No time to study?(5hours+ of homework?)

fosterr48

Hey, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. If not, I'm sorry for that. Well, I just wanted to post a topic like this to hear other people's experiences and thoughts on this.

I'm currently in 6th year. Each day after I return home from school, I have my dinner and a shower and then start my homework immediately. Most nights I get over 5 hours of homework, sometimes 6. I think the shortest amount of homework I have ever gotten was 4 hours, but that's rare. Because of this, I'm usually not getting to sleep until sometimes 1am or even 2am, and then having to wake up at 6.30 for school. And what's bothering me is that I have no time to study.

My teachers keep telling us that we should be studying at least 2 hours each night. But at that rate, I would be going to bed at 4am and I can't do that. I'm not the only one either, the people I talk to in my class are also spending 4-6 hours on homework each night. When we mention it to our teachers they say they "can't do anything about it" and that they "can't help what other teachers assign" to us.

Basically what I wanted to know is if any of you have tips for me? I feel quite stressed at the moment that I barely have time to study and I only manage to get a few hours of study in the weekend because I'm doing homework all weekend too. I wouldn't mind but I don't even get to leave the house in the evenings and I'm just wondering if any of you have been in a similar situation and how you handled it/stayed sane/studied?

Thanks in advance for responses!

phoebo

Maybe if you post a sample of the amount of homework you usually get people will be able to tell you if it should be taking 4-6 hours? :-) Just a suggestion

is mise spartacus

That seems extreme

does the homework incorporate learning off ?

gordongekko

If you are doing homework then surely you are studying what you are doing? Revision of the work will come later in the year.

DK man

Homework is a form of study and probably a better form because you get instant feedback - take time to exercise and rest it's a long year ahead so mind yourself. Best of luck

purplecow1977

4 hours is excessive.

Can you post an example of a typical nights work?

Definitely shouldn't spend that long on it,you need a life too

dazzadazza

I thought we had it bad! We get around 2.5 hours of homework and as I do extra-curricular activities I find it hard to get time to study. When people say homework is part of study I do not agree fully because at times I would like to study other more difficult topics than what we get for homework.

mrkiscool2

4-6 hours of homework is extremely excessive. The recommended amount of homework for a final year student is around 2.5-3 hours. You're essentially getting double that. It's something you should tell your parents who should then address it with your principal. Homework is a good way of studying what you have done that day and helping you retain it but if you don't have time to go over that material it will slip from your mind.

A good example is this
If you study what you've done that day you retain about 85% of it
If you study it again the next day you retain more
If you study it again that week you retain it still
If you study it again within the month it's all still there
And then once every 2 months will keep it at the fore-front of your mind

That much homework means you aren't getting time to go over it again hence hampering your reattainment of the information. That will lead to a Leaving Cert result that isn't fitting of your work. I'd definitely bring it up with your parents and go from there

AlfaJack

I am also in Leaving Cert and there are ways to minimize the amount of time you spend on homework. For example, I have a study time table and the only amount of time I have allotted for homework is an hour and a half during week days. This is all the time I spend, where as my friend, who is in all the same classes as me, could take around 3-4 hours. Obviously though, everyone is going take longer/shorter to do their homework because if you understand the work really well, then you're going to fly through it, whereas if its a bit trickier then it's going to take longer.
Anyways, for me, if I think that if a piece of homework is going to be really beneficial, e.g, doing exam questions, learning french vocab, then I'll do that during my study time instead of homework time. In this way, I am actually studying because I'll do it 100% to the best of my ability and therefore learning it at the same time.
However if I feel like some home work is a bit of a waste of time, then just fly through it as quickly as you can! I went to a study skills course at ioe and this exact topic came up. Our teacher's reply was exactly this, to do minimum effort homework. Just enough so you don't get a note or whatever.
This has ended up being really long but it's because I totally get where you're coming from! Homework used to take me forever but now it takes nearly no time at all, AND I'm still getting 3 hours of study done a night.
Another solution to your problem is only do study at weekends but do a good solid few hours on both saterday and sunday when you have no homework.
Best of luck with the Leaving Cert!

evolving_doors

just to give a teachers perspective!

We had this issue about 3 years ago. We didn't realise it was an issue untill some of the students got together and made a complaint to the yearhead and principal (in the politest way of course). Basically every subject teacher was in their own little bubble not realising that every other teacher was demanding their slice of the students time. So we agreed to lay off at certain times of the year/term to let the students get on with their revision and down time. Also coordinate tests and essays being dished out between subjects.

Dunno if its possible in your school but it might be worth checking out with your year as id guess you are not alone. The hours you are putting in seem excessive and I dont see that much room for adjustments (although consider the previous advice above too if it suits). Like I dont think you are saying you can't cope with any particular subject level and its difficulty, but its just the time being demanded of you.

Do you find the HWrk beneficial OP? I spse once you are into 'past papers' then you'll start to hone your answers and reduce hwrk time.

What does the rest of the class think?

fosterr48

Hey, OP here. I'd like to thank you all for your advice and tips. Sorry I that I pretty much abandoned this post and never responded; lots of crazy stuff has been happening in my personal life.

Anyway, we spoke to our tutor once again but we emphasised how stressed we all were and how nobody has time to study. So, she emailed all our teachers to ask them to reduce the homework as the mocks were approaching. They've been a little bit better with how much they give us but we still decided to speak with our principal and guidance teacher. We've been told that they're trying to sort it all out. So hopefully we'll see a change soon enough.

Once again, thanks!

ChrisBarrett7

fosterr48 wrote: »

Hey, I hope I'm posting this in the right place. If not, I'm sorry for that. Well, I just wanted to post a topic like this to hear other people's experiences and thoughts on this.

I'm currently in 6th year. Each day after I return home from school, I have my dinner and a shower and then start my homework immediately. Most nights I get over 5 hours of homework, sometimes 6. I think the shortest amount of homework I have ever gotten was 4 hours, but that's rare. Because of this, I'm usually not getting to sleep until sometimes 1am or even 2am, and then having to wake up at 6.30 for school. And what's bothering me is that I have no time to study.

My teachers keep telling us that we should be studying at least 2 hours each night. But at that rate, I would be going to bed at 4am and I can't do that. I'm not the only one either, the people I talk to in my class are also spending 4-6 hours on homework each night. When we mention it to our teachers they say they "can't do anything about it" and that they "can't help what other teachers assign" to us.

Basically what I wanted to know is if any of you have tips for me? I feel quite stressed at the moment that I barely have time to study and I only manage to get a few hours of study in the weekend because I'm doing homework all weekend too. I wouldn't mind but I don't even get to leave the house in the evenings and I'm just wondering if any of you have been in a similar situation and how you handled it/stayed sane/studied?

Thanks in advance for responses!

I have a similar issue and it really bothers me too. Here's my advice: Dedicate half an hour to each subject, once thirty minutes is up; stop. Just stop writing and close the copy. You'll feel hesitant at first but it's massively beneficial. Then spend the remaining time you have (Roughly an hour) revising key subjects. Now, get adequate sleep. Trust me an extra two hours spent sleeping is WAY more important than two hours at your desk. Because during them two hours you'll be tired and retain nothing whereas if you sleep you'll be refreshed and alert for class. For me 9 times out 10, in an exam what I rely on is what I remember the teacher saying or demonstrating in class.

I'm not a dedicated reviser or even a hard worker, I do the bare minimum, get my sleep and relax in exams. It works.
Hope this helps!

fosterr48

ChrisBarrett7 wrote: »

I have a similar issue and it really bothers me too. Here's my advice: Dedicate half an hour to each subject, once thirty minutes is up; stop. Just stop writing and close the copy. You'll feel hesitant at first but it's massively beneficial. Then spend the remaining time you have (Roughly an hour) revising key subjects. Now, get adequate sleep. Trust me an extra two hours spent sleeping is WAY more important than two hours at your desk. Because during them two hours you'll be tired and retain nothing whereas if you sleep you'll be refreshed and alert for class. For me 9 times out 10, in an exam what I rely on is what I remember the teacher saying or demonstrating in class.

I'm not a dedicated reviser or even a hard worker, I do the bare minimum, get my sleep and relax in exams. It works.
Hope this helps!

Thanks! Yeah, I'm really considering doing this. Especially because the majority of the homework we get is irrelevant and a bit of a waste of time. When it comes to the exams, it's not the homework that's going to give me the marks. I need to start learning off some things and making sure I understand the topics! So if I just stop doing the homework after a certain time, I'll have time to sleep and time to study; which is really the main thing.
Thanks for the advice!

ChrisBarrett7

No problem! Just remember to relax, if you feel extremely frustrated by school work get up from that chair and let off some steam. And if you're like me and feel a bit lazy from time to time regarding homework; watch a few youtube videos of the topic. You'll be surprised how much you'll subconsciously pick up!

jane_ohara

In my school teachers tell us that we should be spending four hours a night on study and homework combined. That means if we do 4 hours homework we're done.

mrkiscool2

jane_ohara wrote: »

In my school teachers tell us that we should be spending four hours a night on study and homework combined. That means if we do 4 hours homework we're done.

Up to yourself of course. They have a recommended time of homework and study, you can do more if you wish. If you are aiming for high points you should be doing more than the recommended time.

randylonghorn

4 hours is pretty good going, even for those looking for high points, IF it's 4 hours of focused, productive work / study. Those studying economics may have come across the concept of diminishing marginal returns ...

The problem is that people count time sitting with the books open rather than actually working, then find themselves sitting there for 5-6 hours and wondering where the time has gone as they seem to have achieved little.

If you're working, work ... this does not include chatting on Fb with your friends about how awful the Irish homework is!

Best to leave the phone aside and close the laptop, unless there is something your want to check on the 'net which is GENUINELY useful (see my last comment!)

35-40 minutes focused work followed by a short break of about 5-7 minutes (get up and move around, if at all possible get some fresh air, even if this just means walking to the front gate and back again).