Was it the right decision to send him? I truly don't know. After a nearly head to head with the teacher this morning about not made homework - as boy in question was very tiered and mother in question thought playing on the floor and being a child was more important - I am really wondering if we made the right decision. Apparently everyone else in class managed to do the homework! So what...
No support from other half as usally on the schooling subject.
Feel like crying - very very miserable. When N comes out of school today we gonna have even more work to do as he forgot his homework folder yesterday and as the teacher quoted to me: "Its important that we keep up with the letters in a certain time scale"
What about a child being a child???
P.S. I am sorry if my blog feels its more a rant most times. I promise my next post will be more positive.
3 comments:
Oh - hugs to you Vanessa. You are bound to question the decision, as it was not what you wanted. I think you may have to accept that right now - this is where you are - and to try to make things as easy for him as possible. Try not to let him pick up too much on your sadness in case he maybe feels that he is causing it by going to school - does that make sense? This is not to say that the decision will not be changed in the future - but right now is what you are dealing with.
Hopefully we can have a chat at the camp and I can explain myself better. Lots of love meantime. xxx
Our primary school have recently had a new head and one of the first things he did was scrap the use of "consequences" as punishment for not doing homework and said it's not compulsory! I'm warming to this guy ;) Both my eldest girls have experienced the old head's regime and during that time we had awful trouble with tummy aches, anxiety and total panic about simply not being able to do what was set. They were told they'd get a "consequence" if they didn't complete it and this pressure has led to nervous vomitting on more than one occassion!
I'm assuming your LO is only 4 maybe 5yrs old if he's just started? If this is the case I would be telling the teacher to shove her homework where the sun don't shine (perhaps in a more polite way though!)and have a strict "school for work home for play" attitude which is exactly what I do for my girls until they decide for themselves they want to have a go at the homework.
It's easy for me to say this now as Rose has yet to bring more than a drawing home with her so I've not had to deal with this for a few years.
Personally I don't think any child below year 6 (age11) should be under any pressure to perform tests, do homework etc. Sometimes my girls come home with something they call homework but really it's just a bit of research about their current topic and we all have fun joining in with that. Luckily this seems to be the only work that gets sent home from the Primary these days and I'm fine with that!
My DH used to worry that they'd fall behind if we didn't make them do their homework but I think if the homework set at that age is so crucial to their learning then there is something very wrong if it's not getting covered in class!
Sorry for rambling!
Lots of (((hugs))) to you Vanesssa xxx
Hi again Vanessa, just read your comment on my blog.
It's great that your Head was understanding (be concerned if he/she wasn't!) but perhaps you need to really drive home to the teacher how pressurred your LO feels.
I don't really know what our schools feelings were about the homework not being done. I do know that attitudes can vary from one teacher to the next and that most of the time it was simply a case of not doing it and then realising there were never any repercussions.
I think on the whole our school is quite laid back about homework in Key Stage 1 so it maybe hasn't been the battle for us that it is for you. Again, you may find it is just this one teacher, especially as you found the Head to be so understanding.
On the subject of circle time and the children discussing their homework I shouldn't think it would happen. Children that age are very much in the moment and in my experience they often struggle to recall the mundane, everyday occurrances and tend to focus on the highlights which for them will be playing with their Playmobil or going to the park after school. Try not to worry. The rest of your Son's class will have no idea that he doesn't have to do his homework.
Hope things settle down for you both soon. I really do appreciate how you feel not Home Schooling when your heart tells you it's right but at the same time I have to say that school isn't an evil place it's just different and most children do settle in fine by the end of the first year as I'm sure your LO will. Don't forget what Jacqui said in her post!
(((hugs)))
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