Less scheduled kids - how are they faring in high school and beyond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does less scheduled also mean you don't supplement much at home? I'm not very happy with our public school, and I'm thinking of adding some work at home. Nothing major, just a page of math and spelling a few times a week, maybe 20 minutes a day. Basically things I think he should be learning at school. Is everyone already doing this, and I just don't know...?

I did spelling, handwriting, and got them books from the library that just happened to supplement science and history but were also fun to read. Math was fine (for my kids) once they were in advanced math starting in 3rd. Now we're in private and I don't have to do any of that except the books - because I like doing that more than because I have to - because the school is doing it.

In my circles it was probably 1/3rd of people who supplement. At least one private school parent and the rest public.

My kids are now in college and had pretty light activity schedules compared to peers. Our supplementing was that I read to them every night, worked with one kid on phonics when she was slow to get reading, DH played a lot of math games with them. We played other games that had academic aspects -- DS loved a geography game and the math in Pokemon card game. DD liked the outdoors so we took her to a lot of nature center programs, read non-fiction books with her about animals, geology, plants, etc. When they got older we got them tutors for classes they struggled with (French for both and Calculus for one of them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp again. I do think you can get away with no studying in middle school but not high school AP classes.

I agree. The poster that mentioned all the APs with no work is not being truthful. They are a troll.

Or their kid is such a quick worker they get everything done in study hall.

The AP history classes are notorious at our school for being difficult to get As. There is just so much material to read and get tested on. Unless pp kid has a photographic memory, I find it hard to believe that he has no homework. And you don’t just get an A in AP BC Calc with no homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does less scheduled also mean you don't supplement much at home? I'm not very happy with our public school, and I'm thinking of adding some work at home. Nothing major, just a page of math and spelling a few times a week, maybe 20 minutes a day. Basically things I think he should be learning at school. Is everyone already doing this, and I just don't know...?

I did spelling, handwriting, and got them books from the library that just happened to supplement science and history but were also fun to read. Math was fine (for my kids) once they were in advanced math starting in 3rd. Now we're in private and I don't have to do any of that except the books - because I like doing that more than because I have to - because the school is doing it.

In my circles it was probably 1/3rd of people who supplement. At least one private school parent and the rest public.

Do you mind sharing the titles of what you used?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does less scheduled also mean you don't supplement much at home? I'm not very happy with our public school, and I'm thinking of adding some work at home. Nothing major, just a page of math and spelling a few times a week, maybe 20 minutes a day. Basically things I think he should be learning at school. Is everyone already doing this, and I just don't know...?

I did spelling, handwriting, and got them books from the library that just happened to supplement science and history but were also fun to read. Math was fine (for my kids) once they were in advanced math starting in 3rd. Now we're in private and I don't have to do any of that except the books - because I like doing that more than because I have to - because the school is doing it.

In my circles it was probably 1/3rd of people who supplement. At least one private school parent and the rest public.

Do you mind sharing the titles of what you used?

For which, history and science? History was pulled from various homeschool curricula that value literature and history and I attempted to relate it to whatever the standards were that year. I literally have hundreds of books saved off in grade level lists via our library website, and I doubt anyone wants to read that here. Science started with Lets' Read and Find Out Science books and progressed to what I could find via homeschool curricula.

For handwriting I used Zaner Bloser because that's what our district uses, but they just don't prioritize it so the workbooks come home half empty. For spelling it was All About Spelling (which also sneaks in phonics).

[Anonymous]

You can be well scheduled and not exhausted. It just depends on how intelligent and gifted the child is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can be well scheduled and not exhausted. It just depends on how intelligent and gifted the child is.

What's that supposed to mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My three children are now in their mid to late 30s and they are doing very well! We never over scheduled them and we just let them do what they wanted to do which was not crazy. None of them were crazy about sports though they did participate. We encouraged it but didn’t drive it. They definitely pursued their own interests which we supported. We did encourage them to be good students and they were.

Wow you are old

So will you someday. Maybe.

[Anonymous]

I was one of seven kids and we definitely were not over scheduled as my parents were just trying to survive. Whatever you wanted to do you really did on your own. All seven of us have done extremely well so it worked for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was one of seven kids and we definitely were not over scheduled as my parents were just trying to survive. Whatever you wanted to do you really did on your own. All seven of us have done extremely well so it worked for us.

What applies to millennials and gen Xers doesn’t apply to Gen Z and Alpha.

They are in a completely different world than what we grew up in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was one of seven kids and we definitely were not over scheduled as my parents were just trying to survive. Whatever you wanted to do you really did on your own. All seven of us have done extremely well so it worked for us.

What applies to millennials and gen Xers doesn’t apply to Gen Z and Alpha.

They are in a completely different world than what we grew up in.

That's just an excuse ppl give. Things aren't that different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was one of seven kids and we definitely were not over scheduled as my parents were just trying to survive. Whatever you wanted to do you really did on your own. All seven of us have done extremely well so it worked for us.

What applies to millennials and gen Xers doesn’t apply to Gen Z and Alpha.

They are in a completely different world than what we grew up in.

DP but absolutely not. It’s a totally different world with screens and social media.


That's just an excuse ppl give. Things aren't that different.

[Anonymous]

My less (but not entirely unscheduled) kid is doing very well as a senior. (By that I mean rec sports as an elementary kid and that’s about it as a younger kid.)

He’s able to get grades with a medium amount of work and did well on a no-cut sport in high school. I do worry about what college will be like because he’s doing a tough major and doesn’t really have much experience with a super busy schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most Gen X was not over scheduled because they were the latchkey kids. How did they turn out?

The same as everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was one of seven kids and we definitely were not over scheduled as my parents were just trying to survive. Whatever you wanted to do you really did on your own. All seven of us have done extremely well so it worked for us.

What applies to millennials and gen Xers doesn’t apply to Gen Z and Alpha.

They are in a completely different world than what we grew up in.

These labels have got to go. According to these dates my 12 year old is grouped in with 28 year olds as a Gen Z generation. But her 30 year old aunt as a millennial grew up in a different world than the 28 year old.

There is no consistency in the year the alpha starts.

[Anonymous]

My kid is a TJ, playing 3 sports, in band and club activities. So despite me not overscheduling him, he now is doing a lot himself.