Has your school starter got homework?
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My son’s not school age yet but besides the research saying homework is ineffective, it seems so pointless before middle or high school anyways. Literal children do not need MORE schoolwork after spending 8 hours learning
@Kassidi my husband is a teacher & he's said that if our daughter doesn't want to do it, then she doesn't have to. Could you please share your research findings?
My daughter is in yr3 and they’ve decided not to do homework anymore. I think unfortunately it does create a divide as some parents won’t bother or don’t have the time or like me have to google what a number bond is. Plus the homework isn’t aimed at the individual so trying to get my then pre verbal child to write a diary entry for the fire of London was a little tricky.
I’m someone who loved homework because it really did help me. I do think every child is different though. I have a kindergartner and she’s gotten more homework in pre-k honestly. I don’t want to encourage learning only happens at school.
His only homework is reading books. It’s more about making sure parents are reading to their kids I think. We have to fill out a reading log. What homework has your daughter been given?
“In the early school years, there’s no clear evidence that homework helps children do well academically at school.” https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/school-homework-tips/homework “They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.” https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2014/03/too-much-homework-031014
No homework till earliest year 3
Hi- I work in reception and we give out homework in the sense or tracing numbers and letters and practising their phonics! X
My daughter is in year 1 now but last year she had homework every week which consisted of 1 talk task and we had to write her response, a phonics task, maths task and then 3 words of the week for them to practice plus reading everyday and filling in her reading record.
Yes, my kindergartener gets a packet on Monday, and is to be retuned Friday. He flies through it and enjoys doing it. Nothing crazy or overwhelming in my eyes.
Exactly what @Chloe said! My daughter got given her first bit of homework last Fri. It was tracing 5 letters and sounding out words that begin with them. @Sarah🦄 I think our daughters started school at the same time this Sept? I have a vague recollection back in April about the primary school allocation thread.
We get reading (currently one book, soon to be two) phonics and another activity. We also got given a sheet of "micro habits" that should be done in the best interests of the children - cooking together or going for a walk and talking about what we see. I love sharing stories so that's fine and the phonics is achieved by playing schools. I found the sheet on micro habits to be condescending as I'd naturally do these activities anyway as would most parents.
Teacher here 🙋♀️ and I think that's ridiculous. I teach 10 year olds and I bregrudgingly give minimal homework because it's school policy... but we allow time during registration to catch up for those who don't get it done at home. The thing is with homework, the ones who would likely benefit from doing it most are usually (not always) the ones who won't get the support at home. But the age you're talking about? They should be reading and counting at home and that's really it.
@Chloe my son used to get this when he was in nursery. It was fun so i didnt mind.
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@Kassidi thank you
@Lydia reading (which we've been doing since she was a baby anyway). 1 book picture book, 1 story book was the start & now she's got to work through a workbook each week doing phonics. It seems a lot for a 4 or 5 year old considering that they're in school full time.
@Suzie my husband is a teacher & he agrees with you. He goes through numbers with her every day. We both sing nursery rhymes & read & talk about books with her already. My daughter tends to come home repeating/telling us what she's learnt at school.
@Neena yes I think so, my daughter will be turning 5 this year. How is your daughter finding school?
My son is in 3K (goes Wedneday through Thursday) and didn't have school last Thursday, so they sent home a fall nature scavenger hunt, but it wasn't required to do.
@Sarah🦄 oh tbh I don’t feel like that’s a a lot depending on the phonics book length. We got a folder with two books and then two pieces of paper for phonics. they’re just activities we would do anyway tbh. It’s not extra if you just do the school books instead of her regular books one day a week. I think a long work book where they would have to sit writing is too much though
@SquishyMommy1 no homework till highschool!! That’s so interesting. I would’ve been a straight A student if I had that lol. I loved doing work in class, half my bad grades were bc my parents separated and I’d always leave folders/assignments at different houses and get F’s. We start homework in kindergarten in the US 🥲
@Korissa our district is very evidence based. Homework doesn’t improve information retention. They also have start times that follow the evidence also.
My son gets homework but this weeks was go find some pinecones, last weeks was make a video of him singing x
I assume by homework you mean like reading together, phinics, practicing pen control/fine motor skills etc rather than actual expectation to do a skilled task? It is common for phonics, pen control maybe even letter and number formation (depending on skill level) being sent home to incorporate home and school. Reading together is also very normal from reception usually starts with books without words or minimal common words that the child has become familiar with in school. Again it is more to link home and school and for additional skill development in a safe environment. It isn't usually marked just acknowledged that it was done and any effort praised. I wouldn't expect more than phonics, reading and pen control before Yr 1 and then year 1 there might be spellings starting (common words) and maybe some simple maths tasks number bonds to 10 etc. From Yr 3 you can expect a more question and and answer based on a topic type homework.
FYOS here and in term 1 his "homework" was his parents reading to him and recording titles in a reading diary. Once a week he had to pick a book and draw a picture from it Term 2 they started having readers but it's self paced so not required to do one every night
My kids have homework every day
@SquishyMommy1 what are the starting times for school? When you say evidence based, do these methods work in real life situations?
@Jessica well it looks like its an 'expectation' to do the task regarding the homework book as its marked work. Yep its everything that you've said! The workbook has phonics, fine motor skills (colouring, drawing around the letters). {The booklet she is expected to do 2 pages per week} Then she's also got a sheet of paper with phonics on there that she's doing everyday at school. A wordless picture book that we have to go through. A story book that we have to read to her & talk about. Personally, I find 2 books, 2 pages from a workbook, a sheet of paper with phonics on it - all a lot of homework to do. I get that some children don't have any books & that its encouraged for a child to read etc.... I get that phonics helps them to pronounce/recognise words etc... I just feel that once they are home, then they need to have some downtime. My daughter has a 7pm bedtime & tends to go upstairs for quiet time from around 5:30pm & has a story, bath & then she likes to have a long bath (about 30mins) as she...
likes to play. Then she gets out & gets ready for bed & has some warm milk/brushes teeth has a wee & then settles for bed. I just feel that when children have such an early bedtime that homework isn't a neccassity. Fair enough if she was coming in from school around 3:30pm & then going to bed for around 9pm. Even then, she needs time to just be. Yes they have the weekend once again that's family time. We're quite child led in regards to how my daughter spends her time & she has very little screen time. She does have an educational activity table that she chooses to play with as & when. Same with colouring in etc... my husband & I go through things with her as well. So its not as though she doesn't do any of that stuff🤷🏼♀️ Once again, I get that some children don't have that at home. Its the wording of the school that annoys me; 'if books aren't logged on the system then we presume that no reading is being done at home'.
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@Sarah🦄 even though the wording is a bit rude it’s important to remember that some children genuinely don’t have reading time. When my son started school we were told more and more children are coming in that haven’t ever sat and read a book/ some hadn’t even seen a book before! so to parents who read to their kids everyday it seems patronising but it’s for the benefit of those other children x
We got given homework in reception but there was no pressure at all to actually do it. It was just encouragement to do a bit of homelearning with them
@Lydia true the wording is quite rude & patronising maybe that's why its annoyed me so much?🤷🏼♀️ Yes I get that & I feel sad for those kids. These are probably the same kids who fall through the net & may not get the correct support that they need in school. Granted my daughter seems to be going to a decent primary school.
@Sarah🦄 sorry I know I’m just jumping in here, but the evidence-based starting time for school is 8:30 or later. It’s for middle/high school because puberty makes it hard to fall asleep early, so the kids can still get 8 hours of sleep. Later start times/appropriate amount of sleep has been shown to lead to better grades and less safety hazards like car crashes
@Kassidi thank you 🙂
@Sarah🦄 elementary starts at 8, middle school starts at 9:15 and the high school starts at 8:30
@SquishyMommy1 thank you, does this work? All schools in England start around 9am.
@Sarah🦄 yes! The older kids aren’t exhausted and falling asleep in class like when I was in school.
Today my 4year old at reception has come home with a book. He has phonetics homework and a book for me to write what he has learnt. I dont feel he needs to spend more time at home after an 8 hour day. Its ridiculous. The teacher made a point of telling the parents they monitor who does their homework
@Aria monitor? That seems to be more on the parents to make sure that they get the homework done🫣 I agree, they do plenty of that sort of stuff in the classroom. I'm kinda glad that my daughter had another year at nursery before moving up to reception (she's one of the oldest in her year). A child who has recently turned 4 is still really little.
@Sarah🦄 the monitoring is what threw me a little. When my son was in nursery it was only 3 hours a day, so i didnt mind the nursery sending a few activities home. But at school my son is already struggling to settle in, even cries once he is home. Im not ready to add homework in the mix right now. His time at home is to unwind.
@Aria bless him! I don't blame you, its a lot for a young child to take in. I don't understand why they get homework so young?🤷🏼♀️
No. They don’t do homework until high school and even then it’s super minimal and really only for big projects.