Quality of Yr7 homework

[Durab]

DS1 achieved all lower 5s in his year5 SAT, so he's a reasonably bright boy. He enjoys school but has some problems with fine motor skills so writing has always been hard work for him, he doesn't enjoy it, his handwriting is untidy and his hand tires easily. However, it's not so bad that he gets extra help and/or time. At his last OT assessment he was judged to have a writing age approx 6m behind where he "should" have which was judged to be OK, although for everything else he was slightly ahead of where he should have been.

Anyway, the quanity, rather than the quality of his writing has always been an issue-what he writes starts well, but it kind of fissles out as he gets fed up with the actual act of writing. This frustrated me with his primary school homework, I knew he wasn't producing enough, but it was rarely marked and he would get credits just for handing something in, so it was hard for me to make him work harder. He's also slapdash, rushes and doesn't take much pride in the presentation e.g a piece of typed work will be shoved in his bag and presented to the teacher in a crumpled mess.

We've just had the first yr7 parent's eve and this will clearly no longer be the acceptable. All the teachers said he's a bright boy who participates and works hard in class but that much more effort is required in homework

This was while I new there was a piece of RE homework, on creation, "finished" on his desk which was 4 lines long. What he'd written was pretty good, he'd used interesting language, set out the argument and had some good reasons to prove his POV and he'd managed to do it in 4 lines! Anyway I told him it was a great intro, but he needed to write at least 3 pages in his exercise book (what the teacher said should be normal). He sat in his room for a good 30 mins and has done just that, plus a cartoon joke about some fish seeing land created. I'm impressed, however, the poor thing has managed to start the work on a page he missed out in his exercise book, so the first 2 pages are about 10 pages before the last page.

I can't believe this has become so long, but should I make him do it again, or will the teacher appreciate the extra effort that's been made this week? I told DS1 we learn from our mistakes and he won't make this one again - he was devastated when he realised how he'd managed to mess up despite working so hard. (for him)

[Durab]

Yr6 SATs

[3b1g]

Once DS1 started Y7 I had to learn to take a bit of a step back and let him sink or swim a little. Y7 and Y8 are a good time for them to learn where their strengths and weaknesses lie with regard to their work. For DS1, his weakness was his inability to plan and then actually start a piece of longer work like a project or long essay. The first time I helped him. The second time I sat with him while he planned it himself. The third time he was on his own. If they can come up themselves with strategies to help with the aspects that they find difficult, then that's even better.

[3b1g]

What I'm trying to say is that I would let him hand it in as it is.

[vj32]

Yes, hand it in as it is, don't make him rewrite it. However it would be good for him to let the teacher know he wrote on the pages out of order but then realised this was a bit silly so won't do it again.

[3b1g]

Yes, definitely some sort of annotation to direct the person marking it towards where the rest of the piece is in the book.

[squeezedatbothends]

Yes, get him to add a little note saying wha he has done. We want to give credit to what children have achieved and it's good o be directed to any mistakes.

[Niceweather]

How about getting him to type future homework on the computer?

[lljkk]

To be honest I can't believe that you're still so involved in his homework. Well done you for sustaining the interest. I kind of burnt out years ago, I can only concentrate on being closely involved in getting homework done for my younger DC (which can be quite exhausting). I impose an incentive scheme for all (screen time on condition of homework done), but that's as much involved as I try to get. We are supposed to sign high school planner weekly, too, but NO ONE has told me what it means when I sign it. So bit of a joke. A parent I know has taught her DD to forge parent signature on the planner.

So afraid I am in the sink or swim camp, too. I'm viewing yrs7-8/9 as when they learn to organise themselves (hopefully).

[ibizagirl]

Yes, Niceweather!. Dd types a lot of homework on the laptop. They are allowed to do it at her school as long as the work is done. Project type work or poems or essays are all done on laptop. Its worth a try OP.

[wolfbrother]

Why doesn't he photocopy the last page and stick it in to the right part of the book?

[ohfunnyface]

Definitely don't do it again!

In future, could you set him up with a timer so he works in short bursts to sustain attention? Nice, comfortable work stations are key too. Comfy chair, access to water (no spill sports cap bottle!) light and well lit. Amazing what a difference it makes!

[wolfbrother]

sorry, I mean photocopy all the pages and paste them in the correct order.