How many hours does you high schooler spend on homework?

[Anonymous]

DS is a freshman in high school, magnet program with a block schedule.

Sometimes he has several hours of homework, sometimes almost none, most of the time an hour or hour and a half.

I think the block schedule has a lot to do with that -- if he had homework in every class every day, it could easily be 3 - 4 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is a freshman in high school, magnet program with a block schedule.

Sometimes he has several hours of homework, sometimes almost none, most of the time an hour or hour and a half.

I think the block schedule has a lot to do with that -- if he had homework in every class every day, it could easily be 3 - 4 hours.

What is a block schedule?

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP who asked about electronics. If your daughter doesn't text or use electronics, she's unusual for a junior in HS, and more power to her. How does she do homework for all those subjects, including "online instructional videos and analyses," with no computer?

She has access to a computer, but it's not in her study area. She is sort of a Luddite, though she does enjoy reading manga. When she needs to sign onto a computer, she goes into my study. I'm generally there with her taking care of my own work at a different desk.

How on earth could it be seen as a source of pride if your kid does 5-6 hours of homework per night?

No idea--I'm certainly not proud of the amount of HW she does. I'd absolutely prefer it if she had no HW. I believe she puts in enough time and energy during the day.

It isn't normal to sit in a desk for hours working, especially at this age. It is actually unhealthy. Poor kid needs some standing up time, walking fresh air, friends, laughing, hobbies, exercise.

Agreed! She does enjoy extracurriculars four afternoons a week at school (an hour each day), and she loves scuba diving. Whenever we can get away, I schedule a diving trip so she can truly relax. Tonight we drove her to Baltimore for dinner and shuffleboard, so she was a happy camper. It was possible because there's no school tomorrow! But on the whole, she definitely sits too long at a desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a freshman in high school, magnet program with a block schedule.

Sometimes he has several hours of homework, sometimes almost none, most of the time an hour or hour and a half.

I think the block schedule has a lot to do with that -- if he had homework in every class every day, it could easily be 3 - 4 hours.

What is a block schedule?

Subject material every other day as oppose to same class everyday. DD is in private, no block schedule with avg 5 hours per night. Next door neighbors kids in private, block schedule, with probably 2 - 3 hours a night, sometimes less. My DS in MS, would only be able to survive a block schedule, so he would not be going to the same school as his sister.

[Anonymous]

^ is block schedule easier? if so, why and how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a freshman in high school, magnet program with a block schedule.

Sometimes he has several hours of homework, sometimes almost none, most of the time an hour or hour and a half.

I think the block schedule has a lot to do with that -- if he had homework in every class every day, it could easily be 3 - 4 hours.

What is a block schedule?

Four classes one day, 90 minutes each. Then the other four classes the next day, also ninety minutes each.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is a freshman in high school, magnet program with a block schedule.

Sometimes he has several hours of homework, sometimes almost none, most of the time an hour or hour and a half.

I think the block schedule has a lot to do with that -- if he had homework in every class every day, it could easily be 3 - 4 hours.

What is a block schedule?

Four classes one day, 90 minutes each. Then the other four classes the next day, also ninety minutes each.

So there is a total of 8 classes and they meet 90 minutes, every other day? Is that correct. And this is a public school. I have never heard of that. Sounds pretty cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm the PP who asked about electronics. If your daughter doesn't text or use electronics, she's unusual for a junior in HS, and more power to her. How does she do homework for all those subjects, including "online instructional videos and analyses," with no computer?

She has access to a computer, but it's not in her study area. She is sort of a Luddite, though she does enjoy reading manga. When she needs to sign onto a computer, she goes into my study. I'm generally there with her taking care of my own work at a different desk.

How on earth could it be seen as a source of pride if your kid does 5-6 hours of homework per night?

No idea--I'm certainly not proud of the amount of HW she does. I'd absolutely prefer it if she had no HW. I believe she puts in enough time and energy during the day.

It isn't normal to sit in a desk for hours working, especially at this age. It is actually unhealthy. Poor kid needs some standing up time, walking fresh air, friends, laughing, hobbies, exercise.

Agreed! She does enjoy extracurriculars four afternoons a week at school (an hour each day), and she loves scuba diving. Whenever we can get away, I schedule a diving trip so she can truly relax. Tonight we drove her to Baltimore for dinner and shuffleboard, so she was a happy camper. It was possible because there's no school tomorrow! But on the whole, she definitely sits too long at a desk.

Regarding the length of time sitting, have you ever considered a standing or treadmill desk? Not just for her but for you. Sitting is a really unhealthy thing. I know this technically has no bearing on the length of time doing homework, but I hate to see schools ignore all the recent research about the problems with sitting for long periods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman 2 hours a day all honors classes no aps

This is generally true for my DC too, a sophomore. Our older DC sometimes had more because they took a full load of AP classes.

pp, do you mind sharing your school.

My 14 year old sophomore is spending more time on homework than sleeping. We are at a charter school in DC seriously wanting to move to MoCo, where there is opportunity to get a much more well rounded education, and not be forced to take all AP's and honors, like we are doing now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason why these schedules are so rough and the kids work so much is because they generally have classes every day. Think about it. In college, you have a class usually 3 times per week for 50 minutes or maybe only 2 times per week for an hour and 20 minutes. You don't take a bus to and from school in most colleges, you roll out of bed and walk. You just have more free time. The trouble with the AP world is that we are layering supposedly college level work on top of essentially a high school style schedule in 11th and 12th grade. For 9th and 10th, the trouble is often that many kids in APs aren't really ready for them. They need to learn how to handle a more rigorous high school class after middle school before jumping into college.

Bingo.

A shout out for this!!!
My 14 year old is forced to take AP's and honors (except for his elective class), with every teacher saying "this is college level".
It seems I am the only parent in the classroom wanting a high school experience for my child.

[Anonymous]

My oldest DS, who has now graduated, took 3 AP classes and an IB class during his senior year. Some nights he may have spent 2 hours on homework, but NEVER 4-5 hours. He received A's in all of the classes and 4's or 5's on the AP exams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is a block schedule?

Four classes one day, 90 minutes each. Then the other four classes the next day, also ninety minutes each.

So there is a total of 8 classes and they meet 90 minutes, every other day? Is that correct. And this is a public school. I have never heard of that. Sounds pretty cool.

There are different ways to structure it, but the PP's description gives the idea. The concept is to cut down on time daily spent in the hallway walking between classes, and to allow for classroom activities that take longer than 40 min. Block scheduling can double the amount of homework assigned, but students have two days to complete it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is a block schedule?

Four classes one day, 90 minutes each. Then the other four classes the next day, also ninety minutes each.

So there is a total of 8 classes and they meet 90 minutes, every other day? Is that correct. And this is a public school. I have never heard of that. Sounds pretty cool.

There are different ways to structure it, but the PP's description gives the idea. The concept is to cut down on time daily spent in the hallway walking between classes, and to allow for classroom activities that take longer than 40 min. Block scheduling can double the amount of homework assigned, but students have two days to complete it.

What schools do this?

[Anonymous]

Not the PP, but I live in another state, and both the magnet middle and magnet high school programs use a block schedule in our area. I think it works out better than having class every day.

[Anonymous]

Many schools in the area are doing it. The con seems to be that each teacher has to keep the kids engaged for a double period.