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homework is a lot like marmite Parents – They either love it or hate it.
The matter of whether or not primary school children should be made to do this has been the subject of an intense debate recently. TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp urged parents to stop doing homework with their children.
He tweeted, “There is nothing better for the kids than to spend time with you, talking, talking and learning.” “Following a recipe is reading, math, science and fine motor skills in one activity.”
In a separate tweet, She revealed one of her “biggest regrets” was not stopping her kids from doing their homework. “For many families the tears, the time lost together, lead to real, daily unhappiness,” she said.
followed by his comments Irish President Michael D Higgins suggested that homework should be banned in the country, saying that the work “should be eliminated in school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things”.
There is less emphasis on homework in Finland, where – interestingly – the country is ranked 6th for reading and 12th for maths, compared to the UK which are 23rd and 26th respectively. BBC reported. (It’s also worth noting that Finland is apparently the happiest country in the world.)
However, many parents argue that 10 minutes of reading or math here and there isn’t going to hurt. Plus, it helps prepare children for self-education when they reach secondary school.
Homework policies in the UK vary between primary schools, although it is generally expected that children should be doing some form of learning at home each week – whether reading, practicing spelling or learning their times tables.
HuffPost UK asked parents and teachers whether they think homework should be abolished for young children. Here’s what he said.
‘I love homework because it lets me see what my kids are doing’
Rhea Freeman, who has two seven-year-olds, says she’s a fan of “a little homework” because it allows parents to track what their kids are doing in school and help them make progress. also helps.
“The teaching day is full,” she adds, “and if we can do something over the weekend to help with things like learning to spell, surely that’s a positive?”
However, she notes that excessive homework is not required. “The school day is busy and if they have to do an extra hour of work every night, it’s a lot and can kill any love of learning, especially if the kids don’t find it easy,” she She further says
Reading and spelling or times tables are “great” homework activities, says the mother of two, noting that it should really only take 10-20 minutes. “My kids are so drawn to it and they still have plenty of time to play and relax after the day,” says the 38-year-old business coach and mentor.
‘It’s a little privilege to be refused homework’
Claire Kwansa, a mother of two, is pro-homework for homework as long as it is appropriate and relevant, “as it helps children apply and solidify their learning”.
“It’s a bit of a privilege to be denied homework,” says the 40-year-old, who has two sons aged seven and 14.
“I have two sons and I am convinced that the denial of homework to young black boys will impact them very differently from their peers,” she says. “They already have enough to contend with.”
Kwansah firmly believes that homework can help kids – and adults – see if they really understand what they’ve learned that day and how to use it in a different setting.
Like Freeman, she also wants to know what her kids are currently learning in school, “because based on what my seven-year-old tells me, all they do is play soccer and eat” every day.
‘This should be the right kind of homework’
“Homework is an incredibly useful way to consolidate children’s learning – but it has to be the right kind of homework,” says mum Anna Masterson, who has three children aged six, eight and nine.
If the task is too general, time-consuming or not connected to what is being taught in the classroom, it is unlikely to provide any real benefit, says Masterson, who is also chief education officer at Atom Learning and Has more than one decade of experience as a primary school teacher.
“Research tells us that homework assignments that are related to what is being covered in school are more effective. Similarly, there is much evidence to suggest that the effectiveness of homework diminishes as students The amount of time spent on it adds up, so timed practice is often better.
Homework is beneficial because there are some things teachers can’t fit into everyday schooling, she says, citing the example that children in Stage 1 should have an adult read aloud to them every day to develop their fluency.
“Ultimately, parents need to be smart about their child’s homework assignments and strategically approach the amount of time spent on each,” she says.
It is important to remember that not all homework is of equal value. “There is much to be gained from completing a worksheet with 10 math questions on a single learning objective already introduced in school, for example, but less in a seemingly endless coursework, such as, say, Research and build a castle,” she suggests.
One parent who knows this all too well is dad Simon Harris, 39, from South Essex. Harris – a blogger known as Man Behaving Deadly – is in favor of banning homework when it is “extensively time-consuming” and ultimately “competition of parents to create giant art projects”. .
“I’ve seen these spiral out of control,” says Harris, whose children are one, four, six and eight. “Seriously. Half the time the kids are nowhere near the bloody things.
‘We have a no homework policy’
Craig Addison Photography
Two of Georgina Fuller’s three children are in primary school. The 45-year-old man from Oxfordshire says he has a “no homework policy” at home for his two young children, aged eight and 10.
“We tried and did it for a few years but trying to log into Teams, print worksheets and build bug hotels on the weekend was eating into our family time and causing unnecessary stress,” she tells HuffPost UK. having had.”
On top of that, her 10-year-old is autistic “and can’t see how or why he should be doing school work at home,” she adds. “So we essentially abandoned it.”
When asked how the school reacted to the decision, Fuller said they were fine about her being the middle child when she described “battles” at home.
“There were no big announcements with my eight-year-old daughter’s teachers,” she adds. “I just told him that I made sure we read for half an hour at night and prioritized it over homework. It seemed acceptable and we didn’t have any kind of reaction.
She notes that homework is useful for middle school students. Studies have shown homework Has a positive impact on secondary school students.
Her eldest child, who is 13 and at a grammar school, takes on the responsibility of his homework himself and does most of it on an app. “I do help him sometimes, but he does most of the work himself,” she adds.
‘I am keen that my children do not learn the habit of working at home after work’
Sarah Vaughn, mother of three autistic children – two of whom are eight and nine, and in elementary school – says that in her experience traditional homework is “often an extremely stressful and distressing activity” for her children.
“So much so, that they rarely do it because they need a break from school and home is a safe place,” says Vaughn, who is based in Kent.
The qualified teacher, who now works as a holistic practitioner, says learning happens at home all the time, but she “follows her children’s interests”.
With many of us guilty of working from home after work as adults, Vaughan is keen that her children don’t learn the habit.
“I see so many adults who do extra unpaid work at home after their work day is over – teachers in particular – and this cultivates a culture where we push ourselves to please our employers. Push yourself beyond your limits,” she says. “There’s no boundary between home and work. It’s not healthy.
She adds that there are some children and families who enjoy homework, “so perhaps a good solution, rather than a ban, is to provide interesting alternative activities that children can complete at home if they wish.”
What are your thoughts on homework for elementary school children? Join the discussion on Twitter.
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