Guest May Posted October 18, 2013 Report Share Posted October 18, 2013 My son jumped from primary Grade 7 into Year 9/ rather immature and unsure losing his best mates to different countries and schools.He is at the awkward stage and into his Minecraft games.We decided to finish the year at his current school however I am trying to understand why he says hardly anyone does homeworkIs that his general perception? Is that hormones kicking in? Is that the norm at high schools? Is that because this school believes that children should have freedom of expression and taking it too far?I am inclined to believe its a little of all but more so that the school doesn't keep tabs. I know the move is hard I just don't know how hard I must push. Maybe its just easier to blame it on the school.Moms and Dads please cast your vote. I suppose you would need to know the nature of the school to understand my views. I have posted on the school before so please check my previous posts. Creative and forward thinking can mean a lack of discipline and boundaries in another person's books. Young children cannot be allowed total free reign and need guidance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bams Posted October 18, 2013 Report Share Posted October 18, 2013 No homework, that sounds like heaven!!Ok, we not in Oz and my daughter only in grade 1, but we spend a minimum of 45 minutes to an hour on homework everyday (she has extra maths work).I am going to follow your post to see what the others have to say.Wishing you all the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mittwelt Posted October 18, 2013 Report Share Posted October 18, 2013 That sounds odd. I am not in OZ, but can that be?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronfire Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 In Perth, we've heard anecdotally (i,e, I haven't yet checked it out myself) from other parents we've met that there is a Dept of Education rule that children cannot be forced to do homework, i.e. if they don't they cannot be censured. Is it that the school doesn't give out any homework or the kids don't do any?Any teachers in here who might like to comment? Personally, we've found the homework that our Year 3 son brings home to be quite challenging - not because it's difficult, but because it encourages him to think and apply what he knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 We are in Perth, but our daughter is in year 2. She has an hours worth of homework every day. I haven't heard about any rules that you cannot enforce homework. At our school it is quite the opposite - parents have to sign off on homework every day (spelling and maths) and we have to write down the book they are currently reading and how many minutes have been read. This implies that the homework is compulsory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibella Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 My seven year old is in Grade 1 a private Christian primary school - she gets reading every day, needs to learn spelling for her weekly test, and has other homework activities once a week. She also has a set of words she needs to learn and they have books online that they need to read.My eleven year old is in a state school in Grade 6 and hardly gets any homework! Well she thinks she gets a lot, but they basically get one large project each term and spelling homework sporadically. Haven't ever seen her do Maths homework. But her teacher likes her this year so she got an excellent report (really - because her teacher likes her as they don't write any tests in primary school).I find the state school much more relaxed than the private school. The private school actually stresses me out as they give me more work to do when we are on holiday and I hate that!But my eleven year old is going to private high school next year! She is going to get a bit of a shock I think!!So it totally depends on the school and also I think in high school they don't monitor as much as it is up to the child to complete and hand in the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronfire Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) We are in Perth, but our daughter is in year 2. She has an hours worth of homework every day. I haven't heard about any rules that you cannot enforce homework. At our school it is quite the opposite - parents have to sign off on homework every day (spelling and maths) and we have to write down the book they are currently reading and how many minutes have been read. This implies that the homework is compulsory.Same here, but just relating what we were told by a parent whose son goes to a school in Tapping. The parent in question said that they were told this by their son's teacher. Incidentally, the school in question is a private school, otherwise I would have assumed it to be a public vs private thing. Edited October 19, 2013 by ronfire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 My son is in a state school...he has always had homework, but it shouldn't take more than 15 or 20 mins per day. He has a list of 25 spelling words and also gets extension words, they have a pre-test on Monday morning and are expected to have improved by Friday.He must write out the words each day using the look, say, cover, write, method. He also has some maths homework and English, The homweork is both sides of an A4 sheet.When he was in the younger grades (he is year 3 now) we used to have to sign his homework and his reading log with the name of the book and pages read, now we don't do this, but he is a voracious reader anyway....I can hardly get him to go to sleep at night for reading and he is going through the Harry Potter books now and loves having books on his ipad.May, I am a bit torn with this one.....as the kids go through high school they start to rebel a little,they will tell the teacher that they forhot their homework or some such other excuse. If I were you I would arrange a visit to the school and ask what the expectations are re homework, then you can tell young Mr that the school told you so and so.I know that some kids do their homework at the school during break etc.For some reason many Australian parents are anti homework, they'd rather go to extra curricular's like swimming, footie or just have their kids play in the street.My personal thought is that there is too much homework in RSA and not enough here ( especially as they hit high school)......on the other hand learning can be done in so many settings...... a bush walk or even a walk in your garden can teach kids about sose.............counting red cars while driving teaches junior maths, going shopping teaches addition, cutting a pizza can teach fractions, your kitchen cupboard can teach volume.May, go to the school and have a chat, if you feel your child is bright and not being stretched, ask for some extension work.I have found the schools to be really co-operative and open with parents, I've even had my child move classes for various reasons.Adam is a bright boy who has just gotten distinctions for ICAS spelling, reading and math...............but I also wait to see if his academic prowess will slow as puberty hits and the need to fit in overcomes the need to excel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquagirl Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 From what I gather most kids coming from South Africa were in private schools so you can't compare if you go into a state school here. Parents demand their pound of flesh from private schools and homework is a big part of that. A lot of private schools expect about an hour of homework a day. State schools it is normally just reading each night and spelling lists and the odd project or maths sheet - each school is different and each teacher is different. The socio-economic area you live in will also play a part in the the amount of homework and whether parents and children comply as some people couldn't care less - very sad! Some private schools will issue notes home that will have to get signed if work isn't done and if your child gets too many than they can be asked to leave school. There is no chance of this happening in a state school. If you want more homework then you can get studying books from newsagents or educational shops, do online things like Mathletics (some schools have it so you won't have pay), Reading Eggs. Or you can pay for a tutor and they will give you homework. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest May Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 In primary school in SA I always signed off. This is state school and Year 8 and 9. Maybe I will contact the 3 schools I have in mind in Perth and ask them the homework policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Have a look on the schools websites, often they have uniform and homework policies etc. BTW my 8 year old is minecraft mad, he loves it and I have to come and look when he develops a new world.Many educators are turning to games like minecraft to teach real world issues, read this article and see what you think. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-obsession-and-an-educational-tool/?_r=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest May Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 (edited) I loved the article now its the discipline to veto the amount of time they spend on the game. Edited October 19, 2013 by May Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
followmylead Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Easiest way is to phone the teacher directly and ask her. Because he may either be telling the truth or telling a lie because he would rather play mindcraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest May Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Not sure how forthcoming the teachers are going to be if they at fault. I must say I have been very happy with school in terms of comms. I get an answer within hours of my email. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hi MayI found this on the Queensland education dept. site re kids and homework, it might be worth a read http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/homework-and-study/homework-tips/kids-homework-and-liesIt goes through some tips to find out what is happening with your child and how to go about solving it and who to talk to at the school.For other parents, there are some great resources on the education dept. site of each state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miraclebabycaw Posted November 4, 2013 Report Share Posted November 4, 2013 May, as you know Caitlyn is in year 8, in a private Christian school and she also doesn't have a huge amount of homework. Definitely nothing like she got in South Africa. Sometimes she has maths, and often she has projects or assignments for other subjects, and things like writing stories or poems or stuff like that for English, but I would say maybe 1-2 days a week that she actually comes home with something, and that is not every week. More often it's a long-term project. I think there are the more "academic" schools and perhaps they get more there but from what I gather generally the bit the kids get is more because they might not have finished their work in the class and often they do it during breaks or something, so I don't think it's necessarily the school. Keagan has reading words for the week and has a book every day. Other than that he gets writing words (4 words) to do different things with 3 days in a week (reception) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.