Typical nightly homework load at various Upper Schools?

[Anonymous]

Rather than providing an intricate breakdown of the STA/NCS schedule, can't someone there just say something like "My 10th grade student does 2.5 hours most nights." Feels like the question is being dodged

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rather than providing an intricate breakdown of the STA/NCS schedule, can't someone there just say something like "My 10th grade student does 2.5 hours most nights." Feels like the question is being dodged

@18:52, among others, was specific -- she said her daughter had 2-3 hours per night, less if she did more work on a weekend. And re: the detailed breakdown, several posters relied on the handbook and extrapolated, assuming five classes per night. It's obviously relevant that students have only 3 or 4 classes per night.

My kids have only about 1.5 hours a night -- or a little less -- if they've worked during their free time at school (STA). When they use their free period chill out at the snack bar (Sam's Bar) with their friends (younger one), or drive to Brueger's Bagels in Glover Park (older one), then they have work in the 2-3 hour range. It takes them longer if they get distracted by texts to girlfriend (older one) or Clash of Clans (younger one).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I don't know . . . I know some teachers at top private schools that are alums of the private schools at which they now teach, and they believe the workload is very comparable. But maybe there's more pressure to take AP classes and such. They do all say that the distractions have multiplied exponentially, however.

On thing about teachers -- we do tend to focus on our own subject, and it's often the subject we liked best and spent the most time on when we were kids. I know I blew off (more accurately, satisficed in) the classes I didn't care as much about, so I could spend more time on the stuff I loved. Even when I was only doing the assigned work, I'd put much more time, energy, and thought into it than I would put into other classes where I was getting similar grades. I never tried or felt the need to do everything as well as I possibly could. Many kids today, especially in this hothouse environment do. And many teachers, AFAICT, are eager to give such bright hard-working kids a chance to see.what's so cool about their subject, despite all the "distractions" (which include other courses) pulling them in different directions. At which point homework sometimes seems to, inadvertently, turn into an arms race. And I don't mean busywork. I mean more texts, topics, more ambitious essays, more in-class debates.

Now layer in AP, which cuts off at least a month of instructional time (and that assumes that the teacher devotes little or no class the to exam prep or review). Add a rotating class schedule which removes a lecture a week. Oh, and recognize that because more kid are applying EA/ED to college, that they'll be doing as many APs as they can Junior year, while also trying to take SATs in the Spring semester. Don't forget that the curriculum for most Humanities courses has broadened considerably -- I think APUSH covers about 50 years more history than it did when I was in HS and Lit has moved well beyond major English/Irish/and a few US authors. we also have higher expectations regarding foreign language acquisition.

To me, these are the sources of the inhuman pace. Social media may be a refuge for lots of kids, but the workload is overwhelming even if you try to do nothing else. Until we recognize this, things aren't going to get better.

[Anonymous]

OP, it is all about time management. There are study halls and free periods, flex time - whatever you want to call it. Built into the day. Many kids will utilize it. Many won't. So the same school can say 1.5hrs and another poster will say 3.5hrs. Learning to focus and cut out the distractions is key to surviving high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rather than providing an intricate breakdown of the STA/NCS schedule, can't someone there just say something like "My 10th grade student does 2.5 hours most nights." Feels like the question is being dodged

@18:52, among others, was specific -- she said her daughter had 2-3 hours per night, less if she did more work on a weekend. And re: the detailed breakdown, several posters relied on the handbook and extrapolated, assuming five classes per night. It's obviously relevant that students have only 3 or 4 classes per night.

My kids have only about 1.5 hours a night -- or a little less -- if they've worked during their free time at school (STA). When they use their free period chill out at the snack bar (Sam's Bar) with their friends (younger one), or drive to Brueger's Bagels in Glover Park (older one), then they have work in the 2-3 hour range. It takes them longer if they get distracted by texts to girlfriend (older one) or Clash of Clans (younger one). [/quote]

Exactly. If your child is doing 3+hrs of HW every night, they are 100% goofing off during free periods or distracted during the HW time. Not to say they should always do HW then but there needs to be a balance. Sports game after school? Do HW during free periods. Friday with not a lot going on over the weekend? Enjoy some downtime during free periods.

My friend said over and over again how stressed her daughter was in upper school. Staying up so late, waking up at 4:30am to study, always 3-4hrs of HW. We were very nervous. But my daughter does average between 1.5-2hrs of HW. Some days more and some days less. That said, she is not allowed to have her phone in her room while she does HW. It has always been the rule and it isn't even questioned. We also make her get up after 45 minutes and take a break. The longer they sit in their room, the less focused they will be. We pushed all this in middle school and thankfully it just followed thru to high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it is all about time management. There are study halls and free periods, flex time - whatever you want to call it. Built into the day. Many kids will utilize it. Many won't. So the same school can say 1.5hrs and another poster will say 3.5hrs. Learning to focus and cut out the distractions is key to surviving high school.

But it shouldn't be.

[Anonymous]

If you could all ask the kids to bus their own tables when they visit the bagel stores in Glover Park, I'd appreciated. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it is all about time management. There are study halls and free periods, flex time - whatever you want to call it. Built into the day. Many kids will utilize it. Many won't. So the same school can say 1.5hrs and another poster will say 3.5hrs. Learning to focus and cut out the distractions is key to surviving high school.

But it shouldn't be.

I know what you are saying, but isn't time management and learning how to balance commitments one of the top skills a student can take going into college? I definitely hear this a lot from independent school grads, particularly those who play a sport in college and feel that they've already mastered the important skill of balancing work vs. sports vs. leisure. I do think that it's important to let kids make mistakes in high school -- getting a B instead of an A or a C instead of a B -- as they learn these skills. I get that people are worried about the effect on college admissions but there are so many good options that I feel like that "too important to fail" emphasis is misplaced.

I also think we know our kids well. If I've got a fast and efficient worker, maybe they can take all the toughest courses. If one of my kids is a plugger, then it doesn't make sense to throw her into the deep end just because she could do all the work if she kills herself. I think it's up to us to put the brakes on here. My humanities loving kid really shouldn't be in all the highest STEM courses because she has to struggle time-wise in them. If she puts more of her time into paper-writing and doesn't have a huge workload for STEM that seems like it's the balance we need. And if she wants to do the musical and a sport at the same time, that might not work for her and we can help her make the decision or let her try it and then provide guidance if it's not a good set-up.

[Anonymous]

Wow, this thread is making me realize how terrible the schedule at my kid's school is.

There are 7 periods in a day. Because he's in the IB Program, he has 6 academic courses. And he participates in an elective arts course - so that means he has no free periods. I thought that was just the way it had to be. But the examples of block scheduling show that there are creative ways to provide some open time, even for kids taking a full course load.

He's managed it so far, but now he's a junior and his spring extra-curricular time commitment is by far the most extensive. I have my fingers crossed to get through this final stretch of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it is all about time management. There are study halls and free periods, flex time - whatever you want to call it. Built into the day. Many kids will utilize it. Many won't. So the same school can say 1.5hrs and another poster will say 3.5hrs. Learning to focus and cut out the distractions is key to surviving high school.

But it shouldn't be.

I know what you are saying, but isn't time management and learning how to balance commitments one of the top skills a student can take going into college? I definitely hear this a lot from independent school grads, particularly those who play a sport in college and feel that they've already mastered the important skill of balancing work vs. sports vs. leisure. I do think that it's important to let kids make mistakes in high school -- getting a B instead of an A or a C instead of a B -- as they learn these skills. I get that people are worried about the effect on college admissions but there are so many good options that I feel like that "too important to fail" emphasis is misplaced

While I hear that from independent school grads and while I understand why they say it (because HS workload is heavier than college), I don't think that they're necessarily right or even in a position to know. Basically, workload management was a non-issue for me (and I didn't see classmates struggling with it either. Nor did I see undergrads who seemed stressed out over the amount of work when I taught while I was in grad school. In both cases, the school in question was an HYPS. I certainly didn't have the HS workload my DC had and most of the kids I knew weren't from prep schools.

College workload just isn't that extreme. Typically there are fewer courses, MUCH less class time, no family obligations and very little daily life overhead (someone else does most of the cooking, shopping, and cleaning for you if you live in a dorm, and everything you need is typically within walking distance -- including most ECs and all of your friends). And you get to choose your schedule and your courses, so you can structure your life so that you can work when you're efficient, sleep when you're tired, balance the types of assignments you'll be responsible for and when. Seriously, why do we make life much worse in HS to prepare kids to deal with college when college is almost inherently easier to deal with than HS in the first place?

Somedays I think what we're really doing is preparing upper middle class kids not for college but for a lifetime of soul-crushing but lucrative/high-status work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, it is all about time management. There are study halls and free periods, flex time - whatever you want to call it. Built into the day. Many kids will utilize it. Many won't. So the same school can say 1.5hrs and another poster will say 3.5hrs. Learning to focus and cut out the distractions is key to surviving high school.

But it shouldn't be.

I know what you are saying, but isn't time management and learning how to balance commitments one of the top skills a student can take going into college? I definitely hear this a lot from independent school grads, particularly those who play a sport in college and feel that they've already mastered the important skill of balancing work vs. sports vs. leisure. I do think that it's important to let kids make mistakes in high school -- getting a B instead of an A or a C instead of a B -- as they learn these skills. I get that people are worried about the effect on college admissions but there are so many good options that I feel like that "too important to fail" emphasis is misplaced

While I hear that from independent school grads and while I understand why they say it (because HS workload is heavier than college), I don't think that they're necessarily right or even in a position to know. Basically, workload management was a non-issue for me (and I didn't see classmates struggling with it either. Nor did I see undergrads who seemed stressed out over the amount of work when I taught while I was in grad school. In both cases, the school in question was an HYPS. I certainly didn't have the HS workload my DC had and most of the kids I knew weren't from prep schools.

College workload just isn't that extreme. Typically there are fewer courses, MUCH less class time, no family obligations and very little daily life overhead (someone else does most of the cooking, shopping, and cleaning for you if you live in a dorm, and everything you need is typically within walking distance -- including most ECs and all of your friends). And you get to choose your schedule and your courses, so you can structure your life so that you can work when you're efficient, sleep when you're tired, balance the types of assignments you'll be responsible for and when. Seriously, why do we make life much worse in HS to prepare kids to deal with college when college is almost inherently easier to deal with than HS in the first place?

Somedays I think what we're really doing is preparing upper middle class kids not for college but for a lifetime of soul-crushing but lucrative/high-status work.

+1000
High school should not be harder than college.

I went to a competitive suburban public school, then harvard. In HS I did maybe an hour a day of homework, rarely more. And HS was still more work than college. Idiotic. I'd rather have happy, curious and relaxed kids who end up at a less "good" colleg than miserable, stressed kids who go to harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is making me realize how terrible the schedule at my kid's school is.

There are 7 periods in a day. Because he's in the IB Program, he has 6 academic courses. And he participates in an elective arts course - so that means he has no free periods. I thought that was just the way it had to be. But the examples of block scheduling show that there are creative ways to provide some open time, even for kids taking a full course load.

He's managed it so far, but now he's a junior and his spring extra-curricular time commitment is by far the most extensive. I have my fingers crossed to get through this final stretch of the year.

My schedule as a teenager attending public high school was similar to your son's. I had no free periods & generally spent 4 or more hours doing homework every night. Between homework & extra-curriculars, free time was practically non existent & I was lucky if I got 4 hours of sleep at night. It was an absolutely miserable & extremely unhealthy way to live.

Why so many schools still haven't turned to block scheduling as a means of combating excessive workloads is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, this thread is making me realize how terrible the schedule at my kid's school is.

There are 7 periods in a day. Because he's in the IB Program, he has 6 academic courses. And he participates in an elective arts course - so that means he has no free periods. I thought that was just the way it had to be. But the examples of block scheduling show that there are creative ways to provide some open time, even for kids taking a full course load.

He's managed it so far, but now he's a junior and his spring extra-curricular time commitment is by far the most extensive. I have my fingers crossed to get through this final stretch of the year.

The IB is brutal. Worse than private. At least in my child's school they recognize the stress and on top of block scheduling, they have community days, field trips, events for holidays etc... that give the kids some childhood moments.

I think it is vert important to learn time management and some kids can master it and have a great high school life. Others can't but get pushed by themselves,peers or parents. If you are doing more than 2.5hrs a day, you need to re-evaluate. Too much distraction, can't handle the workload, pushing too hard, too many outside activities, etc... Not all kids in private are taking high course loads and that is a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a competitive suburban public school, then harvard. In HS I did maybe an hour a day of homework, rarely more. And HS was still more work than college. Idiotic. I'd rather have happy, curious and relaxed kids who end up at a less "good" colleg than miserable, stressed kids who go to harvard.

I have no idea what you majored in at Harvard, but you definitely picked your classes better than me. For a history concentration, I often had 1,000 pages of reading a week and that was before starting my senior thesis. No chance to ever skate by on an hour a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:@23:22, that's a great post about how much more time sports take. I was a three-sport high school athlete and played two sports in college, Division I. I would have happily played club sports in my fall/spring sports (the ones I ended up playing in college), but clubs didn't exist at that point.

So my time commitment was limited to in-season, my own training, and camps in summer. No extra club practices on top of school practice or three-day weekend showcase tournaments. It has really changed the landscape.

This is a real concern for us. Our 8th grader plays a club sport at the elite level and wants to play two sports in HS. DS was accepted at two private HSs -- one a very academically challenging/prestigious HS that we understand has a very heavy homework load and the other a less academically rigorous HS in a more competitive sports league. We have suggested to our DS that he may have a happier HS life, and end up in the same position for college admissions, choosing the school with more competitive sports but less daily homework. We are very afraid he wont be home until 7 pm on weekdays, and will be up to 1am every night at the more academically challenging HS. We think that kind of schedule will make for an unhappy and possibly unhealthy HS life. DS is a "type A" personality however and he does not share our concerns about the homework load. We will have to figure this out this week.....

We chose Prep for our son for exactly this reason, turning down a big 3. He has about 2-3 hours of homework per night, loves school and plays two varsity sports. It is a good balance and the classes are interesting and challenging. Each kid/family is different, but I think this his a good fit for him because he loves to be on sports teams.