Parents Missing practice for homework and tests

[OzZee]

Here in Australia nothing counts until year 12 when you sit your HSC.
Before that any grades given for work or exams only goes on your report card at the end of the year to give an indication of how you are going.
The HSC is half assessment/half exam, and separate to the score used for university entrance (atar).

The kids do have national testing in years 3,5,7,9 but the marks reported are school based not student based. (Though school and the students do get individual reports).
Some schools there may be pressure (in particular private schools who require a high ranking to boost admissions) but in most schools there is very little pressure/study etc eg a couple of practice tests in the couple of weeks before to get the kids used to the format.

 

[MILgymFAM]

it seems its a self-perpetuating vicious circle, the parents don't seem to want it, pretty sure the kids don't want it, even the educators here don't seem to want it, but because everyone else does it, it has to be done.

I can see why homeschooling, which is so rare here, is a popular option.

Absolutely a vicious cycle. It was hard for us to purposefully step off. I still swim upstream with my ODD because she was older before I had my epiphany about how crazy it all really is. She still has her sights set on some ridiculously selective colleges, but I constantly tell her that the name brand of the school isn't the end all be all, and make sure she is exploring what it will actually be like to attend each school she's interested in. Small class size, an international presence, and an urban setting are important to her.. We can work with that even if U of P and Johns Hopkins give her a pass. I feel like I'm always swimming upstream. With everyone. Recently I mentioned that ODD was considering a large public university in our home town and I was jumped on because it wasn't good enough for her- why??? I'm glad we are now homeschooling (although for ODD that still means college classes as that's her preference), and I hope I retain enough influence over her to keep her at least semi-calm about the future separate from her academic performance.

 

[MILgymFAM]

And I can't imagine teaching my children that! Blind obedience to authority does not seem like a great life lesson.

I actually just reenforced this with my YDD, at gym. They had a sub coach leading warmup and she was making them stretch first, which is in direct conflict to HCs philosophy. YDD said she had to do it because an adult said so. I immediately jumped to the fact that you do not have to blindly follow an order just because it comes from an adult. Next class she spoke to her HC and he agreed with her, and spoke to the sub coach about the way they do things. I'm not saying that she shouldn't listen to her coaches (or teachers, or me), but she should always stop and think before obeying. My husband is in the Corps- blind obedience to orders is a prime principle of their training. I'm a hippie and a freethinker, and that just doesn't work for me at all.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

yep, no holding back here @Aussie_coach , you enter school the September before your 5th birthday and you move through with that cohort all the way.

Here school finishes at 16 with GCSE's in your school subjects, usually between 8-12 subjects. For those who are not as academic they take modified courses - general science instead of 3 separate sciences, vocational subjects like practical geography, rural studies (farming), business studies, PE, and there is the option to take an alternative qualification that is assignment based in some subjects (bTech).

Then at 16 2 more years are required, either in higher education, or vocational training, such as an apprenticeship. No one fails school. They may come out with fewer exam passes / lower grades but we don't fail our children.

As its said previously, our A levels (16-18) are about equivalent in difficulty to your degree courses, so not everyone takes them, and then even fewer go to university. Post 16 our education is not broad, you pick 2/3/4 subject to study at A level ( for example I did double Maths, Physics and Chemistry), and then the degrees are even more narrow and focussed.

And yes, we are not good at doing something just cause we are told to !

 

[ascarter1]

And I can't imagine teaching my children that! Blind obedience to authority does not seem like a great life lesson.

I'm not having her drink poison, I'm having her do homework!

Respectfully, I can't imagine letting my child not complete homework just because her peers don't!

 

[SHELOVESGYM]

I should add that at my DD's private school she does not even GET grades at this point (4th grade). Despite that I can't imagine that any parent in the school is allowing their child to skip any homework assignments -these are required. Even without formal grading we expect that our DD is doing her best work at all times, keeping up with the material, learning a lot. It's not that 4th grade will "count" for anything but being on top of the material and working hard now will certainly help her in the future.

 

[ascarter1]

I should add that at my DD's private school she does not even GET grades at this point (4th grade). Despite that I can't imagine that any parent in the school is allowing their child to skip any homework assignments -these are required. Even without formal grading we expect that our DD is doing her best work at all times, keeping up with the material, learning a lot. It's not that 4th grade will "count" for anything but being on top of the material and working hard now will certainly help her in the future.

Yes!! A million times yes!!!

 

[twinmomma]

It's not "blind obedience." Homework in our school reinforces what they've learned during the day. Most of the homework is actually just finishing classwork. For example, both my 5th graders do comprehension questions in class for their reading books. If they don't finish - it's homework. There's usually a math sheet that reinforces the concepts they were working on in class, and sometimes they are working on a weeks-long paper where they are at some stage of outline-draft-final-edit-final final. So that may end up as homework. So NOT doing homework means not completing works in progress.

 

[LindyHopper]

Your child does not need to go to Harvard, Stanford, or the University of Chicago to get a fantastic undergraduate education that will open many doors for the future.

Well said!

 

[Mish]

Here's the thing. If you have homework assigned then you do it. This is not blind obedience. Do you get to opt out of something that your job requires you to do? That being said, I don't think it is the worst thing in the world to miss a few HWs for circumstances that come up. My 4th gr. gymmie has a small amount of HW, usually math, to reinforce the subject matter of the day and occasional projects. My MS swimmer has lots some nights and not so much other nights. My HS non gymmie has LOTS of HW bc honors and college credit classes. She needs to learn some of the material via HW. It counts for all of them, but doesn't really affect the grade for 4th grader. I don't push it for 4th gr., if she is tired or something comes up, we let it go. I would NEVER tell her it's OK to just blow it off. That is not blind obedience, that is being a student and meeting the expectations dictated by your school.

 

[DefiniteMaybe]

it seems its a self-perpetuating vicious circle, the parents don't seem to want it, pretty sure the kids don't want it, even the educators here don't seem to want it, but because everyone else does it, it has to be done.

I can see why homeschooling, which is so rare here, is a popular option.

Yep! That's one of the many reasons we started homeschooling about 15 years ago.

I was a public school teacher, and I'm not a huge fan of the U.S. public school system for so many reasons. I don't know exact stats, but I have read that homeschooling in the U.S. continues to grow by leaps and bounds. We homeschooled long before gymnastics took over our lives, and we have many, many non-athlete friends who homeschool for some of the same reasons that we do.

 

[Mish]

Well, I'm not saying that I agree with our system here in all ways. But, that is where we are, so we will adhere to what it entails. It seems like lots of people here on CB homeschool. I don't personally know one person who homeschools here on Long Island. I'm sure there are, but in all of my various connections I do not know one. Maybe it is a regional thing??

 

[MILgymFAM]

People keep saying that the homework issue (and I'm not even saying don't do it) is training kids for adult life. I can't possibly be the only one who has questioned orders and/or procedures from a boss? Can I? I was fairly successful at my previous professions and I always felt free to question if an assignment felt wrong, or even if I felt it could be done better. I've never been fired for doing so, but I have been promoted.

 

[txgymfan]

In Texas home schooling is growing in popularity. There are also schools that operate on a college type schedule so two to three days a week for a few hours with bigger projects assigned at home. I know home schoolers, public school families, lots of church school families, high end private schools and college schedule private schools. In each there are athletes, super studious kids and more.

 

[skschlag]

People keep saying that the homework issue (and I'm not even saying don't do it) is training kids for adult life. I can't possibly be the only one who has questioned orders and/or procedures from a boss? Can I? I was fairly successful at my previous professions and I always felt free to question if an assignment felt wrong, or even if I felt it could be done better. I've never been fired for doing so, but I have been promoted.

And I am hardly ever asked to do things outside of my work day.....

 

[ascarter1]

It's not "blind obedience." Homework in our school reinforces what they've learned during the day. Most of the homework is actually just finishing classwork. For example, both my 5th graders do comprehension questions in class for their reading books. If they don't finish - it's homework. There's usually a math sheet that reinforces the concepts they were working on in class, and sometimes they are working on a weeks-long paper where they are at some stage of outline-draft-final-edit-final final. So that may end up as homework. So NOT doing homework means not completing works in progress.

Preach it! Amen!!!

 

[txgymfan]

I've always done extra "homework" outside of official work time. In my current job I hate to count the hours I work during the week, especially if I count "on call" time.

 

[skschlag]

I do work outside of official work time. But it is my choice to do so. No one expects me to do it and turn it in the next day.

 

[sce]

I'm not saying that she shouldn't listen to her coaches (or teachers, or me), but she should always stop and think before obeying. My husband is in the Corps- blind obedience to orders is a prime principle of their training. I'm a hippie and a freethinker, and that just doesn't work for me at all.

I was just talking with someone about this regarding the military. While it is necessary, and makes sense for the context, total blind obedience even then is not okay. If a soldier follows an order to do something illegal the soldier can be held liable. Tricky as disobeying can also cause them trouble, but still, it is a case where even in the military you can't obey without thinking.

As for the OP, I homeschool so personally have not dealt with this, but I feel occasionally missing practice for school can make sense. Esp. a major project or studying for multiple exams on the same day. But to me this is for the older student. In the younger grades, the lesson should be to learn to balance school and activities.

My ds' teammate has always felt stress about the pressure to get schoolwork done and is afraid he'll need to quit gym because of the workload from school at some point. To me, he's missing the lesson of learning balance. He has not missed practice for schoolwork but the stress he feels really affects him sometimes.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

This thread is a nice prompt to go and watch some George Carlin clips again.