Is this just too hard for a 6yr old?

daska

but by 6 they should be learning 'tion', no? and have covered a,ay,ae etc? I'm sure my niece was doing them last year when I was up there visiting and she just turned 7 this Xmas. So it might be that this is exactly what they should be learning - rather than have learnt already. NB as already stated, it's difficult for me to judge 'normal' on this because DS1 was so advanced and DS2 has severe problems, I'm just going by what I remember reading of the learning program and on my sister's fridge LOL

LOL again, just remembering the speech therapist's example of the 'word' juwanacupatee

balletshoes

tanith wrote: »

My granddaughter gets regular homework and each week is given a word she has to place into 5 sentences this weeks word is collaboration the children are year 2 she couldn't really grasp the meaning and no clue as to constructing a sentence using this word.

Is it me or does anyone else think that's a really difficult word for 6yr old?

I can't offhand remember the others but each week its been a word that most 6yr olds haven't heard or used before , my daughter is always intimidated by teaching staff and doesn't want to make a fuss but even her weekly spellings are words like dictionary, subtraction, multiply which although she is reasonably good with spelling she loses track in the middle of such long words.. I think she should say something to the teacher but am I just being an interfering granny and out of touch?

thanks for anyone who can put me straight

it doesn't sound like an unreasonable homework to me, its teaching the children (I would have thought) to look stuff up and try to find out the meaning in simple terms. We used online dictionaries and thesaurus a lot when my DD was in years 2-4 regarding her literacy homework.

Repetition is good for spelling long words and remembering them too.

If she's really not understanding her homework, even using aids like dictionary and thesaurus, theres nothing wrong with her mum putting a note in her homework book to say what she's struggling with. I've done that myself.

balletshoes

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.

oh my goodness you'd hate to have any of your kids at my DD's primary school then - across all classes for the last 2 school years every piece of homework (maths and literacy) is usually in game form, most of it requiring at least 2 players (ie child and parent).

daska

balletshoes wrote: »

oh my goodness you'd hate to have any of your kids at my DD's primary school then - across all classes for the last 2 school years every piece of homework (maths and literacy) is usually in game form, most of it requiring at least 2 players (ie child and parent).

My heart is sinking at the thought of it LOL. Combination of me with ME and DS2 with severe language difficulties does not make me relish the prospect of homework any more difficult than copying and colouring in.

Gingham_R

daska wrote: »

but by 6 they should be learning 'tion', no? and have covered a,ay,ae etc? I'm sure my niece was doing them last year when I was up there visiting and she just turned 7 this Xmas. So it might be that this is exactly what they should be learning - rather than have learnt already. NB as already stated, it's difficult for me to judge 'normal' on this because DS1 was so advanced and DS2 has severe problems, I'm just going by what I remember reading of the learning program and on my sister's fridge LOL

LOL again, just remembering the speech therapist's example of the 'word' juwanacupatee

LOL

Yes, they've been taught 'tion', though of course that does't mean they've learnt it.

However, they learn the the sounds sh, u and n way before that and have been practising it for a long time before tion and cian etc are introduced. So, when children are learning to write, they often write the basic sounds and blends until they're sure of a spelling.

Gingham_R

daska wrote: »

My heart is sinking at the thought of it LOL. Combination of me with ME and DS2 with severe language difficulties does not make me relish the prospect of homework any more difficult than copying and colouring in.

It's interesting isn't it. Copying and colouring in would be a nightmare in our house due to DS1's difficulties. But a maths challenge or some science work and he's off. Ask him to do anything visual or with the need of fine motor skills and it's very different.

This is why it's hard for teachers to set homework that suits all the class, and why I think it should be differentiated.

dizziblonde

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.

Kids quite often LOVE long-impressive sounding words as well!

Could it be that it's something that's been introduced as a whole-school focus word of the week or similar - and a discussion's developed from there? I know schools that run a theme of the week that the teachers are looking out for - and it often is things like perseverence, teamwork etc etc so it would fit in that kind of context.

Absinthe_2

I don't think its too difficult a word if you simplify the meaning for her, so she understands fully. I think its good for children to have a wide vocabulary.

daska

Gingham_R wrote: »

It's interesting isn't it. Copying and colouring in would be a nightmare in our house due to DS1's difficulties. But a maths challenge or some science work and he's off. Ask him to do anything visual or with the need of fine motor skills and it's very different.

This is why it's hard for teachers to set homework that suits all the class, and why I think it should be differentiated.

Oh it is a nightmare, DS2 has sensory problems as well, but at least he understands that a pencil makes a mark and he has to try to get the marks in between the lines - it doesn't mean that they end up there but hey ho LOL - but trying to convey the concept of a game more complex than catch ranges from 'interesting' to 'challenging' to 'distressing' (for both of us)

Gingham_R

daska wrote: »

Oh it is a nightmare, DS2 has sensory problems as well, but at least he understands that a pencil makes a mark and he has to try to get the marks in between the lines - it doesn't mean that they end up there but hey ho LOL - but trying to convey the concept of a game more complex than catch ranges from 'interesting' to 'challenging' to 'distressing' (for both of us)

I understand. We've returned homework undone for similar reasons. If it's distressing it's unhelpful. My very articulate little boy told me at 3 years old that he found trying to write 'frustrating and alarming'. He was desperate to do it but it was just beyond him, then and to a large extent still.