Homework is Hell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

Just to be clear, my son is in the IB program at RM. So far straight A's!

If they can't make straight A's in a reasonable amount of time, maybe your cut isn't cut out for IB. Or has a sleep disorder and isn't getting enough rest. Or low iron or low thyroid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My children come home everyday after school tired and overworked. They still have hours of homework ahead of them...what happened to childhood? Wondering what your thoughts are?

What can we do to free our children??!!!?

You can choose not to sign your kid up for an extra-homewoek magent program!!!

+1

The RM IB magnet is known for a heavy workload. My kids went to the Blair magnet and also had hours of homework. I know how it can wear them down and sometimes intrude on family life. However, that’s what they signed up for because it’s what they wanted. They love to learn and were drawn to challenging subjects. Complaining about it would be like an athlete complaining that practice was taking over their life or a musician complaining about rehearsals.

You can work with them on time management, but there will still be a lot of homework. If it gets to be too much, you may have to place limits on your end. One of mine (a perfectionist with ADHD) was burnt out by Senior year, so I insisted she have a study hall (instead of another demanding class). The other was a type A personality, highly organized and efficient, who managed to balance things better, although there was still a lot of work to cope with. If worst come to worst and the homework is unbearable, there is always the option of leaving the program, which is absolutely fine. The vast majority of MCPS students (even the college-bound ones) have less demanding schedules and still go on to happy and successful futures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grader doing all AP classes does not have hours of homework.

My other kid, now in college, took the entire afternoon and evening to do his homework, in elementary, middle and high school. He had a processing speed measured at the 4th percentile, with inattentive ADHD and autism.

If your kids are taking hours to do homework, OP, and they're not doing 6 AP courses at the same time... you need to worry about processing speed and possible ADHD, because the two are often closely linked. They might need a diagnosis to get a 504 and extended time.

I suspect my 8th grader has slow processing speed. If I get a 504, when do they do the homework even with extended time, if they have hrs every night of homework?

What other strategies helped?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10th grader doing all AP classes does not have hours of homework.

My other kid, now in college, took the entire afternoon and evening to do his homework, in elementary, middle and high school. He had a processing speed measured at the 4th percentile, with inattentive ADHD and autism.

If your kids are taking hours to do homework, OP, and they're not doing 6 AP courses at the same time... you need to worry about processing speed and possible ADHD, because the two are often closely linked. They might need a diagnosis to get a 504 and extended time.

I suspect my 8th grader has slow processing speed. If I get a 504, when do they do the homework even with extended time, if they have hrs every night of homework?

What other strategies helped?

You can try to get an 504 for half homework, or convince your kid to skip some of the homework because it's only 10% of their grade and the most intensive repetitive drudgery work is graded for "effort" with a 2-second glance at the notebook.

Study hall like PP said, and choosing the slowe track classes among the options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My children come home everyday after school tired and overworked. They still have hours of homework ahead of them...what happened to childhood? Wondering what your thoughts are?

What can we do to free our children??!!!?

Do you have two children in RMIB?

And if you want to "free your children" - send them to your local school. The work will be much lighter.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids in high school. One has done magnet programs at every level and will have completed 12 APs by the end of this year. That kid has a double period internship and a separate retail job. The other has attended our neighborhood schools. That kid has ADHD and dyscalculia, has struggled in school at times, and hasn’t taken lots of AP classes.

They’ve both had the same experience: nights with very little homework because they were given time in class to work on their assignments, and nights where it’s the perfect storm because they have something due in 3 or 4 different classes to be completed at home and two tests the next day. My magnet kid has more busy nights with homework than my other kid does, but also is able to work more efficiently and therefore can complete more work in the same amount of time.

I’m surprised to hear that there are students who consistently have the same amount of homework from one day to the next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids in high school. One has done magnet programs at every level and will have completed 12 APs by the end of this year. That kid has a double period internship and a separate retail job. The other has attended our neighborhood schools. That kid has ADHD and dyscalculia, has struggled in school at times, and hasn’t taken lots of AP classes.

They’ve both had the same experience: nights with very little homework because they were given time in class to work on their assignments, and nights where it’s the perfect storm because they have something due in 3 or 4 different classes to be completed at home and two tests the next day. My magnet kid has more busy nights with homework than my other kid does, but also is able to work more efficiently and therefore can complete more work in the same amount of time.

I’m surprised to hear that there are students who consistently have the same amount of homework from one day to the next.

My kid has different amounts of homework that must be done completed each night but has been good about setting aside the same amount of time each day to study and do homework. When she has less homework due the next day, she uses the time to study for an assessment.

There are definitely some days where there is a lot due and she may spend more time studying, but overall, it's a pretty even amount of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids in high school. One has done magnet programs at every level and will have completed 12 APs by the end of this year. That kid has a double period internship and a separate retail job. The other has attended our neighborhood schools. That kid has ADHD and dyscalculia, has struggled in school at times, and hasn’t taken lots of AP classes.

They’ve both had the same experience: nights with very little homework because they were given time in class to work on their assignments, and nights where it’s the perfect storm because they have something due in 3 or 4 different classes to be completed at home and two tests the next day. My magnet kid has more busy nights with homework than my other kid does, but also is able to work more efficiently and therefore can complete more work in the same amount of time.

I’m surprised to hear that there are students who consistently have the same amount of homework from one day to the next.

My kid has different amounts of homework that must be done completed each night but has been good about setting aside the same amount of time each day to study and do homework. When she has less homework due the next day, she uses the time to study for an assessment.

There are definitely some days where there is a lot due and she may spend more time studying, but overall, it's a pretty even amount of time.

Like all professionals, teachers should assume they need to report to work at their usual time and plan accordingly.

[Anonymous]

I think the responders here don't have much of a clue about the workload in the IB program. It sounds like about par for the course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids in high school. One has done magnet programs at every level and will have completed 12 APs by the end of this year. That kid has a double period internship and a separate retail job. The other has attended our neighborhood schools. That kid has ADHD and dyscalculia, has struggled in school at times, and hasn’t taken lots of AP classes.

They’ve both had the same experience: nights with very little homework because they were given time in class to work on their assignments, and nights where it’s the perfect storm because they have something due in 3 or 4 different classes to be completed at home and two tests the next day. My magnet kid has more busy nights with homework than my other kid does, but also is able to work more efficiently and therefore can complete more work in the same amount of time.

I’m surprised to hear that there are students who consistently have the same amount of homework from one day to the next.

Magnet homework and tests are assigned one day and due next day?

No lead time?