Let’s be honest I’m not the biggest fan of school homework. Not a fan all those years ago when I suffered it as a child and certainly not now as a parent. Occasionally the homework I’ve encountered has had some learning merits. On a few rarer occasions it’s been interesting even wait for it – FUN. Sadly in the vast majority of cases it’s unremittingly dull, of little value to the child and no better than parrot learning dross. A desperate attempt to tick off parts of the government curriculum. I’ve lost count of the times Hawklad has put so much effort into a piece of homework and then gets zero feedback. Too often it’s probably not even marked.

What is the point….

Hawklad has a number of such seemingly meaningless pieces of homework to complete this week. Let’s just look at one of those. How about Religious Education. To paraphrase

Look at your last classroom assessment. Examine your answers and look at the comments. Make corrections to your answers in green pen (must be in green) so that all the teacher comments have been clearly considered. Now fully re-answer two of the assessment questions in your book ensuring all teacher comments are addressed. Homework must be submitted before the start of the next lesson.

That’s RE…. I might be missing something but is that really how you teach this subject. How you teach any subject. How is that approach doing anything positive. Talk about draining the FUN and ENJOYMENT out of school. And guess what.

“Dad can I drop this subject….”.

Homework – don’t you just love it…. Well the Government does as it fits in with their schooling vision….How depressing is that.

35 thoughts on “Homework”

  2. Ugh. I’m so sorry. I just vented on a homeschool mom’s site about my issues with public education. You know how I feel I think by now. Where is the hands-on cooperation, dialogue, projects? How do we expect kids to WANT to learn? I had a policy against homework at the elementary age EXCEPT for reading with your child. I butted heads with the folks who thought 50 problems a night was adequate for children who didn’t even know what they would eat that day. And if a child can show mastery in 5 similar situations, then why 50? It’s just paperwork to be paperwork. No meaning. If we want to teach responsibility that is not the way. I’m sorry I jumped on my soapbox. I feel for you. Deeply. And I’ll say prayers for this journey.

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  3. Stuff like that dulls the drive and want to for a student. My son would get so bored and disinterested and yes, end up in trouble because he wasn’t paying attention. Put in in a hands on class or in a class with a teacher who could bring life to the subject and he thrived.

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  7. I agree with what K.L.Hale wrote. Reading, yes… or in Hawklad’s case, with the dyslexia, a modified reading to help with the dyslexia.

    Math homework, yes. Solving problems is the way to learn it.

    “Must be green” even takes the fun out of a pretty color of ink.

    BOO! and Big Pants to homework!
    💌💌💌

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  11. See, this is why the remote learning is NOT for everyone. Some are fine tackling work on their own with some videos for explanation, but they are the ones who don’t want to deal with teachers or classmates. For EVERYONE ELSE, they need teachers. They need a person alongside them who can share and guide and encourage. That just doesn’t come from a screen for kids. Praying for good things to come to you and Hawklad soon. xxxxx

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  13. Many years ago I remember writing a letter to the headmaster of my eldest son’s school. Sam and I were fed up with the nightly rows over homework. I told the headmaster that we were leaving the completion (or not) of homework entirely up to our son, and that if there were any punishments at school for non-completion of homework then he would have to suffer them. The school didn’t punish him, Leon didn’t do any homework, but he was gutted when he received low marks on his GCSE’s. Fast forward to his 4 year engineering apprenticeship… he was interested in his job and enjoyed his day release to college. He passed all his college exams and has forged a fine career over the previous 22 years, ending up as Senior Accounts Manager for a national company, one step down from director. Moral of the story… boys have to be interested in a subject to study it.

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  14. Oh dear. That is dreary! A wicked person like I would be inclined to respond with sarcasm. I don’t think it would go down well. Yes, even as a kid I could be snide. Such an awful creature. But my feeling is that’s no way to educate…it sounds mire like sophisticated (or not) brain washing.

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  15. I don’t mean to make excuses for teachers but with the number of classes and the paltry amount of planning time they’re given, they don’t have time to mark every piece. I am lucky that I have very small classes, so every piece gets a What Went Well, Even Better If and the kid has to write a response in green pen to prove that they’ve understood my feedback. But most teachers have 9 classes x 30 kids and it’s just not possible. Not that this helps your son, I know.

    I have mixed feelings about green pen. Because most of my kids’ work is digital I like the use of green so that I know which bits are their edits (saves me trawling through the edit history). But in an exercise book I don’t see why it absolutely has to be green.

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