Someone please give an example of a typical homework night at Sidwell/St. Albans/NCS/Holton/Landon

[Anonymous]

I am curious about this pressure cooker atmosphere that is mentioned on this forum alot. I would like to get an idea what a typical night of homework looks like. Any parents of kids at these schools mind sharing? I have hard time understanding what could take 5 hours every night! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but I'd like to hear the answer specifically wrt HS (10-12th grade, if possible).

[Anonymous]

I have a 8th-grade son at STA who gets straight A's but for maybe one or two B's a year, and I do not recall his ever having had to do five hours of homework in one night. Homework last year and this year usually takes two to three hours, depending on whether there's a test to study for. Sometimes homework is less, even nil. Anyone who's child is doing five hours of homework in middle school is probably struggling at that school and either should not be at that school or should get tutoring to be able to meet academic demands.

[Anonymous]

There were a couple relatively long Holton/NCS homework threads not too long ago. Here's one I found by searching "holton homwwork".

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/72356.page

[Anonymous]

I also question this five hours a night business. Are the kids free from electronics while doing their homework? Or are they "multitasking?" Get some backbone, parents, and just say 'No!'

[Anonymous]

Why would you even put St. Albans in the same category as these other schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 8th-grade son at STA who gets straight A's but for maybe one or two B's a year, and I do not recall his ever having had to do five hours of homework in one night. Homework last year and this year usually takes two to three hours, depending on whether there's a test to study for. Sometimes homework is less, even nil. Anyone who's child is doing five hours of homework in middle school is probably struggling at that school and either should not be at that school or should get tutoring to be able to meet academic demands.

so your kid does not get straight A's

[Anonymous]

16:48 & 16:51:
really helpful! thanks!

[Anonymous]

There is quite a bit of homework in hs nowadays. To answer your question Ncs workload for my dd was about 2-3 hr per nt in 9th grade a little more as a sophomore and substantially ramped up junior year. When I say substantially ramped up I mean almost no free time,even on weekends. Let's just say this winter was very nice because there was an unexpected break. My dd is very fast and efficient. Others girls work even longer hours. Not sure any of the schools you mention is any different. Have friends at Sidwell and it seems even worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 8th-grade son at STA who gets straight A's but for maybe one or two B's a year, and I do not recall his ever having had to do five hours of homework in one night. Homework last year and this year usually takes two to three hours, depending on whether there's a test to study for. Sometimes homework is less, even nil. Anyone who's child is doing five hours of homework in middle school is probably struggling at that school and either should not be at that school or should get tutoring to be able to meet academic demands.

so your kid does not get straight A's

I guess you think my kid should work five hours a night, and then he might get straight A's? We're happy with his grades, but if you insist on straight A's for your kid, good for you!

[Anonymous]

Can anyone comment on how the load at GDS compares to that at the other schools discussed here?

[Anonymous]

My Sidwell HS'er has 2-3 hours on a typical night - although the facebook/skype/IM are often on too. More about once every other week if tests are too close together or a paper is due, but usually that is followed by one or two nights of less than average, so it evens out.

I will say that he is doing substantially less than his friends in MCPS schools who are taking multiple AP courses in 10th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Sidwell HS'er has 2-3 hours on a typical night - although the facebook/skype/IM are often on too. More about once every other week if tests are too close together or a paper is due, but usually that is followed by one or two nights of less than average, so it evens out.

I will say that he is doing substantially less than his friends in MCPS schools who are taking multiple AP courses in 10th grade.

My DC will be at MCPS next year in 9th and my sense is that the homework load will be higher than what is typical in private school in 9th. Will be taking 1 AP. I don't think the pressure cooker environment is limited to the private schools at all (and I have one kid in a private high school with a heavy homework load - 4-5 hours is typical)

[Anonymous]

I think you may have missed the point. PP is referring to the part where you say that your son gets "straight A's" and then in the next breath you talk about him getting Bs. He sounds like a good student, but the term "straight A's" is reserved for people who only get A's and nothing less--not for people who get both A's AND B's. Maybe you should have said that your son gets "mostly A's".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I have a 8th-grade son at STA who gets straight A's but for maybe one or two B's a year, and I do not recall his ever having had to do five hours of homework in one night. Homework last year and this year usually takes two to three hours, depending on whether there's a test to study for. Sometimes homework is less, even nil. Anyone who's child is doing five hours of homework in middle school is probably struggling at that school and either should not be at that school or should get tutoring to be able to meet academic demands.

so your kid does not get straight A's

I guess you think my kid should work five hours a night, and then he might get straight A's? We're happy with his grades, but if you insist on straight A's for your kid, good for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you may have missed the point. PP is referring to the part where you say that your son gets "straight A's" and then in the next breath you talk about him getting Bs. He sounds like a good student, but the term "straight A's" is reserved for people who only get A's and nothing less--not for people who get both A's AND B's. Maybe you should have said that your son gets "mostly A's".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I have a 8th-grade son at STA who gets straight A's but for maybe one or two B's a year, and I do not recall his ever having had to do five hours of homework in one night. Homework last year and this year usually takes two to three hours, depending on whether there's a test to study for. Sometimes homework is less, even nil. Anyone who's child is doing five hours of homework in middle school is probably struggling at that school and either should not be at that school or should get tutoring to be able to meet academic demands.

so your kid does not get straight A's

I guess you think my kid should work five hours a night, and then he might get straight A's? We're happy with his grades, but if you insist on straight A's for your kid, good for you!

No, to me "mostly A's" would be appropriate if describing a transcript on which more than 50% of the grades were A's. I was trying to be more specific than that in my description. Would you feel better if I said "my son gets A's except for one or two B's a year? If so, please feel free to substitute that phrase for the one in my post that you find objectionable.