The bairns homework

[Tex]

I said 'sat in silence would be preferable'. I'd prefer them to be silent.
We can all play this game.
As I said earlier, adverbs have their place however they are overused. The first example you gave was the perfect example of when a better word could be found.
Anyway, Stephen King knows far more about writing than either of us and this is his view.


The adverb is not your friend.

Adverbs … are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They’re the ones that usually end in -ly. Adverbs, like the passive voice, seem to have been created with the timid writer in mind. … With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not getting the point or the picture across.

Consider the sentence He closed the door firmly. It’s by no means a terrible sentence (at least it’s got an active verb going for it), but ask yourself if firmly really has to be there. You can argue that it expresses a degree of difference between He closed the door and He slammed the door, and you’ll get no argument from me … but what about context? What about all the enlightening (not to say emotionally moving) prose which came before He closed the door firmly? Shouldn’t this tell us how he closed the door? And if the foregoing prose does tell us, isn’t firmly an extra word? Isn’t it redundant?

Someone out there is now accusing me of being tiresome and anal-retentive. I deny it. I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops. To put it another way, they’re like dandelions. If you have one on your lawn, it looks pretty and unique. If you fail to root it out, however, you find five the next day . . . fifty the day after that . . . and then, my brothers and sisters, your lawn is totally, completely, and profligately covered with dandelions. By then you see them for the weeds they really are, but by then it’s — GASP!! — too late.

I can be a good sport about adverbs, though. Yes I can. With one exception: dialogue attribution. I insist that you use the adverb in dialogue attribution only in the rarest and most special of occasions . . . and not even then, if you can avoid it. Just to make sure we all know what we’re talking about, examine these three sentences:

‘Put it down!’ she shouted.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said.

In these sentences, shouted, pleaded, and said are verbs of dialogue attribution. Now look at these dubious revisions:

‘Put it down! she shouted menacingly.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded abjectly, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said contemptuously.

The three latter sentences are all weaker than the three former ones, and most readers will see why immediately.

Fuck me, I can’t wait to read one of your books (he said, his voice loaded with sneering contempt!)

 

[Doberman]

Adverb as in adds to a verb?

or adjective (e.g very big). Big is the adjective. Very is the adverb.

 

[5underland]

That's easy peasy man. Wait until they're 9-10 and they have know and be able to use fronted adverbials, subordinated clauses, prepositional idioms and so on

These two websites are good:
BBC Bitesize - KS2 English
English Revision from Woodlands Junior

That BBC one is brilliant I've just watched it, I'm going to show him that tomorrow, see if it helps.

 

[the dark one]

but they weren't sat in silence. They were sat quietly. You've jumped from being quiet (making minimal noise) to being totally silent (making no noise). Try again.

You've bitten off more than you can chew here mind....He's going to make you look a right twat..

 

[RestlessNatives]

Fuck me, I can’t wait to read one of your books (he said, his voice loaded with sneering contempt!)

People can learn from my mistakes, I've made all of them.
I've overused adverbs in the past and it's only by revisiting my work that I realised that there is a better way.
And I don't think I want to go down the route of discussing speech identifiers...

 

[Tex]

People can learn from my mistakes, I've made all of them.
I've overused adverbs in the past and it's only by revisiting my work that I realised that there is a better way.
And I don't think I want to go down the route of discussing speech identifiers...

I read the first ever Jack Reacher book on holiday once. The Killing Floor by Lee Childs. Absolutely loaded with repetitive speech, right? Every sentence any speaks ends with ‘right’. Loads of other ‘tics’ that a junior editor should have caught. This bloke is surely now a multi millionaire. There’s hope for you yet!

 

[SuperGerryHarrison]

I’m poor at stuff like this but got and A in both English and English Lit.

I’ve noticed a lot of folk my age (mid to late 30’s) are the same. I wonder if the state school curriculum in the 80’s and 90’s just didn’t bother much with grammar and sentence structure.

 

[rubberface]

That's easy peasy man. Wait until they're 9-10 and they have know and be able to use fronted adverbials, subordinated clauses, prepositional idioms and so on

These two websites are good:
BBC Bitesize - KS2 English
English Revision from Woodlands Junior

I pissed all over that with my boy.

I’m poor at stuff like this but got and A in both English and English Lit.

I’ve noticed a lot of folk my age (mid to late 30’s) are the same. I wonder if the state school curriculum in the 80’s and 90’s just didn’t bother much with grammar and sentence structure.

Nope. Still got taught grammar etc. Just the young'us nowadays can't be arsed and the teachers can't .

 

[Lexingtongue]

I said 'sat in silence would be preferable'. I'd prefer them to be silent.
We can all play this game.
As I said earlier, adverbs have their place however they are overused. The first example you gave was the perfect example of when a better word could be found.
Anyway, Stephen King knows far more about writing than either of us and this is his view.


The adverb is not your friend.

Adverbs … are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They’re the ones that usually end in -ly. Adverbs, like the passive voice, seem to have been created with the timid writer in mind. … With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not getting the point or the picture across.

Consider the sentence He closed the door firmly. It’s by no means a terrible sentence (at least it’s got an active verb going for it), but ask yourself if firmly really has to be there. You can argue that it expresses a degree of difference between He closed the door and He slammed the door, and you’ll get no argument from me … but what about context? What about all the enlightening (not to say emotionally moving) prose which came before He closed the door firmly? Shouldn’t this tell us how he closed the door? And if the foregoing prose does tell us, isn’t firmly an extra word? Isn’t it redundant?

Someone out there is now accusing me of being tiresome and anal-retentive. I deny it. I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops. To put it another way, they’re like dandelions. If you have one on your lawn, it looks pretty and unique. If you fail to root it out, however, you find five the next day . . . fifty the day after that . . . and then, my brothers and sisters, your lawn is totally, completely, and profligately covered with dandelions. By then you see them for the weeds they really are, but by then it’s — GASP!! — too late.

I can be a good sport about adverbs, though. Yes I can. With one exception: dialogue attribution. I insist that you use the adverb in dialogue attribution only in the rarest and most special of occasions . . . and not even then, if you can avoid it. Just to make sure we all know what we’re talking about, examine these three sentences:

‘Put it down!’ she shouted.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said.

In these sentences, shouted, pleaded, and said are verbs of dialogue attribution. Now look at these dubious revisions:

‘Put it down! she shouted menacingly.
‘Give it back,’ he pleaded abjectly, ‘it’s mine.’
‘Don’t be such a fool, Jekyll,’ Utterson said contemptuously.

The three latter sentences are all weaker than the three former ones, and most readers will see why immediately.

I make use of them, like. Unashamedly so too!

 

[Deleted User 2893]

Just feed his homework to the dog

 

[Dagzd1973]

I've not got a f***ing clue.

I got an A at gcse

These 2 statements contradict eachother.

 

[daventry cat]

The english vocabulary is so vast the easy/lazy option when writting is to be profligate with it. Every additional emphasis more often than not diluting the message/impact

Getting back to the original point re homework the youngests school had all us parents in to teach us the 'new' way of maths as the way we added up was apparently wrong

 

[CatRyan]

I know I'm not the only one pulling my hair out over kids homework (or what I have left of it), but bloody hell, this is a 7yr olds homework. I've had to use Google to find out about nouns, verbs, adjectives etc, I've not got a f***ing clue. I've never worried or even thought about stuff like this in years. In fact, I don't remember even doing that at school and I got an A at gcse(look at me, blah blah).
I've no idea how to go about explaining this lot to a 7yr old.

It is evident from the title that you may not be best placed to help with grammar. I would look at this as an opportunity to learn yourself.

Learning this grammar now will help your child if they want to learn a second language later.

 

[Lexingtongue]

It is evident from the title that you may not be best placed to help with grammar. I would look at this as an opportunity to learn yourself.

Learning this grammar now will help your child if they want to learn a second language later.

The opening salvo is a bit harsh, like, especially when I noticed a missing apostrophe in one of your posts earlier today...

 

[5underland]

These 2 statements contradict eachother.

They were just giving them away back then man.

It is evident from the title that you may not be best placed to help with grammar. I would look at this as an opportunity to learn yourself.

Learning this grammar now will help your child if they want to learn a second language later.

I've right let myself down there mind haven't I!

 

[Ghost of Bagpuss]

My 5 year old asked me the other day if I knew what a "split diagraph" was.....He cant yet read.

There is an important issue here and its that kids are having their love of learning destroyed by pointless boring shite that they will never use.....The new curriculum in both primary and secondary is completely absurd and means that kids from a very young age are essentially having to be taught to the test from a very young age.....Stuff that used to be in GCSE's are now being included in year 6 SATS, infact in terms of the way they look at structural English they are learning stuff at 11 that was never included in even A level English.

What used to be in A levels is now GCSE level, the level of work the kids are expected to do is insane which is again meaning that kids from starting year 7 are being drilled drilled and drilled some more in how to pass the tests which are now absolutely solid.

It is extremely sad and far from them increasing their ability they know how to pass specific tests but they struggle to transfer what they use to pass the tests into other areas.....For instance you will often find kids who are able to use extremely complex sentence structures to pass their SATS with a good level at the age of 10 then not using things like basic paragraphs in their standard day to day written work in other subjects.

This is the problem with rote learning, it has been the problem in China for a long long time....The govt aspires to beat the Chinese in the PISA tests but its like comparing chalk with cheese......They test a kids ability to remember shit loads of pointless facts, we have always taught skills which means kids are able to innovate and think through problems.

Our kids being able to remember every king and queen since the beginning of time and be able to remember 30 quotes from Shakespeare to pass their English exam is not education, its just a memory game....In an age where information is pretty much always available on a device in a persons pocket then the skill of remembering shit loads of facts is utterly pointless....

What I want is a kid who knows how to research any topic and critically analyse the information they research...Instead we are abandoning this approach to have kids learning long lists of pointless facts. The education system is going backwards.

 

[Pants]

My 5 year old asked me the other day if I knew what a "split diagraph" was.....He cant yet read.

There is an important issue here and its that kids are having their love of learning destroyed by pointless boring shite that they will never use.....The new curriculum in both primary and secondary is completely absurd and means that kids from a very young age are essentially having to be taught to the test from a very young age.....Stuff that used to be in GCSE's are now being included in year 6 SATS, infact in terms of the way they look at structural English they are learning stuff at 11 that was never included in even A level English.

What used to be in A levels is now GCSE level, the level of work the kids are expected to do is insane which is again meaning that kids from starting year 7 are being drilled drilled and drilled some more in how to pass the tests which are now absolutely solid.

It is extremely sad and far from them increasing their ability they know how to pass specific tests but they struggle to transfer what they use to pass the tests into other areas.....For instance you will often find kids who are able to use extremely complex sentence structures to pass their SATS with a good level at the age of 10 then not using things like basic paragraphs in their standard day to day written work in other subjects.

This is the problem with rote learning, it has been the problem in China for a long long time....The govt aspires to beat the Chinese in the PISA tests but its like comparing chalk with cheese......They test a kids ability to remember shit loads of pointless facts, we have always taught skills which means kids are able to innovate and think through problems.

Our kids being able to remember every king and queen since the beginning of time and be able to remember 30 quotes from Shakespeare to pass their English exam is not education, its just a memory game....In an age where information is pretty much always available on a device in a persons pocket then the skill of remembering shit loads of facts is utterly pointless....

What I want is a kid who knows how to research any topic and critically analyse the information they research...Instead we are abandoning this approach to have kids learning long lists of pointless facts. The education system is going backwards.

If he knows what a split digraph is, it will help him learn to read Shirley.

 

[Tex]

My 5 year old asked me the other day if I knew what a "split diagraph" was.....He cant yet read.

There is an important issue here and its that kids are having their love of learning destroyed by pointless boring shite that they will never use.....The new curriculum in both primary and secondary is completely absurd and means that kids from a very young age are essentially having to be taught to the test from a very young age.....Stuff that used to be in GCSE's are now being included in year 6 SATS, infact in terms of the way they look at structural English they are learning stuff at 11 that was never included in even A level English.

What used to be in A levels is now GCSE level, the level of work the kids are expected to do is insane which is again meaning that kids from starting year 7 are being drilled drilled and drilled some more in how to pass the tests which are now absolutely solid.

It is extremely sad and far from them increasing their ability they know how to pass specific tests but they struggle to transfer what they use to pass the tests into other areas.....For instance you will often find kids who are able to use extremely complex sentence structures to pass their SATS with a good level at the age of 10 then not using things like basic paragraphs in their standard day to day written work in other subjects.

This is the problem with rote learning, it has been the problem in China for a long long time....The govt aspires to beat the Chinese in the PISA tests but its like comparing chalk with cheese......They test a kids ability to remember shit loads of pointless facts, we have always taught skills which means kids are able to innovate and think through problems.

Our kids being able to remember every king and queen since the beginning of time and be able to remember 30 quotes from Shakespeare to pass their English exam is not education, its just a memory game....In an age where information is pretty much always available on a device in a persons pocket then the skill of remembering shit loads of facts is utterly pointless....

What I want is a kid who knows how to research any topic and critically analyse the information they research...Instead we are abandoning this approach to have kids learning long lists of pointless facts. The education system is going backwards.

Spot on with this like Baggy.

I used to tell my students how much I love history and there would always be a chorus of ‘its so boring’. Why? Cos they are made to memorize a bunch of dates.

If you tell some of the stories of history you could fuel Hollywood and their complete dearth of ideas for the next hundred years. I read a book about Captain Cochrane, a peer of Nelson (who is largely lost to history were it not for the the Aubrey novels being based on him) and I certainly never heard of him in school. Just one example of hundreds.

 

[Deleted User 2893]

My 5 year old asked me the other day if I knew what a "split diagraph" was.....He cant yet read.

There is an important issue here and its that kids are having their love of learning destroyed by pointless boring shite that they will never use.....The new curriculum in both primary and secondary is completely absurd and means that kids from a very young age are essentially having to be taught to the test from a very young age.....Stuff that used to be in GCSE's are now being included in year 6 SATS, infact in terms of the way they look at structural English they are learning stuff at 11 that was never included in even A level English.

What used to be in A levels is now GCSE level, the level of work the kids are expected to do is insane which is again meaning that kids from starting year 7 are being drilled drilled and drilled some more in how to pass the tests which are now absolutely solid.

It is extremely sad and far from them increasing their ability they know how to pass specific tests but they struggle to transfer what they use to pass the tests into other areas.....For instance you will often find kids who are able to use extremely complex sentence structures to pass their SATS with a good level at the age of 10 then not using things like basic paragraphs in their standard day to day written work in other subjects.

This is the problem with rote learning, it has been the problem in China for a long long time....The govt aspires to beat the Chinese in the PISA tests but its like comparing chalk with cheese......They test a kids ability to remember shit loads of pointless facts, we have always taught skills which means kids are able to innovate and think through problems.

Our kids being able to remember every king and queen since the beginning of time and be able to remember 30 quotes from Shakespeare to pass their English exam is not education, its just a memory game....In an age where information is pretty much always available on a device in a persons pocket then the skill of remembering shit loads of facts is utterly pointless....

What I want is a kid who knows how to research any topic and critically analyse the information they research...Instead we are abandoning this approach to have kids learning long lists of pointless facts. The education system is going backwards.

5 years old and can't read? That's bordering on being taken into care territory

 

[Dagzd1973]

My 5 year old asked me the other day if I knew what a "split diagraph" was.....He cant yet read.

There is an important issue here and its that kids are having their love of learning destroyed by pointless boring shite that they will never use.....The new curriculum in both primary and secondary is completely absurd and means that kids from a very young age are essentially having to be taught to the test from a very young age.....Stuff that used to be in GCSE's are now being included in year 6 SATS, infact in terms of the way they look at structural English they are learning stuff at 11 that was never included in even A level English.

What used to be in A levels is now GCSE level, the level of work the kids are expected to do is insane which is again meaning that kids from starting year 7 are being drilled drilled and drilled some more in how to pass the tests which are now absolutely solid.

It is extremely sad and far from them increasing their ability they know how to pass specific tests but they struggle to transfer what they use to pass the tests into other areas.....For instance you will often find kids who are able to use extremely complex sentence structures to pass their SATS with a good level at the age of 10 then not using things like basic paragraphs in their standard day to day written work in other subjects.

This is the problem with rote learning, it has been the problem in China for a long long time....The govt aspires to beat the Chinese in the PISA tests but its like comparing chalk with cheese......They test a kids ability to remember shit loads of pointless facts, we have always taught skills which means kids are able to innovate and think through problems.

Our kids being able to remember every king and queen since the beginning of time and be able to remember 30 quotes from Shakespeare to pass their English exam is not education, its just a memory game....In an age where information is pretty much always available on a device in a persons pocket then the skill of remembering shit loads of facts is utterly pointless....

What I want is a kid who knows how to research any topic and critically analyse the information they research...Instead we are abandoning this approach to have kids learning long lists of pointless facts. The education system is going backwards.

On that reasoning we would have no Historians in the world because everyone would be learning "practical" skills. The whole point of primary education is to get a little bit of everything, so when he goes upto bigboy school and gets to choose his own subjects he'll have an idea of what he likes/doesn't like.

Furthermore, have you ever actually asked him? He might like History.