Proposing a "Homework Corner" as a topic.

[Panfriedstardust]

I had mentioned this some weeks ago to MNHQ as an idea, after I had a couple of testy sessions with dd about homework stuff, which I was either too old or too stupid to resolve. HQ indicated it could be a go-er, but nothing has raised it's head.
So, outwith HQ's thoughts ( and I am sure they are very busy) I was wondering if posters thought it would be worthwhile, even as a sort of pilot. If it wasn't used then that's the view.
I can see some difficulties/barriers to such an idea, but I am unsure if those barriers are insurmountable. There is such a reservoir of latent knowledge about homework-related stuff on MN, it seems such a waste to not use it.

And of course it does fit in with the site purpose of "making parenting easier".

So, what do we think?

thanks.

I disagree Bucharest, though that may be your experience as one teacher - lots of schools and teachers (such as dd's) do not take such a defensive view.

Why not give it a go

I'm glad that you have that attitude as a teacher, Bucharest, and that it's not just lazy parents like me. I had a parents' evening for dd last week, and her work ethic was universally praised. I don't think that she would have developed that if she had got used to the kind of hand-holding I see a bit of from some parents. IME, these are usually the same parents pulling their hair out because their kids don't seem interested in knuckling down to anything resembling independent study when they are older.

'the most successful children are those where the parents have a role in the process of education.'

Well, there's a scale here and we may differ in exactly where we think our role ends. Not a complete list or precise order:

1. make sure child is fed before and after school [no, unfortunately this isnt a given in the real world]
2. make sure the child goes to school
3. be supportive of the school
4. provide a suitable place to do homework
5. provide dictionaries, books of many types
6. facilitate computer access (for older children. May be library or supporting them in staying to use school equipment after school)
7. engage in intelligent discussion in general
8. make sure child has time to do homework, remind/nag if essential
9. help child look stuff up in books or net
10. help child phrase answers
11. ask mumsnet for help

TBH the most successful children are probably the ones who get 1-8 but are as independent as possible about the content of their work. [my parents were teachers so as a point of principle I never asked them for help]

It could be cool.

I support DS7 doing homework because it gives us a structured excuse for him to be doing writing (something he needs to improve on). I don't have it in me to do writing daily without some external motivation. The homework sheet says give your child whatever support they need to complete the task, as long as all writing is their own. I am very grateful for that clarity.

DS12 refuses to do homework (mostly) which I despair at and I don't want to try the most common strategies I hear for this age group (have tried them all in past with little success!). I have a new plan... will be nice to see if it works in a year's time. And to brainstorm with others with similar problem.

Still, I expect that it would be another barely used topic that could easily be encompassed within primary/secondary topics.

Hello. Have a look here