More homework for children....

[Lou]

On GMTV this morning they are talking about the news that homework for children may be increasing. What do you think about it?

I think children spend enough of their time at school the same as parents spend alot of their time at work. Once a family get home at the end of a day I think thats family time, not homework time. Families hardly get enough time together as it is and more homework would mean a childs life would more or less revolve around school and school work. Children need time out to play and relax and have hobbies and family time as much as adults need to have time away from work. No wonder bloody divorce rates are so high Families don't even have time to be families anymore I think the answer is to educate parents so that children come home from school and do constructive things with their time to keep their minds active, not over worked with extra school work. And what about children who don't have the same facilities to hand at home as they do at school. Not every family can afford a computer for school work so theres going to be alot of children who must already stuggle with the amount of home work they are given let alone giving them more.

 

[leckershell]

Not seen the thing on GMTV but just going by lou's post I agree... but then at the same time the kids should be made to actually do the homework without having a bonus payment (think I heard that somewhere?). Or if they want extra homework, then shorten the school hours?

 

[Urchin]

Mason gets reading for every night, spellings to practice for a test once a week, and maths we get on Friday to be handed in on Tuesday.
Before, after he had his reading he'd have about 15 comprehension questions which were a nightmare, each one had to be answered in a full sentence.
So the question was like "Why was Floppy sad?" and Mason would have to work out the answer then write "Floppy was sad because no one was playing with him"

It took bloody ages

I think what we have now is enough, plus once in a while we get an extra little project, like making a cover for his book on fabrics, or a little survey to do around family and friends, but thats nice
I'm dreading when he gets more....at the moment we get in from school, I'm knackered, and have to start the dinner and do a bit of houseowork, then we eat dinner, bath the kids and they have a little play and it's off to bed, we only just about manage to fit in the homework that we have and he's only 6!

 

[kirlykird]

I think a lot of it depends on the ages too. My 9 year olds at the moment get an hour of imaginative or maths homework and fifteen minutes of reading per evening plus their spellings to learn for each Friday.

This isn't too overloaded at the moment but I know as they get older this will increase which I agree does take up a lot of their home time.

At the moment we try to get them to do their hour homework when they get home each Friday, read for a while in bed before they go to sleep such as they go to bed at 8pm & have half an hour to read up there to relax their minds too. I found this the best way to intergrate it so that they still enjoy it too. As for spellings this is up to them to allocate and they have a mock spelling test from me each Thursday which lasts longer and longer if they obviously haven't learnt them hard enough!

I think this is quite a lot for 9 year olds but at the same time beneficial for thm although I wouldn't like them to have any more at this age.

We try to educate them about other things too. For instance we sat down last night planning our summer trip with the worls atlas. We will be stopping in 6 few countries on our way and I plan to educate them about them before we go. We also go to museums, there are a lot of them here in OXford and they're free or we head down to London, we go for walks in parks, forests, we love mud & nature & try to intergrate the educational aspects with the fun....Think what I'm trying to say is that I don't necessarily agree with more homework but there should be a responsibility by the parent to educate them about other things outside school. I love to think my kids are always learning and enjoying for instance they're so excited as they have just found that on e of our favourite local forsts was the back of C S Lewis's home and was his inspiration for Narnia, as you can guess, they enjoy those walks even more now!


sorry about the long post

 

[Lou]

Exactly Urchin. What if you had other interests and hobbies you wanted to do in the evenings? Like alot of kids that go to karate or football or dance after school. How are you supposed to fit homework into the evening? School work should start and stop at the school gates I think Maybe a little at home just to get parents involved more than anything, but no more than say 10-20 mins a night

 

[lauramumof2]

maybe floppy was sad because he had been stuck in doing homework all afternoon

From what my sisters tell me they are taught at school, maybe schools should be teaching the 3 r's more. Its all very good and well the young kids being able to speak different languages but if they cant read and write properly then whats the point.

I was watching something last week about teachers struggling with the fact there were so many different languages and cultures in the class.
It was on a scottish news programme. Basically, a lot of things were being missed out because everyone couldnt go at the same pace.

Im away off point.

Laurax

 

[Lou]

I think a lot of it depends on the ages too. My 9 year olds at the moment get an hour of imaginative or maths homework and fifteen minutes of reading per evening plus their spellings to learn for each Friday.

This isn't too overloaded at the moment but I know as they get older this will increase which I agree does take up a lot of their home time.

At the moment we try to get them to do their hour homework when they get home each Friday, read for a while in bed before they go to sleep such as they go to bed at 8pm & have half an hour to read up there to relax their minds too. I found this the best way to intergrate it so that they still enjoy it too. As for spellings this is up to them to allocate and they have a mock spelling test from me each Thursday which lasts longer and longer if they obviously haven't learnt them hard enough!

I think this is quite a lot for 9 year olds but at the same time beneficial for thm although I wouldn't like them to have any more at this age.

We try to educate them about other things too. For instance we sat down last night planning our summer trip with the worls atlas. We will be stopping in 6 few countries on our way and I plan to educate them about them before we go. We also go to museums, there are a lot of them here in OXford and they're free or we head down to London, we go for walks in parks, forests, we love mud & nature & try to intergrate the educational aspects with the fun....Think what I'm trying to say is that I don't necessarily agree with more homework but there should be a responsibility by the parent to educate them about other things outside school. I love to think my kids are always learning and enjoying for instance they're so excited as they have just found that on e of our favourite local forsts was the back of C S Lewis's home and was his inspiration for Narnia, as you can guess, they enjoy those walks even more now!


sorry about the long post

The things that you are educating them about at home off your own back are probably more useful to them in life than the homework that is set for them from school anyway. That does seem alot of homework for 9 year olds. I'm dreading Isaac going to school, when do you have time to spend with them?

 

[kimmumof2]

i like doing homework with reanna but i wouldnt like the amount she has to increase. she has a reading book, words that prepare her for next book and 5 spelling words. i dnt mind doing them and enjoy the time with her but as they get older they give them more and more and i think sumtimes it can get too much. my 9yr old nephew has homeowrk most nights and he spends over an hour with his mum doing it, she says the only problem she ahs with it is now and again they will give them homework about something that the kids havent even learnt in class (often maths) and the parents have to teach the kids how to work it out which could be a problem if the parents arent very good at the subject themselves. overall all tho some kids ahve way too much homework as it is and they definately dont need more, they will just eventually end up hating learning and school because they dont get a break from it.

xxxx

 

[Lou]

maybe floppy was sad because he had been stuck in doing homework all afternoon

From what my sisters tell me they are taught at school, maybe schools should be teaching the 3 r's more. Its all very good and well the young kids being able to speak different languages but if they cant read and write properly then whats the point.

I was watching something last week about teachers struggling with the fact there were so many different languages and cultures in the class.
It was on a scottish news programme. Basically, a lot of things were being missed out because everyone couldnt go at the same pace.

Im away off point.

Laurax

Its all relevant though. Maybe the reaosn there is more homework is because maybe the school curriculum dictates that teachers have to spend X amount of time teaching alternative things, like languages, and the basics get left for homework so the parents can more or less do the teachers job at home? Although I see nothing wrong with sitting down and helping children with a little homework if I wanted to be a teacher I would have been thank you! Do you remember the lessons at school when you literally copied text from the board? Looking back now what was all that about? Lazy teachers? It was hardly teaching was it?

 

[Lou]

i like doing homework with reanna but i wouldnt like the amount she has to increase. she has a reading book, words that prepare her for next book and 5 spelling words. i dnt mind doing them and enjoy the time with her but as they get older they give them more and more and i think sumtimes it can get too much. my 9yr old nephew has homeowrk most nights and he spends over an hour with his mum doing it, she says the only problem she ahs with it is now and again they will give them homework about something that the kids havent even learnt in class (often maths) and the parents have to teach the kids how to work it out which could be a problem if the parents arent very good at the subject themselves. overall all tho some kids ahve way too much homework as it is and they definately dont need more, they will just eventually end up hating learning and school because they dont get a break from it.

xxxx

another example of parents doing the teachers job? Its not fair is it

 

[kirlykird]

I think a lot of it depends on the ages too. My 9 year olds at the moment get an hour of imaginative or maths homework and fifteen minutes of reading per evening plus their spellings to learn for each Friday.

This isn't too overloaded at the moment but I know as they get older this will increase which I agree does take up a lot of their home time.

At the moment we try to get them to do their hour homework when they get home each Friday, read for a while in bed before they go to sleep such as they go to bed at 8pm & have half an hour to read up there to relax their minds too. I found this the best way to intergrate it so that they still enjoy it too. As for spellings this is up to them to allocate and they have a mock spelling test from me each Thursday which lasts longer and longer if they obviously haven't learnt them hard enough!

I think this is quite a lot for 9 year olds but at the same time beneficial for thm although I wouldn't like them to have any more at this age.

We try to educate them about other things too. For instance we sat down last night planning our summer trip with the worls atlas. We will be stopping in 6 few countries on our way and I plan to educate them about them before we go. We also go to museums, there are a lot of them here in OXford and they're free or we head down to London, we go for walks in parks, forests, we love mud & nature & try to intergrate the educational aspects with the fun....Think what I'm trying to say is that I don't necessarily agree with more homework but there should be a responsibility by the parent to educate them about other things outside school. I love to think my kids are always learning and enjoying for instance they're so excited as they have just found that on e of our favourite local forsts was the back of C S Lewis's home and was his inspiration for Narnia, as you can guess, they enjoy those walks even more now!


sorry about the long post

The things that you are educating them about at home off your own back are probably more useful to them in life than the homework that is set for them from school anyway. That does seem alot of homework for 9 year olds. I'm dreading Isaac going to school, when do you have time to spend with them?

It works out ok as we have set routine so that we don't have to interupt our 'family time' too much. I am dreading them getting older though & never having time

 

[Lou]

I'm going to make the most of my time with Isaac now because It seems that once he is 5 the school system is going to take over his life

haha ***EDIT*** I said that then walked into the front room only to be ushered out by Isaac who is busy lining up cars along the back of the sofa

I bet he can't wait to get to school

 

[Babylicious]

I hope it doesn't happen as Paris gets enough as it is. we'd struggle to find the time to do anymore

 

[jue]

I do loads of stuff with my 6 yr old at home, and welcome any homework she gets from school.

Its obviously working as she has a reading age of 10+ and her maths is also well above average.

Personaly I would not even consider leaving my childrens education to the state.

 

[Lou]

I do loads of stuff with my 6 yr old at home, and welcome any homework she gets from school.

Its obviously working as she has a reading age of 10+ and her maths is also well above average.

Personaly I would not even consider leaving my childrens education to the state.

Yeah we have already taught Isaac his alphabet and numbers one to 20 and I'm sure he'll be able to read when he goes to school. I think we all pride ourselves in having bright kids but when home life suffers because school is sending home a silly amount of work to do thats when it becomes an issue. I would hate it if Isaac couldn't do a fair amount of what he and we want him to do in the evenings because he is bogged down with homework.

 

[Kylie1007]

From a teacher's p.o.v, I say NO cos it means more marking!

 

[Lou]

From a teacher's p.o.v, I say NO cos it means more marking!

Is it something you've known about for a while or is it as new to us as it is to you?

 

[Happybunny]

I am a teacher and personally I think homework is a MASSIVE waste of everybody's time. I agree that children work hard enough at school, they should be playing out with friends and interacting with their families in the evenings and weekends.

I would set the absolute minimum (had to because it is in my contract) and I would never sanction children for not bringing it back.

The homework you get back (if it comes back at all) has usually been done by a parent. More often than not, even in households with well educated parents, parents sometimes do not know what methods we use to teach children and show them the way that they learned to do something. All well and good but often it confuses children and does more harm than good.
Then there is the very good argument that not all homes are equal and some children do not get the same support at home or access to museums, libraries or computers. Homework is a real nightmare for them because the constantly get into trouble for not doing it.

The only value I see in 'homework' is encouraging parents to read with their children every day. Just 5 minutes everyday is enough. You don't need the Oxford Reading Tree books (or whatever scheme your school uses), just a book that you and your child enjoy. As long as a parent or adult in the house is literate, there is no reason why every household can't do that.

 

[Lou]

I am a teacher and personally I think homework is a MASSIVE waste of everybody's time. I agree that children work hard enough at school, they should be playing out with friends and interacting with their families in the evenings and weekends.

I would set the absolute minimum (had to because it is in my contract) and I would never sanction children for not bringing it back.

The homework you get back (if it comes back at all) has usually been done by a parent. More often than not, even in households with well educated parents, parents sometimes do not know what methods we use to teach children and show them the way that they learned to do something. All well and good but often it confuses children and does more harm than good.
Then there is the very good argument that not all homes are equal and some children do not get the same support at home or access to museums, libraries or computers. Homework is a real nightmare for them because the constantly get into trouble for not doing it.

The only value I see in 'homework' is encouraging parents to read with their children every day. Just 5 minutes everyday is enough. You don't need the Oxford Reading Tree books (or whatever scheme your school uses), just a book that you and your child enjoy. As long as a parent or adult in the house is literate, there is no reason why every household can't do that.

Its good to see my views are shared by a teacher. I was beginning to think all teachers were slave drivers

 

[Kylie1007]

Nope. we're only after the easy life Lou