workload during HS summer session

[Anonymous]

DC is a rising 9th grader. DC registered for summer Honors Algebra 2 A&B. Does any one have prior experience with this class in the summer? DC is good at math. I am worried about homework load. Is DC going to be stuck with hours of homework between classes which are 2 and 3 times a week depending on the week.

[Anonymous]

Yes, absolutely. It’s a ton of homework because you’re fitting an entire school year into a summer. Prepare them to have zero social life.

[Anonymous]

I can only give you my daughter's experience when she took Honors Health last summer. She had 60 some (or was it 80 some) assignments in the three week period of the class.

[Anonymous]

My DD took two non-math classes over the summer and it was a crazy amount of work.

[Anonymous]

OP here. thank you all. What about Photography class?

[Anonymous]

What is his reasoning for doing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is his reasoning for doing this?

DC is excited about HS and is interested in a bunch of electives. DC's logic is that taking classes in the summer will create opportunity to take interesting electives during the next 4 school years.

[Anonymous]

Did you talk to a guidance counselor about this plan? They are required to take math all four years of HS and I'm not sure how summer school counts. So this may not really open up electives and he may run out of math classes to take by senior year. It is more common to take a required class like health over the summer to make room for more electives.

I'm also curious about the workload question though. We were considering doing two summer school classes next summer (health and tech requirement) and wasn't sure if that was too much.

[Anonymous]

Any classes you take in the summer will require exorbitant amounts of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any classes you take in the summer will require exorbitant amounts of work.

Just like homework generally, it depends on the kid. One of mine spent hours and hours every day on health. The other breezed through it in just a few hours a week. Both got A's.

[Anonymous]

I am a high school teacher. My daughter took Health last summer over a three week period and there were 83 assignments. Most were pretty short and simple - perhaps a dozen or so took an hour or so to complete. It was still quite a lot to keep track of over that short period of time, even though she believes it was worth it to finish the class quickly. I have been told by many students that Tech is NOT a good class to take over the summer - that it's a lot of work and that it is difficult to do the projects outside the classroom, so we opted to do that in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a rising 9th grader. DC registered for summer Honors Algebra 2 A&B. Does any one have prior experience with this class in the summer? DC is good at math. I am worried about homework load. Is DC going to be stuck with hours of homework between classes which are 2 and 3 times a week depending on the week.

This is a bad plan. They still need 4 years of math in high school - you are going to run out of courses. Take tech (FOCS or FOT) and/or Health in the summer if you want to free up elective slots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is a rising 9th grader. DC registered for summer Honors Algebra 2 A&B. Does any one have prior experience with this class in the summer? DC is good at math. I am worried about homework load. Is DC going to be stuck with hours of homework between classes which are 2 and 3 times a week depending on the week.

This is a bad plan. They still need 4 years of math in high school - you are going to run out of courses. Take tech (FOCS or FOT) and/or Health in the summer if you want to free up elective slots.

I feel like he is skimping on/rushing a core subject to take electives. Yes there are some great and interesting options..but the core classes are really important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is a rising 9th grader. DC registered for summer Honors Algebra 2 A&B. Does any one have prior experience with this class in the summer? DC is good at math. I am worried about homework load. Is DC going to be stuck with hours of homework between classes which are 2 and 3 times a week depending on the week.

This is a bad plan. They still need 4 years of math in high school - you are going to run out of courses. Take tech (FOCS or FOT) and/or Health in the summer if you want to free up elective slots.

Agreed. Algebra 2 is SUCH a fundamental course. If they don’t fully grasp some of the concepts (which wouldn’t be surprising, given the intensity and speed of the summer courses), the next four years in very advanced math classes are going to be extremely challenging.

If you/he still insists on doing it, make sure he takes advantage of all the in-person help opportunities, to be sure he’s working with some oversight and fully understanding everything. Just because he passes the summer class doesn’t mean he’s well-prepared for Precalc as a freshman.

Someone will correct me if I’m wrong, I’m sure, but I would think that most kids taking Algebra 2 over the summer will have already taken it once, and are just trying to pass a failed class or improve a grade. It’s not like Health or Tech, where lots of kids are trying to knock out a requirement over the summer. I honestly can’t imagine a counselor ever recommending a kid take a math class over the summer to free up space for an elective.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't take Algebra 2 over the summer for the reasons PP have identified as needing to have a really solid grounding, but running out of HS math classes isn't a concern I'd have. A kid who's already had Algebra 2 before 9th grade could then take precalculus, AP calculus AB/BC (either both or just BC), multivariate calculus, and AP stats in HS, and still have math all four years.

As for health and tech, my kids have taken those over the summer, and although there's a bunch of busywork, nothing was that hard. Those classes were well worth doing over the summers to free up space for other classes in HS.