Homework, please help an idiot mother

[Okanagan]

I have seen the link on nrich given by Sally-Anne and seen the brilliant work done by Mineatea’s DS (thousands bravos!), but why can’t we just leave aside the smallest jug holding just two litres as it will never hold 3 litres… And then we just pour from the largest jug 3l in second jug (which could hold 7l) and third jug (which could hold 4l) and then it’s job done as three jug contains three litres.
Why to go into complicated stuff?
I know… my reasoning is completely babyish … but I just can’t see why we couldn’t do that…

These questions usually have the assumption that the only markings on the jugs are the total capacity - so you wouldn't be able to accurately tell when you'd poured 3 litres from the 9 litre jug into the 7 litre one.

[Sally-Anne]

Perhaps this homework has been set for my 9 year old to find out how intelligent the parents are

it isn't homework for kids, that is certain! As I said, "GIYF" when you get this sort of question set. It is always enjoyable ( depending on your mind-set) to have go, but when the frustration gets too much ...

[Tinkers]

Sorry was late to the table on this one, so others have the beaten me to it. However, along the lines of Steve's answer, here is my engineering solution.
(Btw, I asked DD how to do this, she just said why don't they use a measuring jug. like mother like daughter )

Take the 9 and pour into the 7 litres which leaves 2 in the 9 jug. Pour from the 7 litres into the 4 jug, leaving 3 in the 7 litre jug. Mark the level. Pour the 4 litres back into the 9. Pour the 3 into the 4. Pour from the 9 litres into the 7 litre jug up to the 3 litre mark.

Job done.

[Amber]

I suggest leaving the homework undone and sending in a note saying your DC found it too hard. It serves no one well if it appears a child can do something they can't, and this is daft homework for a 9 year old. Actually, all homework for 9 year olds is daft in my view, but this is dafter than most. The teacher just wants to see which parents are prepared to do their children's homework for them, I reckon.

[ginx]

A bit like school projects, Amber. How much of a school project should I do? Any? I had a lovely pm from someone suggesting a great idea for my dd's Victorian project, she's overjoyed, but not keen to get going. I'm only helping by taking her to the library, and a bit of help on the computer. That is it. When I hear how much op's are doing, I wonder if I should help more.

[logic32]

Amber, I have to agree with you. My DD's primary had a poor oftstead report last year ( even though it's a great school ). One of the new things they have introduced is homework once a week, having previously never had any. They get given half a term's homework, say 6 or 7 topics, and get to choose one piece to do a week. This is supposed to be empowering ?? I don't blame the teachers at all, but the system.

My DS, now Y8 at local Grammar probably did one piece of homework during primary school and doesn't seem to have done him any harm. Only point I would make is homework was a bit of a shock to his system initially, he said you could tell who had been to independent schools and were used to lots of homework.

Perhaps I am complacent as one of my friend nicely accused me of, when I rubbished the new homework system. My kids are lucky and have never struggled with the basics, so I feel they have plenty of time to be stretched at secondary. Primary should be more about fun. (Not always a popular view I know )

I am happy to help them if They are really stuck but both they and I much prefer it if they do work themselves.

But I feel this is more about trying to show some parents and ofsted that the school is changing / improving, than actually helping the kids themselves ( hence this ridiculous jug problem )

[Amber]

This is supposed to be empowering ??

It's hardly empowering if the homework is so hard that the parents have to do it!

My DS, now Y8 at local Grammar probably did one piece of homework during primary school and doesn't seem to have done him any harm

Well you probably know my own attitude which sounds rather like yours on this matter. I also never encouraged my lot to do it (happily the school were pretty half-hearted about it too) and occasionally wrote the odd note to explain that they were tired, or had gone out to play instead. I never lied and the school never minded.

Perhaps I am complacent as one of my friend nicely accused me of, when I rubbished the new homework system.

Nice friend.

Primary should be more about fun. (Not always a popular view I know )

It is with me! I don't understand why some parents get so twitched about it all - as long as a child leaves primary able, and more importantly, willing, to access the secondary school curriculum, then job done imho. (And before someone tells me, yes I know in some areas you need a Level 5 if you are going to launch an appeal for 12+, but this in itself is an abuse of an already unfair system, to my mind).

But I feel this is more about trying to show some parents and ofsted that the school is changing / improving, than actually helping the kids themselves

Nail on the head there logic (you're not called that for nothing, are you? ) The new OFSTED framework is more 'challenging' than the last one, for which read 'this government thinks it can play nicely into the hands of disaffected middle class voters who think too many schools were branded 'outstanding' last time. Let's downgrade a few and get the parents begging for them to become academies or, better still start up a few free schools, to 'drive up standards', which must be going down because OFSTED says they are...'

[mystery]

This is a teacher / school being incredibly lazy. Ofsted says "set homework". So they just whip some problem off some website or other which probably the majority of the teachers in the school couldn't do. We received one in year 1 once which involved sorting through hundreds of combinations to find solutions. It was actually impossible for any primary child to solve it, let alone a year 1 child. It had been plucked off a website and not even tried by the teacher.

It's not the system which is to blame- it's your school. Mine does this kind of trick at times too for the sake of setting homework, or because maybe the parent of the class superstar has said that the homeworks are not challenging, so something impossible is set.

Well thought out homework is an effort for the teacher as it has to fit well with the planning and what they have observed the children can do, and hardly any primary schools would appear to have a well written textbook from which to set an appropriate homework.

They are trying to make it look as though they have followed the OFSTED recommendation. Hopefully OFSTED is not that easily fooled. And if it is, shame on the school / teacher for twisting a recommendation in this way. Since when has it been so difficult to set a decent maths homework? My primary school teachers managed it every week.

I also would hope that children at primary school would need little or no homework; that means though that some progress has to be taking place within school.

If it were me and homework like this proliferated from your school I'd let my child do it if they enjoyed it, and if they didn't and they weren't progressing in maths I'd find some more suitable homework for them. Trouble is, at our school the children are well trained to do their homework and hand it in on time, so it's hard to get away with this method as the child gets upset.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Sounds like one of Professor Layton's puzzles on the Nintendo DS. Highly recommended if you like doing puzzles. My DS, who loves puzzles, is disappointed as the new Professor Layton (Miracle Mask) requires a Nintendo upgrade to the 3DS!

[logic32]

That's exactly it Mystery, DD felt she had 'failed' when we couldn't work it out. She loathes getting things wrong and in a nice way is a bit goody two shoes. So would have been upset not to have completed it.

I added a note to the bottom of the page, stating that we had done the homework ( with a little - no sorry, alot, of help from an great internet forum ) and that we felt it was ridiculous to expect a 'normal' 9 year old to manage it. She was very happy with this and I can't wait to see what the reply is !!

I won't bore you too much with the other topics, suffice to say they include the 'moons' cycle, recording it's shape for a month and translating some Dicken's Victorian english to modern words. Isn't the internet wonderful ?

Amber I love your attitude, sadly I think you are braver than me ! But another 2 years of this and I may get there.

DD works hard at school and really enjoys it, homework like this, she certainly doesn't. Perhaps we'll stage our own mini rebellion !

Pumpkin Pie - Ironically DD loves puzzles, spends half her waking hours doing suduko, wordsearches, crosswords etc. Can't stand them myself - unfortunately logic problems like this obviously pass us both by !