I. HATE. HOMEWORK
Image via WikipediaI HATED it the first time around.
Which is probably not all that surprising given most of my secondary years I had reason to have to do MORE homework than most. 
Year 8 - Never did first year high (year 8 is second year high in Victoria) and while I DID do year 7 (in primary school) there were things I had to catch up on (like 12 months of Greek).
Year 9 - My music teacher tried to kick me out of the class before we’d barely begun because I hadn’t done any AMEB theory levels. So had some catching up to do there. Plus new school (again) so different stuff covered in the previous year etc etc etc. Oh, and a “class time is for socialising” issue that lead to more homework than perhaps necessary.
Year 10 - Spent more time at home than I did at school so was constantly behind. In 6 months of history I didn’t sit one single test. Missed every single one of them. And no, it WASN’T planned that way.
Year 11 - Was a TOTAL nightmare. Some *idiot* thought compulsory Australian Studies sounded like a good idea. Giving us a whole EXTRA subject than previous year 11’s had had to endure. And leaving us with one crummy free lesson per fortnight in which to socialise study. Along with reducing student stress by introducing Work Requirements and all sorts of stupid stuff that drove me up the wall and did NOT reduce student stress.
Year 12 - is year 12. *shrugs* Actually, I think I did LESS work in year 12 than year 11. In fact, I was so burnt out by this stage I did ZERO homework for the entire term 3 of year 12.
And come on, what’s the go with homework during the SUMMER HOLIDAYS???? Don’t we deserve a break???? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!!!!
BUT….
This post isn’t actually about MY homework.
Could have fooled you? Yeah, sorry about the brief trip down memory lane there.
Homework from a PARENTS perspective SUCKS!!!!
It really DOES so much MORE than homework from a students perspective.
HONEST!!!!!
In fact, I have this BRILLIANT idea for solving unwanted teen pregnancies.
Forget the whole “baby’s are hard work” line.
Send them home a kid with HOMEWORK for a week and see if that doesn’t put them off for life!!!
***big sigh***
Yeah, I know. Kids should be responsible for their own homework.
But does it really happen that way?
Ever?
Homework SUCKS!!!
***end of rant***
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You’re telling me!!
Apparently we have to make an ant farm for homework. An ant farm. Honestly!! *grumbles*
Signing homework diaries each day for a prep is getting a little old
My daughter doesn’t have that much to do, yet - but man, she can make hard work out of nagging her to do E-V-E-R-Y L-I-T-T-L-E B-I-T!!!
Amen to that sister!
I have done more homework since becoming a mother than I ever did in all of my time at school. I think I do more than I did in Uni even…
Hello there
LOL Wait till you are Grandmas.
There are times when even ‘they’ think homework sucks:)
Some parents cop out and say “Ask Grandma to help’
Take care
Cathy
Oh I hear ya too!
Mine have actually become OK at doing it without too much help. But then of course I get the guilts.
But I still have to nag eleventy zillion times.
And their readers…Oh my!….I actually nodded off once whilst DS was reading this deadpan book from the 60’s….I refused to let him read it again, LOL. Luckily his teacher is happy with them reading anything, doesn’t HAVE to be the set reader.
DD on the other hand gets 2, and I read them all last year with DS, kinda gets old after night 2.
We are just facing our first project *sigh*
At least this week they had the forethought to do the whole weeks spelling words on Monday lol.
I am glad we have the internet to teach me so that I can help my kid. I have to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that half this stuff is useless in life.
My daughters homework (year 4) consists doing either 10 times tables sums OR writing out her 10 spelling words twice. I am so sick of having to nag her to do it. I spoke to her teacher about it and we originally decided that I would simply send a note everyday saying why it wasn’t done. If it was simply because she didn’t want to - then she has to stay in at recess and do it. But now I think she is wanting to stay in at recess - maybe she’s avoiding a situation - so back to the teacher I’ll have to go
Bettina - an ant farm? Sounds interesting.
Stuffy - every night? We only have to sign diaries once a week.
Jeanie - we haven’t had *too* much trouble getting our kids to DO homework (most of the time) but it can be quite stressful at times just the doing part.
Tiff - I did as little as possible when I got to uni. lol. Might be why I only lasted 1 year??? (I did pass though).
Cathy - homework as a grandparent??? Nooooooo……… Here I was thinking I should only have another 12 or so years of it.
K - It takes so much time and energy doesn’t it? At a time of night when NO-ONE has any. First week of the year our kids had “family homework”. I kid you not. We ALL had to do it. :-/
Tucker - ROFLOL. That cracked me up. My DH actually had a teacher tell them that they would USE what they were learning if they ever became a teacher!!! I like to support the school…I just HATE homework.
Gnometree - Oh dear! Our school actually has a positive play time which is then used by students who aren’t up to date to do their work in. I really like that concept. I don’t mind the nagging so much (probably because I don’t seem to have to do too much nagging) BUT it’s the time and effort (exhaustion factor here) and the GUESSING when the kid is stressed out because they’re not sure what to do and don’t want to get into trouble for doing it wrong and as parents we have like NO IDEA what the teacher wants.
Funniest thing - last night’s homework stress was computing homework. I had Leighton’s computer teacher for computing lessons when I was at that school (as a STAFF member) and it was stressful enough then!!!!
You know what? My kid NEVER does her homework. Ever. So this week, when she did it for two nights, i did it for the other two!!! Team effort. At the end of the day, WHO CARES?
MissN (13) does very little homework - maybe 15 mins a day (they are supposed to do 1 hour 40 mins a day). Maybe I don’t nag her enough. As an ex-teacher, perhaps I should encourage her more?
Its sure interesting reading all the thoughts about HW!
My eldest son has always come home, had a snack and got straight into his HW and is still pretty self motivated becausehe knows that once he has done it then he has free time! I have to make sure though that he doesn’t rush it too much. HE loves it when he has projects to do fro HW though as he enjoys being creative.
AS for son 2 well its always been more of a struggle. I have to encourage him to ask if he needs help and he hates me interfering and I really try hard not to until I freak at his messy writing! Lately he also gets right into his work at his desk without much nagging.
All in all I hope these habits keep up. I have had to let me kids reap the consequences of poor work etc. and now years down the track I dont let it worry me if the boys are too tired or we have other family things that really are more important than HW! Most times the teachers are forgiving esp. the ones who are mums and dads - not so much the single ones who really dont seem to relate to the pressures and time constraints that we families face daily!
I encourage you all to try not let HW cause poor relationships between you and your kiddies….. they also feel under pressure I am sure after trying to focus for their school hours, friendship issues etc… family issues and hardships thay are not immune from at all!
Ah, this is why I love homeschooling
When the kids were briefly in school and they came back with homework, I wondered why - after all, they’ve spent the whole day at school.. and they come home and still have to do stuff? Especially in the early years, really…. is it necessary? On the other hand, in a sense homeschooling is doing homework all day, so I guess you could look at it both ways!!! LOL!
lv,
Joy
Hello lightening
One of our local primary schools (not the one my daughters went to) introduced a great idea for homework (i think for Yr 4-7’s at the time).
They were set maybe 5 tasks for the week and they included similar things to these (I have made these up for example only) :
Go shopping with your mum/dad/auntie etc. and add up the grocery bill as you go along (and compare the prices of 5 items while you are there). Behave nicely while you are there. - MATHS/HOME ECONOMICS
Discuss and help an adult plan and prepare dinner/lunch/brunch or dessert (peel vegetables, mix gravy, mash potatoes, make chocolate pudding etc) and help clean up afterwards. - HOME ECONOMICS
Cut a picture from a magazine or newspaper then write a 200 word story of your choice to match the picture or write down as many words as you can that describe the picture and what’s happening in it. - ENGLISH
Sprout some watercress seeds on cotton wool - document the procedure and how long they take to germinate and illustrate each step or write up the complete method for making an icecream sundae including eating it.
- SCIENCE/ BIOLOGY
Spend 15 minutes doing ball skills of some sort (bounce a tennis ball on bat continuously or shoot basketball hoops without missing) then 15 minutes of running/jumping/skipping etc (cardio fitness). Record your pulse rate at the start then at the end of exercising. - PHYS EDUCATION
Each or these would take half an hour or less and involves the child, the tasks are not boring and I think they teach the child actual living/doing skills. My sister-in-law has 3 boys and she was amazed at how they embraced the cooking and shopping tasks and eagerly wanted to help in the kitchen.
I am a huge believer in listening to children read aloud and it is important that they read something they are interested in. Let boys read motor cycle magazine articles if they are rev heads, not ‘Flossy has a bad day out ‘. There are so many short childrens novels, my girls used to devour the ones in the school library.
Anyway, that’s my take on homework. I agree children need to do it but please make it interesting!
Hope your day is filled with dancing daisies - Julie, Millicent South Australia
You should check out Homework. Dinner. LIfe. She is a mum and ex-teacher and also hates homewor. There are even template notes you can give to your kids teacher explaining why you rchildren won’t be doing work on thier family holidays!
I agree with Joy and PlanningQueen Very Much. What’s with giving 6-year-olds homework? Why is it expected that 16- and 17-year-olds should do more hours in a week than full time workers? Apparently a lot of teachers agree with me but if they don’t give homework they get a lot of pressure from the parents! If you can’t tell, I don’t believe in homework. Perhaps to catch up with something the rest of the class has got, and perhaps in the last year or 2 to develop habits appropriate to university, but not at the expense of life and play.
Mmmm I can see the argument from all three sides. I still remember hating to do homework as a kid and I’ve also experienced it from the big-sister/quasi-parent perspective. But from a teacher perspective…. well many kids need to be practicing number facts and English/spelling/reading every day or they struggle in the classroom.
No easy solution!