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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 do you manage all the homework?

29 replies

Echobelly · 05/09/2019 22:17

DH went to Y7 parents' meeting after DD's first day today. 7.5 hrs homework per week - yikes! Though honestly I don't know how that compares to what I had.

School has warned that everyone hits a bit of a crisis of adjustment some time in october, but then gets over it. Could be a tricky one, as DD does get very melodramatic about these things. At least she's pretty self-motivated like me, so she'll not need cajoling and, I think, also a fast finisher like me so I suspect she won't need all that time for it.

We are going to have to think more carefully about weekends in term time, as sometimes they do end up with end-to-end stuff going on and she's clearly not going to finish her work if there's no time at the weekend.

We're also thinking more carefully now abou screen time, which we have been fairly lax about. DD does not own her own smart device and school doesn't allow them on site at all anyway, so that's not something we have to deal with.

OP posts:

elephantoverthehill · 05/09/2019 22:23

How do I manage all the homework? I set as little as possible. I think you will find it is pretty similar in your Dd's school. There's no point setting it if it is not going to be immediately relevant or useful, until it becomes exam stuff.

TwigTheWonderKid · 05/09/2019 22:26

That's only an hour a night and a couple of hours at the weekend, so perfectly manageable?

Danglingmod · 05/09/2019 22:27

An hour per night 2.5 on a Sunday morning? It's not a huge amount.

Original poster

Echobelly · 05/09/2019 22:43

I know, still seems like quite a lot. I'd prefer if you were given a night or two off and she has other commitments during the week that aren't really negotiable.

@elephantoverthehill - I'm not sure what you mean, I'm not setting the homework, the school is.

OP posts:

GreenTulips · 05/09/2019 22:45

You don’t need to manage it, she does.

Onceuponacheesecake · 05/09/2019 22:47

I'd expect the student to manage it, not the parent

JaneR0chester · 05/09/2019 22:54

Why would you get a couple of nights off each week?? I think it's the norm for secondary school kids to be given homework every day - it's up to the pupil to organise themselves to complete the work.

We've always encouraged "do it as soon as it's set", as opposed to the night before it's due. On top of extra curricular activities.

superram · 05/09/2019 22:57

They say but teachers have to mark it-she won’t get that much!

user1494670108 · 05/09/2019 23:01

My dds outstanding secondary school has yet to set any for her in y10 so far.
She has done v little homework on her first 3 years there either.
This doesn't feel right but they get results and she's doing well so I'll go with it though I wonder if she could do even better and also how she'll cope when she does have work to do

justasking111 · 05/09/2019 23:04

Best to do it as it comes to save on stress. Home from school, sit down and get it over and done with.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 05/09/2019 23:07

Greentulips got in there before me.

In my experience, they'll get a lot in the first term or two of Y7 to get them into the habit and then it will tail off.

Just get them to do it when it's set to avoid last minute panics.

Embracelife · 05/09/2019 23:11

She finishes school at 3 30 so can do 2 hours a night weekdays. Easily. Still leaves plenty time to chill.
If has something on after school move it around or complete on weekend.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 05/09/2019 23:23

That sound a lot to me for year 7.

Our kids have sport after school most nights (representing school) and out of school activities 4 nights and weekends (skiiing, guitar, rugby, scouts etc).

By the time they’ve travelled home from school and to/from clubs, showered and eaten it doesn’t leave time for 1 / 1.5 hours of homework per night.

Saying that, our eldest completed maths homework that was set this week and supposed to take 3 hours (!) in about an hour (though it’s yet to be marked!) so maybe take the projected timings with a pinch of salt!

MuseThalia · 05/09/2019 23:33

I brought DD a white board, I used to write her homework on the white board and get her to tick it when she'd done it. Her school has an online thing though too that they upload the homework and due dates on that and parents can log onto it, so she couldn't get away with 'forgetting' to do homework. She's in year 10 now though so I don't hear anything about her homework unless she asks me about something. She has got into the habit of doing her work as soon as she gets home. DS has just started year 5 primary at the same school, for the primary school years though they hardly set any homework, but he gets little bits, like today he said he needed to learn 5 words. I asked him which words .. and he doesn't know, so that is a good start lol.

raspberryrippleicecream · 06/09/2019 00:19

I've had 3 DC through Y7. I agree with pp, it starts off heavy and then lightens. Also, you may find if your DC works quickly they will have less of the 'finish this from class' type.

However, all of mine had a lot of extra curricular activities, particularly DC2, some of them the kind that couldn't be missed. They also practised musical instruments. They learned to be organised and to plan their time efficiently, which is a really useful skill!

BackforGood · 06/09/2019 00:49

I doubt very much if they will get anywhere near that much, but, as others have pointed out, there would still be plenty of time, presuming - as most secondaries do - she finishes by 3.30ish ?

RedskyLastNight · 06/09/2019 07:31

Does she actually get that much? I think my DC had that much timetabled in Year 7, but sometimes the homework is not set, or it's just "finish off what we're doing in class" or it doesn't take that long.
... though at the start of Year 7, every teacher set homework in every subject - I think just to make a point - DC have never had to make so many posters!

But yes, she needs to manage it herself. From past experience I will say suggest but don't impose. I had a DD who always tried to do homework the day it was set and a DS who was more of a last minute expert. You might think the first method is better but both ways get the homework done.

CherryPavlova · 06/09/2019 07:42

It’s for the children to manage and the parents to monitor and support.
Set a clear prep time and hold it without excuses early on. Pays dividends when you reach GCSE/A levels.
It is only an hour a day, so it’s likely to get more. I think ours were doing about two hours by GCSE level per night plus work at weekends.

PeriComoToes · 06/09/2019 07:57

My DD has a diary at home. When she comes home from school she writes the the name of the topic onto the date that the homework is due in a particular colour and puts a box around it. She then looks back and sees when she can slot it in and timetables it in (writing it in a different colour).

Initially in Y7 I helped her a lot with scheduling, making suggestions as to when would be a good time, helping with switching it around as other homework came in that might need more attention or be due in before other homework given earlier. As the year went on this became more of an independent task for her.

My DD NEVER did homework on a Friday and would rather do a bit on Sunday instead of need be - often saving the 'easier' stuff for then.

Some nights she would spend 1.5-2 hours (history which required research and a bit of language homework for example) some nights would just be 45 minutes (maths).

I think it's important to establish s routine from the off. For my DD she's home at 4pm, snack and chat with me til 4.30pm then homework. Dinner at about 6.30pm which gives her 2 hours, if she doesn't need the 2 hours she does whatever she likes but she also has to practice musical instrument for 15 mins and read for 20.

No TV/games til homework is done!

On the night she has an after school activity she might have to do some work after dinner but generally she tries to keep that night relatively free of homework.

It works for us.

Establish a routine.

Original poster

Echobelly · 06/09/2019 08:01

Oh, I am expecting her to manage it and us to monitor it ultimately - she's quite inclined to do it straight after school.

And OK then, if it's not that much maybe it's not that much.

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reluctantbrit · 06/09/2019 09:08

We have a wall calendar where DD (Year 8) puts the homework onto on the day it's due. She also logs her hobbies and weekend commitments. This means she keeps an eye on days where lots is going on and she can do the homework earlier.

Waiting for the weekend doesn't work. She got Maths homework on Wednesday, due today. Spanish was given Thursday due today. English I think is due on Monday but that's because it needs to be researched a bit.
Her Spanish teacher also expect them to do vocabulary twice a week, they log it online and she can monitor progress.

She comes home at 4pm, eats a bit and then sits down, most days until 6pm or so. Screentime is for after dinner now.

We cancelled one of her hobbies shortly after starting Y7 and I am glad other classes moved to later times in the day.

Keep an eye on her until she set up a proper system. DD's head of year said they expect each homework task to take between 30-45 minutes unless it is a research project.

ExpletiveDelighted · 06/09/2019 09:22

Mine (y11 and y9) have always managed it themselves by and large. We've never had a set time as they don't get in till between 4.39 and 5 and both do lots of extra-curricular activities in the evenings, so they fit it in around them or get up early to finish it. We also keep part of Sunday clear for a catch-up. They have a good attitude and both routinely get good reports for homework.

Roomba · 06/09/2019 09:39

DS's school uses the online Show My Homework system (when it works!) so I can see the estimated completion time of each piece of homework. Often it will say '30 minutes' when the homework is to finish the exercise they've done in class that day. So in reality it takes DS 5-10 minutes, or he already finished it in class. So the 7.5hrs may not be as bad as you think?

I've found the only way for DS to get it all done is to do it as soon as he gets in, before dinner. Otherwise we spend all evening arguing - "I'll do it in a minute!" - or he ends up finishing it at break time just before the next lesson having told me he's finished everything the night before. I've had to be very firm about it as due to his SEN organisation is not DS's strong point!

HugoSpritz · 06/09/2019 09:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Echobelly · 06/09/2019 16:18

@Roomba I think the school has Show my Homework or something similar, but don't have access yet.

We have a whiteboard at home both DD and I were thinking she could put her hw up on it and we can help check in that she's done it, but maybe won't be necessary depending on online system.

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