OP here
This is not a AP biology class. This is 9th grade biology.
But the teacher told that she likes the AP text book better.
So all material taught from both regular and AP text book.
Last week was only 4 days of school. Biology class was twice in those 4 days.
Both the days there was no teaching. Just getting to know other kids and teachers and how the class works etc etc.
But a whole chapter with a bunch of section numbers and some teacher provided worksheets is sent out.

An example of what the student did not understand is: a concept is presented in textbook with a bunch of unfamiliar jargon.
To familiarize with that jargon (which in itself can be many tiny lessons) and then trying to understand the whole thing took us this long.

I cannot afford huge tutoring fees.

Thanks to many of you who have responded back with your experiences.

Anonymous wrote:If it took that long for both of you to understand the material for the first project of the year, your child is in the wrong class. Look for alternatives.

I was wondering this too. OP, is this AP bio? If it is, it's time for a switch.

another comment from 16:07 & 16:21, the tutoring isn't about making sure the student gets a A (which is very difficult) The tutoring is about keeping the student competitive in the subject. Depending on the grade distribution, a C may be a grade to be proud of (working very hard) Think DD had a mix of B-C grades, never an A. But the HS prep led to A-B+s in the same subjects in college when it mattered. The HS tutor definitely helped with morale and a good foundation.

Wow. Scary. Is there a Khan Academy equivalent on line for biology?

If it took that long for both of you to understand the material for the first project of the year, your child is in the wrong class. Look for alternatives.

Know that at certain high schools in FCPS the students are very well prepared for the math/science AP's - even in advance of taking the class. My DD's lab partner attended a prep class after school which covered the AP Chemistry material ahead of time. She also knew students who took the class (audited not for credit) the summer before. The competition may be difficult. Where your son is on the bell curve in his class may be the most important thing to know.

Look at it as an investment

We paid $120/visit for a weekly physics tutor (AP Physics) years ago. DD is now a doctor. All the tutoring for AP math/science, we also are in FCPS, was well worth it. Is your DS genuinely interested in science, in biology. If so a tutor is worth it. If he's just collecting AP classes, then you might be able to assume he'll do as well as anyone else.

Does the high school offer any free or low cost tutoring? I know my son's high school does, but it is not in VA.

You might also be able to find a cheaper tutor. I'm in grad school and tutor for $30-35/hr, so perhaps find different tutors?

I am curious what specifically your DS does not understand?

Anonymous wrote:OP,
I've got a daughter who is a freshman in college now. We dealt with this all through high school with various subjects mostly in math/sciences.
There's really only 2 choices; either you try to learn the stuff to help, or, you hire a tutor and pay crazy money.
In our school at least, the material is extremely difficult, the pace is very fast, and the amount of material each week is very high.
If your kid struggles in certain subject areas, my advice would be to get on top of it before they get too far behind.

In our case we did the tutor thing for awhile but ran out of money (we wiped out our savings) -so I was the one spending my weekends with my daughter helping her for years.
It sucked. I wasn't doing anything "for" her-this was a collaborative effort to understand the readings or figure out the math.

Going to teachers for help is of very limited help--they have hundreds of students and can help with specific questions but not at the overall level my kid struggled at.

She's in college now and doing just fine on her own.

+1

My DC had horrible Biology teachers in a very prestigious HS magnet program. (As I am writing this, I know other parents and students in the program will recognize which program I am talking about).

The prescribed textbooks were terrible too. I decided to teach my child myself, mainly because I had no idea where I could line up a tutor so quickly from. The vetting process for a tutor itself is a long drawn process, in my opinion, and the cost is exorbitant too.

In the end, I studied and learned and taught my child. I figured out the best textbooks for each unit, bought them 2nd hand from Amazon and devoured them, I scoured the internet for the best educational videos and tutorials, I collected the best quizzes and study material and put it all together. DC actually used what I taught to teach friends and peers further solidifying the understanding of the concepts.

It took me HOURS to prep for each unit, but I figured out a few things as a Humanities major. The easiest and most interesting science is Biology, and it is easy to learn. It also attracts the most inefficient teachers in HS for some odd reason. AND that there is a whole bunch of easily accessible resources available online. You can do it. My kids found me to be the best and most interesting teacher for both Bio and Chem.

Kid is a Bio major now.

Can you split the cost with another student in the same course? When I tutor high school algebra, I charge the same price for 1 or 2 kids, so long as they are working on the same assignments.

OP,
I've got a daughter who is a freshman in college now. We dealt with this all through high school with various subjects mostly in math/sciences.
There's really only 2 choices; either you try to learn the stuff to help, or, you hire a tutor and pay crazy money.
In our school at least, the material is extremely difficult, the pace is very fast, and the amount of material each week is very high.
If your kid struggles in certain subject areas, my advice would be to get on top of it before they get too far behind.

In our case we did the tutor thing for awhile but ran out of money (we wiped out our savings) -so I was the one spending my weekends with my daughter helping her for years.
It sucked. I wasn't doing anything "for" her-this was a collaborative effort to understand the readings or figure out the math.

Going to teachers for help is of very limited help--they have hundreds of students and can help with specific questions but not at the overall level my kid struggled at.

She's in college now and doing just fine on her own.

It sounds like you are overly involved in your high school-aged kid's school work. Usually papers at that level are not assigned to recapitulate what was taught in class--it's an opportunity for them to independently digest material. Editing your high school kid's papers for grammar, word choice clarity, and typographical errors? Sure. Studying the material for him and explaining it to him? Not ok. This is not your education, it's your son's education and it is a disservice to him to do all the work for him. Part of learning challenging material is that it IS hard. What is he going to do when he goes to college? A lot of college courses are taught so that you don't go over 100% of the material you are expected to learn for an exam in lectures, and you are expected to do problem sets and read the textbook independently, speaking with the instructor as you need to when you don't understand concepts. No one is going to spoon feed him everything he needs to know for the rest of his life.

It sounds to me like this class is taught at level that is good prep for college, which a lot of students, sadly, do not get in high school. This is a good thing, but it will involve a deeper level of studying/independence/commitment on his part. Is it an honors/AP course? If he can't deal with that level of independence, maybe he should take a less challenging course level, or realize that sometimes you can try your hardest can and still get a B or C. But, it is ridiculous for you to study for seven hours to try to help him in this way, and hiring a tutor doesn't really sound like it is the solution either.

Not sure if this post has to go to VA schools or to teens section.

Basically, my DS is in high school and has biology paper for the first time. Not sure how much of it is taught in class. Ad per DS, not much was taught. There are some online notes posted by teacher and also some chapters to be read. There is an upcoming quiz next week. DS could not comprehend most of the text book material. Teacher's notes are also at a high level.

When the concern was raised by DS, I sat and when through the whole material along with DS.
I am not a Biology major myself. So it took me a lot of research to understand most of the stuff and then explain to DS.
The whole process took about 6 to 7 hours of Saturday. Still there are some concepts we both did not understand and now will have to go back to teacher for help.
Not sure if DS will have time to get these doubts clarified before the quiz next week.

I understand that the tutor will already be a Biology expert and might wrap up teaching the whole thing in couple of hours.
But looking at the cost of tutoring ($50 per hour), even 2 hours will end up costing $100.
Also I noticed from earlier tutoring help we got, the tutor could not cover the whole lesson in detail in the given 1 to 2 hours.

I am very exhausted from all that studying.
How do you all deal with this kind of situation?