Are primary school children getting too much homework?

[suz]

My daughter is in primary school and i feel she gets far too much homework. She has homework to do every night. If she has additional work from school to do eg. presentation talks or projects she can be up til 9 o'clock in the evening doing her homework. She is so miserable and stressed. A child should be happy, outside playing with their friends and enjoying their childhood and not stuck in their bedroom everynight doing their homework! :~(

[sam]

If you feel that your child is getting to much homework & its making her miserable & stressed then you should be thinking about going to the school & talking to her teacher, maybe they could sort something out where as she is given an amount that she can manage without being stressed over it as doing nothing about it & worrying about it yourself wont help either of you.

[ShelleyCowie]

I agree with Sam. Speak to the school so they can work out a more reasonable homework regime.

And you are right, kids are meant to be out playing and not being stuck inside for the whole night doing homework. Homework is good for them but not in a big bundle.

Do you mind me asking what school this is?

[Blondie]

I had this problem with a cerain teacher at a certain school. After speaking to a few mums, we all agreed to complain.

It was sorted straightaway. Perhaps have a word with some other parents to see if they feel the same to begin with.

[LMS]

I don't have a problem with children getting plenty of homework as it gets them into the habit of homework and studying.

When I was at Miller Academy we had a heavy homework regime and also revising and testing at the end of every term. At the time it was very hard but it set me up well. I studied to postgraduate level in my own time. I am quite sure that if I hadn't learnt the self-discipline at such early stages that I would not have been able to go so far.

[justine]

I dont think kids get too much homework in Primary. my kids get a couple of work sheets for reading, writing and spelling.They are in P2 and P3.
And as has been stated it prepares them for high school, where they get alot more.

[sam]

I would say that it would depend on each individual child as they all have different levels of learning abilities & what one child may find easy another child may struggle with, so talking to their teacher is definatley the best option so that the child doesnt feel under even more pressure to succeed when they are obviously struggling

[catran]

Yes, the best course of action would be to have a word with the teacher as most are understanding .It is a shame when a child feels obliged to sit in night after night doing homework until bed time. Hope it all works out OK.

[munchkin]

id love my child to get homework they get very little once or twice a week

[barmar62]

This is really one of my greatest bugbears. I have 6 children and until we moved to Scotland 15years ago my primary aged children only had some reading each night. Now my remaining two children still at Primary school have loads. My son in particular needs lots of support with his work which leaves me very little time to help my younger daughter with hers. Infact I feel so strongly that 'Home' should be a place where my children relax after being at school all day that we don't always do the homework set.
I resent the notion that learning only takes place within a classroom. My children are learning all the time, they learn about weights and measures when we make a cake together, their environment when we go on walks etc, Any questions we can't answer -well we use the internet!

[rfr10]

Depends what primary they are in. If they are in primary 1-3 then homework should probably be limited. Primary four would be expected to have a little more and then primaries 5-7 should then be capable enough to complete homework maybe every night for the next day if it is only a small amount or for longer amounts, they should be given slightly longer. I felt that I had far too much homework in primary school but sitting down for about an hour after school and completing it did me no harm considering there is the whole night for free time and weekend. It is also good preparation for high school if they are in primary seven. What sort of homework does your child have to do and what do you mean by too much? Does it take longer than an hour to complete? I was usually given reading to complete, language homework and also maths. I always ended up stressed with homework in primary school but I found that a little help from parents always helped me complete homework on time. It's not as though I was required to go in depth with information, etc. Simple mathematics, sentence / short story writing etc. was all.

[honey]

my son gets given homework on monday to hand in by thursday and homework on tuesday to hand in by friday, plus some reading. I try to get him to spend between 30 - 60 mins on it as i feel more time is to much and less is not enough... (hes 9)

[Highland lad]

One of mine gets Homework every night including Friday, which is reading and spelling.

The other one gets Homework each night except Friday.

I must admit it is very hard to get all of the Homework done, but some how manage.

It is too much though considering we were told they should get two nights to do it.

[TBH]

My daughter is in primary school and i feel she gets far too much homework. She has homework to do every night. If she has additional work from school to do eg. presentation talks or projects she can be up til 9 o'clock in the evening doing her homework. She is so miserable and stressed. A child should be happy, outside playing with their friends and enjoying their childhood and not stuck in their bedroom everynight doing their homework! :~(When I was at School many moons ago we used to get homework as a punishment never as an extra curricular activity. Whislt there is nothing wrong with learning at home as should be encouraged, children do need some space to do their own thing otherwise it becomes a chore and makes them miserable.