Primary school homework is ridiculous in my opinion.
My step children were privately educated and had home work from age 6. It was ridiculous. Their mom learnt more than they did and continues to do most of their home study for them in their teengae years. She was a bit annoyed when i asked her how well she had done in her exams this year.
My son and daughter (both teenagers at state schools)get far too much homework and although I appreciate the need to develop inedepndent study skills, I really dont see why that needs to be acomplished at home.
My youngest dont have home work anyway, personally i'd just go along with what the school though was best, after all thats why we send our kids to school isnt it? if we are just going to disagree with what the teachers think is in the best interest of the kids whats the point sending them?
I think a certain amount of homework is no bad thing....
Its a nightmare trying to get our lad to do his but our daughter cant wait to get her books out when she gets home...
As long as its about 30 mins worth in the lower years then I dont see it does any harm..
Obviously as they progress the homework increases but then thats where they have to show some determination and grit and knuckle down if they want to aceive their goals I believe..
I have 2 sisters, who both have a child, and whose circumstances are very different.
Child "A"'s mum enjoys helping her with homework. She asks her to get her books out as soon as possible, explains anything the child can't understand, and encourages her to get on the family computer. The child's dad often helps pick out possible helpful websites, which leads to wonderful research and colour printed pictures.
This child enjoys doing very well at school.
My other sister is ill, has no partner and no computer. She does extremely well with her child, teaching her spellings, and trying to negotiate babysitters so that she herself can go to college to learn basic maths and English. She works part time, and is always shattered. Homework is usually done by the child on her own, on her knee in front of the TV.
This child hates homework, which causes distress to her and her mum.
Both girls are 7 years old.
My point is that homework at this age, can cause benefits for "advantaged" children, and disadvantaged children to be more disadvantaged.
I agree with it, the kids these days get far too much and it can cause grief at home for them. Nothing worse than nagging ya kids to do homework when they are as knackered as you after a hard days work.. they want to chill out just like us adults when we get home from work!
If they want some and see it as a fun after school passtime (some do love project work to do after school) great, let them do it as long as its healthy time..
I used to run an afterschool educational project where young peeps (11 - 18 yrs) got national certificates when they completed the different levels. These are equivelent to A/O Level etc or go towards units for other qualifications. We were packed out most nights and had a waiting list!!! They loved it, because it was their decision, fun and interesting. They chose what they wanted to do, had good support and had the run of the building/resources on offer.
It was interesting to see that a lot of those who attended wasn't sitting for most of the exams at school or were self excluded... yet they never failed to turn up for every session.
It depends on what you count as homework as well. Children start bringing reading books home usually from reception age. It is essential that these skills are practised regularly and it is great for parents to help out in this way. Learning spellings is also common homework from a young age and is also a good way to consolidate patterns learned in school.
From a parents point of view, my year 2 child gets far too much homework - usually 20 to 30 minutes each night plus reading. This amount increases as the child moves up the school to about 40 minutes per night by the time the child reaches year 6.
From a teacher's point of view - you can't win with the type and amount of homework! Some parents insist on lots and complain if there isn't formal written work every night, while others think there is too much and children should be allowed to play. We do try to make it relevant to the curriculum and include lots of fun type activities where the children play games. Again - parents don't always agree with that!
When I did home work I was sometimes helped. Told how to do something, asked another question to move me along. I was never told the answer.
Travis
PS I was joking earlier.
I changed schools at age 9 and had to do extensive homework, especially Algebra and Latin - I still have nightmares about it now!
Plim :cry: :cry:
Go on then - how do you work out multiplication nowadays? I thought there was only 1 way (apart from a calculator).
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