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Let's talk about homework, now if you
have school age children you properly have had to deal with homework,
I remember when my girls where little and they got homework I was ok
with helping them up until it became a fight. This usually happened
around year 5 or 6, they wouldn't want to do their homework and it
was a fight and in the end starting with Kathy-Lee I decided that if
she wouldn't do it I was not going to fight with her over it as it
was stressful for me and her and honestly I just couldn't be
bothered.
The first time I told a teacher that I
would not fight over homework she was not happy with me and told me
that homework is important, I told her yes it might be but I am not
going to have a scene of it and if she didn't want to do then so be
it.
I remember in high school Kathy would
want the homework done but she didn't want to do it, she expected me
to do and sadly I did many morning I would use the computer and
internet to find the answers to many questions and print up the pages
and she would had them in.
Now I am doing the homework thing all
over again as it is me who helps Leo with his homework, being in year
1 it is easy for me to help him and he is willing to do the homework.
You would think at this stage of my life being the nanna I would have
left the homework thing behind me but alas not the case.
When I was at school I was ok at doing
homework if it was easy and I could get my head around the work, but
I remember there were times when I couldn't understand the work and
when that happened I didn't do the work.
So what do you think about homework, if
the child doesn't want to do it and it is becoming a fight and
exercise in stress do you continue with it or are you like me and
think it is too much of a headache and you are not going to have a
fight with the child over it.
It has been so long ago that my kids were in school that I had forgotten all about homework. I do think that the assigned homework should be completed. You do want them to get good grades in school and to be eligible for a good university.
ReplyDeleteI always encouraged my daughters to do their homework but often they just wouldn't and it would end up a fight over it and my girls are very headstrong and if they didn't want to do something they wouldn't
DeleteI was the kind of mother that expected my kids to get the work done and there wasn't to be any discussion about it. There was no privileges allowed until their work was done. I occasionally helped my kids with their work but not to the point I was doing it. By the time my kids were in college their study habits were very good. They both graduated with honors from college and they didn't have me to lean on.
ReplyDeleteMy own parents didn't force us to do homework which I guess is why I had such a laid back view about it, I would encourage them to do it and offer to help them if I could but college or uni wasn't something that is big in our family so that didn't come into play
DeleteWe started getting homework when we were old enough to understand about it (around the age of 10 or 11). We used to do it ourselves and my mum never used to know anything about it. The thing is though we knew if we didn't do our homework we'd be in trouble by the teacher and in secondary school we would end up having after school detention to do it so it was best just to get on with it.
ReplyDeleteNow I work in a school, the parents moan about their children not getting homework but they are 4+ and I think the younger ones are too young to understand it and if parents aren't willing to sit down and do it with them they are unable to do it. Also some of the parents don't speak/read English with being from a foreign country so how are they meant to. Anyway what I have noticed is that homework is given to keep parents quiet but it was always left up to the assistants to mark it or it wasn't even looked at. No one cared if they bought it back and the children pick up on that so it ends up a battle for the parents getting their children to do it if the parents encourage them.
Leo is 6 his homework is tracing letters and numbers and learning about capital letters and full stops and reading at this stage he does it without any problem
DeleteI'd let them find out for themselves the consequences of not getting it done. And I surely wouldn't do it for them. It's bad enough if they cheat themselves of an education- it's worse if YOU cheat them of it as well.
ReplyDeleteThe consequences never bothered my girls if the teacher went mad they didn't care, telling them that they were not getting an education never bothered them they just didn't care now they are older it is different but at the time it was like talking to a brick wall. I know I shouldn't had done the homework for them but that was then and can't be changed.
DeleteThis is a difficult thing for a stranger such as I to answer as I have no right to an opinion not being there and knowing the family. . I have my thoughts and I had my ways of dealing with my three sons when they were school aged. My only offering is, attitude about school and homework have to start when they are very very young. xo
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the opinions of others if I did I wouldn't write a blog...........lol I do agree that if a child starts young they might get into the habit of doing homework but not necessary my girls would do theirs when they were young but as I said by the time they got to year 6 they wouldn't want to do it
DeleteSpeaking as a former teacher and a parent, homework should only do two things:
ReplyDelete1. Practice skills already taught at school
2. Communicate with the parents what's happening in the classroom
It is my opinion that the schools have our children for eight or so hours everyday, and they get the best hours, too. After school, children are tired. They need downtime and playtime, even high school children.
It makes use angry when teachers send home work that they haven't even taught and expect parents to teach. That should not be our role!
Also, too much homework is cruel. There are high schools in our area that assign ridiculous amounts of work and the teenagers aren't getting to bed until two and three AM. Teenagers need more rest than toddlers!
I'm grateful that my daughter's high school only allows the kids to do thirty minutes of homework per class per night. They are supposed to set a timer, and only do what they can. Shelley never has homework in every class because they are on bloc scheduling, so the most she can ever have is one hour per night. Plus her school encourages independent reading for fun.
Sorry for such a long post, but I'm very opinionated about homework!
Nothing wrong with a long comment if it is something you are passionate about, I think one of the reasons my girls wouldn't want to do their homework is because they didn't understand the work. I agree teenagers need more rest then toddlers anyone who has teenagers know they like to sleep.
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