Homework Hell: the Daily Grind

Homework – that hot potato. Where do I start? It’s a big subject: complex and controversial. So I’ll start with the voice of some else. Someone whose comment I read on Facebook and who pretty much sums it up for me: “she’s 6…surely after a whole day at school her time would be better spent climbing a tree…or swimming at the beach…or lying on her back imagining that she’s a flying fucking snail?”

When my kids were aged 4, 5, 7 and 9, my ex and I took them out of school (the 4 year old was just due to start in reception) and took them on a trip around the world for 7 months. The teachers didn’t bat an eye lid. In fact, we had to badger them to give us guidance on what work to cover while we were away and even then, the only help they gave us was telling us to keep up their reading and maths. 7 months out of school and the teachers weren’t concerned. Far from it. They knew that the life experiences gained, far outweighed any concerns that they would fall behind. Guess what? They didn’t fall behind and I can assure you that we didn’t do a huge amount of formal home schooling. They didn’t fall behind, because what they were learning was more than just the sum of ticking those all important boxes and we weren’t given any boxes to tick. 

If children are to benefit from homework, it has to be relevant. It has to add something to what they are doing at school. It shouldn’t be finishing off work that there wasn’t time to complete in the classroom. What more does a primary school kid need to know or to do or to learn or to say about a subject or a topic, that can’t be covered in school the next day and the day after that. 

When children don’t HAVE to do something, they WANT to do it. Yes, kids are hard wired to be contrary. Throw away that reading record and they will want to read again. Give them time after school and they will want to fill it and they will fill it with things that will open their eyes and expand their minds: kicking a football, playing in the park, a play date, even sitting and watching some telly will bring them benefits. I think you could even argue that being bored will ultimately do them more good than doing a page of sums. 

My daughters’ primary school tried various homework strategies over the years. The final one I had to deal with was: the homework grid. Add an ‘n’ in there and make that ‘grind’. It was a complete nonsense. The student has to pick three activities from a grid to complete in a term. The stipulation is that one activity has to be creative, one has to involve research and writing and one can be a relevant outing. On the one hand it creates more freedom: the child has weeks to do it. In reality it is left until the final weekend, because, funnily enough, a 6 year old can’t manage her own time and then the onus is on the parent to get it done. It piles the pressure onto already stressed out parents and creates a situation where the child’s freedom is yet again compromised. Helicopter parents who have time to hover over their children, realise that, as well as being brilliant at every other subject, mummy and daddy are amazing artists too. Meanwhile, parents who let their children do their own homework have to put up with their kids’ efforts looking like a bag of shit in comparison. 

Frequently homework was returned without feedback or comment. When you have watched your child work hard at something, this is frustrating to say the least. It got to a point with this, where I drew my own conclusion that it is no longer considered pc to give feedback – the most important thing is that the evidence is there, for the teacher to show the inspector to tick the box. No! The most important thing is to see evidence that the teacher cares for that child as an individual. I am not blaming the teachers, I am blaming the system. 

Kids are naturally creative and resourceful creatures, who, given the freedom and space will happily achieve and accomplish some amazing things. Primary school age children should be given the time to just ‘be’, before the enforced education of secondary school. They should be given the time just to imagine that they are that ‘flying fucking snail’, or whatever else they want to be. 

11 thoughts on “Homework Hell: the Daily Grind”

  1. When I was at primary school my older brothers were getting homework from secondary school. I wanted homework too, so I’d do my own little projects, which invariably amounted to plagiarising the Encyclopedia Britannica on “Fiji’s Islands” or “types of transport.” (I wonder what the EB has to say about flying snails?) It seems to have put me in good stead since I have spent the last 5 years as a researcher!

    1. Yes, it just goes to show that when a child doesn’t HAVE to do something they WANT to do it! I used to teach little sister in my ‘school’, before she went to school. Now she’s a Hostage Negotiator!

  2. Oh I agree with this, I vividly remember wanting to finish off any projects I’d started at school and couldn’t finish then try and complete a new task, that I sometimes didn’t understand because it had been rushed through after the bell to indicate end of lesson! #ablogginggoodtime

    1. Yes, homework can just be one big stress for students and parents, for quite often little gain. Thank you for commenting

  3. I was chatting with a friend today who has a 4 yr old and she was stressing about the homework thing and all I could do was laugh. Primary school surely has to be about learning to enjoy learning and being inquisitive without deadlines and targets as when the secondary school hits it is endless and so tough and that is when the deadlines and targets matter. #BloggerClubUK

    1. Isn’t it totally ridiculous?! The older your kids get, the more you can look back and see how utterly pointless it is. Thank you for your comments x

  4. Primary school is surely about learning how to learn and fostering a love of learning – which should be a life-long skill and a pleasure. I love learning and I feel it’s so sad if children are put off it by having to do certain tasks. When you are under 11 years old just about everything you do is learning!! You have so little life experience. Great post Alison XX

    1. Thank you. My friend tells me that her year 6 son gets more homework than his two older siblings. That is ridiculous. For what gain? x

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