s/o length of school day - how do they use that time?

[Rhonda in TX]

Specifically, I'm wondering about study time. Do they spend time daily reviewing material? I know some kids just "get it" right away (I was like that), but my kids don't. They want to rush through their work and be done, but honestly, they need to be studying and reviewing. For example, it's not enough for them to read the term definitions in their biology text. They need to actually work at it to learn and remember them.

 

So... what do your kids do? Is that a regular part of their school day?

[Sharilynn29]

I did not include study time in my son's average of 5 hours a day. He's not a great studier, but we are working on those skills. I do make him correct his work which may take an extra 1/2-1 hour a day.

[Jane Elliot]

Specifically, I'm wondering about study time. Do they spend time daily reviewing material? I know some kids just "get it" right away (I was like that), but my kids don't. They want to rush through their work and be done, but honestly, they need to be studying and reviewing. For example, it's not enough for them to read the term definitions in their biology text. They need to actually work at it to learn and remember them.

 

So... what do your kids do? Is that a regular part of their school day?

 

My kids spend a lot of time with flash cards, especially for sciences, languages, and English vocabulary. It's part of their regular school day. My early high schoolers (9th & 10th gr), who still get a weekly assignment sheet from me, have a daily reminder to make new and drill old flash cards. I buy these to make it easier.

 

My older kids learned the importance of this kind of drill from dh and passed it down to the youngers. They can remember watching dh make and drill with flash cards when he was working on a post-post graduate degree in tropical medicine. You're never too advanced for flash cards.

[regentrude]

The only subject for which DD studies in the sense you describe is French, where vocab has to be memorized and grammar rules practiced. She spends a good deal of time on this.

She takes physics as her science, and there "studying" is done by solving practice problems, not by poring over the book or using flash cards, because there is absolutely no memorization involved.

[klmama]

My teen hates making flashcards, but finds quizlet.com to be more palatable. Once the material is entered, you can use it for flashcards, games, and quizzes. Sometimes you can find your text's content already entered, which saves a lot of time. Be sure to check that it was done correctly!

[Jenny in Florida]

My son doesn't really review daily for most subjects. Some things naturally include review, but otherwise he just reviews or studies when he has a test coming up.

 

Of course, if he did study, he might be doing a whole lot better in Spanish . . .

[SailorMom]

I would say about 6 to 7 hours a day would be actively learning either new material and working on new assignments, or say, doing science labs, reviewing missed problems on homework, etc. One hour might be spent 'studying' in what I count. Normally though, the hours I count do not include studying and extra homework requirements.