Finding The Right Balance With Homework And Your Child.

[mom2]

Hi Shell , you really dont sound too happy. Homework is a nightmare and like you when i am working its hard to balance everything but when youre on your own i think you just have to get on with it and your effort will pay off . im not being horrible so please dont think that . Like the others have said you can do bits here and there . i sit with Adam for 10 minutes at bed time , or when we are just sitting and do some of his spelling , he enjoys it and he gets a sticker on a chart -- all kids love stickers .Also Adams teachers dont explain the work , half the time i have to guess :-) . Have you bought that slow cooker yet -then at least you wouldnt have to come in a cook it willbe ready for you .big hugs xx

[Shell]

Hello Nat,

You know what got to school today and I heard alot of Moms moaning away about the school, I have a meeting with the school next week just to see how Alex is progressing so will see how that goes. By the time he went to school this morning he had learnt the 5 words that we had been doing but its all time and I just feel bad sometimes because I feel that I have to sit down and do a good 30 mins with him but its just not possible.

No I aint brought the slow cooker to be honest I dont think I am going to just yet I aint sure what to do. Sometimes I manage to get in put tea on and then go straight back out to pick him up from fun club and tea is cooking while on the way, I am sure I will find the balance in time.

Shell.xx

[Karolyn]

Shell,
First of all i see monday to wednesday are really not possible for you to fit anything in. Like the others have said i would ask that lee and Alex do some of the homework on a wednesday night if not already doing so.

Alexanders school has all the years objectives/homework etc on teh school website which is very handy, and since Aex's school doesn't do that then the teacher needs to communicate alot more. At least you have an appointment to see someone. School say try and find 5 mins a night for spelling...little and often they take more in. (easier said than done sometimes.)

The other matter of the slow cooker, let me explain how easy it is.

Last night i finshed work at 10pm, came home threw mince, chopped onion, tinned tomatoes, chilli flakes and chilli sauce into the cooker-mixed it left it on low over night turning it off this morning @ 6am. Tonight i have added Kidney beans and voila chilli con carne.

Rice cooked in microwave......so easy and took no time at all. Thats the good thing about slow cookers.

[Shell]

Yeah your so right Karolyn with what you are saying all parents have meeting next week and a few have a list of things they want to go through but I suppose if they aint happy they have to act upon it.

Slow cookers I think I will get one Karolyn but I think I will ned to get a book that I can do things obviously Alex wouldnt eat that sort of thing but give him a cooked dinner every day an he is fine.

Shell.xx

[NikkiB]

Braden gets his homework folder on a Friday and it has to handed in the following Thursday, so we do it over the weekend.

He has 3 A4 sheets, one is spellings, one is maths and one is english.

He also has a reading book in his bag every night but as long as he reads to me 3 times a week, the teacher is happy, even if it's just a couple of pages each time.

When does Alex get homework Shell and when does it have to be handed in? i.e. can you do the same as me and do it over the weekend??

[Jules]

It sounds really stressful for you, Shell, and I wish that Alex was in my class because I'm really anti homework! I expect my class to do reading at home during the week but I can't see any point in them doing any other homework. As Karen has said, spellings don't work because the children don't use the words in their work so, as I see it, it's a complete waste of time. If I were you, I'd explain to the teacher why you find it so hard and ask her what she thinks the value is of such homework.

Unfortunately Daniel and Charlotte's school likes to set homework so poor Alan has to do spellings every morning and we then have a long Maths task every weekend and times tables during the week, as well as frequent extra tasks. They were away from home on a school residential trip for most of the past week and yet they still had Maths homework last weekend, and I find that really frustrating.

Jules

[Shell]

Nikki - Yeah I can do homework on a Saturday when I am not working but got to start working Saturdays again. Sundays hes with his Dad and I dont really send homework with him Dad to be honest.
Jules - He had some homework last week on spellings and was for a test on Friday, and then he came home with some more words yesterday for a spelling test on the 11th. Along with that he came home with a reading book and also a RML book so its all go.
I will have this meeting with her and see what she says, I just think I spend Monday to Wednesday at work and really dont want to sit down and do homework with him especially when we have been out the house since 8am and dont get back till 5.30pm. I think it would work differently if I was in a different situation IE least then it could all be shared but unfortunately it all falls on me.

Love
Shell.xx

[MumaSmurf]

Thankfully were not at the homework stage yet. Keiran brings a book home from nursery everyday which we read for bedtime & he reads his version of it back to us. I think I would certainly find homework hard with the shifts I do as some nights I don't finish till 9pm.

Let us know how your meeting goes. Hopefully they will have a more relaxed approach.

Claire xx

[Shell]

Claire,
All parents have a meeting to be in the next couple of weeks which is a progress meeting.
I will let you all know how I get on and I know there are a few parents that want to voice their concerns.
Shell.xx

[Clare]

Shell did you know the RML book is for Alex to keep? It's the book they read at school with the teachers and when they have finished it they get to bring it home and keep it. Ryan has all his in a decorated shoe box. He loves re-reading them to me but I on't tend to worry about reading it as soon as he brings it home we just put it in the box and then do it whenever we have got time xx