Im interested in peoples views

Im actually getting quite down about it, feel completely drained today and have had a little cry, Ellis comes home with reading which we try and do every night, then theres spellings that he does alone when he wants to, then there is maths worksheets that he gets twice a week and there is never any explaination on it of how to do it and he never seems to know, he struggles tbh and it shows alot at home and the last couple of days he has been saying that he has to make a catapult or something from wood and mentioned nails, Im just clueless, I told him we havent got any wood, he said we need to buy some, now I know this has come from him but Im not gonna go out and buy something when I dont know what Im supposed to do with it. None of this is wrote down in a letter or his homework diary, Ive then got Rhianna who now brings home a reading book and also Jayden to look after too aswell as household stuff etc, all Ellis wants to do when he gets in is chill out and play, hes always tired from school and when i mention homework he just doesnt want to sit down and do it and i dont blame him after 6 1/2 hours at school

Im getting myself all worked up with it, doesnt help that its the time of the month and I could quite easily rip someones head off

School was never like this back in my day

I would really talk to his teacher. About a week after school started here they had a "curriculum night" where we went and his teacher gave a presentation about how her class would run, things with the school, special dates and all of that. Then she also made sure to mention that if homework is sent home it IS something that has been done in class and they know how but many kids will say they don't once it's time but that they really have. I don't think any teacher would send home something not familiar. But it does sound like communication is lacking. How old is your son? Granted mine is just in 1st grade but we get instructions for every project, we get a weekly newsletter from the school and one for 1st grade, and and explanation for all other homework..he gets homework Mon-Thurs

When our daughter was in grade 2 it seemed like she had an incredible amount of homework every night but now that she is in Grade 5 all she has is 20 minutes of reading, and play a game of math war. Her teacher has stated that this year the only time they will have homework is if they don't finish something during class time. Talk to your childs teacher about the work load and see what they have to say?

I know how you feel hun, my daughter only just turned 7 and is in primary 3 in school she came home the other night with maths homework sheet, an english homeworks sheet, spellings that she had to read, write and spell, a colouring in sheet (to do with shapes)she had to colour and then her reading,
we sat at the table for 2 1/2 hours , what 7 year old child wants to do that after a long day at school xxx

Oh dear I feel for you love....

I too am a mum to three and my youngest is called Ellis. I have the opposite problem to you though cause here in Wales the children have to learn through play in class and no homework till the age of 8 or 9!! Although this sounds great it's not ideal because then I felt that he was behind for his age....... My older boys were taught the old fashioned way and both could read and write properly way before Ellis could. This is a new way of learning brought in by the welsh assembly - they say they want to kids to be "kids" for as long as possible and want them to learn in a fun way.....this is all well and good until they get older and then are expected to sit down to read and write for 6 and a half hours in year 3. A lot of kids are finding this tough going......I dont blame them tbh.
Even before this new system came in my boys hardly had any homework in primary school at all - in the last year my son probably had 10 homeworks in the whole of year 6 and so now he's started secondary school is finding it unbelievablely hard going. He's doing his homework for about 2 to 3 hours every night and is already exhausted having being in "big" school all day......he's not a happy bunny I can tell you. Neither am I for that matter cause I have to sit with him making sure he does it properly............if it carries on like this for the next few years I may as well sit the damn GCSE's myself...

So I guess what I'm trying to say is hang on in there and try not to get too stressed out about it all.........yeah right I hear ya say

xxx

OMG are they taking the piss there in Ireland......that's way too much in one night. Like I said in the post above that's more than my son got in a whole month at the age of 11 here in Wales! Don't know why these schools can't find a proper balance -your little one is getting too much and mine was getting hardly any at all which was ridiculous seeing as he has now gone to secondary school and is getting loads of homework every night.......

Fancy moving here to Wales then to avoid homework?.......

I think that is too much homework. I know my niece who is 8 also gets so much and I think it is crazy.
When I was small we never had homework in primary school, only secondary (we started that at age 12). Nowadays they do get some homework in primary school and I already thought that was ridiculous. Now I am talking about a history sheet to learn once every month and a geography sheet to learn once every two weeks. This is from about 9 years old. So I would say every day homework is too much!!!
I think they should learn at school and be able to play and be a child at home. The homework they do get here is to make them get used to secondary school homework.

I'm in Ireland too and my 6 year old has homework every night. Reading a page out of a book they send home, then a list of words from the book to read, then a column of phonics words, and usually 5 or so math problems. He's also learning the tin whistle so practices a bit on that. Fortunately, he is up to speed on reading and maths, so it takes him about 15-20 minutes tops to finish his homework.

Provided they children are doing ok with the learning in school and well able to handle the homework assignments, I really don't think homework should take any longer than half an hour, particularly at the younger ages. Some children may need extra help learning certain things they are having trouble with, so obviously a little more time might be required...but I certainly, at the very worst end of the spectrum, don't think a youngun's homework should last more than 45 minutes or so. That's just torture after spending a whole day in school already. I'd recommend communication with the teacher for sure.

Honestly I've never seen the point in homework. Surely kids should be learning in school and then relaxing at home, not bringing schoolwork home. I think we expect too much from kids.

My daughter is in grade 3 and had a bit of homework in the past only because she had some reading assistance and some speech therapy and we needed to practice. This year, she needs to read a minimum of 15 minutes everyday...no biggie. She also has to do some phonics stuff that is to be done by the end of the week.

Jayden is in grade 1 and is also getting some speech therapy so he needs to practice at home.

However, I do know that it can get worse in later grades and I've heard it in other schools. Not sure how this school will be yet