Is this just too hard for a 6yr old?

Gingham_R

Mojisola wrote: »

I'm not suggesting they are. There will always be inequalities because of the types of parents there are but I think education should be as equally provided as possible.

If homework is only possible if there are supportive parents with enough time to spare to help out, I don't think it should be set. Homework should be something that reinforces work that children have done in school that they are capable of doing by themselves.

Why should education be equal? What's wrong with equality of opportunity instead? We can't give all children the same education because they all learn differently, have different needs and different experiences.

Why shouldn't homework be challenging and interesting? If some parents don't or can't help their children, that puts their child at a disadvantage, yes, but it shouldn't put the whole class at a disadvantage, any more than a dyslexic child who can't read yet should stop the rest of the class reading.

The child with no support at home should get appropriate work set in class, as should the dyslexic child and the gifted child (all the more so if the dyslexic child is also the gifted child). Each child needs something different. The curriculum can be differentiated with hard work and imagination from the teacher - without that the children are ALL being failed.

JimmyTheWig

I agree (as often!) with Gingham.
If the teacher had set homework about this long and rarely used word out of the blue then I think that's wrong. But if they've set the homework after a class discussion about collaboration then I think it's a great idea (unless, as I do, you object to the whole idea of a 6 year old being set homework!). Or if the idea is that they ask a grown-up what it means and has help with the first couple of sentances then again that is fine.

I don't think we should shy away from using long words with our children. I think there are times (e.g. when the child is under stress or when giving an instruction that you want to ensure is understood 100%) when using simple, consice sentances is best. But at other times I am happy using words like "photosynthesis", "chivalrous", "commutative", "quadratic equations" with them, and have done from at least when our eldest was 2.

daska

Mojisola wrote: »

I'm not suggesting they are. There will always be inequalities because of the types of parents there are but I think education should be as equally provided as possible.

If homework is only possible if there are supportive parents with enough time to spare to help out, I don't think it should be set. Homework should be something that reinforces work that children have done in school that they are capable of doing by themselves.

I'm not sure I totally agree with that. I had huge issues with DSD coming home and demanding that we get the internet so that she could do her online homework. My response was: we can't afford it so shall I write to the school and ask them why they are setting homework where children from poor families will get lower marks due to their financial situation. Magically she remembered that she was able to do it at school during one of her 'free' sessions. In that instance I agree, I strongly believe that homework should not disadvantage children that don't get equal support at home.

But at the same time, if you always work to the lowest common denominator you only achieve low standards and it can be as distressing to the high achievers as struggling is to the low achievers. I experienced this myself when I was 6, I was bored and disruptive in maths because I could already do the work the class was being set and was left to my own devices with workboards that, again, I had already done and knew off by heart. It was only changed when the school complained about my behaviour and my parents in turn complained that the school wasn't actually bothering to teach me anything. Once they started giving me work my behaviour improved.

Mojisola

Gingham_R wrote: »

Why should education be equal? What's wrong with equality of opportunity instead? We can't give all children the same education because they all learn differently, have different needs and different experiences.

Why shouldn't homework be challenging and interesting? If some parents don't or can't help their children, that puts their child at a disadvantage, yes, but it shouldn't put the whole class at a disadvantage, any more than a dyslexic child who can't read yet should stop the rest of the class reading.

The child with no support at home should get appropriate work set in class, as should the dyslexic child and the gifted child. Each child needs something different. The curriculum can be differentiated with hard work and imagination from the teacher - without that the children are ALL being failed.

I agree with most of this but I think that in schools we should be trying to even out some of the inequalities that children experience at home, not reinforcing them. This doesn't have to be done by keeping everyone down to the lowest level.

If a child is struggling with the homework, that may not be appropriate work for him/her and needs to be looked at by the teacher.

If a child can only do the homework with parental assistance, I don't think that's fair on the children who don't have help. By all means set the regular work related to work done in class and set some optional extras for those who want to take things further but don't undermine children's confidence and put them off learning by giving them homework that they can't do independently.

keys_2

tanith wrote: »

words like dictionary, subtraction, multiply

Hiya , I can understand your concern as these do look like difficult words at first glance ..my only guess is that the teacher is trying to teach her how to put words together { and sounds } to words she would have heard before like the above .

My daughter is 5 in yr 1 and for at least the last six months has been learning how to notice and say these ' tion ' ary ' ti ' etc
she can then start the first few letters like sub ' mul cal ' ' by sounding them out - then the next part is to say the middle bit etc etc like
subtraction

she will already know by looking at the letters sub
then she will notice the next set of letters trac by sounding them again
then as she is still learning the sound tion

then i get her to say it all together - and as stated she will already of heard and be learning subraction - I suppose it is a way for them to learn how the word is spoken / how to say it , and the understanding of the word

I wouldn't worry its probably a way the teacher finds a way of introducing longer words

Gingham_R

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I don't think we should shy away from using long words with our children. I think there are times (e.g. when the child is under stress or when giving an instruction that you want to ensure is understood 100%) when using simple, consice sentances is best. But at other times I am happy using words like "photosynthesis", "chivalrous", "commutative", "quadratic equations" with them, and have done from at least when our eldest was 2.

Exactly.

When my youngest was in hospital, at 2 years old, the nurse thought she'd misheard him when he said that another boy was 'reluctant to leave' the playroom. He just knew the word because presumably we'd used it a lot around him. (I suspect I often say I'm doing the housework reluctantly!)

When my eldest was 3, he made a joke about personification. That one is easy to see why. I'd talked about how his Thomas trains were personified and that meant they were objects that were made to look and act like people - person - ified. Lots of 3 year olds will understand that and, if they're already verbal, will be able to use it appropriately.

We often think kids can't do things that they're perfectly capable of but aren't exposed to to avoid confusing them. But think about how amazing it is that children learn to talk and use words correctly. It's astonishing what their little brains can do.

Gingham_R

Mojisola wrote: »

I agree with most of this but I think that in schools we should be trying to even out some of the inequalities that children experience at home, not reinforcing them. This doesn't have to be done by keeping everyone down to the lowest level.

If a child is struggling with the homework, that may not be appropriate work for him/her and needs to be looked at by the teacher.

If a child can only do the homework with parental assistance, I don't think that's fair on the children who don't have help. By all means set the regular work related to work done in class and set some optional extras for those who want to take things further but don't undermine children's confidence and put them off learning by giving them homework that they can't do independently.

Excellent points all.

We can't level out inequalities. We can offer opportunities that children don't get at home but we can't change the basic facts of their environment.

I would personally differentiate homework, to allow children to get excited about homework without having to do the boring stuff they can already do before getting to the good bit and to allow the children who struggle an opportunity to do something they feel they can excel at and be proud to show their parents - with or without their support.

Edit - I agree completely about not setting homework that they can't do independently but I think that parents sitting with their children at homework time offering support, even just encouragement, goes a LONG way.

daska

Mojisola wrote: »

I agree with most of this but I think that in schools we should be trying to even out some of the inequalities that children experience at home, not reinforcing them. This doesn't have to be done by keeping everyone down to the lowest level.

If a child is struggling with the homework, that may not be appropriate work for him/her and needs to be looked at by the teacher.

If a child can only do the homework with parental assistance, I don't think that's fair on the children who don't have help. By all means set the regular work related to work done in class and set some optional extras for those who want to take things further but don't undermine children's confidence and put them off learning by giving them homework that they can't do independently.

But homework is one of the tools a teacher will use to gauge what a child needs. There are 3 scenarios. The child whose homework reflects the standard the teacher expects from that child. The child who comes back with sentences that are well above their natural ability - they will possibly be getting too much parental input so the teacher will know to check that the child actually understands the sentences they wrote. The child who comes back not having done the homework or having completely misunderstood the concept - they also needs the teacher to check and reinforce that lesson. Homework is as much a tool for the teacher to gauge understanding as it is a vehicle for learning - and by some arguments even more so.

Gingham_R

daska wrote: »

Is collaboration that hard? Phonetically I would have thought it relatively straightforward for spelling

I think it's probably quite tricky phonetically. I'm guessing lots of children would spell it

colaburayshun

LandyAndy

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Dead easy.

1 - At 6 years old I'll never need to say collaboration.
2 - At 6 years old I shouldn't be able to spell collaboration.
3 - This week's homework is to use the word collaboration in a sentence.
4 - This sentence contains the word collaboration.
5 - This sentence also contains the word collaboration.

Did anyone help you with those?