As a teacher the setting and marking of homework is the bane of my life.  I often get the feeling that some parents only want it to be set so that they can send their child into a corner to get on with it while they have some peace and quiet!  Others say that they can’t get their kids to do it so it shouldn’t be set in the first place.

It think there should be some kind of happy medium – collaborative learning between the parent and child that can be related to work that’s been done in school or something that the child is interested in. It certainly shouldn’t be a case of ‘death by worksheet’.

Here’s some inspirational ideas for an area where learning could take place.

1. Scrapbook Update shares this unit that can be folded up against the wall and hides all the necessary supplies.

2. Remodelaholic has this desk area that’s hidden in an alcove, meaning that you can hide it away when the work is done but there’s also space to leave projects in progress out on the desk.

3. Scissors and Spatulas has a tutorial for these ‘seat sacks’ which are ideal if you don’t have room for a permanent work area but need to use a dining table.  I’d have these on every chair in my classroom if it put an end to the eternal ‘wander around the room to find something’ method of work avoidance!

4, BHG has this re-purposed bookcase which has the benefit of having loads of additional storage.

5. The 36th Avenue has this ‘back to school’ station which stores all the necessary supplies but also provides organisation and allows each child to see what tasks they need to do each day.