I am wanting information regarding homework. I am not a fan, never have been & I don’t agree with it. I am not here to start a debate over it. You may love it and that’s your choice but i would just like to know if kids are obliged to do it and is it possible to put in a request to have my kids excluded from it, so they stop being punished for not doing it.
30 Replies
This is probably a conversation that you need to have with your kid's teachers and/or principal. Every school and even every teacher will have different expectations.
As an example - my kids (aged 12, 14 and 15) rarely get homework. If they do, it's something like reading (which they should be doing daily anyway), finishing off work that was meant to be completed in class or in cases where they've been off school ill and they've needed to catch up on some of their work.
Where as my friend's children go to a pretty elite private school and they get about an hour of revision homework every day. They actually had to sign a contract upon enrolment stating that they agreed to participate in the completion of homework (amongst a heap of other rules that I find absurd but that's a topic for another time lol).
I think it may also depend on why your kids aren't completing it? Is the workload excessive? Is it truly detrimental to your children's emotional wellbeing? Is it a circumstances kind of thing? Is it that your children have additional learning needs and would benefit from having their own individual learning plan?
It depends if primary or high. Primary you can say no. Most schools now don’t do it. I’m a teacher and have always done reading but just say no time to the other. Of course, if my child wasn’t doing well then we would do some learning games to help them get up with the class.
High school they do need to learn the ability to set their schedule and to study alone. Also they stay up later, so have more time in the day, they have longer attention span and can sit and work, so practising for an hour or so is a good skill for them to learn.
Is this for primary school or high school?
Primary
You'll regret this stance in high school when your kids refuse to do their homework and fail, don't get into uni and jeopardize their future.
A little bit of homework in primary school prepares them for high school.
Home readers are also critical to your child's reading journey, you are doing them a disservice if you aren't doing this.
Does your boss allow you to not do things because you "aren't a fan"?
Make no mistake, everything you do now is teaching them a life lesson....
No. Same as a little bit of uni Work wont prepare a primary child to excel in uni. Developmentally appropriate and stop always ‘preparing’ them, which is always always code for doing something developmentally inappropriate.
Hahahahaha
That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. Not going to uni does not jeopardise everyone's future lol. What a complete load of rubbish. If you have kids the only lesson you are teaching them is to hate learning and that is doing them a disservice and setting them up for failure.
I'm not a fan, but my primary aged kids always have reading homework and some teachers (over the years) give a small amount of homework.
I make them do it. It teachers them that they can't pick & choose what to do when studying. Once they get to high school and uni or TAFE etc. home study is not optional. It's a learned skill, as well as the discipline to ignore distractions, prioritise it & focus on doing it. Starting young helps those skills develop before they hit a more advanced level of study.
I doubt a teacher will say yes to individual exclusion from homework without a reason, because there's got to be one rule for all. So I think you'll have to decide either to do the work, or take the consequences. In the end it depends how strong your beliefs are.
My kids have been given that many assessments I am starting to wonder what their school hours are for. Unfortunately in high school they push them even harder 😞
I’d assume you’d need a pretty good reason to get a homework exception while the whole class is expected to complete.
https://education.qld.gov.au/curriculums/Documents/p-12-curriculum-asses...
P4. (that is just an example, it’s for QLD state schools)
Why send them to school?
For an education obviously? What’s your point?
I'm a teacher and not a fan of homework either. However, it's not my choice about whether to set it or not, it's school policy. I talk with my parent group about how the written homework I set will give you information about what we are learning in class, but if time is tight, it is the reading for fluency each day that's really important so leave out the written if you cant get to it. No child in my class is ever punished for not doing homework. I may send an email about lack of completion but if a parent does not want their child to do homework, that's their choice. The only only public discussion in the class is about how to complete homework not who has done it and who has not.
Thank you for this 💜
Just curious, what grade do you teach?
So are you one of those teachers that assigns homework "just for the sake of it?"
I'm sure your homework is very engaging.
I don't assign "just for the sake of it". I assign it because it's school policy. As a responsible and respectful person I do the job I am instructed to do. Considering you haven't seen my homework, this is a very combative post, and nothing to do with the OP's question. I have collaborative discussions with my parent group about what they want to see in homework and that's what we go with. My homework is engaging enough that every student completes it.
Grade 1 and 2
So you don't assign homework to consolidate learning or as part of the curriculum, it is based on what the parent's want?
Isn't it up to you to determine what is appropriate and most beneficial, as a professional educator?
All my experience with my kids in the public system, the teacher has made it very clear what the homework expectations are and what is required.
Firm and professional.
I don't think I would feel confident if my kid's teacher asked the parents what they wanted or showed a lack of enthusiasm for work assigned at home.
If they don't believe it's beneficial, I would rather they just don't give it.
Does your leadership team know your attitude and approach to homework.
I was also under the impression you did planning with your grade level team and all classes were assigned the same homework, according to the curriculum.
Are you a "lone wolf" teacher that lets the parents call the shots?
Bizarre.
I'm surrounded by teachers (not one myself) and none of them really agree with homework. They're all primary teachers though if that makes a difference?
Personally, I encourage it because otherwise I think highschool and university are a shock, but I get where they are coming from
lol
I think it’s lucky you’re not a parent of the child in her class. She sounds extremely professional (I’m also a teacher FYI) and you’re the exact parent that are pushing teachers out of the profession. You stick to your job and we’ll stick to ours.
That was my point!
You do your job and don't refer to parents regarding homework.
You're the professional.
What would parents know about the curriculum or what needs consolidation at home?
Believe me, I am very glad to not be a parent in this class.
I have never had a cross word with a teacher, have always had professional "take charge" types.
Never been asked what homework I feel is appropriate lol
What are the homework tasks that need to be completed? I’ve got two kids that are now nearly finished high school, and they didn’t get much homework in primary school. In prep it was reading with the child every night and practicing 5 or 6 sight words a week, then moved on to home readers every night. From grade 1 to mid primary it was home readers every night and spelling words to be practiced each day. Upper primary was daily reading, practicing spelling words daily and a worksheet containing maths and reading comprehension tasks to be completed during the week. Very occasionally they would bring home work they hadn’t completed in class. In grades 5 and 6 they would get a larger project that they had 6 or 7 weeks to complete. Homework would take half an hour, if that, plus reading time each afternoon. My youngest one year had the teacher send home a list of different ways the children could practice their spelling words instead of just doing look, cover, write, check. So he would write the list out one day, type it another day (autocorrect and prompts turned off), I would test him verbally another day. It worked well for him, so the next year he continued to do that. I spoke to his teacher who wasn’t worried, as long as he was practicing the words each day.
I think it depends what state you’re in. I’m a teacher, in my school in VIC it was encouraged but not compulsory and we didn’t have it on reports. In QLD it is an expectation from the department and we have to put it on reports (not graded just satisfactory ect)
I would speak to their teacher or principal. I also hate homework. The expectation for my grade 3 students is that they try. If reading is all that they can do then great, thanks for trying. We all have busy lives, I try not to put the pressure on my students because life is busy and hectic at the moment for everyone
I’m a NSW primary teacher, most schools have non compulsory homework. So students do not get punished if it’s not done. Out of my 30 students about 10 do it. I work in a very affluent area and most of the kids have private tutors that set them homework or are busy with different types of therapy, sports or instrument practice so don’t have time.
In grade 7/8/9 my last child so a few years ago now
Each class would say
Spend x amount of time on this subject per day/week (depended on subject the frequency)
Anyway
For math in particular he would set 30 minutes of math for homework
I continually sent notes to him saying
My child has spend 30 minutes you requested on said homework
Child is taking longer because you have not explained the work properly for understanding to happen. Please address this in the classroom so my child can complete the set homework within the set time
It did work
I felt the teacher was being slack and expecting parents to do the teachers job
Another note in senior
Had issues with a teacher and stress in the classroom
Had a dr note to allow my child to sit in the library for a term of this lesson
Without stress
Another teacher of the same subject willing to help
Went from a B- to an A+
I’m pretty sure my point was recognized and stop stressing the students out in class
This QLD where it’s expected