How many hours does you high schooler spend on homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So HS students are spending this much time on homework with no electronics/texting/IM/etc. distractions? If so, that's ridiculous and not something I'm willing to subject my kid to. If it's this many hours but with a lot of electronic distractions, that's different.

Yes, my HS junior is spending that much time (5-6 hours) with no distractions. She sits in a study with no computer, just a desk facing a wall covered with peaceful posters & a shelf with candles (we created a homework area for her years ago because of her distractibility) and no electronics. She doesn't text/IM anyway (not an electronics person; she doesn't have Facebook or other social media accounts).

Right now her only distraction is our dog (admittedly, our dog is very cute).

As a breakdown, a typical night might be:

AP World History - 1 hour - summary outlines, readings, analyses
AP Calculus BC - 1 hour - problems
AP Chemistry - 1 hour - problem sets
AP Physics - 1 hour - online instructional videos and analyses
AP Language - 1 hour - writing

And then language and band, but if she's lucky, not much HW for those subjects.

I personally find that schedule ridiculous. But it's not my decision -- I let my kids decide what level courses they want to take. I think 2 APs per year was the most any of my kids took. (Are you in MD? It seems kids in MD take more APs that in VA?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally find that schedule ridiculous. But it's not my decision -- I let my kids decide what level courses they want to take. I think 2 APs per year was the most any of my kids took. (Are you in MD? It seems kids in MD take more APs that in VA?)

I completely agree with you. My DD is trying to emulate her academic superstar older brother, who was one of those rare people who intuitively understood difficult concepts & was able to complete assignments in half the time expected. In contrast, my DD spends double the time expected. We're going to reevaluate her schedule after the first quarter, but she was firmly committed to trying this schedule; I agree with you that she decides her courseload. She'd actually not signed up for AP Physics, but the regular (required) Physics course was taught by an iffy teacher, so she switched to AP Physics after the first week of school.

Yes, we're in MD. She's at a science/tech magnet school in Prince George's County.

Because of her science/tech program, she's required to take classes that might be optional elsewhere (e.g., AP Biology, Physics, etc.). She wants to major in a STEM field, so this is good preparation.

FWIW, this isn't about college. My older kids go to College Park and are receiving an amazing education, and I'd be proud of my DD if she attended UMCP as well. I'm one of those annoying Terps boosters (but not the main one).

[Anonymous]

The reason why these schedules are so rough and the kids work so much is because they generally have classes every day. Think about it. In college, you have a class usually 3 times per week for 50 minutes or maybe only 2 times per week for an hour and 20 minutes. You don't take a bus to and from school in most colleges, you roll out of bed and walk. You just have more free time. The trouble with the AP world is that we are layering supposedly college level work on top of essentially a high school style schedule in 11th and 12th grade. For 9th and 10th, the trouble is often that many kids in APs aren't really ready for them. They need to learn how to handle a more rigorous high school class after middle school before jumping into college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine uses 4 hours each day and AP Government takes about two and half. I feel that is too much especially on one subject. Does AP Government, US/World History usually take that much time? I can't imagine how this is going to work in junior year.

I have very young kids now, but I took all AP classes my junior year and senior year in HS 25 years ago. I used to work 5 hours at night, plus one hour of study hall during the day. School would let out at 2:30 so I played sports until around 6-7pm (depending on whether we had a game/meet), and then started homework. AP Chem and AP Physics used to take me the most time, because I would have to do extra problems to make sure I really understood everything. Went to UPenn for undergrad and found it a breeze because I had learned how to work hard in high school. Graduated with honors.

I'd like my kids to do something similar because it's great to learn study techniques while still at home with the parents. That way, you can really take advantage of all the fun stuff college has to offer, while still doing well in a competitive environment.

But you do realize other kids have different experiences (2-3 hours of homeword vs 5 hours) with the same results. So you would do it all over again even though it was mostly for naught.

Majority of students change their major in college from Engineering and Biological sciences (pre-med) to something else. Why do you think that happens? These are the kids who took easier courses in easier programs with disinterested peers in HS and were getting straight "A"s. Well - the first Organic Chem/Calculus class in college (Ivy or State school) and they were shitting in their pants and dropping off like flies. For most of these students - where you are able to sift the wheat from the chaff is in STEM majors. Getting into a college is one goal of HS, but actually being able to handle college, is another less mentioned goal of your HS education.

On the other hand a ton of kids who came from the magnet programs and other competitive programs and have slogged in HS are able to handle these classes whether in Ivy or UMD/UVA. So, don't tell me that this work does not pay off. It will pay off in college when they pick a major that will actually get them a job, and be able to do well in that major. Now, if your kid wants to do "Women's study" in Harvard or "International Relations" in Brown - that may be a different thing.

Logically you would think that would be true but it is not. A study was done and kids who work their butts off all through HS and end up in Ivy schools drop out of sciences at the same rate as kids who go to UMCP. The study actually compared the Ivy kids who you would imagine to be the cream of the crop to the "mediocre "UMCP and showed your anecdotal theory to be wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very little. He does most of his homework at school (a mix of AP, honors, regular classes).

I spent a lot more time on homework when I was a kid. It worries me a little that he doesn't do much homework at home actually.

How does he get it done? Study hall?

He gets a lot of it done in class.

Clearly an outlier!

An outlier? No, they are given some time in class to get their work done. If they don't get it done, they bring it home. he doesn't bring that much home..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason why these schedules are so rough and the kids work so much is because they generally have classes every day. Think about it. In college, you have a class usually 3 times per week for 50 minutes or maybe only 2 times per week for an hour and 20 minutes. You don't take a bus to and from school in most colleges, you roll out of bed and walk. You just have more free time. The trouble with the AP world is that we are layering supposedly college level work on top of essentially a high school style schedule in 11th and 12th grade. For 9th and 10th, the trouble is often that many kids in APs aren't really ready for them. They need to learn how to handle a more rigorous high school class after middle school before jumping into college.

I generally agree with you - my DC took 5 APs plus 2 regular classes last year. Also played varsity sports all 3 seasons. This year is taking 4 classes as a college freshman and not doing a varsity sport. Some days has one class. Of course in college you are expected to do much more work out of class, but DC has already marveled at how easy college is (yes we know it will get harder, but still...)

One key difference between AP classes vs college classes is that APs are over the full year while college classes cover that material in one semester. So the pace in college is definitely faster.

[Anonymous]

SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

News flash - kids in high school don't require much sleep as 1st graders. Were you never in high school? My high school DC generally goes to bed at midnight. When he was in first grade it was more like 8:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

Only kids with crazy parents have 6 hours of homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

It's pretty awful. Luckily, my DD doesn't need to get on the HS bus until 8:10 a.m. Her goal is to get to bed by 11:00 and get up at 6:45 (a wonderful 7 hours and 45 minutes of sleep). More often than not, she's in bed by 12:30 or so & gets 6+ hours of sleep. She tries to catch up on the weekends, though she knows that's not an acceptable substitution for sleep.

She's behind me working and will continue until 11:00 or so. Hopefully she can get in a shower before bedtime & maybe even turn off the light by midnight!

Enjoy first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

News flash - kids in high school don't require much sleep as 1st graders. Were you never in high school? My high school DC generally goes to bed at midnight. When he was in first grade it was more like 8:30.

Then he's not getting enough sleep, unless you live next door to his high school, which starts at 9:30 am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only kids with crazy parents have 6 hours of homework.

*snort*

My DD chooses her own schedule, and it's based on the accumulation of years of classes that lead to the next highest subject *and* the requirements of her magnet school (which she selected over other high school options after diligent research).

She also spends 6 hours on HW because she has some difficulty focusing.

Or, I could be crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only kids with crazy parents have 6 hours of homework.

*snort*

My DD chooses her own schedule, and it's based on the accumulation of years of classes that lead to the next highest subject *and* the requirements of her magnet school (which she selected over other high school options after diligent research).

She also spends 6 hours on HW because she has some difficulty focusing.

Or, I could be crazy.

Yes. You are. Parent her and teach her to have a balanced life. If she wanted to jump off a bridge would you indulge that. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

6 hours means the schedule is too hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SIX HOURS A NIGHT ON HOMEWORK????!!!! HOW IN THE WORLD IS THERE ENOUGH TIME??? I have a first grader and it's less than an hour but she's exhausted with that. What time do your kids go to beD???

6 hours means the schedule is too hard.

ITA.