11 Plus Exams Forum

My ds isn't keen on homework....he's 10.5 so I guess who would be at that age?
Will he struggle at a grammar school or does a light suddenly switch on at 11?

Well, do you think a light will go on in September?

Attitudes to homework vary widely, as you can tell from the brief exchange re: CHB homework a few weeks back. Some do it easily, some make it an ordeal. We have one of each.

I think its a case of chosing your GS carefully too, my DS GS have about 1/2 an hour a day but a friend has 2 hours a night (both children in year 7). A good question to ask at open days to find out what their policy is.

My DS used to sit at the table on a sunday night with the air of someone approaching life threatening surgery......in primary.

Now, year 7 in GS, he keen to do his work, please his teachers, do his personal best, and the work is, in the main, fun. He has 40 mins per night with a few long term projects added in each half term.

The step from year 6 to 7 is huge, but most DC embrace it. I think it is impossible to know how he'll be, but assume the best!

My DC don't enjoy music practice every day, always, but they know they have to do it, and reap the benefits as they love orchestra etc......we appoach hw with the same attitude. I try to set a routine now, home, snack, half hour of play, first homework, tv, second homework, it is then all over by 6 at latest......

Good luck!

Hi, neveragain*. You sound like a friend of mine (but probably aren't! other than on here)

I really admire your homework routine. My dc in years 9 and 10 loathe homework, do the minimum, far too much cutting and pasting and not even bothering to read what they've cut and pasted. With four children it's hard to help all. My 6 year old gets a lot of attention because he is keen to read and spell. He reads for 20 minutes every day. I get tired of it! but I don't want to discourage him so 730am, there we are reading Biff and Chip stories.

My dd2 has passed the 11+, but homework is an issue for her. She just won't do it, forgets to bring it home ... extracting teeth comes to mind. It's not even as if she gets much or struggles. She's supposed to read three times a week (as she reads all the time, I listen to her read a paragraph a couple of times a week but I'm afraid no more - I know I should try harder), and half an hour maths - she's actually not bad at maths either. It's funny, the older she's got, the better at maths, which she now prefers to literacy. She is lucky and can spell so rarely does her spellings. Last year the teacher made dc put the words into sentences so she had to write something. This year the teacher just gets them to learn the word so she doesn't bother.

She's desperate to go to the gs, but a couple of times I've told her if she can't do junior school hwk, how will she cope with gs? I'm hoping, neveragain*, that she will be like your ds.

She's keener to practice the flute now because she does just five minutes - maximum! - a day - maybe four times a week. She's not that good but she recognises she's improved so it's not too bad getting her to do that.

I do worry she about her attitude towards hwk. Will she cope in a gs?
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anotherworriedmum wrote:I think its a case of chosing your GS carefully too, my DS GS have about 1/2 an hour a day but a friend has 2 hours a night (both children in year 7). A good question to ask at open days to find out what their policy is.

Each GS is different. CHB we should all know about by now. But I would like to add, that with CHB, they do have a hm/wk club for the ones who don't like doing it.

From my experience with ds2, KEA's hm/wk is very light and this suits him
At KEVIHS, they work them solid (dd1 in Y8 gets on average 19 pieces set each week). But she's studious so this is fine with her. Wouldn't go down well for dd2 though. Not sure what the policy for FW is- if that's the one you're also interested in other than CHB

It's not about how much they get (I'm willing to bet they all set much the same amount), it's about how they approach it.

Our son does his best to forget his until the evening before it's due in, can stare helplessly at a screen for longer than anyone I know, and generally makes no end of fuss about what he's being asked to do; he often has to get up early to finish something before school and rarely has any time to do anything more enjoyable.

Our daughter gets around the same amount as yours (KEHS Y8; she did mention a number this week, iirc it was about 20-ish give or take), she gets it out of the way incredibly efficiently and quietly and is consequently pretty much free in the evenings and at weekends. If I wasn't paying attention and didn't interrogate her at regular intervals (habit developed due to her brother...) I'd be under the impression she hardly ever got homework.

Mike

HappyRobot wrote:My ds isn't keen on homework....he's 10.5 so I guess who would be at that age?
Will he struggle at a grammar school or does a light suddenly switch on at 11?

If DC is around average ability then GS should be alright , i think

harrow123 wrote:If DC is around average ability then GS should be alright , i think

I sincerely doubt it. But he'll be fine if he's "typical" (which is not at all the same thing).

Ds is in the top sets for everything, but doesn't like to put much effort in. If he tried obviously he'd do better.
Really I am looking for a great school with no homework.....that isn't going to happen, so guess he'll just have to knuckle down and do it.