Anonymous wrote:Tonight's hw is really ridiculous. DD started at 5pm, didn't go to soccer practice, took a 45 min break for dinner, and probably has another 30 mins to an hour left..smh. Spanish, AP History, Chemistry, and English. Thanks to no Algebra and the other subjects. My middle schooler is already saying he wont be playing any sports in HS if the hw load is anything like this. Tonight's an odd night though, oh well....

From your email, that totals nearly seven hours of work. Are you including something like a paper for English or history (which can bump up the total a lot?). Because even back when I was in high school (public school, many years ago) writing a paper could lead to very late nights. (And we had to write a lot of English papers in particular, and some in history.)

If there is no major assessment involved like a paper, I think it is worth trying to explore what's going on with the homework experience since seven hours would not be normal. Does your daughter read slowly? Some kids have felt more confident after taking a speed-reading class. Is she perhaps too much of a perfectionist in this context for any or all of the assignments? Is she over annotating the history or English reading for the benefits (versus the costs of lost sleep?) Is she possibly getting distracted (by use of the phone, internet)? Is she in some classes that are too difficult for her such that she is overmatched by the material? Were there "projects" short of a major paper due in all the classes on the same day, or multiple tests the next day and she felt she needed that much time to study?

Or is she really getting over 1.5 hours per night of homework in each course, in which case maybe getting her advisor involved could get a dialogue going with the school? (I put this last because, honestly, I don't think it is typical to get 1.5 hours a night.)

Good luck, sounds like a very long day/night.

Anonymous wrote:7th grader Holton. Max is 30min a subject so with 4-5 classes would be 2-2.5hrs. They have a 6 day cycle with a drop day for each subject. So she only has all 5 classes once in a 6 day cycle. I think it is balanced well and she is usually done in less than 2hrs because she utilizes study hall and no phone or tv in her room.

yeah but 30 minutes for what type of kid? Mine is just slow, slow, slow at homework. Plods along, doing it well, but slowly. And this is always the way it was, even before any type of screen to slow her down. So what takes your kid 30 minutes takes mine an hour. It's still too much.

7th grader Holton. Max is 30min a subject so with 4-5 classes would be 2-2.5hrs. They have a 6 day cycle with a drop day for each subject. So she only has all 5 classes once in a 6 day cycle. I think it is balanced well and she is usually done in less than 2hrs because she utilizes study hall and no phone or tv in her room.

Tonight's hw is really ridiculous. DD started at 5pm, didn't go to soccer practice, took a 45 min break for dinner, and probably has another 30 mins to an hour left..smh. Spanish, AP History, Chemistry, and English. Thanks to no Algebra and the other subjects. My middle schooler is already saying he wont be playing any sports in HS if the hw load is anything like this. Tonight's an odd night though, oh well....

Anonymous wrote:Here is what my friend in Vermont wrote me after I shared the article with her:

"the public school 9th grader in all honors classes has maybe an hour and a half at most and has a maximum time spent quota from all the teachers... no more than 15 minutes on Chinese, no more than 30 minutes on Biology and no more than 45 minutes on Algebra. I think this approach to homework is helpful as the students know they can bail out if it gets to be too much and it makes them have to explain to the teacher where they struggled to finish so the teacher can gauge their progress"

Is the hw graded and part of the final grade?

Here is what my friend in Vermont wrote me after I shared the article with her:

"the public school 9th grader in all honors classes has maybe an hour and a half at most and has a maximum time spent quota from all the teachers... no more than 15 minutes on Chinese, no more than 30 minutes on Biology and no more than 45 minutes on Algebra. I think this approach to homework is helpful as the students know they can bail out if it gets to be too much and it makes them have to explain to the teacher where they struggled to finish so the teacher can gauge their progress"

Sounds like we'll have to move out of the area for high school. The workload sounds absolutely insane to a parent of an elementary age child. Do colleges look badly on someone that took 5 years to graduate? Seriously we might do this if the work is so intense.

By the way lil Jimmy may not complain yet because the school year just started..lol

Anonymous wrote:My DS has 3 friends who started at a Big 3 school in 9th this year. I have spoken with all the parents and not one of them has mentioned the academics at the school. ALL of them spoke at length about sports. About how little Jimmy had practice 4 days a week after school until 7pm and about how the weekends were now completely taken up with sports related activities. These were for 3 different sports, mind you. I think sports are fantastic and really create a social circle for kids but if they really do take up this much time I can see why kids have to stay up late to get the work done and it may seem like the kids have mountains of work when they may only have a few hours.

And this is the reason I stop DD from playing school sports (practice every day) to focus on just club, which may practice twice a week with 1 to 2 games on the weekends. However there are kids like some of her friends that can do it all and maintain a 4.0 or close to it. Those kids are naturally brilliant and have excellent time management skills. Unfortunately my child doesn't...

My DS has 3 friends who started at a Big 3 school in 9th this year. I have spoken with all the parents and not one of them has mentioned the academics at the school. ALL of them spoke at length about sports. About how little Jimmy had practice 4 days a week after school until 7pm and about how the weekends were now completely taken up with sports related activities. These were for 3 different sports, mind you. I think sports are fantastic and really create a social circle for kids but if they really do take up this much time I can see why kids have to stay up late to get the work done and it may seem like the kids have mountains of work when they may only have a few hours.

Anonymous wrote:I'm honestly confused why parents would allow their child to take seven academic classes at once -- or even six if it is running the child ragged. And "to get into college" is not a great answer (although indeed it might explain the behavior) -- a student with good grades and good board scores has many choices if the parent does not get hung up on 8-10 "name brands."

True that. My kid got decent SATs, was an A- student on average (or B+) and got into the engineering programs at Delaware, Mason, and two small colleges. All had good programs.

You do a great disservice to your kids if you force a round peg into up your square hole. A kid who feels pushed will ultimately rebel

I'm honestly confused why parents would allow their child to take seven academic classes at once -- or even six if it is running the child ragged. And "to get into college" is not a great answer (although indeed it might explain the behavior) -- a student with good grades and good board scores has many choices if the parent does not get hung up on 8-10 "name brands."

Anonymous wrote:What is the typical schedule like for a child who is in school/activities from 7am-7pm and then has 5 hours of homework? When does he eat breakfast and dinner? At home? On the go?

for us bkfast in the car, dinner during the week is on the go think chipolte etc. very few sit down family dinners during the week.

Anonymous wrote:Caney Creek Ap U.S. History kids have to read ten to fifteen pages of reading every night and a chapter on the weekend its simply to much!!!!!

same here plus make flash cards...

Caney Creek Ap U.S. History kids have to read ten to fifteen pages of reading every night and a chapter on the weekend its simply to much!!!!!