Reply to s/o APS middle school math homework question

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "s/o APS middle school math homework question"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Having immediate classroom feedback on homework is good but that means there is less time for instruction. (With block scheduling, breaking up class instruction with practice is unavoidable, but that argues for not using block scheduling for math so you don't have to limit weekly instruction.)  Also, as content gets harder each year, additional reinforcing homework (done at home) becomes more important.[/quote]

Um ok. APS uses block schedules. It’s not developmentally appropriate to teach new material for the whole block. Practicing the lesson is not taking away from instruction time, it’s re-inforcing the lesson in a hands on manner. [/quote]

Built in time to practice is called classwork.  APS has kids regularly do "homework" during class, which by definition means it isn't homework.

I'm a PP, and we required DC to do 20min of math per night in middle school using either apps from school or in workbooks that we purchased.  DC is a strong student but needed to practice and reinforce concepts taught during the day.  If we hadn't done that it would have meant DC essentially did math only 3 days per week.  No homework, no daily class.  That's not enough to master pre-algebra.[/quote]

That’s excessive unless the child is behind. Our sixth grader mastered pre-algebra with straight days with no extra homework time. They are not some genius or anomaly. [/quote]

You may want to talk to families with older kids.  Many kids follow one of these paths:

1) Families recognize that with block schedules and minimal homework, their kid is not going to build a sufficiently strong base in middle school math. They enroll their kid in AoPS or RSM or some other program. Those groups do assign homework and kids build a strong base steadily as they proceed through high school.

2) Families assume that good grades in middle school math mean their kid is proficient in math and let it be. Then as the kid gets to high school, courses assume firm knowledge of earlier concepts that they never developed fully or can't remember and they start to do poorly in math class for the first time. At that point, there are two choices: pull back to a lower math pathway or hire a tutor who will assign the homework that wasn't done earlier and build their math foundation.

Of course, there are some kids that do ok throughout without outside supplementation. However, those kids have to work very hard as they advance to both backfill and learn new content at the same time.

This is obviously just one person's view, so take it for what it's worth.
[/quote]

It's a little hard to answer OP's question because everyone whose kids were recently in pre-algebra were also impacted by the pandemic. Homework has recently dropped off a lot due to that and not sure if it will stay that way. I have had two kids who went through pre-algebra in 6th. The first had pretty heavy homework, they second not so much. 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics