books.

I have set yr 7 homework to cover their books!

Next week they will need to bring in a picture of a celebrity they like.

The week after that we will start with learning vocab etc (I teach MFL).

DS2 is in yr 7 and had about 5 pieces Thurs/Fri. Nothing major tho, more "what are the breaches of science lab rules in this picture" or making a label for his art book.

WOW @ some of these esp bakedbeans and Laqueen

Ds has hardly had any though I suspect that will change!
He's had- Spanish, research some fun facts and write a piece on .
English- a creative writing piece.
Spanish- learn to say numbers 1-15.
That's it.

I'm dreading it, ds is exhausted, has to leave at 7.15 instead of 8.50 at primary, gets 2 buses to school and 2 home, gets in and is absolutely starving:)
Off topic, he's got a full week of exams starting Monday to determine sets.

I thought it seemed like a lot clary. I did ask my friend whose daughter has started at the same time as mine about her homework. She has only had 6 pieces. DD is plugging away at it but is getting a little stressed by it.

DD will have 8 pieces a week, as specified in her homework timetable, starting on Monday. Her school is very good about only setting homnework specuifuied on the diary, but is also conscientious about it being the right sort of length and always set and marked. Not much point in having lots of 'makework' homework that isn't marked.

Surprisingly little so far esp given huge amount we had to do over summer! Think they are easing them in gently.

Bits she has had have been interesting, thought provoking or needing to use creative/observational skills.

Others say the school loads it on at a consistent level rather than front loading if that makes sense.

Clary - why on earth would you want them to bring in a picture of a celebrity?

DDs school gives them no homework for the first half term. She had lots in primary school, so is thrilled!

rabbit I need them to pretend to meet the celebrity and ask them their name and how they are - they write this in the book in target language with the picture.

I have a powerpoint with David Tennant so I do lots of fainting and breathless excitement at the idea of meeting him

It's interesting as well who they want to meet!

Clary - DD2 has met David Tennant a couple of times! :) So have I - he was lovely. I was just thinking it was the sort of thing that might single out the non-cool kids.

LaQueen - my DDs are also at a grammar and the policy is not to set much homework at all. If DD2 had 1.5 hours of homework every night she'd have to give up some of her extra curricular stuff and that would be a shame.

DD had MASSES in her first week and was completely overwhelmed. DS conversely had very little. Both at same school, but different year-groups/streams.

IMHO, less is more.