How do kids at schools with 4+ hours of HW per night have time to get everything done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my top prep school located elsewhere, the good students averaged about 3 hours/night on homework. These were the students strong in reading, writing, and math. Very well organized students with slightly lower grades spent similar amounts of time on homework.

However, Lower performing students routinely averaged 4 or more hours/night taking the same classes.

I would be startled if a similar pattern did not exist with top DC prep schools.

And how would you know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody has that much homework. It’s a lie that parents tell, just like people who claim to work 100 hours a week.

You are very wrong. Four hours of homework per night is very common at Big 3 and somewhat common at many public and private schools. At most non-Big 3 schools, you can get by with less, so only top students work that hard. At Big 3, unless you're unusually efficient, your grades probably suffer a lot of you do only 2 hours per night. It's also not cool to get mediocre grades at Big 3, so many people do the work required to get B or above in all courses, which is a lot.

Most students at Big 3 have more reading and writing than most students at other schools.

4-5 hours per night means your kid didn't use free periods during the day and/or isn't very efficient in doing their work. I disagree that grades suffer if they are doing less.

-Parent of two Big 3 current or former students.

I bet you consider Maret a big three....

Nope. I am old school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody has that much homework. It’s a lie that parents tell, just like people who claim to work 100 hours a week.

Nope, sorry, I went to a big three and I absolutely had four hours of homework a night. The standard the school set was the teachers should aim for 45 minutes a night for a regular class and an hour a half a night for an AP class.

That would be onerous for a student taking 6 or more APs (as I did in school)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody has that much homework. It’s a lie that parents tell, just like people who claim to work 100 hours a week.

You are very wrong. Four hours of homework per night is very common at Big 3 and somewhat common at many public and private schools. At most non-Big 3 schools, you can get by with less, so only top students work that hard. At Big 3, unless you're unusually efficient, your grades probably suffer a lot of you do only 2 hours per night. It's also not cool to get mediocre grades at Big 3, so many people do the work required to get B or above in all courses, which is a lot.

Most students at Big 3 have more reading and writing than most students at other schools.

4-5 hours per night means your kid didn't use free periods during the day and/or isn't very efficient in doing their work. I disagree that grades suffer if they are doing less.

-Parent of two Big 3 current or former students.

I agree with your description but it applies to only some Big 3 students. Less than half? Less than a quarter? I don't know, but I do know that many kids who are very smart and very interested in the courses just can't work that way. If you can work that way, Big 3 is a lot less stressful, and you're very fortunate.

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher and it is sad how stressed out the kids are now. They also act like getting a B would be a total failure on their part. There is very little enjoyment in classes. It is all about the end result - let me jump through all the hoops so I can get an A. Many many kids are seeing therapists to help them manage stress. Others are secretly drinking, etc. How did we get here as a society?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and it is sad how stressed out the kids are now. They also act like getting a B would be a total failure on their part. There is very little enjoyment in classes. It is all about the end result - let me jump through all the hoops so I can get an A. Many many kids are seeing therapists to help them manage stress. Others are secretly drinking, etc. How did we get here as a society?

I'm a parent of a student in a top private school and I don't feel that way at all. The college game has made it so over the top competitive and unpredictable in terms of admissions that anything lower than an A is undesirable. My son has ADHD and I see how much effort is required to get the grades he gets (humanities and FL- As and high Bs, math/science with math- Cs). I've never seen a student work so hard to get a C as he does. He won't get into any top colleges but he wouldn't do well at them anyway. He'll end up at a school that works for him. Not everyone is like you describe PP because not all parents gloss over the learning for the end result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and it is sad how stressed out the kids are now. They also act like getting a B would be a total failure on their part. There is very little enjoyment in classes. It is all about the end result - let me jump through all the hoops so I can get an A. Many many kids are seeing therapists to help them manage stress. Others are secretly drinking, etc. How did we get here as a society?

I'm a parent of a student in a top private school and I don't feel that way at all. The college game has made it so over the top competitive and unpredictable in terms of admissions that anything lower than an A is undesirable. My son has ADHD and I see how much effort is required to get the grades he gets (humanities and FL- As and high Bs, math/science with math- Cs). I've never seen a student work so hard to get a C as he does. He won't get into any top colleges but he wouldn't do well at them anyway. He'll end up at a school that works for him. Not everyone is like you describe PP because not all parents gloss over the learning for the end result.

I don't understand your post as you appear to be confirming the very post you claim to be contradicting. You claim to contradict the PP who says that kids are stressed out but you agree that the college admissions game is insane these days. Your son works his tail off for Bs/Cs in some classes. He has to do this because the kids above him (without ADHD) are working their tails off to gets As. It's a trickle down effect. They work like maniacs to get to the top of the class, your son works like a sled dog to get his grades. It's all messed up.

[Anonymous]

We aren't playing the game. He will end up going to a non-competitive school. I could have him tutored multiple times each week so he can compete with the other students for entry into top schools but I'm not going to do that. Many of his classmates have multiple tutors multiple times per week. No thanks. It's just not worth it IMO. If parents didn't care so much about name-brand prestige, this wouldn't be a problem. I think the reason so many teens don't have jobs is that they are too busy building their resumes. Why work at a job when they can attend internships? Why work at a job when they can go to summer college programs? They need to train for their sports! They'd probably get more out of a regular job than anything else they did in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We aren't playing the game. He will end up going to a non-competitive school. I could have him tutored multiple times each week so he can compete with the other students for entry into top schools but I'm not going to do that. Many of his classmates have multiple tutors multiple times per week. No thanks. It's just not worth it IMO. If parents didn't care so much about name-brand prestige, this wouldn't be a problem. I think the reason so many teens don't have jobs is that they are too busy building their resumes. Why work at a job when they can attend internships? Why work at a job when they can go to summer college programs? They need to train for their sports! They'd probably get more out of a regular job than anything else they did in the summer.

As a public school kid who got into an Ivy a long, long time ago, I would echo this sentiment. I worked several jobs as a waiter for gas/girlfriend money and learned a lot from it, including much of the time management and hard work skills that may come from the insane homework schedules nowadays.

Plus, my teenage years were MINE. I can look back on them for better or worse (don't really care, in fact) but my life wasn't dictated to me. That was a super positive influence on me long-term.

I don't see that happening with many kids today from my perspective as a teacher/tutor.

[Anonymous]

Why would any parent even want this for their kids? 2 hours max and not even regularly. Life is meant to be lived. You can’t take your A plus to the grave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would any parent even want this for their kids? 2 hours max and not even regularly. Life is meant to be lived. You can’t take your A plus to the grave.

Famous saying: "No one ever said on their deathbed that they wished they had spent more time at the office."

This is the same thing in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would any parent even want this for their kids? 2 hours max and not even regularly. Life is meant to be lived. You can’t take your A plus to the grave.

No but you can put it on your transcript that you use to apply to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody has that much homework. It’s a lie that parents tell, just like people who claim to work 100 hours a week.

You are very wrong. Four hours of homework per night is very common at Big 3 and somewhat common at many public and private schools. At most non-Big 3 schools, you can get by with less, so only top students work that hard. At Big 3, unless you're unusually efficient, your grades probably suffer a lot of you do only 2 hours per night. It's also not cool to get mediocre grades at Big 3, so many people do the work required to get B or above in all courses, which is a lot.

Most students at Big 3 have more reading and writing than most students at other schools.

4-5 hours per night means your kid didn't use free periods during the day and/or isn't very efficient in doing their work. I disagree that grades suffer if they are doing less.

-Parent of two Big 3 current or former students.

Good for your kids, but some kids just take longer to do their homework. Some pick things up quickly and some have to slog through. Just because your kids didn’t spend that much time on homework doesn’t mean that others don’t. Also PP is right that not everybody can be as efficient or use time well during free periods.

[Anonymous]

Maybe if your kid is overwhelmed with homework you could consider a slower-paced school. Not sure why you’d stay. Maybe it’s a super intellectual kid, activities, math and friends group, or something else at the rigorous school, but he or she would do much better elsewhere.

I have one kid thriving at a very tough school, and another kid who will barely make it through college and therefore went a much more leisurely pace at a different school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if your kid is overwhelmed with homework you could consider a slower-paced school. Not sure why you’d stay. Maybe it’s a super intellectual kid, activities, math and friends group, or something else at the rigorous school, but he or she would do much better elsewhere.

I have one kid thriving at a very tough school, and another kid who will barely make it through college and therefore went a much more leisurely pace at a different school.

One of the ironies of this whole conversation is that kids of parents who can afford multiple private school tuitions are not gonna end up broke in a cheap apartment somewhere if they don't get into the perfect college.

The WE MUST DO THIS!!! mentality is just out of control.