How hard should A level students be working?

[Frequentflier]

DS is 16 and in junior sixth at a fairly academic school. His A level choices are Further Maths, Physics and Economics.

My concern is that he is working too hard! I know this sounds like a stealth boast; it really isn't. He seems to spend all day and most of the weekend closeted in his room working. In normal times, he is very sporty and gets a break by playing football. Worried he will burn himself out during what is already a stressful time. How hard do your sixth formers work?

In our case, probably not hard enough, if I'm honest. He's doing enough, but certainly not going above and beyond.

"He seems to spend all day and most of the weekend closeted in his room working". Hmmmm. The cynical mother in me wonders whether he is actually "working" in his room OP. Are you sure he's not just gaming, messaging mates, watching shite on Netflix/Youtube? Avoiding the need to socialise with his boring family with the convenient excuse that he is working? Teens are very adept at swiftly switching to a work based tab on the PC once a parent enters the vicinity

(DS1 is very fond of saying 'no I can't come out for a walk, I need to get some work done'. Roughly translated this means 'I want to sit on my arse and watch unutterable shite....')

Sorry if that sounds facetious, I just tend to assume teen boys to be work avoidant than workaholic, but of course there are always exceptions to the rule! If your DS is genuinely working all the hours with no breaks then it is probably worth an email to his personal tutor at 6th form to flag your concerns and to ask how much work they would be expecting him to do.

@Frequentflier my DS is doing the same subjects at a super-selective grammar. He is also spending most of the time in his room. His online timetable is the same as his normal timetable, with Zoom lessons and he's getting a lot of homework, plus encouragement to do lots of revision and extra reading. He is probably doing more of the latter than he would be doing in a Covid-free parallel universe because there he would be spending time with friends and doing team sport at least 3 times a week. He does still catch up with his friends online, including long video calls to his girlfriend, so despite spending most of the day in his room he's not completely isolated. Each day he either goes for a run alone or a walk with us, and at weekends we watch evening movies. Looking on the bright side I'm hoping that any extra time spent on schoolwork now balance out and make things easier in the long run, because he will certainly want to make the most of every sport and social opportunity available when the lockdown ends, and would like to get a casual job, as well as driving lessons. In the meantime, I think it's probably good that he has something productive to focus on rather than lots of empty hours.

If he is happy it is fine. Are you sure he is working though?

FlyingPandas is right. I’d be very surprised if he’s working all the time he’s in his room - even half the time. Have a really honest chat with him. See what his screen time says on his phone re apps, games, social media, FaceTime etc. I think you’ll be relieved to know he’s just escaping family boredom. They’ve the best excuse that avoids us nagging.

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses. DS will take every excuse to avoid socialising with his boring family- I think- but I don't think this is that. He also definitely spends some time talking with his friends and watching football. Still think he is working too much.

I have an older DD who didn't work at all and had to do resits at the same stage. So maybe he has been spooked by that. Also think, as @Abboo said, that there seems to be more reading to do, in addition to the Zoom classes. In normal times, he also has a long commute.

Sigh. I wish this pandemic would pass.

Under normal circumstances it is usually one hour of self study per taught hour.

Are you sure he is always working and not messaging his friends as well?