Basis PCS

[Anonymous]

Holy smokes! I read the English, Art and Science syllabus for my new 5th grade Basis student and they are no joke.. this is going to be a challenging year! Any advice from any, been there, done that, parents? I'm already worried

[Anonymous]

Help your child figure out a system to stay organized and on top of assignments.

Have them go to their weekly teachers hours the minute anything gets fuzzy. Schedule a parent hours mtg early on with the teacher in any class your child is struggling with.

The kids work hard but also have fun. Art and music work will all be completed in class. English and math will likely require the most effort.

Best of luck for a great year.
-parent of 6th and 9th grade Basis students

[Anonymous]

Ahh thank u! That was good info you shared. I appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help your child figure out a system to stay organized and on top of assignments.

Have them go to their weekly teachers hours the minute anything gets fuzzy. Schedule a parent hours mtg early on with the teacher in any class your child is struggling with.

The kids work hard but also have fun. Art and music work will all be completed in class. English and math will likely require the most effort.

Best of luck for a great year.
-parent of 6th and 9th grade Basis students

Thank you from another 5th grade parent. I was commenting to DH this morning that this 5th grade is no joke for both our 5th grade dd and myself. We're coming from a school where there was very little emphasis on home work and it did not count towards the grades. Now, home work is serious business. She has a positive report so far though it's still the first week so we'll see how that goes. Any more tips/suggestions particularly with respect to late bird and extracurricular activities?

[Anonymous]

4th year parent here -- please remember and remind your DC that homework is graded for completion, not for perfection/correctness. Homework is used as a practice, so you know what you don't know and can learn it before the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help your child figure out a system to stay organized and on top of assignments.

Have them go to their weekly teachers hours the minute anything gets fuzzy. Schedule a parent hours mtg early on with the teacher in any class your child is struggling with.

The kids work hard but also have fun. Art and music work will all be completed in class. English and math will likely require the most effort.

Best of luck for a great year.
-parent of 6th and 9th grade Basis students

Thank you from another 5th grade parent. I was commenting to DH this morning that this 5th grade is no joke for both our 5th grade dd and myself. We're coming from a school where there was very little emphasis on home work and it did not count towards the grades. Now, home work is serious business. She has a positive report so far though it's still the first week so we'll see how that goes. Any more tips/suggestions particularly with respect to late bird and extracurricular activities?

We have never used late bird. My kids have like the extra curriculars they have tried but we limited them to just one at a time until they got the swing of homework, commuting, the longer school day.

[Anonymous]

One more suggestion -- parents should absolutely attend back to school night (will be in early evening the week of Sept 7). You will meet all your kids teachers and they will provide context on homework, answer syllabus questions and so forth.

It is the most important meeting of the year, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4th year parent here -- please remember and remind your DC that homework is graded for completion, not for perfection/correctness. Homework is used as a practice, so you know what you don't know and can learn it before the test.

This is totally true for math, and essential to understand. Because as long as you make an effort on each problem, you can learn what you don't know before the weekly test. HUGE MISTAKE to spend too much time on problem sets. Also remember that each test allows for a mastery defense as well so you can keep your head above water.

If your kids are good at math, try to get them to knock off at least two problem sets in advance over the weekend. That is what we did initially, and actually now we start over the summer. But my spouse understands math.

Our children learned more in 5th and 6th grade than I thought they were capable of. Not sure I would have been able to do it. And by 8th they have all taken the equivalent of one year of high school bio, physics, and chem. Definitely would not have been able to do that. But stay organized and stay on top of their work with them initially. No last minute "oh shit I forgot." They place a huge responsibility on kids, so ease it a bit for them initially.

But they go easy in Latin, music has no homework, and while visiting museums for the art class every GP can be a pain if you forget about it until the last minute, it really turned out to be quite interesting and fun.

THE KEY is not to fall behind. And if you are absent, work hard to catch up immediately. They will email the homework buddies - if you do not have another child there. But falling behind due to procrastination or absences is the WORST. On homework, again, ALL homework, the key is just to get it done and keep moving. Keep moving.

And remember, unless your child is in Algebra I, it is not cumulative and there are NO COMPS in 5th grade.
But most of the teachers really mean what they say about late work etc. No wiggle room or negotiation.
It is a steep learning curve, but most kids get the hang of it. And if they love learning, they will love BASIS.
And by the end of the year you and they will both be amazed and proud of what they managed to accomplish/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But they go easy in Latin, music has no homework, and while visiting museums for the art class every GP can be a pain if you forget about it until the last minute, it really turned out to be quite interesting and fun.

/

There's a new Latin teacher for 5th and 6th - not sure how easy it's going to be ...

[Anonymous]

About how many hours a night of homework is there? Honestly this sounds more miserable/militaristic than rigorous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About how many hours a night of homework is there? Honestly this sounds more miserable/militaristic than rigorous.

Parent of 9th grader -

On average my child has 1 hour of math homework 4 nights a week (Sun-Weds). No math homework on Thursday because there is a test every Friday (he doesn't study for those).

Also spends about 60-75 minutes combined for other subjects 5 nights a week - a bit more if it's a larger project or unit test. DC catches up on reading novels assigned for school on weekend.

It's not awful. But this varies a lot by kid - some can do the work in even less time, some take longer. My DC has learned how to be more efficient over time - e.g. not whining about the assignment, but just getting started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About how many hours a night of homework is there? Honestly this sounds more miserable/militaristic than rigorous.

How do you expect them to get a rigorous education without homework?

[Anonymous]

It takes a while before your child will feel confident, so help them the first few months to not get too stressed and make it easy for them to stay organized. Notecards with binder rings help a lot. Student hours are really important. Most teachers allow retakes on tests or quizzes so make sure your child finds out which do and that they retake if they blow a quiz or test. Yes they test a lot, but that give more chances to. Aster material and individual assessments are worth less. Stay on top of homework and make sure it makes it in the folder or bag every day. Check the cj for assignments lateness and communications with teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About how many hours a night of homework is there? Honestly this sounds more miserable/militaristic than rigorous.

How do you expect them to get a rigorous education without homework?

I think most studies show that excessive homework doesn't actually help kids learn and becomes more busy work when they should be going to sleep. I think there is some value in homework but I would be careful to assume that just because a school regularly gives kids 2 plus hours a night that it means the school is awesome. Maybe something is lacking during the day. Just something to weigh, especially if your kid has other aftershool activities or a long commute that would make 2-3 hours of homework a night a total nightmare for the kid and the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About how many hours a night of homework is there? Honestly this sounds more miserable/militaristic than rigorous.

How do you expect them to get a rigorous education without homework?

I think most studies show that excessive homework doesn't actually help kids learn and becomes more busy work when they should be going to sleep. I think there is some value in homework but I would be careful to assume that just because a school regularly gives kids 2 plus hours a night that it means the school is awesome. Maybe something is lacking during the day. Just something to weigh, especially if your kid has other aftershool activities or a long commute that would make 2-3 hours of homework a night a total nightmare for the kid and the parents.

I'd love to read those studies, PP. Would you please post links or citations.

Thanks.