Workload at Blair Math and Science Magnet

[Anonymous]

I am really enjoying the thread about RMIB and think it would be helpful to have a similar thread about Blair Math and Science with the same question : how many hours of homework per night on average and if possible how does this change from year to year (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior).

[Anonymous]

I hope you get sincere answers from people with real first-hand knowledge. But just so you know if you haven't experienced it before, any subject about the Blair magnet usually attracts the same nutty troll.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of work, but it can vary according to a) how efficient the child is and b) class choice.

I've had 2 kids in the magnet. As a very rough guesstimate, I would say that one spent about 3 hrs/night on homework first semester freshman year and the other spent 4-5. (Both were in Functions which is known for a lot of homework.) Chemistry comes second semester and may raise homework totals.

Some classes which seem to involve a lot of homework include Functions, Freshman Chemistry, and AP World History. I'm sure there are others.

[Anonymous]

For those not in the know, Functions takes what normal MCPS kids do in 4 semesters of Alg II A/B and Pre-calc A/B and covers it in 2 semesters.
About half of the Functions class has already had Alg II A/B, these days, but for the half who haven't, you can see where the homework comes from.

[Anonymous]

My child is a freshman and loves the Blair magnet. I would say DC has about 3 hours/night of homework, give or take, including Functions homework. (The content and pace of that class truly boggles the mind.)

So far the magnet experience has been a smashing success for her, as she enjoys the work and is doing very well.

[Anonymous]

Just in case if anybody had 8th grader from Takoma taking math in Blair.
What class these kids usually take?
I do not think they are mentally ready for Functions. So do they usually take Precalc A/B? What is the rest of path in case coming to Blair in 9th after taking Math at Blair in 8th?
Do they take Calc in 10th?

[Anonymous]

I think the progression from Takoma Park is that kids who took Geometry in 8th go into Precalc and those who took Algebra 2 in 8th go either into Precalc or Functions.

Here is a link to a course overview by grade for Blair:

https://mbhs.edu/departments/magnet/courses.php

[Anonymous]

My son did not take Functions -- and the majority of magnet kids do not take Functions - and I think his workload was fine. He also was on a team every season but he does not take a bus to Blair -- and that saves time. The courses that take up the most time are sometimes the non-magnet classes such as english and history. We also had him take a study hall in 9th grade since he missed 9th period a lot to travel for the team(s).

He did not come from TPMS program and still did just fine in the standard pre-calc/calc series they have. He is not the most organized child, and I thought it was less tedious work than the Eastern magnet program.

Blair magnet is great and he loves it. The PP was correct in that chemistry can add work in the 9th grade. Math is just steady and every day.

I hope that helps.

[Anonymous]

Do all Blair kids take a study hall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do all Blair kids take a study hall?

No

[Anonymous]

I have 2 at Blair (who also got into RM). They love it. 1 went right into Functions, 1 did not. They love it, but it's a lot of work. They wouldn't trade it for anything though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son did not take Functions -- and the majority of magnet kids do not take Functions - and I think his workload was fine. He also was on a team every season but he does not take a bus to Blair -- and that saves time. The courses that take up the most time are sometimes the non-magnet classes such as english and history. We also had him take a study hall in 9th grade since he missed 9th period a lot to travel for the team(s).

He did not come from TPMS program and still did just fine in the standard pre-calc/calc series they have. He is not the most organized child, and I thought it was less tedious work than the Eastern magnet program.

Blair magnet is great and he loves it. The PP was correct in that chemistry can add work in the 9th grade. Math is just steady and every day.

I hope that helps.

I would love to know how your Eastern kid enjoyed Blair Math and Science magnet. It sounds like he came in having completed Geometry in 8th grade. Was he adequately prepared for the Math classes? Was he at a disadvantage compared to the TPMS kids who have already taken Computer Science and have some exposure to Engineering. Is there as much debate and classroom participation as there was at Eastern? I feel like the kids at Eastern are pretty diverse in terms of their interests - there are a lot of kids who are good at Math and like science but also love to read novels, like to write and are interested in current affairs and history. Also how did he find the non magnet English and History classes. Sorry to have so many questions. TIA

[Anonymous]

I can tell you for sure that Math in local schools and Magnet Math are completely different animals. ( I know my kid took Algebra that is so far apart from one at Robert Frost, same with Geometry..)There is huge gap between them. However your child still may be fine...
Obviously Takoma kids will have advantage...

[Anonymous]

I assume they only accept kids who are qualified..regardless of where they went to ms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son did not take Functions -- and the majority of magnet kids do not take Functions - and I think his workload was fine. He also was on a team every season but he does not take a bus to Blair -- and that saves time. The courses that take up the most time are sometimes the non-magnet classes such as english and history. We also had him take a study hall in 9th grade since he missed 9th period a lot to travel for the team(s).

He did not come from TPMS program and still did just fine in the standard pre-calc/calc series they have. He is not the most organized child, and I thought it was less tedious work than the Eastern magnet program.

Blair magnet is great and he loves it. The PP was correct in that chemistry can add work in the 9th grade. Math is just steady and every day.

I hope that helps.

I would love to know how your Eastern kid enjoyed Blair Math and Science magnet. It sounds like he came in having completed Geometry in 8th grade. Was he adequately prepared for the Math classes? Was he at a disadvantage compared to the TPMS kids who have already taken Computer Science and have some exposure to Engineering. Is there as much debate and classroom participation as there was at Eastern? I feel like the kids at Eastern are pretty diverse in terms of their interests - there are a lot of kids who are good at Math and like science but also love to read novels, like to write and are interested in current affairs and history. Also how did he find the non magnet English and History classes. Sorry to have so many questions. TIA

I'm back - with the son from Eastern - The Blair Math and Science magnet has been great. He did complete Geometry in 8th grade, but there is a class of magnet kids from who still need geometry even in HS. In the freshman year, there are (I'm estimating) one class of functions, two of pre-calc, one of geometry. He was in one of the two pre-calc classes. The hardest point was coming home the first day of the one week 'prep class' they offer -- or I called it "Algebra II by firehose". He just didn't have experience with all the factoring that the TPMS kids did and that is just pure exposure and practice. They gave him a booklet and he just practiced. Within a few weeks in the fall, they were all learning new things.

In terms of being 'prepared' for the Blair program, he's been fine. I must admit, we/I was pretty clear that calculators should always be used as a last resort throughout ES/MS. If your child got in, he/she can handle it. I also asked the program coordinator for my DS's score so I could explain to him what percentile he was in (and to convince him that he belonged there). If the percentile was low, I wouldn't have told him it.

The english and history are good at Blair. This was never his area of interest, but I find the books they read interesting. His writing from Eastern helps write the labs, papers, etc. The teachers in the magnet program (aside from 1-2....) are really very, very good. They are better than the instructors they would get in college (and I say that as a college professor).

As to other interests, I find he's more likely to talk now about politics, world issues, etc at school. But that could be a product of being in HS rather than MS.

In a nutshell: he was not at a disadvantage in regards to being prepared for the magnet program aside from the 1-week crash course in the summer (highly recommend) and the first 2-3 weeks of math. For all students, they are seeing new science and engineering ideas. For computer science, there are a few kids who are accelerated and all can take a test to see if they can join - the rest just take computer science together.