[EssentialBludger]

If homework is so hard that it takes the parents and a bunch of people on the Internet to work out, is it really for the child?!

DD (year 3) also came home with a lot of homework last night. After an hour of sitting down with her helping her to work it out, and then listening to her (very very long!!) home reader, I did begin to wonder.

Should homework require anything more than a very quick "little bit of help with this question please?". Or should it be an hour long activity with both kids and parents every night? What about people with 4,5,6+ kids? I'm trying to imagine who on earth would have the time for such homework that the kids can't do themselves!

I have nothing against homework, and nothing against helping her, but shouldnt they be able to do majority of it on their own?

WDYT?

[ILBB]

The vast majority of studies demonstrate that homework in the early years is of little benefit - and only is there to appease over zealous parents who want their money's worth out of the school system and their children to engage in "busywork"!

[Percoriel]

A friend last night posted on FB that she had to cut out leaves for a family tree for her Qld prep kid to do. Seriously, who is that for?? If the teacher wants pretty leaves on it, then do it in craft time! Sure, sit down with the parent and get the names etc but really, a whole chart? What is that teaching the kid?

I think homework in the early years should be readers and spelling and maths practice (like times tables etc). Anything else is a waste of time.

[Phascogale]

Homework that involves large amounts of my involvement is a PITA. I don't find homework of that much value in the younger years. The kids spend 6 hours at school, surely there's enough work done there. There are plenty of other things that I would rather my kids do than have to spend a long time on homework. If the child needs some extra help to 'get' a particular concept then fair enough.

Reading at night/home is a different kettle of fish and should be done regardless.

Last week my kids brought home homework that was more challenging but didn't involve that much parental involvement as they did the majority themselves which I thought was actually quite good. This week was even easier. In fact, too easy. The kids have complained about their spelling words. And I agree. Way too easy. In some ways good - because it means that they don't actually have to do anything in order to learn them. But bad because they want to learn the more challenging words and I'd rather encourage that while they have that zeal.

[*LucyE*]

I agree. I dislike homework that is busywork as well as 'projects' that are more for the parents to get competitive over.

We opted out of homework for DS 2 years ago but he is now in Yr 4 and I do feel 30 mins of homework a night is appropriate. What he is getting is proper revision work (so not me having to teach him new stuff) and they mark the homework as a class in the morning so the kids actually get to see where they are making mistakes and learning the correct answer. Shat me off to no end having work sheets sent home and they either didn't get marked or the child was never talked through their mistakes.

DD is in Yr 2 and am ambivalent about her homework. I am going in for a meeting with her teacher soon so will discuss it some more. I see value in the work she is set, but at the same time, she is still so young and I feel that the time is better spent reading (not just readers) rather than doing revision. But that's just for her particular situation.

[kpingitquiet]

While I'm fairly anti-homework, I think the family assignments are a way of making sure parents know what's going on and actually involve themselves in their children's schooling rather than just expecting the kids to do it all on their own.

[FlowersForAlgern...]

I can't stand homework. I cannot see any benefit in it, and it wastes the few valuable hours we have as a family to share recreation, housework, chores and time together. I also think it encourages a '"work ethic" where work and home life overlap, and they develop the habit of bringing home their work to complete and being unable to switch off properly.

[Justaduck]

Seceretly hoping homework that is anything like it was when I was in school is a thing of the past when DD goes to school. I just remember all the fights it used to cause at home.

It should be readers for younger children & basic revision for older children imo

[Dylan's Mummy]

A friend last night posted on FB that she had to cut out leaves for a family tree for her Qld prep kid to do. Seriously, who is that for?? If the teacher wants pretty leaves on it, then do it in craft time! Sure, sit down with the parent and get the names etc but really, a whole chart? What is that teaching the kid?

I think homework in the early years should be readers and spelling and maths practice (like times tables etc). Anything else is a waste of time.

In prep they have topic that they class focuses on each term and their class room is kind of transformed into this theme. The family tree is possibly what they are doing this term. My SS's class had a dinosaur theme and a shop them and 2 others that I can't remember. They do spend a lot of class time doing these activities. We had to make a dinosaur bone out of news paper.

[Dylan's Mummy]

My SS is in grade 5 now and has never had too much home work. They get a homework sheet at the start of each week. Until the middle of last year homework was a real battle in our house because he was always too busy messing up in class and therefor didn't know the work that he had as homework. We would do our heads in trying to explain the simplest things to him. My husband would help to the extent of practically giving him the answers. I wiuldn't go to that extent because I feel that homework isn't about getting everything right but for the teacher to see what they are able to achieve on their own and if they don't understand something the. The teacher will know. There is a notes section on the sheet for parents and I would write a note there that he doesn't understand.

Since changing schools last year we don't have too many homework problems.

Homework has benefits to parents too, we get to see what type of things they are learning.