What's the homework level at Takoma Park and Eastern MS magnets?

[Anonymous]

About how many hours a day or week of homework can we expect in the magnet programs, compared to the homework in non-magnet middle school? Is it overwhelming? Our child is in an HGC and is used to homework. But it would be nice to know what to expect next year.

[Anonymous]

My child is at Takoma and was in the HGC last year. The homework is reasonable, comparable to the HGC. Not crazy and not busywork.

[Anonymous]

Eastern -- 6th grade was fine, less than the HGC, as PP remarks.

7th grade is shaping up to be more because they do a mammoth research project and paper called the IDRP (inter-disciplinary research paper?).

The hardest part about it is the planning. If my kid plans ahead he can get things done in a reasonable amount of time, but if he leaves them until the last minute and doesn't keep up with the reading, it can get ugly.

By contrast, I have a child in a regular MCPS middle school also. That child has about the same level of homework, minus the IDRP and with much less reading required.

[Anonymous]

There is definitely more homework in 7th grade at TPMS. Some nights there is almost no homework and others 3-5 hours of it...generally for studying before a test along with regular homework due for other classes.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the homework and test prep at TPMS seemed to be self-directed. The teachers definitely weren't spoon-feeding the kids, instead they did what our family called "data dumps" and the kids had to sift through to figure out what was important. Your kid's ability to laser in on what's key for the homework and tests will affect the amount of time he or she needs.

[Anonymous]

PP, that's interesting. Can you talk more about what you mean, maybe an example of one of the data dumps and what the kids had to get out of it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, that's interesting. Can you talk more about what you mean, maybe an example of one of the data dumps and what the kids had to get out of it?

The data dumps occurred particularly in the magnet science classes, where the teachers would provide numerous links and packets, some of it at a college level, and the kids would have to figure out what was important for homework assignments and for tests (to be safe, sometimes DC assumed it was all important).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, that's interesting. Can you talk more about what you mean, maybe an example of one of the data dumps and what the kids had to get out of it?

The data dumps occurred particularly in the magnet science classes, where the teachers would provide numerous links and packets, some of it at a college level, and the kids would have to figure out what was important for homework assignments and for tests (to be safe, sometimes DC assumed it was all important).

My two kids have gone through the TPMS magnet (one is there now) and I am completely unfamiliar with these "data dumps." Not our experience at all. And certainly not at college level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, that's interesting. Can you talk more about what you mean, maybe an example of one of the data dumps and what the kids had to get out of it?

The data dumps occurred particularly in the magnet science classes, where the teachers would provide numerous links and packets, some of it at a college level, and the kids would have to figure out what was important for homework assignments and for tests (to be safe, sometimes DC assumed it was all important).

My two kids have gone through the TPMS magnet (one is there now) and I am completely unfamiliar with these "data dumps." Not our experience at all. And certainly not at college level.

7th grade science in particular. We helped DC print them all out and sort through them. Some of the websites were at colleges.

[Anonymous]

I agree with TPMS data dumps and science. Definitely college level. They cover organic chemistry and biochemistry. Yes, some of the info is from colleges and you have to wade through, take what is useful, and leave the rest. Kids may need help with this at first, otherwise it is overwhelming. The tests are easier than what is presented in all of the info provided by the teacher, but many of the kids are really into science so that extra info is fine for them. This makes first quarter especially stressful.

[Anonymous]

My kid was at TPMS because he lived and breathed one of the trio - math, science and computer science. While he liked the other two, it's not like he loved them. So he struggled a bit in the other two (and by struggle I mean he got As and Bs but not without a lot of complaining). In his favorite subject, he breezed through and even did extra work, while other kids complained about all the homework in that subject. So it's sort of "to each his or her own" thing as to how much homework is "too much."

[Anonymous]

At Eastern there is definitely a lot of homework. I wouldn't call it challenging necessarily. It is a lot of detail oriented scut work, not necessarily substantive, IMO. I realize that part of school is learning to follow the rules, but rubrics for projects include ridiculous specifications like exactly how many inches on each side your podium for your Greek god presentation must be, or else points deducted.... I mean really?

[Anonymous]

I think the amount of homework is very reasonable. On average, my DC spends less than an hour a day studying. Projects require planning, and are more time consuming.