How much revision to give my ds

If people think 1 hour and a half is too much how much does everyone think I should give him

None. My ds is in year 11 and is only doing 30 mins revision a day (on top of any homework) at the moment!

Just NO.

Are you a teacher? Do you know what he will eventually need to know for his GCSEs? You don't 'give' him anything else to do.

Make sure he does the homework set by school. If he wants help eg testing on vocab, or for topic tests, then make sure he knows you are there for him.

Come Y11 he will either just be refusing to do anything, or will have burnt out completely! Y11 is a really long, boring slog. Don't put him off now!

When does he relax, spend time on hobbies, sport?

He will burn out if you make him start now.

Yes at the end of each topic perhaps get him to go through his notes and ensure they are up to scratch and amend them if not. Perhaps even prepare some flash cards for when he does need to start revising. This will make it easier to start revising when the time comes. (DS had a quite a few notes to redo before he could start revision).

Definitely make sure decent revision is done for in class tests as and when they come up.

But to strictly enforce any actual revision now will end up negatively affecting him.

If he already knows what subjects he MIGHT like to do as A level there is no problem in doing some extra reading around the subject IF HE WANTS to and in the areas he is interested in. But seriously don't push this now so he won't be burnt out by mocks and actual gcses.

I'm a teacher and I'd be horrified if that's going on. It's totally unnecessary and too early.
YOU shouldn't be giving him any revision!
Additional reading around subjects is far more useful at this stage.
That poor boy will burn out!

Get him outside, go on some day trips, go to the cinema. Spend some bloody time with him!

Unless you're going to stand over him for every stage of his life, including his future career, you should let him control his own learning/workload. You're doing him no favours.

I left mine to it. Year 9 is a great time to allow them to learn what needs to be done, and if they don't revise when necessary, to fail a few tests. Year 9 shouldn't need constant revision either, but he needs to focus on what the school sets for homework, and then a bit of revision for any specific tests.

They honestly need to learn to take control over their own learning, as this will be so important if he decides he wants to go on to university.

What else does he do with his time? Does he have any activities that he's involved with, or spend time with his friends? Now is a good time to focus on developing a range of interests and skills that are so important for his cv/ job applications / University application.

1.5 hrs of studying then PlayStation?
Is that what he does every evening?
I don’t think that sounds great.

Does he do any other activities?

How does he revise ? My dd is year 10 and has just done her year 10 key assessments . She used little cards with question and answers on the front and back and we go through these together .
Why not get him to start building up his knowledge by doing these then they will be ready for year 11. It does seem daft to make him do so much as he will be so bored by the time he gets to his exams . Yes GCSEs are important but most a level courses only require a 5 so I wouldn't say that are that amount of stress important . Let the kid live a bit .

I too think an hour and a half on top of homework is too much. Dd is in year 11 and does, at the most, 2 hours a night, including homework.

If you want him to do some work every night to support his learning, why not let him pick what he studies and let him pick what he is interested in. If it is maths, he could do nrich or UKMT tests. If it is English, he could try writing stories, If it is science or computing he could do some Khan Academy.

There will be plenty of time for revision in year 11, when, no matter how much he does now, will still be pretty full on. He has the time now to develop an interest in learning.

Mine did/do the homework set by the school. Even when revising for gcses they didn't do that much revising at home.

My dd (now 18) has been at a very pushy, very academic secondary school. The school would be horrified at your approach. That is simply far too much, far too soon. Your son will become resentful, or anxious, or exhausted (or any combination of those) well before his GCSEs. He will also not learn to take responsibility for his own education or time-management. How is he supposed to learn to prioritise if you do his thinking for him?
A little consolidation work during the school holidays might be appropriate at this time but what you are advocating at the moment is ludicrous “helicopter-parenting”. It does not produce well-rounded, independent, motivated young people. Quite the opposite.

Come on.

I have a child of the same age (I think year 9 is about 13, we're in Scotland so it's different). She spent about 45 minutes yesterday revising for a maths test which she has next week. She puts lots of effort into homework when set.

She does not do extra revision above and beyond "just because". Plenty of time for that.

(waiting for drip feed that child is seriously behind, or is sitting GCSEs two years early, or some other ridiculous story).

I think people are saying don't 'give' him anything (unless he is struggling in a subject perhaps). Let him do what the school asks of him, expect reasonable revision and results for tests, and go from there.

How much homework does he actually get? Are you making hm revise on top of that? Or is he getting no homework from school?

DS1 (year 9) gets between 90mins and 2 hours a night homework. If he had to revise on top of that he would probably collapse and die.

I think you should be encouraging him to take responsibility for his own learning.

I also think 90 mins of revision (for exams that are literally years away no less) on top of homework is excessive for his age.

Wow! In my opinion 90 mins total homework (no revision except for regular tests) is more than enough in year 9. I think it’s really important that children have a life - exercise, relaxation, family and social life - and also work out how much work is enough/not enough by themselves before it matters. If you let your DS “fly” by himself at this age, he will either do a great job or, more likely at that age, cruise a little and not quite get the marks he wants in Year 9. If the latter, he will learn a really important life lesson - how HE feels about the outcome of his own efforts. That will teach him, much better than you can, to work harder and achieve - to satisfy himself, not you. And Year 9 is absolutely the time to learn this. I know it’s really hard to let your child fly by themselves but it’s so important for them to do so. Give it a try! You might be disappointed by his short term results, but in the long run it will be worth it.

I bet he thinks the world of you! Oh my gosh leave him alone

Rainbow, Year 9 is the perfect time for your DS to take ownership of his work as it gives time for him to learn by trial and error how much effort he needs to put in. IME even when DCs are compliant, your approach runs the risk of him becoming a passive rather than proactive student and adult.
You can discuss with him what is a rreasonable total time doing homework or revision per evening. One and half hours total for both is plenty. He will have time in the holidays to do extra revision but Year 9 is usually low key and should not require that much. Also, if he has spare time, that is an opportunity to encourage him to do something else extra to the PlayStation that will help broaden his horizons in the next few years.

DD Y9 does have periodic tests and does testing with her friends at break times and sometimes for languages she will listen to videos and news in that language - but more treated as fun and nothing that I dictate. She manages her own time, revision and gaps in her knowledge.

DD has clubs outside of school on a Tuesday, Weds and Sunday and she is about to start volunteering at a local Brownie pack on a Friday and Is starting a few babysitting jobs. I hear of other parents excusing their children from clubs, work experience or volunteering due to homework loads and it is so very very sad. DD has one friend who no one sees any more as her parents say she is too busy (not at DD’s school). Thanks

There is more to life than homework.

DD knows that she will gradullay have to ramp things up for GCSEs but that is a while away and revising now when virtually none of the syllabus has been covered is. It helpful.

Doesn't he get any homework? Can't imagine when my year 9 dd would fit in an hour and a half of revision each day on top of all her other work! Let alone have time left over to play on the PlayStation!

When does he exercise? Socialise with his friends? Just chill out?

I'm sorry, but by year 9, I think you have a problem if he is not managing his own schedule a bit more. I don't tell my dd how much work she has to do, she already knows!

Good lord no. He needs time to be a kid. Even the strict school near us that emphasises rote learning and has a lot of homework gives 30min reading, 30min maths app and 30min rote learning. But that's it, no other homework at all. And i still think its too much!

You're in danger of putting him off altogether and neglecting other lifeskills/sport/interests.

Far too much in my opinion.
Come y11 you could well end up with a rebellious 15/16 yo who will down tools entirely.

Revision for upcoming tests? yes
Including revision cards / mind maps? yes

90 mins a night just because? no.

If you are expecting 90 mins a night now, what will you expect in y11?

DS is year 9. He has started the GCSE syllabus in all subjects. He does his homework, a bit of revision for end of topic tests but never 90 minutes a night, that's ridiculous. Maybe an hour a day, three days a week for homework with a bit more at weekends.

OTT
Revision for exams is fine. But not what you are making dc do!