School homework

[curriechick]

I read this thread with interest. I have 3 grandaughters aged almost 5, 7 and almost 9 years old. All three are very bright, happy and intelligent girls, they all get homework from school even the youngest. In their house Sunday is homework day, with both mummy and daddy being involved and encouraging them.

 

However last week the 7 year old came home from school in tears, they had, had an unplanned maths test. Now this is what we called mental arithmatic, the teacher asks the child 10 maths questions all phrased differently eg if the answer is 10 how many do you have to take away from 25 to get there, or what is 8 multiplied by 3. All well and good but they are given just 10 seconds to answer each question and she had answered them all correctly but only 5 in the given time so the teacher told her quite abruptly that this was no good and wanted to see an improvement but the next Friday.

 

She spent all last week getting herself worked up, asking mummy and daddy to ask her questions and time her. As Friday got closer she got really upset and cried.

 

I do not think that at 7 a child should be getting into such a state about homework. Education should be fun for them, they should enjoy going to school and learning not dreading it.

 

I know things are different now and we have to move on, but we didn't get homework until we started secondary school and I do think 5 and 7 is a little young for this.

[growup]

I read this thread with interest. I have 3 grandaughters aged almost 5, 7 and almost 9 years old. All three are very bright, happy and intelligent girls, they all get homework from school even the youngest. In their house Sunday is homework day, with both mummy and daddy being involved and encouraging them.

 

However last week the 7 year old came home from school in tears, they had, had an unplanned maths test. Now this is what we called mental arithmatic, the teacher asks the child 10 maths questions all phrased differently eg if the answer is 10 how many do you have to take away from 25 to get there, or what is 8 multiplied by 3. All well and good but they are given just 10 seconds to answer each question and she had answered them all correctly but only 5 in the given time so the teacher told her quite abruptly that this was no good and wanted to see an improvement but the next Friday.

 

She spent all last week getting herself worked up, asking mummy and daddy to ask her questions and time her. As Friday got closer she got really upset and cried.

 

I do not think that at 7 a child should be getting into such a state about homework. Education should be fun for them, they should enjoy going to school and learning not dreading it.

 

I know things are different now and we have to move on, but we didn't get homework until we started secondary school and I do think 5 and 7 is a little young for this.

 

I think it's wrong that at any age, never mind seven, she was told she was no good as she couldn't answer the questions and would be speaking to the school to find out why this happened. However, I do think they should be taught basic mental maths in primary school. Too many children are entering secondary unable to spell and not knowing their times tables. We enjoyed school but I don't think there was one child who didn't at least know their 2, 5 and 10 times table when they left primary, the majority knew the rest of their times tables as well. These are basic skills and although I agree learning should be fun (whether in primary or secondary school) we also need to ensure our children have the basic skills to do well in life.

[curriechick]

They all three know their times tables even the youngest as I say their parents do spend a lot of time with them, teaching and encouraging learning and sometimes in ways they don't even know, through games, role play and visits it museums and galleries. My daughter did speak to the other teacher in the class about the abrup way the child was spoken to and this was duly noted, and she got all the answers right it was the time, she had to think when the questions were given in an alternative way and she ran out of time.

[Evei]

I think it depends on what the homework consists of. If it is set at such a young age, it can sometimes still be fun. For example, it might be a challenge to find 3 different shapes at home... which many children would enjoy doing with the family rather than only doing things like that in school. It also gives parents an opportunity to be involved in the child's school learning.

 

I think this hits the nail on the head, the fact that schools feel they have to set homework so that parents spend time doing something with their child. Good parents in my veiw do things like this everyday without having it set as homework, it is part of everyday interactions of child and parent and the majority do it.

 

As a child my parents would always ask what I did at school that day when sat around the dinner table, if there was something we had been doing they would ensure they made the links themselves and try to develop the interest in that area. I used to love a trip to the library (and the sweet shop on the way back) to get a book on whatever we were studying at at school and it was seen as a treat not a chore!

[growup]

They all three know their times tables even the youngest as I say their parents do spend a lot of time with them, teaching and encouraging learning and sometimes in ways they don't even know, through games, role play and visits it museums and galleries. My daughter did speak to the other teacher in the class about the abrup way the child was spoken to and this was duly noted, and she got all the answers right it was the time, she had to think when the questions were given in an alternative way and she ran out of time.

 

I wasn't trying to say ur grandchildren didn't know their times tables (sorry if it sounded like that). I was making a general statement about the importance our education system now places on primary school children knowing different elements of ancient egyptian culture and the like (which is nice for them to know and something fun for them to do), instead of focusing on basic skills.

[curriechick]

No, sorry I didn't read it like that so you caused me no offence at all, I was just reiterating how much pressure they had put on her and how upset she had become because of it, and it upset me to see her like that too.

[rapido]

It's totally wrong that children of this age should be getting any homework at all. Any schools that practice this are doing it for their benefit, not the children's.

Kids are not educated in schools for the pleasure of learning and personal, academic development; they are taught to pass exams so that the schools do well in the league tables

It's no wonder that the amount of children being home educated in Sheffield is increasing every year.

I'd have something to say about it if my kids got loads of homework at that age and i think I'd have a lot to say to the evil git who sent a 4 year old to the head for not doing homework. That's not a teacher.....it's a sadist.

[curriechick]

I agree, my daughter is a teaching assistant and she says they have to reach certain targets and try to get to the top of the league table to encourage more pupils, yet the school where she works has a waiting list even for the nursery it is such a good school.

[alandalus]

Not normal, but normal is a relative term ....

[Zebra]

My five year olds have been coming home with homework, which I object to enormously. At this stage I feel they should be asked to read as much as is realistic, which will set them up to learn consistently in every other subject. By reading they learn other things anyway.

Their father and I are the kind of parents who answer questions and go looking up information with the kids on the internet and in books anyway. I often feel aggravated that school have dictated that we should fill a 30 odd page project book on some tail chasing fluff. It isn't even vaguely possible for the kids to do their homework without parental interaction, frankly I have better things to do with my kids in those hours after school and before bed than draw/label pictures of healthy foods (they are well aware of what is and what isn't healthy and we don't need to draw pictures to evidence it), write what address they live at, city they were born in, D.O.B etc (since again they know all this and more besides). I see zero benefit to what they are meant to do, except chewing up time when we could be doing something useful or just behaving like a family.

 

There are studies which suggest that the brain will only absorb so much information in a day, surely 6 hours a day is sufficient? Those who home educate manage to teach the same curriculum and often manage it (with better exam outcomes) in 6 hours over a whole week - which would suggest there's something wrong with how schools do it.

 

Personally I feel the whole education system needs reviewing because frankly, for Joe Bloggs and society it's failing as a structure.