Reply to My child is drowning at Basis. Thoughts on mid year move?

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Reply to "My child is drowning at Basis. Thoughts on mid year move?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's not unusual for 5th graders to do 2, even 3, hours per night, especially if they're not great at math.  [/quote]

Good grief. I can't believe any parent thinks this is OK for their 5th grader, even if they are great in math.  Excessive homework has never been shown to produce better results. If anything its a sign that the school is not efficient or strategic in teaching or class placement. [/quote]

One parent says 2 to 3; another says 1-1.5.

If your child is spending that much time to get through homework at BASIS (or anywhere else), contact their teachers or the academic dean. That is not typical or expected, and the school staff would want to know -- sometimes teachers don't realize how much time an assignment will take, kids have an undiagnosed LD or are doing more than is needed to master the content. Keep a log of actual assignments and how much time your child spent on them for a week and bring that data to people who can help.[/quote]

You're working on the assumption that BASIS is incentivized to support and keep kids who need help as an institution.  As a general rule, they are not, unless that is, the kids are low SES minorities, meaning that losing them would invite unwelcome scrutiny from the DCPSCB and possibly the media.  That isn't to say that individual teachers may not be compassionate and willing to help.

No, admins are wedded to their Arizona forged, sink or swim, only the strong survive MS model. They're happy to drive out kids who seem unlikely to emerge as elite college material in HS. It's easy to find media reports from Arizona complaining that supporting the model isn't a good use of taxpayer dollars. BASIS will pay lip service to ensuring that homework loads are manageable for 11-14 year olds, but that's about it.  It's not uncommon for BASIS 5th and 6th graders to be up doing homework at 10:30 PM, without having done extra curriculars that afternoon.  The problem is no secret at BASIS.

But then who's complaining when most of the DCPS alternatives are dead ended, Latin's only taking around 20% who apply, privates cost a bomb, and few urbanites are eager to move to the burbs.   
[/quote]

Different kids have different experiences.  My fifth-grader has never stayed up late doing homework.  He averages less than an hour per night and his grades are good.  He's far from a perfect student, but he has fewer behavior issues in the classroom at Basis than he had at his small, happy elementary school.

That said, before he started at Basis, I had no idea how he would adapt to the different atmosphere.  It turns out that he's really good at juggling the many different classes, likes the challenging math, and loves the increased independence.  I'm not sure what I would do if I felt he was drowning, and I think it's impossible to tell how Basis will work for your child until they experience it.[/quote]

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