Anybody got homework over break? My daughter is in 7th grade and has the following:
Science: Finish up all science fair pieces and be ready to turn it all in by Tuesday
Dance: Order tights for dance showcase, practice dances to music, stretch, and practice hitch kicks, brush tucks, and passe sotes
ELA: Finish background slides for TedxTalk
Civics: History Fair checkpoint
Miscellaneous: Work on scholarship
Cheer: practice Monday, stretch, and practice all positions
I’m a junior and I think I have a bit to do.
APUSH: Document analysis, essay annotations, take-home-quiz, notes
APES: Individual book project (read book and write summaries and other stuff)
AP Calc: Final Exam review packet
AP Lang: Great Gatsby Project, Great Gatsby Rhetorical Reading Journal, 3 AP-style essays, vocab packet, test corrections
Along with this is ACT prep, volunteering, and debate practice
I refuse to assign homework over a holiday. And, yes, I teach seniors, but that doesn’t change regardless of which grads I teach.
It’s a school rule that you can’t assign homework the day before a break, but a lot of AP teachers assign stuff two days before.
I teach and I choose to NOT give homework over holiday breaks. (However, there is always a group of students who are behind in their work and have missing assignments who should be working over the break.) I fully expect that my son, a junior, will have gobs of HW… the result of 5 AP classes this year.
I’m a senior and got the following:
AP Calc: 30 problems
AP Gov: Review packet and some political campaign volunteering.
AP Physics: 4 RC Circuit AP problems
AP Chem: A review packet over all of honors chemistry because apparently our class is forgetful.
AP English Lit: Ana Karenina, Jane Eyre, my senior research paper, which involves me reading another book, and 2 museum visits.
AP Bio: A cancer karyotyping research paper.
That and I have to re-read my US History book because I don’t plan to fail the state standardized test that I missed last year during AP testing and am having to take the week after the break.
@XoXdreamerXoX wut is up with your lit teacher
@awesomepolyglot I don’t know, but I’m surprised his class hasn’t resulted in academic suicide yet.
Calc: Two sections of homework
RUSH: Mini political worksheet
AP Lit: Catch-22
AP Bio: Three chapters + study guides (!) of homework
AP Psych: One chapter + chapter outline
^ + ACT prep, piano, college tours, and music theory workbook lessons. 
OP, that is a ridiculous amount of homework for a 12 year old. Also for some of you high school students who posted. Some of these schools should do some research on the efficacy of homework.
So glad to hear teachers posting here that don’t give homework over the holidays, kudos.
We are not even out for thanksgiving break sigh. I shouldn’t have too much, probably just some APWH.
@NorthernMom61 , I do believe it is a lot of work. She is in all advanced classes, except for her electives. She is planning to work Monday, Tuesday, and a little bit on Wednesday and Friday.
Considering this is college confidential, I think most would want homework over break. Like seriously, I would rather have homework over break then have it all concentrated during the school week. I need my sleep!
With some of these homework lists, some of these high school students are not going to get much sleep over thanksgiving break either. There’s a reasonable amount of homework, then there is ridiculous. And the OP’s kid is about 12 if she is in 7th grade.
Exactly, if there is going to be a lot of homework over break, then might as well use those 4 days to spread it evenly.
I have 180 days to teach Precalculus. I’ve been doing this job long enough that I know to pace my workload, to allow for no homework over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. (Also, since I’m in NY, to allow for a few snow days.)
Thanksgiving is about family. Period. If I choose to do some work over that break, it’s my prerogative. But I will NOT assign anything to my students.
I agree with all the above, but most of it is busywork or things she would like to have done. She wants to have it done because she has two days where she will be in the auditorium with her dance teacher preparing for her dance showcase that week
I also agree with bjkmom, but I’m pretty sure most of us, if not all, are talking about homework for more rigorous classes and/or AP courses, not pre-calc. AP courses especially need to keep up with the pace to end the curriculum before AP testing, which is why it’s understandable that we get homework from those classes over the break.
Sorry, I would have had the same opinion the years I taught Calc.
Teaching is about planning. In the absence of some sort of emergency (like the devastation caused by Sandy or a tornado) it should be possible to plan a year’s assignment so as to avoid burdening students with homework over that particular 4 day weekend.
So right @bjkmom. AP or not, there is a way to create balance.