We stopped checking the boys' homework diaries in class 6. How it went, years later

Someone in my building asked how long we kept checking homework every night, so writing it here too. When the elder one went into class 6 we told him the diary was his job now. We'd only look if the school sent a note. First term was rough, two missed projects and one very unhappy science teacher. By the second term he had sorted himself out. With the younger one we did the same at the same point, and he took a full year, with plenty of drama, but he got there too. What I'd do differently: tell the class teacher what we were doing, so notes came to us early instead of at the PTM. And watch the one subject each kid hates, because that's exactly where it slips. Not saying this works for every child. Ours are 16 and 14 now and neither has asked me to check anything in years, which comes with its own problems 😊