Any public school high school children in your home?

[Based on Faith Academy]

Good evening Hive!

 

My ds who is in 9th grade has no idea how easy he has it in home school.

He thinks he gets too much school work from me. I can tell him a thousand

times how much harder it is in ps but it just isn't impacting him. Do any of

you have dc who are in high school in public school who would be willing to

post how much school work they do in a day and how much homework they

must complete? This would really help my son see for himself how long is a

day in public school.

 

TIA

[Samiam]

He's right. haha! My DS is in PS, 9th. 4 Honors classes out of 7 classes total. He may have about an hour, at most, of homework a night. Very rarely is it more than that. Maybe homework in 1 class, rarely 2. He's read one full book for school the entire semester, and that took them about a month. He's yet to have to write a paper that required more than four paragraphs. So apparently in these Honors classes that are about 55 minutes long, the teacher has time to lecture and gives them time to do homework. Yeah, if I was still homeschooling, he'd probably be doing school the same amount of time per day, 6-7 hours, but I do think it would be much harder, more in depth, and just better overall.

 

BTW, this school is an a+ school, a math and science magnet that some kids who are not zoned for put their name into a lottery to get in, so yeah, about as good as it can get for a public school,at least in our area.

[Deb in NZ]

I'm not much help here either. Ds#2 went to PS for highschool & has completed years 9 & 10. He seldom had homework. He told me plenty of times that he did more work / harder work at home with me when he HSed the 8 years previously. I'm hoping that the difficulty increases heaps this coming year in year 11, but I'm not holding my breath.

[creekland]

No help from here. Youngest is in his junior year having wanted to go back to ps in 9th grade (9th, 10th, 11th in ps). He has an extremely light work load (most nights NO homework) and his standardized test scores have been dropping ever since he returned even though he has good grades. He loves it though (socially). He doesn't care for academics much, so he prefers ps. It's far easier there than it was for my older two here. However, my older two won out with great standardized test scores and $$ for college. Youngest may not get to go to college as we won't likely have the $$ to send him and he's certainly not in merit aid scores (he was top 1% in English in 8th grade when he returned to school - top 15% in math - no more).

 

The one thing that is more difficult with ps is the inflexibility with the schedule (when you have to be there, when things are due). I can't wait unti he graduates and our schedule frees up again.

[TheReader]

My oldest is in an on-line school that follows public school guidelines for Texas. He usually starts working at about 10 a.m. and works some days until 5 p.m. He is taking 6 courses --- Art, Geometry, Biology, English, World Geography and Health.

 

He has to read usually two chapters/week for each class, copy vocabulary words for each chapter, he has 3 art projects per week, usually 1 written assignment per week for English along with 2 to 3 quizzes a week just for English; he has 2 to 4 quizzes + 1 lab per week for Biology; he has 2 to 4 review exercises + 1 to 2 quizzes/week for health; he has 2 to 4 quizzes/week for Geography plus at least 1 intense project per unit (ex, 1 for general geography, 1 for US/Canada unit, 1 for Latin America unit, 1 for Europe, etc...) (this averages out to be about 1 project every 2.5 weeks or so, but each project can take up to a week to complete). He does one section of each chapter of geometry per day, studying the lesson + doing the assigned exercises.

 

For example, today my son will have:

-do an art criticism & self-evaluation for art, plus read the next chapter/do chapter review questions

-write a sonnet for English, take a quiz over Act II of Romeo & Juliet, write a 200 word response to a quote & a 100 word response to another student's response, and read Act III (modern text) of Romeo & Juliet (yes, that is all for today)

-finish reading ch. 15 for Biology, do workbook page 77 that goes with it

-read ch 22 for health & do 2 review exercises that go with it

-read "Cultural Geography of Europe" chapter & take the vocab quiz that goes with it

-read the next section of Geometry & do assigned problems

-finish a Health assignment that he started last week; this is a project and he is on the 4th day of work and should complete it today

-at least get an outline done for an English paper he's been putting off for a while

 

This is the one benefit (and drawback) to on-line school; he has no specific deadlines except the expiration date of the course, so he is able to procrastinate whereas in a brick & mortar school things would be due at a specific date/time and he'd earn a zero if not done on time (or a diminished grade for each day late, etc...). Allows him flexibility, but also encourages some bad habits.

 

Hope this helps....I don't know if it's more or less than your son is doing, but that's a fairly typical day for the program we're using.....

[Catherine]

My ds is a PS tenth grader at this program:

 

http://www.ingenuityproject.org/

 

It is NOT a cakewalk, not by any means. He has several hours of homework nightly. He is doing a research project, which Ingenuity encourages. High school students spend 2 1\2 years designing a real scientific research project, finding a local mentor, and writing it up to enter into the Intel and other large national science competitions. It's a huge amount of work with multiple ongoing long term assignments at a time. The fact that he does a sport and plays 2 instruments doesn't make things any easier.

 

So I would say that my ds is certainly not in a typical high school program, but he does have several hours of homework nightly. Another high school boy I know well, in a good PS IB program, regales me with tales of 6 hours of nightly homework, much of it in the form of long written assignments. He's a top student though so he probably spends more time than is typical.

 

My ds has NO free time. He even has homework over summer (a LOT-20 hours per week this coming summer) and vacations which I personally hate.

[Donna]

Sorry, can't help you much. I have two boys in ps high school (9th and 11th grades). They always say they did way more work when they were home with me. My oldest is taking 3 AP classes and wrestling. He has maybe an hour of homework a night though he does have a half block study hall for his AP classes during the day. I am amazed at the lack of writing/reading literature in his AP English class and the general lack of homework at the school.

[Pawz4me]

My 11th grade public schooled son has a fairly heavy workload. I'd estimate that he spends an average of two to three hours a night on homework, and at least that much time on weekends. His schedule at the moment is:

 

Chemistry (honors)

Pre-Calculus (honors)

Introduction to Statistics (honors, which will segue into AP Statistics when the next semester starts in a few weeks)

American Studies (honors, which will segue into APUSH when the next semester starts in a few weeks)

 

He's a very dedicated and motivated student, so works on a lot of the optional homework to make sure he's really understanding the subject matter. In addition, he's also studying for the SAT and for a new state-mandated standardized test which will take place next week. He ranks in the top three to four percent of his class.

[justamouse]

I have a senior in HS, who has spent her junior/senior year in PS.

 

She did MUCH more work when she was with me, and much harder work. She's an honor student in honors classes, but I honestly don't feel as though the work is honor level (it's the teachers and administration, not that she's not capable).

 

I was a MUCH more demanding teacher.

[Trilliums]

I am surprised by the replies. There was a recent thread on the high school board about the amount of free time high school students (hs and ps).

 

http://forums.welltr...me#entry4500214

 

I have a 9th grader (in honors classes) and 10th grader (in honors and 2 AP classes) in public high school. The spend all day at school (leave house at 7:20 and return at 4) and then generally have between 2-5 hours of homework. They are both in honors math classes which means math homework nightly. They spend much more time on school work than they did last year (hsing).

 

DS in 9th grade and so far in LA he has read 3 novels (one his choice, others from a list) and prepared book reports on each novel, alternating between written and oral book reports. As a class they have read several short stories, "Lord of the Flies" and excerpts from The Odyssey. For each class reading, they submit 4-5 writing journals which must be at least 2 pages long, have comprehension quizzes, have an in class project on background info for the reading (present a poster on greek gods, for example) and have to complete study guides, annotate passages and write an in class essay. Next they will read "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Romeo and Juliet" and then the last part of the school year is spent on a long term research based symposium project. They also have vocab, grammar and lessons on literary devices.

Most of his classes are fairly easy (not conceptually challenging), but they still have regular homework associated with them.

My kids have had to cut back on extra curricular activities because they have so much homework.

 

So, nightly (remember, this is after being away from home for 8.5 hours!)

 

1 hour of math homework every night.

 

Homework in at least two other subjects, each requiring between 30 minutes to an hour, so another 1-2 hours, on a regular basis.

 

Some nights they have homework from every class. Some nights they have extra long assignments, due the next day. This kind of unpredictability is what makes it hardest for them to plan after school activities. So every week, add a night with 1-2 hours more of homework time.

 

My kids work meticulously on their homework. I know they spend more time on their assignments than their peers, but this is their choice. They do not need to study for tests, so maybe it evens out.

 

This is a high achieving high school, top in state, has a lot of AP classes etc. I think they have far more homework than I did in high school.

[Cassy]

DS13 is at school from 9am to 4pm and usually has about an hour's homework each evening. It is an excellent school, the top in our county, and DS13 is doing very well. Not only does he probably do less hours than the average homeschooler of his age, but school itself is a fairly inefficient use of that time, with lots of going to and from classes, breaks, other pupils messing around and disrupting lessons.

 

I think school is actually easier because positive peer pressure can often make the work feel like fun - this has certainly been the case for DS11 who started the same school in September after 3 years of homeschooling. His motivation and achievements have been remarkable since starting school; he was a very reluctant student as a homeschooler, despite wanting to be homeschooled, and despite my very best efforts to make our homeschool fun and engaging. As a result I'm slightly disenchanted with homeschooling just now, and wonder if I'm really doing the right thing continuing to homeschool DS8 and DS5 :sad:.

[Jenny in Atl]

I'm also surprised at the replies... My daughter is in 11th, at a Charter/Magnet school in Atlanta, and she takes all AP and Honors level classes. Most nights she has at least 3+ hrs homework. She's also in the theatre magnet, and often has rehearsals late into the evening. Even though I can find many things I dislike about my daughter's public high school, the quality of her classes has been high, and the workload no cake walk. AP Physics is killing her... :willy_nilly: She had much more free time homeschooling.

[Anne in CA]

My oldest attended ps for high school and it was easier than a cakewalk. She did half a year of algebra in 9th grade before she started learning things she didn't know from Saxon 1/2 algebra. She got all A's, but PS high school in Oregon is easy peasy unless you are doing honors or AP level classes. Well, IB programs are offered in some Oregon high schools and those are VERY rigorous with lots of home work. So, my answer is for a student who is just making time for graduation, not taking any advanced classes, ps is very easy. For a student taking advanced classes ps is time consuming with lots of hours in school and lots of homeworkl

[justamouse]

Homeschooling for 6-8 hours isn't comparable all to public schooling 20-30 kids in classes. 6-8 hours of my focused attention on what my kids are doing? They're under a microscope.

 

She's got a lot of stupid time sucking stuff in HS, but nothing remotely as aggressive as we had done in homeschool. She's in a few honors courses and I'm still not all that impressed and she's supposedly in a high ranking NJ school. She also works 4.5 hours a day, and 8 hours on the weekend. Still on honor roll.

[acablue]

We have two here, both honors/AP kids who were homeschooled briefly in elementary school, but have been in a high-ranking public school since then. They leave the house by 7:20 (would that be enough to convince him that homeschooling is better?) and usually have sports/music/clubs after school until at least 4:30. They both have (imo) a reasonable amount of homework. They're assigned daily homework in math and languages, frequent lab reports and other work in science and the occasional history or English paper. It's rare for them to spend less than an hour or more than two on homework per night.

[Elvenfoot]

My 9th grader was homeschooled from grades 2-8, and she entered a charter school this year. It is a fairly new school, and they seem to be going overboard in their attempt to be rigorous and college-preparatory. My daughter's day is 7.25 hours, not the typical 6.5 many of us grew up with; She has only 15 minutes for lunch, plus a 5-minute passing period, and she has no study halls. When she comes home, she usually has several hours of homework waiting for her. It has been so overwhelming for her that I had to complain about it at parent-teacher conferences.

 

Whereas for 7 years I saw my daughter for most of her days and she had balance between school, play, and chores, now we hardly see her at all and she has no balance. Her life is now little more than school, homework, and Sunday church. The main reason we'll keep her there is that she wants to stay, mainly because of all her new friends. She also likes her teachers and is getting a good education, so I'm just learning to accept the change, though I don't think I'll ever really be fully on board with it. The school is working to improve the problem, because many parents have complained, but I don't think the school will ever bring the intensity down enough to allow her to restore her previous balance. That said, I think this school is unusual in its rigor, even for college-prep schools (I went to one and never had this amount of homework). Probably the previous posts about kids who only have an hour or two per night are more normal.

[welovetoread]

my 9th grader does an online virtual school that follows WI public schools. She is drowning in work. The worst is she got sick a week after school started with whooping cough and is STILL NOT caught up. She works 7 days a week sometimes all day to get her work done.

[gingersmom]

My daughter is in private school (10th grade) and has 2-5 hours of homework each day (plus weekends) and homework on vacation.

 

I don't think its much different at our public school.

[Trilliums]

I talked to my kids last night about their daily work load, as the OP originally asked about a typical day.

 

Snapshots of yesterday from each child:

 

DS Grade 9:

 

LA: Present oral book report to class (this was assigned over winter break and he spent 5-6 sessions writing an outline and practicing his presentation over break). Listen to oral book reports. Last 15 minutes spent preparing for an in class essay on cultural values conveyed in The Odyssey (will be written in class next day).

 

Homework: 1 hour preparing for in class essay. This included us talking for about 30 minutes about 'hooks' for the start of his essay and a way to tie in his hook to his conclusion. Talking through his ideas helps DS solidify his work. Even if I just listen to him and nod in agreement or ask the occasional question, this process seems important for him.

 

 

Spanish: Teacher was called into jury duty and they had a sub. Watched a movie in Spanish.

 

HW: 15 minutes to write a brief description of movie.

 

 

Visual Basic: Receive packet on bubble sorting technique. Work on programming project--this can be very interactive with students helping each other as needed. Testing is individual work.

 

HW: None. He rarely has homework in this class, but he often programs on his own since he enjoys it. The students have to turn in an end of year project and DS works on this about 2x per week and on weekends.

 

 

Biology: Continue discussing Punnett Squares. Start handout practicing them for various crosses.

 

HW: 30 minutes to finish Punnett Square assignment.

 

Lunch

 

 

American Studies: Discussion on Cold War. Watch "Duck and Cover". Get started on Document based question assignment.

HW: None. Time is allotted in class for the assignment, but if it is not done in class, he will finish at home. He used to have a hard time finishing these in class, but he has become faster.

 

PE

 

Geometry: Review for unit test.

HW: 45 min Finish review packet

 

Total HW: 2hrs 15 minutes. DS came home relieved that he had so little to do. He was able to do some of the work on the bus home.

 

 

 

DS 10th grade:

 

Spanish: Watch movie

HW: 15 min Write short description of movie.

 

 

LA: Discuss Tortilla Curtain.

HW: Read 80 pages of novel in preparation for reading comp quiz the next day. Quiz is combo of short answer and T/F. Don't know how long this took, but DS is a slow but careful reader. Takes him longer than most people but his retention is excellent.

 

European History: Receive packet on WWI. In class discussion. Assigned essay on causes of WWI due next day.

HW: 2 hours to complete essay.

 

AP Comp Sci: Unit test

HW: none

Lunch

 

AP Physics: Complete lab on angular momentum.

HW: 2 1/2 hours Summarize lab results including graphing results. This could be streamlined, I am sure, but it is his particular area of interest and he spends more time on it since he enjoys thinking about it thoroughly. Plus having it all done to the best of his ability is important to him.

 

PreCalc: Go over homework and listen to lecture.

HW: 1 1/2 hours

 

Total HW: ~ 7 hours. This represents one of the longer homework nights DS has had. He was exhausted this morning. Having the two longer assignments for physics and european history makes for a long night.

 

My kids were hsed for 9 years prior to starting ps for high school (mutually decided upon). There are many academic aspects of ps they enjoy. They aren't very interested in the social scene at school and find some of it a bit discouraging actually. But, they plan to stick with some public school classes and start taking classes at the local University for their Jr years although hsing again is still an option.

[Lisbeth]

It's hard to compare. I believe there is a ton of wasted time in school, so that they have to do a bunch of homework...whereas homeschoolers can concentrate their work and be more efficient.

[AmyontheFarm]

DD #1 says this was her minimum time and if she wanted to do really well in the class she'd add 1/2 hr extra for just one class to review. At school they study 4 classes per semester.

 

Grade 9 - 2 hours

Grade 10 - 2.5 hours

Grade 11 - 3 hours

Grade 12 - 3.5 hours

 

If you wanted to go to University then you need to add 1-2 hours onto the minimum times. This is also 6 days a week and projects took 3-4 hours on a Saturday also.

 

We are in Canada. She did extremely well in school, because she put the effort in, she doesn't feel that things come easy to her, but she does know how to give the teachers what they want to receive the optimum grade. Her biggest complaint was that she was having to re-teach classmates on how to write essays, etc. because they never absorbed it from their teachers. I had many teachers say they loved seeing her presentations because she would actually complete the assignment. Of course, the lazy students loved being in her group because she would do the work for them to make sure her grades stayed up. But she would email the teacher and let them know what the other students actually contributed.

[Catherine]

It's hard to compare. I believe there is a ton of wasted time in school, so that they have to do a bunch of homework...whereas homeschoolers can concentrate their work and be more efficient.

 

 

I am curious-is your belief based on having had a child in high school, or what you have heard and observed elsewhere?

 

I ask because I used to believe the same, but I no longer do, although I think this is true to a great extent in the lower grades.

[athomeinMT]

My oldest is in 11th grade at PS this year. He says it is such a waste of time. The teachers like to talk about most anything except the subject at hand and will not tell them their assignments until the end of the hour so they have do it at home. These are almost all AP and honors classes.

 

He leaves at 5:15 for morning swim practice, sits at school all day accomplishing nothing, swims until 6:00 then comes home for homework until 9 or 10. He actually dropped the one non-honors/AP class he had so he could take a study hall and actually get something done during the school day.

 

He plans to come back home next year so he can have some free time again, take college classes instead, and swim more. I thought he should come home now but he feels that he should finish the year that he started since it was his choice.

[Deb in NZ]

It's hard to compare. I believe there is a ton of wasted time in school, so that they have to do a bunch of homework...whereas homeschoolers can concentrate their work and be more efficient.

 

This is definitely true here in NZ. In primary school (ages 5-12) school is 9:00-3:00, with 30 minutes for morning tea break & 60 minutes for lunch break. Highschool (ages 13-18) is 8:45-3:30 of which 15 minutes is homeroom time, 30 minutes is morning tea break, & 60 minutes is lunch break each day. Also, ds#2 has a weekly assembly that takes the place of a class. So primary school has 4.5 hours daily for classtime, including PE, art, library, etc. Highschool has 5 hours of class time daily.

 

When I HSed my dc I would aim for 4 hours solid of "study time." We covered much, much more in those 4 hours than what is covered in more time in PS. I know because I now do relief teaching (subbing) in our local PS. Also, in HS it is a lot harder to not get noticed if you're not focusing on the assignment at hand. In PS you are one in a class of 30+ & if you are well behaved it is easy to get away with doing little for quite a while before the teacher notices.

 

JMHO,

[AngelaNYC]

Dd(16) is a junior at a performing arts high school. A typical day has ten 45-minutes periods - from 8am-4:10pm (this year she doesn't have a first period so her classes begin at 8:45am).

 

4-5 periods of academics (English, Math, Science, History, and Foreign Language)

4 periods of dance

 

She has a 45-minute subway commute every morning and every afternoon.

 

Homework every night (about 2 hours).

 

I swear if this wasn't such a famous school (and that half the day is dance and lunch) I would have continued homeschooling. She likes it but not without complaints. I really do think if I said "hey, wanna homeschool again?" she probably would. I am leaning toward homeschooling my son for high school, too.

[Lisbeth]

I am curious-is your belief based on having had a child in high school, or what you have heard and observed elsewhere? I ask because I used to believe the same, but I no longer do, although I think this is true to a great extent in the lower grades.

 

Mine were in private gradeschool before I started homeschooling. The waste of time (and it was an awarded, highly-regarded, highly rated school) was criminal. True, it wasn't high school, but I went to a private high school that was highly rated, and it was a nightmare of boredom and waiting around for me. Years ago, of course. Second hand I do know a lot of parents in my "highly rated" district who think a lot of time is wasted there. I just think it's the nature of being grouped with 20-30 other like-age kids all day. One-on-one or small groups are just more efficient by nature.

[SonshineLearner]

My daughter, in 9th at a Public School in Oregon, works about an hour or so on homework each day and a bit on the weekend. This depends on how much she is suppose to be doing. Our school is good, but there are many classes that are band, Labs... etc. that don't have homework. She also has dance each day, except for Sun/Mon and is on the Dance Team. That's around 10hrs a week and so she's pretty busy. She loves public school and would kill me if I tried to bring her back. For us, we've found that doing the accelerated/honors courses are the way to go. You've got kids who care in there and the work is better concentrated.

[Based on Faith Academy]

I talked to my kids last night about their daily work load, as the OP originally asked about a typical day.

 

Snapshots of yesterday from each child:

 

DS Grade 9:

 

LA: Present oral book report to class (this was assigned over winter break and he spent 5-6 sessions writing an outline and practicing his presentation over break). Listen to oral book reports. Last 15 minutes spent preparing for an in class essay on cultural values conveyed in The Odyssey (will be written in class next day).

 

Homework: 1 hour preparing for in class essay. This included us talking for about 30 minutes about 'hooks' for the start of his essay and a way to tie in his hook to his conclusion. Talking through his ideas helps DS solidify his work. Even if I just listen to him and nod in agreement or ask the occasional question, this process seems important for him.

 

 

Spanish: Teacher was called into jury duty and they had a sub. Watched a movie in Spanish.

 

HW: 15 minutes to write a brief description of movie.

 

 

Visual Basic: Receive packet on bubble sorting technique. Work on programming project--this can be very interactive with students helping each other as needed. Testing is individual work.

 

HW: None. He rarely has homework in this class, but he often programs on his own since he enjoys it. The students have to turn in an end of year project and DS works on this about 2x per week and on weekends.

 

 

Biology: Continue discussing Punnett Squares. Start handout practicing them for various crosses.

 

HW: 30 minutes to finish Punnett Square assignment.

 

Lunch

 

 

American Studies: Discussion on Cold War. Watch "Duck and Cover". Get started on Document based question assignment.

HW: None. Time is allotted in class for the assignment, but if it is not done in class, he will finish at home. He used to have a hard time finishing these in class, but he has become faster.

 

PE

 

Geometry: Review for unit test.

HW: 45 min Finish review packet

 

Total HW: 2hrs 15 minutes. DS came home relieved that he had so little to do. He was able to do some of the work on the bus home.

 

 

 

DS 10th grade:

 

Spanish: Watch movie

HW: 15 min Write short description of movie.

 

 

LA: Discuss Tortilla Curtain.

HW: Read 80 pages of novel in preparation for reading comp quiz the next day. Quiz is combo of short answer and T/F. Don't know how long this took, but DS is a slow but careful reader. Takes him longer than most people but his retention is excellent.

 

European History: Receive packet on WWI. In class discussion. Assigned essay on causes of WWI due next day.

HW: 2 hours to complete essay.

 

AP Comp Sci: Unit test

HW: none

Lunch

 

AP Physics: Complete lab on angular momentum.

HW: 2 1/2 hours Summarize lab results including graphing results. This could be streamlined, I am sure, but it is his particular area of interest and he spends more time on it since he enjoys thinking about it thoroughly. Plus having it all done to the best of his ability is important to him.

 

PreCalc: Go over homework and listen to lecture.

HW: 1 1/2 hours

 

Total HW: ~ 7 hours. This represents one of the longer homework nights DS has had. He was exhausted this morning. Having the two longer assignments for physics and european history makes for a long night.

 

My kids were hsed for 9 years prior to starting ps for high school (mutually decided upon). There are many academic aspects of ps they enjoy. They aren't very interested in the social scene at school and find some of it a bit discouraging actually. But, they plan to stick with some public school classes and start taking classes at the local University for their Jr years although hsing again is still an option.

Thank you so much for actually taking the time to talk to your kids for me and make it possible to get a better insight into a day in their shoes!!!