Poll results - Homework - how much is too much?
Our latest MyDaughter poll asked the question – ‘Homework – how much is too much?’ and the results were very clear. A resounding 49% of voters felt that their daughter gets ‘too much homework’, while only 18% stated that their daughter didn’t get enough homework.
So what should you do if you think your daughter has too much homework? Consider first whether it is the volume of homework that she brings home that is concerning you or the amount of time she appears to spend doing it… All of the heads who volunteered tips for this month’s Heads’ Tips feature warned of girls spending too long on their homework. If you think this may be happening, do keep a close eye on the situation, check her homework timetable and diary, and contact your daughter’s teachers if you are really concerned. Below are some homework pitfalls which may be causing your daughter to spend too long on her homework:
Common homework pitfalls, & how to avoid them:
- Putting off starting the homework until she is already too tired to work well
There is no cure to this problem – prevention is the only answer!
- Spending longer than necessary on a favourite subject and having little or no time to spend on other subjects
Use a timer for each piece of work; if time is left after all other subjects are completed there is no reason why she should not go back to the piece of work she enjoys most.
- Failing to understand exactly what the homework task requires
If your daughter seems unsure about the homework task and has made little progress after the allotted time, it will be helpful to the teacher concerned if you write a note in the exercise book, or separately.
- Struggling on with a homework task long after the allotted time has passed and long after it has become clear that extra help or explanation from the teacher is required.
Try to help your daughter understand that her teachers do not expect her to work late into the night on a task she is finding too difficult; a note from you in her exercise book indicating the amount of time spent on the work will be helpful.
Read our related articles for more tips on how to help your daughter:
Heads’ Tips – homework
Parents’ guide to homework
Your comments
I feel that homework should be an extension of school work and to consolidate learning from the classroom, except that homework is probably not consistent enough in schools. I also feel that homework in primary schools is not sufficient to prepare them for secondary education and teachers are very complacent in primary schools with this. I have noticed, however that homework is dished out far more in the private sector (and on a regular basis both in junior and senior school)than in state schools. When one compares the homework that children in the UK receive to that of other european countries we have little in comparison.
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Learning is hard work. 5 hours genuine work in a day, at school + at home, is enough. A private sector teacher with 15 pupils in class can, with hard work, deliver and check the school and home work of all her pupils. A teacher with 35 pupils is over-loaded and may be tempted to off-load work that should be done in class into the home.
Comparing time spent on homework is not much use. I have seen 6 year old Chinese children learning characters at midnight with the aid of a 20 watt bulb. They didn’t seem to be getting education.