Is homework manageable at a highly gifted center if both parents are working?

[Anonymous]

My child was accepted into Pine Crest. We love the idea... but how does that work in practice? DC would have about half an hour for homework at the after school program, then the rest would have to happen between 6:30 pm and bedtime. The teachers said at the presentation that it'd only be an hour per night, which sounds reasonable... but I'm not sure an hour is really accurate, especially for kids who are transitioning to new expectations for the type of work they will do. What's your experience, or what have you heard?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was accepted into Pine Crest. We love the idea... but how does that work in practice? DC would have about half an hour for homework at the after school program, then the rest would have to happen between 6:30 pm and bedtime. The teachers said at the presentation that it'd only be an hour per night, which sounds reasonable... but I'm not sure an hour is really accurate, especially for kids who are transitioning to new expectations for the type of work they will do. What's your experience, or what have you heard?

About an hour a night on average seems accurate to me; some nights more, some less. The first month or two was rough for us, but after that we got into a groove and it's been much easier with the occasional rough night. She's recently started doing work by herself ahead of time instead of waiting until the night before it's due which is a BIG improvement. I also wouldn't count on much homework being done at the after school program; my daughter just uses that time to unwind.

I've found it helpful to have a consistent routine as well; a bit of time at home to unwind and work starts at 6 or so. She can do whatever they want after it's finished.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious about this issue as well. My child was accepted at Oak View. They also said an hour a night. I'm particularly interested in how you structure your evening to include homework time if your child gets home at 6 or later. It's a non-issue for us now because our child can complete homework in about 5 minutes during after care.

[Anonymous]

DS did Pine Crest (same teachers that are there now) and there wasn't a lot of nightly homework, certainly less than an hour.

There were longer projects but those could be taken care of with some planning and an hour or two of work on some weekends.

[Anonymous]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I would say the actaul homework is about the same but in 4th grade there are some very time consuming projects. They can be managed on the weekend but don;t get behind. Fifth grade has dramatically less work..closer to our home school with 1 large research paper in the 3rd quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say the actaul homework is about the same but in 4th grade there are some very time consuming projects. They can be managed on the weekend but don;t get behind. Fifth grade has dramatically less work..closer to our home school with 1 large research paper in the 3rd quarter.

Which Center? And does this vary by Center? Also, does the curriculum itself vary by school?

[Anonymous]

there have been previous posts on the amounts of homework (really varies depending on the child, perfectionist tendencies, etc) at the HGCs.

[Anonymous]

It's the student's homework -- not yours. So the fact that both parents work is irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's the student's homework -- not yours. So the fact that both parents work is irrelevant.

It's not irrelevant. It matters be because the child needs time to do the homework. If the aftercare doesn't allow enough then you hav to find another way to get it done. I'm not the OP but I would also like to know whether it was a problem.

[Anonymous]

Someone told me that the fourth grade curriculm is standardized between schools but 5th grade is left flexible. I am not sure if that is true though..

Let's see my 4th grader made two books..poetry and migration; native american project ; geography - had to spell and locate all the countries of the world; explorer quilt..am sure there were other things that I am not thinking of. How does that compare with other 4th grades...

[Anonymous]

I think it's manageable as long as the student keeps up with the big projects (i.e., starts working on them when they're assigned, instead of just before they're due) and does work on weekends.

I have also heard that there is less homework in fifth grade.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much, everyone! OP here. I had been worried that because a lot of this is projects, with materials DC won't have at after-care, that it could be problematic. I also was concerned that because the after-care time for homework is so limited, bedtime would get pushed later and later. I really was thinking it might not be feasible for DC to squeeze it all in at night and weekends.
But it sounds as if there's lead time with the deadlines, with maybe a couple of weeks to work on it? If that's the case, I'm feeling much better and more willing to send my kid. DC has done 3 projects at the home school this year, although they were pretty easy (make a poster or powerpoint) and the kids had 3 weeks to do each one. I am not certain what the center projects will require but I imagine they'll be more extensive.
By the way, I'm curious - what's the explorer quilt project?
Thanks again...