I only want my child to get 30 min max HW per day
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Anonymous
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You have to wonder in the “dumbing down” of education: - On both sides of DC, there are public schools that allow retaking of tests to get a higher grade even if a 90+ to start with in middle and high school. So really what is the value of lettered or % grades? - In high school everyone is now in “Honors Classes“ as there is no more general level. So to be with peers educationally wise, you need to be in an accelerated math or language sequence, in a magnet program program or taking an AP class in 9th grade in high school. - There should be a balance fir students because those with a learning disability may well need more time to get HW completed and may just need to spend more time on learning the skills on which the HW is based. In addition, students for whom academics is a daily grind, May well need a healthy, positive outlet in a sports or other activity program. For such a student, I would work with the IEP to get a realistic homework load in place. - For activities for a student who is finding balancing HW and other interests, see what might be available during the school day as some meet during the lunch hour or right after school and encourage a teen to try one so that once home it is more possible to schedule homework. - You might do some research on colleges and find out what their acceptance rate of applications is and the profile of thei accepted class. You might be surprised to find that the acceptance rate is very high, which can be a relief to you the parent and the teen. There is also the possibility of going to a community college on a transfer program to the states university if criteria are met. |
Anonymous
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I think retakes actually help more kids learn the material.
DC had a teacher who did not retakes and bombed a few tests and quizzes and was never motivated to learn the lesson. This really hurt DC in higher grades because the gaps in their knowledge were cumulative. I think retakes are a lot more work for teachers but the good ones allow at least a certain percentage because they know grades will motivate a student. |
Anonymous
I can tell you what worked for my kids. It may not be palatable. Dedicated time and place to do the homework - My kids had to do homework, after they came back from school and had a snack. The homework was done with my help and under my supervision on the dining table. They had to do it neatly (or I made them re-do it), write their name, subject, date, and write the question that they were answering. Then I checked their work, they put it in the folder and put it in the bookbag. Train your kids to sit for an hour and do their homework/study, so that they get used to it. Daily practice - When did they start this? From kindergarten. But before that, we were playing "school" at home. If they did not have homework, I printed out worksheets for them to do the homework. I also sat with them for homework and timed it so that they were not wasting time. No TV, no phone etc. It was a big time commitment from me too. I was not even browsing my phone or doing errands etc. I was sitting with them on the dining table as they did their homework. This was done every single day, including summer vacations. Enrich and expand their horizons - I was curating curriculum, study guides, text books, tests...so that I could teach them. Education was a serious business at our home. My kids were sitting at home and doing one hour of work from the time they were little kids. It also included watching documentaries, watching PBS programming, reading books, magazine etc. In some ways, I was learning with them and tutoring them. I needed it to be fun for my kids and be in tune with what they were thinking and watching. I needed it to be fun for me. Build knowledge and skills - By the time they were in 3rd grade, they had memorized multiplication tables, fraction tables and square tables, long multiplication and division with decimals, knew cursive, fractions, ratios and percentages, had learned spellings and word usage. Since they were in magnet programs in MoCo, they had learned to break projects in small chunks and learned how to study for tests by using quizlet app. They knew how to make powerpoint presentations, they knew MS apps - Word, Excel. By 4th grade, they were programming for robotics competitions, knew how to research for a paper, find credible sources, how to make a bibliography, how to quote, academic honesty etc. From 3rd to 8th grade, I was accelerating them in many subjects not taught in school. Geography, world history, comparative religions, history of art, politics, current affairs, By 6th grade, my expectation was that they would be finishing bulk of their homework and projects at school, when it was handed to them. This freed us to do other things at home. Including listening to NPR and reading about the covered topics in wikipedia etc. The best part of the magnet programs was that they found a number of peers like them. Be a resource for your kids - You need to put in the time to understand what will be asked of your kids in each grade and have a long term plan, so that you are working smart and in a logical manner. Make them take ownership of the process so that they learn to do it for themselves (under your guidance). It is not a good feeling to be hustling to meet a deadline. Hurry up and finish - I have one kid who is a perfectionist, another kid who has a tendency to procrastinate. Having a fixed time and place to study, and a training to be able to sit down and just do the work was the most important take away. I taught the kids (because I was there sitting with them), to start something, do a good job, not linger on it, finish it and then put it in their book bag from the time they were 3 or 4 years old. I think by 8th grade, I became more like a reference guide for them. They were driving how I could help them. By 8th grade, they had a lot of basic skills to study, research, manage time and projects, advocate for themselves and juggle their commitments. Look, I do not believe that the students - by studying less, or being mired in busy work, or by having long breaks in their school year, or by not learning presentation or research skills, or by not learning creative writing and analysis, or not having a good work ethic, or having knowledge gaps - will become successful. Both parents and students have to work hard to make the students capable and succeed. The teachers and schools can only do so much and they don't lose out if your kid is poorly educated. |
Anonymous
This is a troll, right? |
Anonymous
DD and her BFF go to two (former, I guess) TJ feeders. They're taking essentially very similar classes. DD has a fairly heavy HW schedule (For instance, yesterday, she was up until 10:45 doing 6 pages of math HW given yesterday that is due tomorrow, and studying for a test on Thursday), BFF has none. It's not because of any executive functioning differences either. These two kids operate very similarly. We are at a point where I'm encouraging DD to review schoolwork either daily or at least on the weekends, in preparation for this sort of thing, so she has less studying to do when quizzes and tests are announced. |
Anonymous
There are out of your house all day, but they are not engaged in academic activity all of that time. Minute:minute is it far less than a 9 to 5 job. Most school schedules have 5.5 hour of instruction time, with breaks and lunch and change of class and announcements and disruptions and other stuff all day long, and that is only if the teacher has the class 'on' at all ties, which is rare. A lot of school time is social. |
Anonymous
Nope. But, you should move along. You are not the intended audience for my post. |
Anonymous
Are you serious? Where are you getting that school is very social? Yes, socializing occurs, but I'd never say alot or quality socializing happens. Especially after the 6th of 7th grade where all the fun is usually taken out of school. |
Anonymous
| When I was in high school, there were study halls. You could even have more than one! My kids in MCPS don’t have any study halls. At DD’s high school, they only have “advisory” one day every other week this year. In the second week of school, dd had a day where she had tests in pre-calc and chemistry, had to give a presentation in English, and had to participate in a debate in history. I don’t have an issue with homework, but there are days with really heavy workloads and a study hall would make a big difference. |
Anonymous
Good luck graduating from high school. . . |
Anonymous
Why don't you just homeschool? |
Anonymous
homeschooling? Make sure when DS applies to college he makes them aware that only 30 minutes will be allotted for school work outside of class. That will give the admissions committee a good laugh. |
Anonymous
| There's probably something to be said about efficiency. 30 mins may not cut it, but it also should not be 3 hours. Some kids are just organized and focused - that's what we should all be encouraging. My nephew graduated from a magnet recently (poolesville) and he rarely did more than 90 mins/day. He got good grades and is at a good college. He was involved in a sport and a time consuming EC. But he worked out his time to the minute: he always did HW on the long car ride to/from school; and literally put himself on a timer for hw. His parents (my brother) were very focused on getting 9 hrs sleep so sometimes he just had to stop and finish up on the weekend. |
Anonymous
In a few year, this parent will be complaining that their kid can’t get into a good college and will shutter at the recommendations for community college. Yes, do 30 minutes a day and focus on sports and see how far your kid gets. In college, it will be more than 30 minutes a day too. If and when the kid gets a job, they may be working more than 30 minutes after 5 pm on a deadline. This kid already has no work ethic. You are a great parent! |
Anonymous
The kid is probably not taking any AP classes or AB or BC Calculus that’s for sure. |