Homework problems

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Nickib
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 pm

Homework problems

Post by Nickib »

Hi everyone. My dd is currently in year 5, very bright & doing well. The issue we’re having is that recently she has become so anti-homework. She used to be so good, but it has become such a battle. She has 1 hour tuition for 11+ prep every week. Her tutor gives her tasks to do for the following week. She also has school homework (spellings & sentences, times tables & reading). The reading is no problem. She’s a bookworm & devours books. It’s everything else. I hate to see her become so negative about school work. Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
pixiequeen
Posts: 378
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:06 am

Re: Homework problems

Post by pixiequeen »

What will happen if she doesn't do it? Might be worth letting her find out. None of mine have been brave enough yet (not at primary school age anyway) to risk having to explain to the teacher that they couldn't be bothered. You could always warn the teacher in advance that you are going to let your DD call the shots re: homework so he/she has a suitable reaction prepared if no homework is forthcoming!
Nickib
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by Nickib »

I’ve had that conversation with her already. She needs to take responsibility for it and I will certainly not be jumping to her defence. I work at her school & mainly with children in her year group so her teacher is a colleague which obviously makes communication easy.

She isn’t a lazy child & this is quite recent. She does suffer with low iron at times & I think she may be going through a ‘low’ time. It affects her moods but has never had an impact on work before. Who knows, it could also be hormonal. Maybe she’s decided to try rebelling.

Thanks
solimum
Posts: 1420
Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Homework problems

Post by solimum »

I work at her school & mainly with children in her year group
- that makes it difficult for her I guess to really "rebel" - she may feel home and school are too closely intertwined and she can never escape (except into a book!). And 11-plus homework as well!
Nickib
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by Nickib »

My comment about her ‘rebelling’ was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek, unfortunately the smilies weren’t cooperating.
I don’t work in her class & she is actually quite happy that I work there. This is my second year at the school. The amount of 11+ work she does in a week, including her hour of tuition, amounts to maybe 2.5-3 hours, so hardly excessive.
Last edited by Nickib on Mon Feb 05, 2018 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by loobylou »

We were slightly "anti" homework in primary school although we lucky they didn't get much. (DH is a teacher and I can never write work out whether he really disapproves of homework or marking it but at primary I think it's the homework :lol: ).
Spellings and times tables were fine because they're useful. However the school tried to be prescriptive about how they did the spellings.. they advised about something like "copy and cover" and sentences and we said that that was not how our children learned best so they weren't going to do that (seriously it was so tedious and really making them want to rebel). If they'd done badly in the spelling tests I guess the school would have made more of a fuss but they didn't do I suppose they had to go with our logic.
Nickib
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by Nickib »

Loobylou is it the the ‘look, say, cover, write, check’ method for learning spellings? It’s widely used & I agree, it isn’t effective for some kids.

I’m hoping she is just going through a phase. She is in a ‘challenging’ class with a lot of children with little or no parental support with work at home. Unfortunately, where we live, there are quite a few parents who put little value on education. She sees other children in her class who have never completed a piece of homework & is possibly thinking why should she bother.

Thanks for your comments x
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by loobylou »

That might have been it. It ended up with their having to write the same word several times and then put it into sentences as well.
Because they could see that there was no benefit to them they were both really getting grumpy about doing homework whereas left to themselves they would happily learn their spellings. So I sent DH in to explain that one!
For the sentences the homework sheet always said "put the words into sentences" but did not specify one word per sentence. So I challenged them to come up with one sentence containing all the words each week (sometimes they needed two). After about a term the instructions changed to "put the 10 words into 10 sentences" but I chose not to notice... (They knew the meanings and did plenty of writing at other times so again I didn't see any benefit to them).
I think it must be harder for your dd if her peers are getting away with doing nothing though. It must feel unfair...
Nickib
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:36 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by Nickib »

Haha that’s brilliant! It is a tedious process. DD has at times also attempted to get as many words as possible into one or two sentences. It became quite amusing.
She’s always been an independent worker & comes to me with anything she is unsure of. Looks like I will have to take a more active role until she works her way over this hump.
She is still performing well at school so I shouldn’t stress about it. She can’t get enough of reading so that is definitely a positive.
She does get quite stressed, not so much this year as she has a wonderful teacher who seems to have the class under control. It’s only since I started to work there that I truly understand just how challenging the class are. It was a real eye opener for me & I realised that a lot of her emotional outbursts at home were built up throughout the day & she needed to let off steam. This coupled with her feisty disposition meant fireworks at home.xx
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Homework problems

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Nickib wrote:My comment about her ‘rebelling’ was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek, unfortunately the smilies weren’t cooperating.
I don’t work in her class & she is actually quite happy that I work there. This is my second year at the school. The amount of 11+ work she does in a week, including her hour of tuition, amounts to maybe 2.5-3 hours, so hardly excessive.
So...taking the maximum - 3 hours of 11+ work and then assuming 1 hour, possibly 2 hours a week of school homework? that's maybe 5 hours a week for a Year 5? My Year 7 in a so called super selective didn't have 5 hours a week homework. That is quite a lot in the grand scheme of things - maybe she is starting to feel that every day she comes in she just can't kick off her shoes and slob in front of the telly? But knows this homeowrk is hanging over her (even if that is metaphorical - she may cram it all in at the weekend...) Maybe try and get a balance - tell the tutor you won't be doing any 11+ work over half term, so she has a complete break - don't mention any work and then try and get back to it?
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