Easing homework stress for high-gear students (Palo Alto says no homework on weekends, breaks)

San Jose Mercury-News ^ | 8.25.03 | Nicole C. Wong

[mhking]

The blasé summer days of hangin' out, lyin' around and doin' nothing are ending this week for many Bay Area teenagers, but that doesn't necessarily mean a return to the manic mode typical of ambitious high school students.

Lynbrook High School in San Jose will kick off school today with new guidelines that discourage teachers from assigning homework over weekends and holidays.

And Palo Alto High School, which welcomes students back Tuesday, is granting its first homework holiday at the end of the semester to give high-gear students some time to chill.

Administrators' attempts to lighten the homework load are part of Bay Area high schools' efforts to ease student stress.

The gestures acknowledge that the intense competition to win admission into elite universities by cramming teens' schedules with unwieldy amounts of academic classes and extracurricular activities may be taking a toll on students' physical, mental and emotional well-being.

`Kids are people'

``It's recognizing these kids are people. They're not just these little academic machines,'' Assistant Principal Chuck Merritt said of Palo Alto High's efforts to alleviate student stress.

[mhking]

No wonder the students are having problems....

How long before some moron tries to say that homework is "racist?"

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[ZGuy]

If they had homework on their brakes, that would explain why teenagers are involved in so many auto accidents.

[KantianBurke]

don't have that much of a problem with this. many hs students work at jobs during the weekends in order to help their families. perhaps this community is taking note of that in their schools?

[LiteKeeper]

We coddle our students, and the rest of the world is passing them by in every area of academia.

[EggsAckley]

"Brakes?" LOL!

I certainly hope you're joking here.........

[mhking]

perhaps this community is taking note of that in their schools?

Palo Alto? I don't think so. Not only that, even if they are working, they've got a responsibility to school work, period.

I had a job and homework, and I didn't turn out any worse for wear.

Sounds like laziness on the teachers and students parts collectively.

[mhking]

I certainly hope you're joking here.........

D'oh! I was typing too fast!

AM: Can you change "brakes" to "breaks"? Thanks!

[dawn53]

Our family is "eliminating" high school from the education process. It's dumbed down, redundant, and IMHO sometimes a waste of time because they cover the same material in general ed college classes.

My 15 year old is enrolled full time in the local college. He's no genius, just a homeschooled kid who used Saxon Math, liked to read, and was "forced" to do compositions.

In our county they have provided a method to enroll in college and earn credits they can apply toward high school and college. (plus tuition for up to 15 credit hours per semester is free)

Here's a link. I understand many states now have this kind of program.

http://www.spcollege.edu/ac/dc/#DC

[ZGuy]

[Sound of 4NOMOREGORE banging his head against the wall as he realizes his post to ZGuy indicates that he did not read the title of the article and note that ZGuy was making a joke based upon the misspelling of the word "breaks" in the article's title.]

[Damocles]

Well, at least it wasn't as bad as this blast from the past...

[Eska]

I just wish a larger proportion of the students I have had would do the homework; or should I say their parents in touch with what is going on with their child at school.

Changes in the American family and our society affect education more than money, testing, or qualifications.

[ladylib]

"After watching exhausted students fall asleep in class after plowing through an average of seven to 10 hours of homework a night, the school created homework guidelines. Among other things, the guidelines recommend students be given reading and practice problems on topics already covered, instead of homework assignments dealing with material that their teachers have yet to explain in class."

Who in they're right mind would do 7 to 10 hours a night of homework? And why should students deal with homework assignments that teachers haven't explained in class?

I realize that the article is talking about overachievers, but jeez.

[ladylib]

Sounds like a great program.

[mhking]

Who in they're right mind would do 7 to 10 hours a night of homework? And why should students deal with homework assignments that teachers haven't explained in class?

No one assigns that much. The support that this article cites is so much puffery & bull squeeze they are using to bolster their "opinion."

[chaosagent]

Well, when you're taking Math, English, History, Biology, and Physics, and you have to do 100 math problems, write a 5 page composition, read 2 chapters and answer 25 questions in History, read 1 Chapter and answer 15 questions in Biology, and study for a Physics test, it's easy to have 5-10 hours of homework a night. And then the next night, do it again.

Just ask my daughter.

[Eska]

Saxon Math. You'll find most educators talk about Saxon Math with disgust. School districts have trash canned most of the old Saxons.

I taught in a small village last year. The kids were all 4-5 grades below level. I was given an hour to teach 4 different sections/books. How do you teach a lesson in 10 minutes? The sch dist curriculum required a math series that was way over their heads. Lots of reading paragraphs to solve problems. Probably good for some kids but it wasn't working with my class; so I dug out some of those old orange alg I Saxons and the kids actually learned some skills. I was just lucky I didn't get caught by the district administration.

Alot of older teachers would prefer Saxon Math in curriculum. Main reason I think it is not being used is because today we spend all our time teaching for benchmark testing and exit/qualifying exams. Many of the tests award partial credit if the student can develop say the equation needed to solve the problem from reading the paragraph. Kids can pass the test if they can at least set the problems up. Don't matter that they lack the skills to solve it, crazy. This is one of the drawbacks with all the govt testing in our schools.

But then, what do I know. I'm just another teacher mostly teaching classes out of his certified areas and loving it. Luv those old Saxon Math Books just the same.

[dawn53]

We went through the Saxon series starting with 5/4 and finished up with their Alg.II. When my son took the College Placement test to see if he was eligible for College Algebra (the minimum required for entrance into the program we wanted to use), he qualified with no problem.

I'm always amazed that more schools don't use it. I think it's success is in repetition of concepts learned. Most modern textbooks I've seen teach a concept and move on. The student never sees it again once they get past the chapter test. Saxon just keeps reinforcing past lessons throughout the entire book's daily problems.