Homework: is it the correct answer?

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to the government, children in years 3 and 4 should have 1.5 hours of homework a week.

But then they also state that children in year 1 and 2 should have one hour per week of homework.

Now that Bel is in year 3, she has plenty of homework that to be honest takes her longer than 1.5 hours per week. Take last night when the homework came home (it has to be back by Thursday), she has some handwriting to do, some spelling and some clock faces to draw. Not that much you'd think, but when the spelling is 16 words which she has to write out 3 times well that takes a long time. Also, Bel's handwriting isn't perfect (think small spider!) so the handwriting takes a long time.

So, what are we doing about it?

Well to cure the boredom of writing words out 3 times we have come up with this plan, she did handwriting last night and one lot of spelling, she will then do clocks tonight and one lot of spelling and then tomorrow it will just be spelling. And, we also need to listen to her read. Not only that though there is a sheet that goes with the spelling for Friday!

But is it too much, yes I think it is, I know she is now 7 but surely when she has spent time in school learning she needs some time to relax. We try and get her to do the homework as soon as she comes home from school but we are usually not home until 5, so her day is nearly finished. She nags to be able to go outside to play with her friends on the street - but with the evenings getting darker anyway this may end soon.

Before writing this post, I Googled too much homework (aye the great god Google strikes again) and I'm not the only parent feeling this stress, The Madhouse feels the same way. And it isn't even good to read that 3 years ago, the ATL ( a teachers union) tried to ban homework in primary schools.

Surely there must be a better way for teachers to see that the children are improving, without the children feeling the pressure and dare I say it stressed at seven!

BNM