Is my 10th grader not doing enough?

[...................]

I was on the phone with my cousin from out of state and her dd goes to a private Catholic high school.  Her dd is very different from my dd and to be honest, she is more than obsessed with her schoolwork, to the point where sometimes we all worry.  Her aim is to take the hardest courseload every year and to get 100 in every class.  And she just about acheives that.  but she also has a dream of being a pre-Med student at Upenn so there you have it.

My dd's goals are very different.  She hopes to go to an easier to get into Catholic or Private U, the kinds where an 1180 SAT and good grades will get you in and maybe even get you a scholarship.  Her goal is to get an English degree and eventually be a librarian.  She even also got a special paid job at our library and knows the people there now and is prepared to work her way up the ladder at our library after college, (or any other library) - her career is more about starting and working your way up than in having an amazing degree.

Now, all that said, my cousin's daughter is busy non-stop with projects and studying and essays all weekend long.  My dd doesn't really have any projects. I do assign her projects in history involved with making maps.  And she took 4 months of hands on science at a local lab center and now she's doing her dissection assignments at home via video.  She does have deadlines for 2 outside classes, as well as deadlines in history and science for essays and paragraphs that have to be turned in. 

But, am I missing something?  I don't know what kind of projects and essays would require someone to work all weekend....I was a very highly ranked student- graduated top 10 of a private catholic high school and got a full scholarship to a small college, but I never worked all weekend ....the most I ever needed to do was spend sunday afternoon at the library and even then, half the time was chatting with my friends who were gathering books for research....I wrote my essays at home and in the evenings, and I guess even my Science projects didn't really consume my life and I wont first place and went to the state fair twice....

But maybe things have changed?

(FYI my son did not do a traditional high school at home, he went to full time CC at age 15 so this is my first regular high-school-at-home child)

[shinyhappypeople]

No, you're not missing anything.  Your daughter gets enough schoolwork done while still having time to be an interesting person and have an actual life.   I call that a win. 

[hollyhock2]

Totally agreeing with PP. Remember, comparison is the thief of joy. The question should be: Is your daughter doing enough for HER goals and HER life? Sounds like she's doing very well so I wouldn't worry at all.

[MamaSprout]

Credentialed librarians do have to have a master's degree, but the graduate school process is not extremely competitive, and the degrees often have lots of specialization opportunity. Unless she really wants an English degree, she could major in one of several areas. Knowing how to use technology is a plus. All of this is to say that she should explore what she is interested in, but don't sweat it.

[...................]

Yes, my concern is only that she won't flounder in college due to not having learned to manage workload....but maybe just the efficiency of homeschooling is part of the difference

[lewelma]

My older boy worked 6 hours per day 5 days per week 42 weeks a year (10-4:30 with lunch). He never worked weekends, ever. He read at night for 2 hours a day 365days/year because he wanted to, but we did count this towards his course load when writing up his transcript. He could accomplish a lot in this time because he was fast and motivated. He feels well prepared for university.

Edited January 12, 2019 by lewelma

[City Mouse]

Kids are different. Last year at my DS's school (public school-blended learning) there was a kid who graduated from high school and got her associates degree at the same time. There was a another student who excelled at languages and completed 4 years (I don't really remember if it was 4 years but it was something crazy) of language courses in 1 year. My DS's closest friend at school worked on a group science project where the kids won a national award for their discovery of a new (and cheaper) way to make fire proof fabric.  

My DS on the other hand is happy with his solid B average and has figured out exactly how few classes he will have to take in his senior year to still graduate. I have made peace with the fact that my DS is a polite, happy, all around nice person who wants to be done with school as soon as possible. He would quit school tomorrow if I told him he could. (And I am the geeky kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time and took 7 science classes in 4 yrs of high school)

[Lori D.]

You're trying to compare pineapples to monkeys... Of no use whatsoever.

Your DD and cousin's DD have completely different goals, interests, abilities, and study/academic working styles. The only thing you need to "compare" is how your DD is doing overall in working towards your DD's goal of being eligible for admission to a Catholic or Private U -- and *possibly* doing some prep now towards her (current) choice of future college major of English degree/librarian.

Is your DD learning and retaining from the materials you are using and from her style of studying? Then you're golden -- keep doing what you're doing and don't be distracted by what people on other paths are doing.

Is your DD desperate to be doing more? Then add another credit to your schedule. Or use more rigorous/time-intensive materials. Or do some courses as college-level dual enrollment. Or schedule more time each week for her to dig deeper and do research/learning as independent study.

But no reason to add pointless "busywork" projects and tests if DD is doing well. JMO!

Edited January 12, 2019 by Lori D.

[EKS]

You are not missing anything.  More importantly, your daughter is not missing anything.  Your cousin's daughter, on the other hand, is missing a lot.

[Roadrunner]

6 hours ago, lewelma said:

My older boy worked 6 hours per day 5 days per week 42 weeks a year (10-4:30 with lunch). He never worked weekends, ever. He read at night for 2 hours a day 365days/year because he wanted to, but we did count this towards his course load when writing up his transcript. He could accomplish a lot in this time because he was fast and motivated. He feels well prepared for university.

 

Plus how many hours for music practice a day? I have one kid with somewhat similar interest, so that’s the reason I am asking. 

[Roadrunner]

I bet she is doing a gazillion AP courses and those assign so much homework. 

I wouldn’t worry if I were you. 

[lewelma]

3 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

 

Plus how many hours for music practice a day? I have one kid with somewhat similar interest, so that’s the reason I am asking. 

He practiced 45 minutes per day 5 days a week within the hours I listed (6 hours a day).  He went to a 4 hour music program on Saturday and 1 hour music lesson on Mondays.  So 8.5 hours 40 weeks a year, and probably 2 hours a week for the other 12 weeks as he never put his violin down. He also played our keyboard late at night with headphones (maybe an hour a night for his junior and senior year). He taught himself to a reasonable level in a year. But he made his biggest gains right before his violin exams.  I remember him practicing 4 hours per day for the 4 weeks before his exam last year. He reduced his academic load during this time. 

My son could never do the hours I read about with many high-end high-school students as the one listed in the OP.  But I don't want to minimize the reading time at night.  Those 2 hours often went on for 4. He got through War and Peace, Brothers Karamazov, and Crime and Punishment in one of these years. Plus I put down on his transcript 800 hours of reading the Economist in high school, and that was definitely minimizing how much he read.  This lead to his high-level reading comprehension and his speed. It also led to a mature writing style.  

Edited January 13, 2019 by lewelma

[MerryAtHope]

Would you want your daughter to have that schedule?

[...................]

18 hours ago, MerryAtHope said:

Would you want your daughter to have that schedule?

 

No, my goal isn’t to compare my dd exactly to my cousins dd. 

But I was just concerned about my dd getting to college and then being unable to handle workload as compared to what the college expects kids to handle. 

My son takes 15 credits per semester of all math and engineering and even he rarely rarely ever has to work much on the weekends. So I guess I should look at that as a comparison to most regular college situations. 

[Roadrunner]

Also, kids are often inefficient. My friend complains of constant homework for her high schooler, including many hours on the weekend. However her DD spends so much time on the phone and social media while she is doing homework that one hour of work turns into three. 

[madteaparty]

I know my kid should be working some on the weekend. But he loves to ski, so we are skiing every single weekend day, all day. I realize the price will be paid for this. But he loves to ski, so there it is. And taking a week off all school and going overseas for more of that. And it’s not competitive or anything, so it’s not like I’m building a resume 😂. I and especially he need to internalize that there is a price.because, for him, for his goals,  there is. 

Edited January 14, 2019 by madteaparty

[elegantlion]

Agree with the other, she sounds fine. However, I would start to mentally prepare her that college is going to be different. If you haven't already, I would explain about the average of 2 hours of outside work for every hour in the classroom, some of those may end up being on weekends. 

[2_girls_mommy]

My current 11th grader has goals like yours- eventually probably a masters as a librarian, but starting with a possible degree in the classics department or English at a state U. Even her PSAT score was close to that given. We should see it improve, but we are proud of her. She does often work on weekends, but like PP it is because her projects are often related to scouts and extra curriculars and volunteer activities. She has her own extra curricular dance classes, and is a volunteer teacher. She is in several clubs through scouts with meetings, field trips, parties, and projects.  Or she is finishing papers, reading, or such for our school because of her activities and babysitting jobs that she is busy with throughout the week. 

My 10th grader wants to do something in art. She may even take classes at votech and or community college before moving into a bachelor's degree. She has the same extra curriculars as the other. And she often has art projects that she is personally working on or for scouts on the weekends on top of volunteer teaching at dance, younger scouting events, or meeting with her scout groups. 

We belong to a couple of homeschool groups. There is usually a rush at the end of each semester as there are projects or presentations due for each one, plus piano recital and dance recitals and such to get things ready for and to rehearse for. So there are some very busy weekends. And I try to encourage reading over weekends. Occasionally I need them to finish a paper over the weekend, but I am more likely to assign reading over the weekend and have them write during the week just because of their busy weekend schedules. 

 

[...................]

That makes sense.  My dd is involved in Pony Club which gets very hectic if she's doing a rating, and library volunteer, and that's about it.  Other than her usual 3x per week horse lessons.  None of them at this time require weekend projects, or work of any kind except showing up at the appointed time.  

Many extra curriculars woud cut into her week time, causing her to work on weekends, or they themselves would require work/projects on weekends.  Since hers don't right now, it makes sense that she's just not overly busy ATM. 🙂

[RootAnn]

I remembered this thread this weekend as my senior DD was doing homework on Sat & Sunday (not all day, but a few hours total). One reason is that she has an online tutor on Fri afternoon & then meets with her again Monday afternoon. So, she could do the homework on Friday night, a little bit each day over the weekend, or try to cram it all in early Monday morning. I was glad she did a little on Sat and more on Sunday vs leaving it until Monday morning.

She's a chronic procrastinator & also a fabulous time waster, so some weekend work has always been necessary.