<p>Granted everyone has their own style of studying, I'm having trouble studying effectively as a student about to be college bound. My current problem is trying to study for the AP exams coming up in 3 weeks but all the homework my teachers are throwing at me take up my time to study....my typical schedule:2-3pm school ends/eat/rest....and from 3-2am at the latest i do hw, try to study, and do any other things that come up such as clubs/projects etc. </p>
<p>Hw takes an incredible chunk out of my time...and by the time its 9pm i sometimes have room to finally start studying on my own. Why not just pay attention in class you may ask? Many of my AP teachers are either first timers, lazy, or tend to do things their way that just take up time. So i dont really trust them...ex: last year for Environment Sci, our teacher thought she was teaching us the right stuff....but it was only the basics...almost the entire class did not even get a 3, sad right.</p>
<p>But anyways, how do your children manage their time? are they in my situation? How can i study effectively instead of spending 4+ hours JUST doing hw?</p>
<p>We only have a younger one at home now. She gets picked up at school at 2:30, gets home by 3. She eats her lunch, studies until 5, then goes to ballet until 7:30 (sometimes later, depending on if there is recital). She is home by 8pm, eats and studies until 10-11pm. Sometimes when she has club meetings, she stays at school until it is time for her to go to ballet. She usually studies on weekends, unless I give her heads up about family events, or if she needs to do some volunteer work at school. She goes to all school parties, but only able to get together with her friends every once in a while. She is preparing for her IB exams now, but doesn’t seem to be that stressed. I would say for both of our kids, Junior year was the hardest, with all the SAT exams.</p>
<p>You are not alone, both of our kids had 4+ hours homework most nights.</p>
<p>My kids found the best way to study for APs was to take APs from past years and work through the review books. If that’s not happening in class at this point, that’s how I would use my time.</p>
<p>Mine is study for AP this week. She usually has too much homework but like to eat/nap when she gets home and then do some ECs related stuff and then study. It’s more quiet at night.</p>
<p>My son found he could study during play practices and other bits of stolen time. Everyone is entitled to some free time too, though. At least I think so.</p>
<p>Our D learned to study in odd bits of time…it adds up. Review books went into the backpack for those odd 10 minutes at the end of class, the time waiting for some EC to start, etc. For the most part she comes home, eats, works a little, naps a little, then works again until late. Starts all over again the next morning. </p>
<p>Junior year is intense. We did all we could to support her–food ready, laundry done, whatever we could do to lighten the load that April and May. Senior year is similar for her, she’s in an IB program with 4 tests coming up. (She took 2 IB SL tests last year as well as AP tests). Do what you can to lighten the EC load for the next month or so, it will help.</p>
<p>My daughter has terrible “senioritis” and is having trouble just getting the basic hw done let alone studying for 6 AP tests! I have mentioned it a few times and she rolls her eyes…figures she will “just review her notes” the night before each test! That stresses me out, but it worked for her 3 AP tests last year so we will hope for the best! I think the need to do alot of outside studying really depends on how well the teachers have taught the class during the year and if they follow the AP curriculum.</p>
<p>Our son also had absurd amounts of homework, and any night he got to bed before midnight was a victory. Unfortunately some of our high schools think that their academic rigor can be measured by the amount of homework they can pile on students. It’s laziness, really: quantity is easy, quality takes thought and effort. But parents who complain tend to be marginalized for coddling their kids (yeah, 8 hours of sleep a night for a teenager sure sounds indulgent!) or trying to dilute the academic reputation of the school. </p>
<p>He did get better at coping with the overload in his last year or two, and as far as I could tell, the main area of progress was not sweating the details too much. He shifted his focus from doing everything perfectly to getting everything done.</p>
<p>Pick the ap tests that matter most. Figure out what is the schedule for the test. What date are they given. Is there one that if you don’t pass wont matter with regards to credits in college? My d apstats credit wasnt goong to do her any good so she didn’t do any studyng. </p>
<p>It reaches a ppint of getting threes on all, or getting fives o the ones that matter and letting the other ones be what they are gonna be.</p>
<p>You need to prioritize more. Is getting a b in history at this point going to hurt anyhting?</p>
<p>Not every project needs to be amazing and perfect. Just get them done.</p>
<p>I think you try to make a timetable where you can place everything you need to do, then just be very strict with it!</p>
<p>If you know you are supposed to finish revising certain section of your course in a certain amount of time you might be putting a bit of pressure on you, but you are also more likely to achieve it. My daughter did that and although she felt pressure, she managed to cope with everything ok and she got good grades.</p>