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While I can appreciate the benefits of getting enough sleep for a student, I don't really understand how they can cover the full curriculum with only 4-5 hours

by thamer 7y ago

While I can appreciate the benefits of getting enough sleep for a student, I don't really understand how they can cover the full curriculum with only 4-5 hours a day (3 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a break for dinner.) Is it common in the U.S. for high school students to have only 4 hours of class per day? When I was in high school my typical day was 9-5:30 or so with an extra hour or so of homework later, 5 days a week.

droithomme 7y ago
A lot of states 4 hrs is the minimum instruction hours to be counted as a school day. Homeschoolers in particular often will make use of this and say they cover much more in 4 hrs of one-on-one instruction than they could at a regular school. At high school level though where there needs to be so many units the minimum doesn't work so well. > Is it common in the U.S. for high school students to have only 4 hours of class per day? No, it's not common at all, it's almost unheard of. Will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.
wahern 7y ago
The average school day in the U.S. is ~6.5 hours according to https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_035_s1s.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_035_s1s.asp The article suggests most subjects are taught using online courses. And because they all take math and english (the only non-online classes) in the first part of the day, I think there's the implication of a relatively small number of students, perhaps comprising only one or two classes. So compressing 6.5 hours into 5 hours that way doesn't seem unreasonable. Though that still leaves the question of the efficacy of online instruction.
thrower123 7y ago
The length of the school day has more to do with the length of the work day than the length of time that is required to cover the material. We've basically settled on 7:30 to 3, with after school activities and sports running to 5, 5:30, to enable parents time enough to get their kids to school, work an eight hour day, and pick them up again.
barry-cotter 7y ago
Imagine if all the students in a class were motivated, prepared and did all the reading and homework. You could cut the number of hours of instructional time by 1/3 easily. Now imagine you get to select applicants by academic ability. You can cut the time necessary again.
Aperocky 7y ago
> full curriculum I might have had ADHD but was almost entirely inattentive during class, things either made sense themselves or I chewed them up eventually. Full curriculum was mostly just sitting. I doubt anyone can work at the best of their ability for 8 hours.
WalterBright 7y ago
My high school had maybe 5-6 hours of class a day, but most of it was playtime. I had a fine time with my friends, but not much was learned. There was homework now and then, but it worked out to an insignificant percentage of class time. In fact I just did the homework during class. College was a little different. 3 hours of class a day, but there was hardly a wasted minute, and the rest of the day was homework. Homework was typically 2 hours for every hour of class.
mytherin 7y ago
Both primary and high school are mostly glorified baby sitting facilities. The reason kids stay at school from 9-5 is so the parents can go to work in the meantime. Traditional schools are very inefficient as a means of teaching kids.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
Fire-Dragon-DoL 7y ago
In Italy high school is usually 5 hours per day. Homework time excluded. 9 to 530 seems way excessive, never heard of it. Not even elementary school was that long.

by thamer 7y ago

droithomme 7y ago

A lot of states 4 hrs is the minimum instruction hours to be counted as a school day. Homeschoolers in particular often will make use of this and say they cover much more in 4 hrs of one-on-one instruction than they could at a regular school. At high school level though where there needs to be so many units the minimum doesn't work so well. > Is it common in the U.S. for high school students to have only 4 hours of class per day? No, it's not common at all, it's almost unheard of. Will be interesting to see how this experiment works out.

wahern 7y ago

The average school day in the U.S. is ~6.5 hours according to https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_035_s1s.asp https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_035_s1s.asp The article suggests most subjects are taught using online courses. And because they all take math and english (the only non-online classes) in the first part of the day, I think there's the implication of a relatively small number of students, perhaps comprising only one or two classes. So compressing 6.5 hours into 5 hours that way doesn't seem unreasonable. Though that still leaves the question of the efficacy of online instruction.

thrower123 7y ago

The length of the school day has more to do with the length of the work day than the length of time that is required to cover the material. We've basically settled on 7:30 to 3, with after school activities and sports running to 5, 5:30, to enable parents time enough to get their kids to school, work an eight hour day, and pick them up again.

barry-cotter 7y ago

Imagine if all the students in a class were motivated, prepared and did all the reading and homework. You could cut the number of hours of instructional time by 1/3 easily. Now imagine you get to select applicants by academic ability. You can cut the time necessary again.

Aperocky 7y ago

> full curriculum I might have had ADHD but was almost entirely inattentive during class, things either made sense themselves or I chewed them up eventually. Full curriculum was mostly just sitting. I doubt anyone can work at the best of their ability for 8 hours.

WalterBright 7y ago

My high school had maybe 5-6 hours of class a day, but most of it was playtime. I had a fine time with my friends, but not much was learned. There was homework now and then, but it worked out to an insignificant percentage of class time. In fact I just did the homework during class. College was a little different. 3 hours of class a day, but there was hardly a wasted minute, and the rest of the day was homework. Homework was typically 2 hours for every hour of class.

mytherin 7y ago

Both primary and high school are mostly glorified baby sitting facilities. The reason kids stay at school from 9-5 is so the parents can go to work in the meantime. Traditional schools are very inefficient as a means of teaching kids.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

Fire-Dragon-DoL 7y ago

In Italy high school is usually 5 hours per day. Homework time excluded. 9 to 530 seems way excessive, never heard of it. Not even elementary school was that long.