Reasonable time per day for Alg 2?

[sbgrace]

I'm considering having a set amount of time per day for my son to work on Algebra 2.

I'm thinking this would be instruction and "homework" time combined, though those might not occur simultaneously. 

He is not a slow worker. In fact he tends to take short cuts and do work in his head--something I want him to stop as quality of work can suffer now that he's doing more complicated things. I'm pretty sure we're a bit over-loaded in time he's spending currently, so I'm thinking putting a time limit per day, expecting focused and careful work when he's "on clock,"  might encourage him to work more carefully. 

I'm just not sure what is reasonable. 

 

[klmama]

I think anything from one hour to two hours is reasonable for instruction and homework.  It depends on the student.  

[J-rap]

If I remember correctly, an hour/day was an average amount of time for my kids (for the homework part) -- sometimes up to an hour and a half, but never two.  I did have one child who had a brain that just couldn't do it past about 30 minutes.  (She had a lot of health problems on top of it all.)  I was able to sculpt out a 30-minute lesson for her, just to get it done.  It involved sticking with the bare bones and only lingering when she was having difficulties. 

[Serenade]

I think it partially depends on the program, but yeah, I would say about 2 hours a day.  That's equivalent to one hour of class time and one hour of homework.  If a student is efficient and get the work done more quickly, then that is great.  Mine were not quick, even my better math student, so they often spent the most time on math of all subjects.  We used Saxon, and that has a pretty heavy load -- besides doing the exercises, they watched instructional videos and read the lesson.   Also, in Saxon Algebra 2, they usually did a half lesson each day -- odds one day, even the next.  They would read and watch the lesson on the day of odds, so that day was sometimes a bit longer.

[RootAnn]

I believe in lots of direct teaching for math, but also want my kid to be doing some of the exercises with me as a guide. So, I teach, do an example, then have them do an example while I am there to help them of they get stuck. Then, teach the next thing, example, they do one. Etc.

So, 45 min-1hr should get the teaching done & maybe 1/2 or all the assignment. Another 30 -45 min on their own should finish it up.

ETA:  My goal is to model for them how to self teach using a textbook. Read. Try to do the example in the book, using their work as a help if they get stuck. If you can't do it at all by yourself, work though it using their work, then try it again without using their work this time. Do more examples to see if we get it, move on. Learning how to learn is super important - in some cases, more important than the content being studird.

Edited January 8, 2020 by RootAnn
Further explanation

[TracyP]

I would estimate that my oldest spent around an hour on Alg 2. I'd call that about 20-30 min instructional time and 30-40 min finishing the assignment. She is a very fast worker so those times are probably on the high end. I could see my other kids taking 1-1.5 hrs. Still that would absolutely be at most. I have a hard time imagining math taking up to 2 hours unless it was "for fun" at that point. I know I run shorter high school days (4-5 hrs) than a lot of this board, so to give a slightly different pov, I wouldn't bat an eye at 45-60 min if it was focused time spent.

[Meriwether]

Ds15 spends at least 2 hours on math most days. He is not a fast worker and math has always been the subject that takes him the longest. He just started taking medication before Christmas. I am anxious to see if it helps. I have offered to let him spread math out, so that he is just finishing pre-Calc as he graduates. He wants to take Calculus, so he keeps plugging away.