UPDATE (POST 1).......OMG! Please Tell Me This Is Typical And It Gets Better

[Reefgazer]

DD just started 9th grade, and she feels buried in work. Setting aside the fact she has too many hours devoted to extracurricular activities, it seems she has no time left to just read a book for pleasure or draw at a leisurely pace. Yes, she is taking a heavy academic load, but math takes a ridiculously long time (my God, she works s-l-o-w-l-y) and Latin really ramped up and is difficult this year, and we didn't expect those 2 subjects to require as much time as they have been. I guess I'm just griping and hoping things will get better.

 

UPDATE: So I took a lot of suggestions in this thread and instituted some changes in our homeschool. I thought I'd let you know how it went. I did the following:

 

1. Rearranged the day's schedule so that, although she is out of the house the same amount of hours, those hours are "chunked" and we have less transitions in and out of the house. This seems to have made a difference.

 

2. Instituted a rule that transitions have to be 15 minutes. Thus is saves us about a half hour per transition because we were pidddling away about 45 minutes for transitions prior to this. Now we just pet the cat for a minute instead of 15 minutes.

 

3. We set a timer to get math done. I set the timer for 45 minutes and tell her to work as hard as she can as fast as she can without sacrificing accuracy. After that 45 minutes, if the work isn't done in 45 minutes, we set the timer again. Thus has helped her to focus and finish her math earlier, with no increase in error rate. Thank you to ever suggested the timer. I will say that this makes a huge difference in our week .

 

4. I've put into place a rule that all written work and computer research needs to be done by 10 PM, and by 10 PM she has to be ready for bed - teeth brushed, face washed, pajamas on. Now DD is a night owl and doesn't go to sleep that early, but that time is now reserved for reading, drawing, or just unwinding. I think this is helped her to spend some time winding down, which translates into falling asleep easier.

 

5. We get up earlier in the morning and both of us are avoiding the urge to lay down and nap because we get to bed earlier and get more sleep generally. This has helped us increase our blocks of time early in the morning to work.

 

So for anybody struggling with time, I recommend these things to increase time you have to work because they have really made a difference for us this past week! She got all her work done on time, and still had time available to paint, read, and draw at night. So thank you to everyone for the suggestions in the thread!

Edited October 7, 2016 by reefgazer

[Garga]

I don't know if it gets better, but we're in the same place. My son starts promptly at 8:00 in the morning and works until about 6 at night. Granted, some of that time is for karate and travel time to a Spanish class. But still, 8-6 is a long time. The time includes some 5-10 minute breaks and 30-60 minute lunches.

 

On top of the 8-6 school day, there have also been many nights where he doesn't get everything done and still has another hour or two to do after dinner. You don't want to even know about last Tuesday where he was still working at 10 at night. I don't know *what* happened last Tuesday. It was miserable.

 

Well...I do know what happened: I thought he was working on his Geometry AND Spanish homework for 2 hours while I worked with my youngest. After 2 hours, I check on him and find out he was doing only his Geometry, and that 10 of the 20 problems were wrong. He was completely clueless about how to do the work. Why didn't he tell me?? I told him next time to TELL me asap if he's lost.

 

So, after dinner, he had to re-watch the teacher's video (it's an online class) and then redo all the problems with his dad while I was grocery shopping. That's what kept him working until 10 at night. Pushing the work off until the next day would have had a domino effect and he'd have been working all weekend, which I try my best to keep free for him. We're in the middle of week 6 and there have been 2 weekends where he had work.

 

I have been increasingly nervous that something is very wrong with how we're doing things. I'm starting to think that I've completely messed up in trying to figure out how long things take. I'm not sure if he's going slowly, or if the work is honestly too time consuming and my time assessments were waaaay off.

 

If only he could learn to type super fast. He is getting better, and I do believe that if he ever finally takes off with typing, he'll save quite a bit of time. I'm constantly thinking, "Pleeeeeease start typing faster!" He certainly has the motivation to type faster, and now it's just a matter of practice.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Garga

[Garga]

Oh, and we're doing what I consider to be the minimum I can do with him. I have tried to cut back everything I can. There were a few extra books I was going to have him read and a biology coloring book, but I nixed those by the 2nd week. We're completely streamlined as far back as I'm willing to go.

 

He was very, very whiny the first three weeks of school, but that's tapered off. He's back to being pleasantly resigned to doing his work (which is how he usually feels about school.). I can see him starting to flag and slow down dramatically by 3:30. Maybe he needs a protein snack at that time to get through the rest of the day.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Garga

[freesia]

It gets better or maybe you get used to it.  One thing I had to be aware of was that I tended to overplan some of my home made classes in the way I had in middle school and elementary. Realistically, in ninth grade, you might have to make sure that English is only about an hour a day, b/c science and math and foreign language end up taking a lot more time than they did before.  I also had to make some "extra" videos in history as optional.  10th grade he had more stamina, 11th grade more.  But, yeah, make sure you aren't over expecting in some areas. It also looks like she has 7 full credits, which is a lot.  I know that some are doing it, but maybe you need to scale back a bit? Only you and she can answer it.

 

I can't remember 9th grade, b/c we were also dealing with some attitude/surfing on the net when no allowed issues. However in 10th, he worked from 9-5 with an hour for lunch, plus often some time Tues, Weds and Thurs. evening.  Then sometimes there was Saturday work.  This year seems at bit more manageable, but his electives are requirements that are easier than his elective last year.  However, things in his AP classes seem to be ramping a bit.  I don't know--in general he is manageing things better.

[quark]

The busy is typical. What got better here was the ability to manage the busy and work with both speed and quality. But it takes time. Be gentle with yourselves. I think 9th grade is supposed to be hard. It is supposed to be a leap of sorts. Struggle is good.

 

Where I refuse to tolerate the struggle is when sleep/ health is affected. If free time is affected for >2-3 weeks then I know it's gone overboard.

Edited September 28, 2016 by quark

[Kassia]

I am so glad you started this thread!  My daughter is in 9th grade and working much longer each day than I expected plus she's doing schoolwork on weekends.  I expected that she'd have more free time than she actually has.  

[OnMyOwn]

Yes, my dd has the same issue this year. For her, it is mostly due to one class taking her too much time, though she does have an extremely heavy workload. We are trying very hard to keep the weekend off limits from academics and I'm not sure we're going to succeed unless she drops something. She doesn't want to drop anything, but I am really starting to think she should.

 

I see you are using Saxon. My dd used Saxon algebra II last year and by the end of the year, it was taking too long. So, I can empathize there. She did finish it, but she's switched to DO this year (after I spent weeks agonizing over what to do) and it has turned out to be a great decision for her. I knew there was absolutely no way she could take all the classes she wanted to take this year and continue on with the Advanced math book.

 

I see your dd is also taking two languages, like mine, as well as an additional elective. That is part if the reason we are running into trouble. Dd really wanted to take psychology and that on top of two languages is too much. Four of her classes are online and 2 of them are pretty time-consuming. And did I say she doesn't want to drop anything? To the point that she is teary whenever I bring it up. And yet she is teary when she is tired and still working into the evening after a long day. The only thing that has made it manageable at all up until now is that we've been able to keep her weekends free.

[quark]

Some of the responses in dereksurfs' thread might help!

Too many hours doing school work vs just being a kid

[Lanny]

I now believe that is rather typical, based on the experience my DD went through recently.  Going from Middle School to High School was a bigger jump than I had anticipated and I made what I now believe was a mistake, suggesting that she take 7 credits each year in High School. She got bogged down in 9th grade. Her Time Management and Study Skills were very good in Middle School, but the workload in High School is simply much heavier and she had to improve those skills.  That is a step toward university, where the courses go twice as fast...There was a thread about this a few months ago and I found that my DD is probably pretty typical. So is yours...  

[Guest]

Do y'all do school during the summer? If it doesn't level out in a few weeks you can always do a block or two over the summer if you don't mind year round. That's what we've done to fit everything in and let dd ramp up gradually. We got a massive chunk of biology done over the summer and a head start on some other subjects. Knowing we're "ahead" gives us both peace of mind I think. If we have a really bad week with math or something I can back off on biology for her to redo the math and it doesn't derail the schedule, iykwim?

 

Even doing that though the first couple of weeks with 7 subjects was rough in August. It's been over a month now and she's finally in a groove. Hopefully in a few more weeks your dd will find hers.

[Ethel Mertz]

We're having the same trouble with 8th. I've scaled back some and I try to give him as much flexibility as I can, but even so, he has a lot more work. I've suggested dropping one of our two languages, but he too gets teary at the suggestion!

[Luckymama]

High school just takes longer. All the reading, discussing, researching, writing, answering problems at higher levels adds up.

 

You all get used to it.

 

Sometimes dd chooses to work late in the evenings. Sometimes she chooses to work weekend afternoons. Sometimes she has to do both.

[RootAnn]

I'm glad quark linked to Derek's post because I thought about that when I saw this thread.

 

My dd#1 is a procrastinating lollygagger, and ninth grade just about did her in. She spent all summer finishing up last year's subjects. (In fact, she still has a quarter's worth of one subject and a couple weeks of another unfinished.) We outsourced almost everything this year to keep her on track, but if you over schedule, you spend too much time no matter what.

 

I think six credits is plenty for 9th grade. The two language thing does us in because she wants to take the elective class offered locally with her friends.

 

I think she's better scheduled this year and she keeps tabs on her time better. But, there is still room for improvement in both categories. Maybe we'll have it figured out by senior year.

 

I'm already looking at how to keep 9th manageable for dd#2 who will face it next year. !!

[Reefgazer]

We routinely work weekends and late into the night because we have so many other things going during the day.  I don't mind late night work and some weekend work, but it just all seems like too much.  A sample day, without schoolwork or time for random stuff like doctor appointments looks like this for us:

 

 

Monday:  Barn work from 1:00 - 4:00 pm

                 Swim team practice from 6:00 - 8:00 pm 

 

Tuesday  Co-op from 12:15 - 2:45 pm

                 Swim team practice from 5:45-8:00 pm

 

Wednesday:  Riding lessons from 7:45 - 10:00 am

                      French tutor from 1:00 - 2:00 pm (She sees the French tutor on Saturday, as well)

                      Swim team practice from 5:45-8:00 pm

 

Thursday:  Co-op from 9:15 am - 2:45 pm

               

Friday:  Co-op from 10:00 am - 1:30 pm

             Swim team practice from 6:00 - 8:00 pm 

 

 Saturday or Sunday:  Barn for about 4 hours (Forgot to add this to my original post)

 

I know full well she's too busy and out of the house too much, and some of the extras need to go by the wayside.  But on the other hand, when we started homeschooling I wanted it to free her up and allow her the time to pursue her interests and be her, rather than just be a little study-bot.  I don't think she should be this pressured and work this much; she should husband that kind of focus and intensity for college and grad school and I am afraid she will be burned out by that time.

 

Next semester, I want to ditch the Friday co-op and spend a bit less time at the Thursday co-op.  But I don't want to blow off co-op entirely because it is DS's social outlet and he is finally making friends there (he takes a long time to come out of his shell and make friends).  I also offered to split the Algebra II text into 2 years because math is taking a long time.  I think that will put her at a disadvantage for a top college, but she has no real interest in math or pursuing a math field of study, so *shrug*.  But she doesn't want to exercise that option right now, and wants to see if the time she spends on math improves over the next few months.  So we have agreed to re-visit that idea.  Neither of my kids want to work in the summer, and I don't either; we reserve that time to vacation and travel or (sigh) more sports.  This kid is always tired and exhausted, but she can't sleep until late, so being up late and having to get up to do her activities and work with me on school in the early am has been tough.

 

So with the tight schedule as it is, there is no time for *anything* to go wrong or awry.  Today (which is usually our easy day) was awful because DD and I spent 4 full hours at a cardiology appointment (didn't expect that long of an appointment and had to bag French), and she will be camping with the Girl Scouts this weekend, so there is no time to "catch up" this weekend.  All we are getting done with any regularity at all is math, Latin, and French. *

 

* After I typed this, I realized what a weird combination that is for priorities, LOL.

 

I don't know if it gets better, but we're in the same place. My son starts promptly at 8:00 in the morning and works until about 6 at night. Granted, some of that time is for karate and travel time to a Spanish class. But still, 8-6 is a long time. The time includes some 5-10 minute breaks and 30-60 minute lunches.

On top of the 8-6 school day, there have also been many nights where he doesn't get everything done and still has another hour or two to do after dinner. You don't want to even know about last Tuesday where he was still working at 10 at night. I don't know *what* happened last Tuesday. It was miserable.

Well...I do know what happened: I thought he was working on his Geometry AND Spanish homework for 2 hours while I worked with my youngest. After 2 hours, I check on him and find out he was doing only his Geometry, and that 10 of the 20 problems were wrong. He was completely clueless about how to do the work. Why didn't he tell me?? I told him next time to TELL me asap if he's lost.

So, after dinner, he had to re-watch the teacher's video (it's an online class) and then redo all the problems with his dad while I was grocery shopping. That's what kept him working until 10 at night. Pushing the work off until the next day would have had a domino effect and he'd have been working all weekend, which I try my best to keep free for him. We're in the middle of week 6 and there have been 2 weekends where he had work.

I have been increasingly nervous that something is very wrong with how we're doing things. I'm starting to think that I've completely messed up in trying to figure out how long things take. I'm not sure if he's going slowly, or if the work is honestly too time consuming and my time assessments were waaaay off.

If only he could learn to type super fast. He is getting better, and I do believe that if he ever finally takes off with typing, he'll save quite a bit of time. I'm constantly thinking, "Pleeeeeease start typing faster!" He certainly has the motivation to type faster, and now it's just a matter of practice.

 

Edited September 29, 2016 by reefgazer

[Reefgazer]

Yeah, this is a serious issue for us and I am brainstorming how to fix it.

The busy is typical. What got better here was the ability to manage the busy and work with both speed and quality. But it takes time. Be gentle with yourselves. I think 9th grade is supposed to be hard. It is supposed to be a leap of sorts. Struggle is good.

 

Where I refuse to tolerate the struggle is when sleep/ health is affected. If free time is affected for >2-3 weeks then I know it's gone overboard.

 

[Reefgazer]

Yup, the two languages and math are killing us, time-wise.  I think we will have to drop one of them earlier in her high school career than we would like, but it might have to go that way. 

 

I have considered a less time-consuming math, but wonder how I will switch and what we will switch to when we are in the middle of Algebra II an Geometry is integrated.  How do you go about switching to a non-integrated class?

Yes, my dd has the same issue this year. For her, it is mostly due to one class taking her too much time, though she does have an extremely heavy workload. We are trying very hard to keep the weekend off limits from academics and I'm not sure we're going to succeed unless she drops something. She doesn't want to drop anything, but I am really starting to think she should.

I see you are using Saxon. My dd used Saxon algebra II last year and by the end of the year, it was taking too long. So, I can empathize there. She did finish it, but she's switched to DO this year (after I spent weeks agonizing over what to do) and it has turned out to be a great decision for her. I knew there was absolutely no way she could take all the classes she wanted to take this year and continue on with the Advanced math book.

I see your dd is also taking two languages, like mine, as well as an additional elective. That is part if the reason we are running into trouble. Dd really wanted to take psychology and that on top of two languages is too much. Four of her classes are online and 2 of them are pretty time-consuming. And did I say she doesn't want to drop anything? To the point that she is teary whenever I bring it up. And yet she is teary when she is tired and still working into the evening after a long day. The only thing that has made it manageable at all up until now is that we've been able to keep her weekends free.

 

[Reefgazer]

My kids are adamant about not doing schoolwork in summer, and I agree with them on that.  We seem to really need that break.  hoping we can get a groove going....

Do y'all do school during the summer? If it doesn't level out in a few weeks you can always do a block or two over the summer if you don't mind year round. That's what we've done to fit everything in and let dd ramp up gradually. We got a massive chunk of biology done over the summer and a head start on some other subjects. Knowing we're "ahead" gives us both peace of mind I think. If we have a really bad week with math or something I can back off on biology for her to redo the math and it doesn't derail the schedule, iykwim?

Even doing that though the first couple of weeks with 7 subjects was rough in August. It's been over a month now and she's finally in a groove. Hopefully in a few more weeks your dd will find hers.

 

[freesia]

There is no way we could cope here with all those extras. One half day co-op was our limit and now he had two study halls and one class and it works. Could she do study hall at some of those co-ops?

[katilac]

A rough adjustment to high school is pretty typical. Time-wise, it gets better in the sense that they often learn to work more efficiently. However, just when that kicks in, they often start dual enrollment and the college search and standardized testing, lol. High school is just a busy, busy time. 

 

I have one who just left for college and one junior. A few notes about our experience: 

 

*Yep, 9th-grade is hard.

 

*And high school is busy. 

 

*I understand that working on weekends sounds awful, but we often found it much better than working late into the evening. 2 fresh hours on a weekend are worth 6 tired evening hours during the week, ime. 

 

*Likewise with summer schooling. We stopped year-round schooling before high school, but we definitely work well over 180 days. Again, to an extent you are choosing between long and exhausting days for a shorter time frame, or a more reasonable schedule for a longer time frame. We find that some of their friends who are really adamant about no weekend or holiday or summer work are so exhausted and burnt out by the end of the year that they don't do anything or enjoy anything for a big chunk of vacation. We def prefer more manageable days, and we still take plenty of time off. 

 

[MerryAtHope]

Sometimes it's not the academics or the extra-curriculars that are overwhelming, but the combination of both together. She's out of the house over 26 hours per week--yes, that's really busy. If those are the things that are truly her top priorities, she will need to accept that she's not going to have free time for her other interests (reading, drawing)--those will have to wait for summer breaks, vacations, maybe an occasional weekend or holiday.

 

I don't know when we would get school done with hours like those. If some are just for a season (like Swim Team perhaps, or riding lessons) then maybe you can do a lighter load now, and add in more when that's done. 

 

Academic classes are going to take an hour per day in high school on average (some can take more, but I always cut the assignments if it took much longer than an hour. 1 credit is approximately 150-180 hours of work though, which translates to about an hour per school day.) I think you will need to take a serious look at the schedule and see what you really want to keep, and what things are priorities. Is swim a priority, or riding lessons, or is reading a book for fun and drawing? Or, are electives more important than doing a rigorous college-prep (maybe she plans to go to the local CC and can get by with fewer history and science credits or less foreign language). Or, co-op versus having more flexibility to determine what she studies and what work is done. Hard choices like that. They can't do it all. Even if you cut academics to the "main" ones, you'll still have at least 5 hours of school work per day (English, math, science, history, foreign language). Doing that much work on top of 5+ hours outside the home most days (and don't forget any travel time, and the needed transition time with going out/coming home)...it's an exhausting pace. 

Edited September 29, 2016 by MerryAtHope

[Renai]

 

If only he could learn to type super fast. He is getting better, and I do believe that if he ever finally takes off with typing, he'll save quite a bit of time. I'm constantly thinking, "Pleeeeeease start typing faster!" He certainly has the motivation to type faster, and now it's just a matter of practice.

 

Speech-to-text. It has changed dd's life.

 

That's all I've got.

[Reefgazer]

In theory, yes, and that was the plan.  In practice, she has lots of friends there that my social butterfly of a DD wants to hang out with.  I don't want to deny her that free time, since she has so little of it.

There is no way we could cope here with all those extras. One half day co-op was our limit and now he had two study halls and one class and it works. Could she do study hall at some of those co-ops?

 

[OnMyOwn]

Yup, the two languages and math are killing us, time-wise. I think we will have to drop one of them earlier in her high school career than we would like, but it might have to go that way.

 

I have considered a less time-consuming math, but wonder how I will switch and what we will switch to when we are in the middle of Algebra II an Geometry is integrated. How do you go about switching to a non-integrated class?

I keep thinking my dd should just take the SAT subject test for one of her languages after this year and open up that time to pursue other interests. But, when she's doing Latin, I keep hearing her saying "Fun!, Fun!" and Spanish has been her favorite class for the last couple of years. So, my guess is she's probably going to continue

 

About the math -- Well, we'll see, but DO is so streamlined compared to Saxon and there is so much overlap between the algebra II and precalculus material, I think we'll finish it well before the school year is over unless we run into difficulty. Saxon algebra II has already covered quite a bit of geometry and I own TT Geometry, so the current plan is to just cover the topics she didn't get to in Saxon this spring.

[Guest]

Just a thought on the co-op: could you continue to take your ds, and your dd could stay home during that time and get her work done?

 

Yes, this- even if she just dropped one day of the co-op. Would she consider that?  I don't know about your kids, but with mine, being out of the house adds an extra 30 minutes on either side of the actual being gone side for everyone's brain to be in/out of the game. When we get home there's always hand washing and snack getting and oh petting dogs and looking at horses, etc. It's another half hour before anyone settles down to work, me included. If she could have one uninterrupted day to really plow through her assignments would that help her? 

[Reefgazer]

*Sigh*  I know.  Swim team and riding are year around sports, and since they are her priorities, the drawing and pleasure reading will have to wait, I guess.  It's the sleep I hate skimping on.   

 

We just tonight sat down and started brainstorming, and we decided to bag the Friday co-op next semester, cut back the Thursday co-op, do Latin at half-speed (so one less high school Latin credit overall), cut 5-10 problems from the Saxon lesson each night (I know Saxon enthusiasts hate when people do that), and revisit the math situation if math continues to take as long as it has been.  I think math will lighten up, though, because it's the geometry that has been so time-consuming for her and that seemed to be heavily front loaded in the Saxon Algebra II text.  Hopefully, these adjustments will help us manage a bit better. 

 

  

 

Sometimes it's not the academics or the extra-curriculars that are overwhelming, but the combination of both together. She's out of the house over 26 hours per week--yes, that's really busy. If those are the things that are truly her top priorities, she will need to accept that she's not going to have free time for her other interests (reading, drawing)--those will have to wait for summer breaks, vacations, maybe an occasional weekend or holiday.

 

I don't know when we would get school done with hours like those. If some are just for a season (like Swim Team perhaps, or riding lessons) then maybe you can do a lighter load now, and add in more when that's done. 

 

Academic classes are going to take an hour per day in high school on average (some can take more, but I always cut the assignments if it took much longer than an hour. 1 credit is approximately 150-180 hours of work though, which translates to about an hour per school day.) I think you will need to take a serious look at the schedule and see what you really want to keep, and what things are priorities. Is swim a priority, or riding lessons, or is reading a book for fun and drawing? Or, are electives more important than doing a rigorous college-prep (maybe she plans to go to the local CC and can get by with fewer history and science credits or less foreign language). Or, co-op versus having more flexibility to determine what she studies and what work is done. Hard choices like that. They can't do it all. Even if you cut academics to the "main" ones, you'll still have at least 5 hours of school work per day (English, math, science, history, foreign language). Doing that much work on top of 5+ hours outside the home most days (and don't forget any travel time, and the needed transition time with going out/coming home)...it's an exhausting pace. 

[Reefgazer]

At the Tuesday/Thursday co-op (same co-op, but high school classes run 2 days/week there), I am teaching a course to DD and 11 of her friends, so she has to be there this year.  But we decided to bag the Friday co-op next semester and have just DS attend that one (I can drop him off there and not have to stay).

Just a thought on the co-op: could you continue to take your ds, and your dd could stay home during that time and get her work done?

 

[quark]

Another idea: Can she do French one semester and Latin the next? I know people don't normally suggest splitting languages up that way due to lack of practice in the interim but can she keep conversing/ reading in one of the languages in some of the free time she gets from splitting them up? We did that for DS's Japanese and it went fine. He picked it back right up for Year 2 after taking a semester off (but he watched Japanese movies and practiced speaking at home whenever he could and reviewed by teaching a little of it to me).

[Reefgazer]

She could probably do this, but since we just decided to take Latin at 1/2 speed, I'll see if that works for her first.  It would wind up to be the same total number of credits for high school Latin.

Another idea: Can she do French one semester and Latin the next? I know people don't normally suggest splitting languages up that way due to lack of practice in the interim but can she keep conversing/ reading in one of the languages in some of the free time she gets from splitting them up? We did that for DS's Japanese and it went fine. He picked it back right up for Year 2 after taking a semester off (but he watched Japanese movies and practiced speaking at home whenever he could and reviewed by teaching a little of it to me).

 

[RootAnn]

All we are getting done with any regularity at all is math, Latin, and French. *

 

* After I typed this, I realized what a weird combination that is for priorities, LOL.

Dd#1 would say this makes perfect sense as these are all your languages. Languages are Dd's favorite subject- and she includes algebra as one of them. (Geometry was not her favorite.)

[SparklyUnicorn]

Speech-to-text. It has changed dd's life.

 

That's all I've got.

 

Which one does she use?

[Lanny]

My DD prefers to study year round. That helps her maintain "the rhythm" of studying.  She needs a minimum of 26 credits to graduate, 6 1/2 credits each school year, so I thought trying for 7 credits would be a good idea, but that was, in retrospect,, a mistake on my part. I believe there are always subjects a student can get thru quickly and others that take them more time.   

[Reefgazer]

Yes, dropping one co-op would surely help her, and we are looking to drop that Friday co-op. But the Tuesday/Thursday co-opis the same co-op and goes hand-in-hand because the high school students meet week two days a week.

Yes, this- even if she just dropped one day of the co-op. Would she consider that? I don't know about your kids, but with mine, being out of the house adds an extra 30 minutes on either side of the actual being gone side for everyone's brain to be in/out of the game. When we get home there's always hand washing and snack getting and oh petting dogs and looking at horses, etc. It's another half hour before anyone settles down to work, me included. If she could have one uninterrupted day to really plow through her assignments would that help her?

Edited September 29, 2016 by reefgazer

[Hilltopmom]

Grades 9/10 were tough. They were all classes planned (over planned) by me... I realized late in the game that I was piling on too much stuff & too many big academic electives on top of core subjects. And it was a huge jump up from our unschooled elementary & middle school work!

 

This year, with DE & 2 outsourced online classes, I thought things would be hard, but he has way more free time than I expected. And his home brewed classes I made much more reasonable this year.

 

Ironically, he's using all that extra time to code anyways, or for robotics.

 

I really like the clear syllabi he's gotten from his outsourced classes, they help immensely when we're trying to decide if we can add something in- like, yesterday we took most of the day off to go see a play & he loses one full day this week for a robotics commitment. (That's atypical though, losing 2 school work days in one week)

[Hilltopmom]

oops, double post.

 

I will add though, we dropped our co op (actually, We stopped running it altogether) & are focusing on getting the teens together just for social stuff at night, mostly on the weekends. (So far we have a corn maze night planned, movie day, bowling, they want to do paintball, etc)

 

They needed more full days at home for schoolwork & with lots of time consuming extra curriculars as they aged, co op just for social needs was a huge time suck.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[SparklyUnicorn]

My DD prefers to study year round. That helps her maintain "the rhythm" of studying.  She needs a minimum of 26 credits to graduate, 6 1/2 credits each school year, so I thought trying for 7 credits would be a good idea, but that was, in retrospect,, a mistake on my part. I believe there are always subjects a student can get thru quickly and others that take them more time.   

 

We go year round too.  I think it does alleviate some of the craziness. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

This is a good thread. I don't have a lot to add - we're having the opposite problem of dd not being able to do enough during the day right now, so I'm looking at needing to do weekend/summer work to finish out her credits for 9th grade. She's got some kind of weird health thing going on, dr. thinks it is viral meningitis, and she's having chronic daily headaches, vertigo, and just generally feeling horrible and not able to focus for a full day's work.  I'm kind of starting to freak out.  She's depressed about feeling bad physically, and I"m worrying about not keeping up with schoolwork, and we just want things to feel normal again. . . . waaaah.  Sorry for the sidetrack, I'm just relating to what y'all are posting.

[MerryAtHope]

Which one does she use?

 

Not who you were asking, but my dd uses her Kindle Fire. The email function has a speaker and it accepts all of the regular commands for punctuation, new paragraph etc... She does all her rough drafts on there, emails it to herself and then formats and revises in Word on the computer. 

[Reefgazer]

Hope your DD feels better soon. It's always something, isn't it?

 

This is a good thread. I don't have a lot to add - we're having the opposite problem of dd not being able to do enough during the day right now, so I'm looking at needing to do weekend/summer work to finish out her credits for 9th grade. She's got some kind of weird health thing going on, dr. thinks it is viral meningitis, and she's having chronic daily headaches, vertigo, and just generally feeling horrible and not able to focus for a full day's work. I'm kind of starting to freak out. She's depressed about feeling bad physically, and I"m worrying about not keeping up with schoolwork, and we just want things to feel normal again. . . . waaaah. Sorry for the sidetrack, I'm just relating to what y'all are posting.

[MysteryJen]

Now that I have a 9th grader in ps. I have learned a few things about my homeschooling high school for my older 3 kids.

1. I ramped up too quickly. Too much reading, too quick a pace, too many credits, too much comparing to the absolutely stellar kids here.

2. Five core courses is great. Math, English, History, Science, FL. Do them well and at the right level. Not everything has to be AP/IB/CC level

3. Add in electives. Music (make their instrument a course by counting hours and adding theory). Gym-sports (if you ask around, vast, vast number of athletes are getting credit for their sports), art (count hours and do some projects)

4. Remember that they are young. They will get more mature, more invested in their future. Try not to worry so much. Four years of high school is a  looong  time.

5. Get familiar with what ps high schools are doing. The one your kid would go to. Look at syllabi, scores, talk to people. I realized pretty quickly that I had insane requirements and standards and needed to revise. They were still hard comparatively, but they were more fair.

6. Kid aiming at highly selective schools? Learn the numbers-both admissions and financial. Decide together to pursue that path.

 

What we did right: 

1. read many books. We read more than we could have possibly written about. Watched plays and movies and talked about life

2. Realize that 9th grade is the time to prune a little. We had hard conversations about time and time management. Ds1 dropped swimming, and picked up water polo (a much less time intensive sport here). He cut back on hours at work and kept guitar lessons. Dd1 had to drop competitve climbing to focus on swimming and gave up guitar as her time crunch grew more and more serious.

3. Work is for when you can. Weekends, late night, early mornings. Most teens (sports, music, jobs) run 14 hours days. Most have to do homework on nights and weekends.

4. My deadlines were firm. 

5. Love your teens. They are turning into awesome people. Be a cheerleader for them.

 

 

[RootAnn]

She's depressed about feeling bad physically, and I"m worrying about not keeping up with schoolwork, and we just want things to feel normal again. . . . waaaah.

 

As Count Rugen would say, "Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything." 

Don't worry about schoolwork. Worry about her feeling better.  :grouphug:

[Kassia]

This is a good thread. I don't have a lot to add - we're having the opposite problem of dd not being able to do enough during the day right now, so I'm looking at needing to do weekend/summer work to finish out her credits for 9th grade. She's got some kind of weird health thing going on, dr. thinks it is viral meningitis, and she's having chronic daily headaches, vertigo, and just generally feeling horrible and not able to focus for a full day's work.  I'm kind of starting to freak out.  She's depressed about feeling bad physically, and I"m worrying about not keeping up with schoolwork, and we just want things to feel normal again. . . . waaaah.  Sorry for the sidetrack, I'm just relating to what y'all are posting.

 

I'm sorry that your dd is feeling so lousy.  Hope she feels better soon.  I agree with the other poster who said to focus on her feeling better.  I know it's hard, though.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

As Count Rugen would say, "Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything." 

Don't worry about schoolwork. Worry about her feeling better.  :grouphug:

 

:001_wub: 

 

(Bonus points for the PB reference.)

[lewelma]

I'm really struggling with this issue right now.  I just want to ask: why we do this to our kids?  We are homeschoolers.  No one is checking our rigor.  If a kid is clearly overworking, why do we allow it?  Why do we encourage it? Is it teaching our children a work ethic and efficiency?  Or is it teaching our kids to sacrifice both physical and mental health for academic productivity?  Clearly there is a balance to be found, but how do we find it?  Are we over reaching the goal in our desire to compete?

 

I definitely have more questions than I do answers.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm really struggling with this issue right now.  I just want to ask: why we do this to our kids?  We are homeschoolers.  No one is checking our rigor.  If a kid is clearly overworking, why do we allow it?  Why do we encourage it? Is it teaching our children a work ethic and efficiency?  Or is it teaching our kids to sacrifice both physical and mental health for academic productivity?  Clearly there is a balance to be found, but how do we find it?  Are we over reaching the goal in our desire to compete?

 

I definitely have more questions than I do answers.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

I am asking myself this, *a lot* right now.  Especially when my dd meets me at the door when I get home and tells me that she's decided she wants to write a modern retelling of the Odyssey from a teen's point of view. Maybe as her NaNoWriMo novel.  (She's having a good day today, clearly! phew.)  Sometimes I think I need to just get out of her way.  

[Ravin]

Reality check: It is homeschool. You are the one who is setting the pace. If it's taking too long in a day, cut things back and go more slowly so she has room to breathe.

[Tess in the Burbs]

Sane problem here. Some days we work over 6 hours. I limit subjects to an hour, but his online German class often requires more time and weekends too. He is trying very hard to keep up. It is just a LOT more work. I have cut back as much as possible. I feel like it will get better when foreign language is done. So 2 years lol

[Chrysalis Academy]

I guess that what is driving the overload at our house is that dd has 3 subjects she wants to do - English, Creative Writing and Theater Arts.  Plus two major electives - drama and horseback riding.  Then there are the 4 subjects I'm requiring for college prep purposes - Math, Science, History, Foreign Language.  Believe me, if I thought we could drop some of those I'd do it.  The only way I can see that working is if we committed to doing the CC and planned on doubling up on those topics her later years, or just skipping them and letting her do an AA.  That is starting to look more appealing . . . Though we won't stop doing math or Spanish, don't want to lose ground on those skill subjects. But dd would love to drop history and/or science and focus on her passion subjects. Would that be insane?

[quark]

I'm really struggling with this issue right now.  I just want to ask: why we do this to our kids?  We are homeschoolers.  No one is checking our rigor.  If a kid is clearly overworking, why do we allow it?  Why do we encourage it? Is it teaching our children a work ethic and efficiency?  Or is it teaching our kids to sacrifice both physical and mental health for academic productivity?  Clearly there is a balance to be found, but how do we find it?  Are we over reaching the goal in our desire to compete?

 

I think part of it could be the inability to differentiate from a crowd. I think it could be herd instinct of some sort. You see the people around you doing it or you see a certain type of student doing it and you want to be that student or if you are a parent, you want your child to be that student. Or maybe it's a family expectation. Or maybe you are naturally the type to overwork. Maybe you need exhaustion to feel productive? I don't know the answer either.

 

We have no desire to compete. And I don't encourage behavior that leads to over-exhaustion. And why I've stepped in a few times and clearly said No to him. But the older he gets, the more strongly he objects. And sometimes I think, you know, I've worked so hard to get out of his way, why don't I try it and see what happens? Why don't I let him see what happens when he overworks? Let him take the risk. After all it's his life. The funny thing is it is hard for 2-3 weeks and then bam, there is a growth spurt of some kind and he has stretched enough so that it isn't overworking any more. So what do I say? That you can't stretch? That you cannot test your boundaries? I do know though that what he's doing is nothing like what the kids in the Palo Alto high schools do. He still sleeps for 9-10 hours a night. He doesn't rely on energy boosters or coffee. He still has time to unwind and re-watch an episode or two of Star Trek at least 3-4x a week and read for pleasure. he can cuddle with the dogs and go to the gym 2x a week (ideally he should go more often but I'll take what I get). Those things that are so important to him, he hasn't had to sacrifice them despite the load he is taking on this fall (fall is usually our lighter semester but this year, things have gone a bit crazy).

 

Sometimes I still put my foot down and say nope. We are not doing it. You can pout and roll your eyes. It's just too bad and you have to live with it. And he realizes a little later that mom was right (Mom is always right, don't you know that by now, kiddo?). I know his limit.

 

What we do struggle with is our own high standards. It's a sort of sabotage almost and the scary thing is we are often not aware of how much the perfectionism is sabotaging us. All of us in our home are workaholics. We are happiest when we are working. I think it's important to our mental health. But we need balance. I don't know the secret to perfect balance but I think we have enough that we are not at each other's throats every day or groggy from lack of sleep. We still wake up and greet a new day with a bounce in our step and hugs for each other. We still laugh a lot.

 

It helps if the stuff that keeps you so busy is stuff you love to do. Just don't over do it. The over do...the point where it becomes too much. Knowing that is so important. Knowing and responding to it and being brave enough to stop even if other competitive students are doing more, that yes, you might be at a disadvantage professionally or academically if you do less but health is still more important...taking that risk knowing you might not come out tops in the short term. Now that is something not everyone can do.

 

I took regentrude's advice to heart when she used to describe her approach of consistency over the long term. So far, that's working out great for us. But I have to work with teenage temperament/ being stubborn and allow him to make his own mistakes too.

 

Still balancing, fine-tuning...

 

[lewelma]

I have the opposite problem, Quark.  My ds sees how many more hours all the other high achievers he knows are putting in and it makes him feel lazy.  He does not want to work harder, but needs me to tell him that it really is ok to take breaks.  But then I wonder if he is doing enough to prepare for going to an elite university.  Not enough from the point of view of getting in, but from the point of view of hours and struggle and time management etc.  Should I push him harder so he is better prepared?  I keep reading about kids on this board with crazy schedules, and my ds works 9:15-4 with 30 minutes for lunch and this includes his math olympiad stuff.  No nights. No weekends.  He does read the economist and literature at night which I count for credit, and he has 8 hours of sports and 4 hours of violin lessons sprinkled around.  But compared to what people are saying here, ds is right, he is just not putting in the same hours.  

Edited September 30, 2016 by lewelma

[lewelma]

I guess that what is driving the overload at our house is that dd has 3 subjects she wants to do - English, Creative Writing and Theater Arts.  Plus two major electives - drama and horseback riding.  Then there are the 4 subjects I'm requiring for college prep purposes - Math, Science, History, Foreign Language.  Believe me, if I thought we could drop some of those I'd do it.  The only way I can see that working is if we committed to doing the CC and planned on doubling up on those topics her later years, or just skipping them and letting her do an AA.  That is starting to look more appealing . . . Though we won't stop doing math or Spanish, don't want to lose ground on those skill subjects. But dd would love to drop history and/or science and focus on her passion subjects. Would that be insane?

 

I think you need to be more creative in counting the hours. 

 

For example: ds will read the Economist cover to cover for 4 years.  This plus discussion, a couple of lecture series, and a few papers will give him enough hours for two credits, one in Current Events and one in Economics. These are hours he is already doing for pleasure, but now I'm counting them.

 

For foreign language, I'm counting the mandarin he did from 5th to 8th grade as 1.5 high school credits, so three more 0.5 credits will give him 3 full credits, which is enough.  Three years of half courses is very different than 4 years of full courses.

 

Given how hard she is working, there have to be credits in there. 

Edited September 30, 2016 by lewelma