GCSE Art so much homework

itcanbedone_2

My daughter has just started year 10. She has taken separate sciences and is doing maths and stats. The least important GCSE (for what she wants to do in the future) is Art, but she took this as she is reasonably good at it and enjoys it.

until now. She has so much Art homework it is taking over, and she spends more time doing this than Chemistry, Maths and Biology, combined! last night she came home from school and spent an hour on her other subjects, and a whopping 4 hours on Art, and still didn't complete it. Most of her homework in general is to be in the following day, so she hadn't left it until the last minute.

I would prefer her to drop this subject, but she says she would have to choose another one, and doesn't want to play catch up.

My biggest gripe is that she used to enjoy it and now its just becoming a stress, also to the detriment of her other subjects. It's the first time I have seen her close to tears over school work.

what would you advise?

Pechow

Though I wouldn't advise it, I never did my Art homework and got A* for it still. What sort of thing is the homework-life studies, research, or something else?

itcanbedone_2

:j

Pechow wrote: »

Though I wouldn't advise it, I never did my Art homework and got A* for it still. What sort of thing is the homework-life studies, research, or something else?

she's doing fine art I thing (the one that isn't textiles) and drawing things like hands and feet and eyes . It's the drawing that is taking up time at the moment. Before half term her teacher advised she was working at a C/B so she now thinks she has to do more to get a higher grade.

Pechow

So life studies? Well, the more she does, the faster she'll get at it. You can look up lots of different self-help methods online, for example set a timer for five or ten minutes, and as soon as the time is up, stop drawing and move on. You learn to work faster and faster, and it helps you loosen up-to stop focusing on getting every detail right, and instead start with sketchy shapes and fill in the details. She could do a page or two of loose sketches, then one or two detailed images that take up the page. It sounds like she's just getting caught up in things a bit and as a result spending more time than strictly necessary.

claire16c

That's the reason why I got a C in art & A or A* in everything else! (Well that and the awful teacher we had I went from loving art to not enjoying it anymore and I'm quite good at it!) I just couldn't be bothered to spend so much time on doing all the course work for it when I could do maths, German etc in a quarter of the time.

But it didn't really stress me out. I just did what I could.

I didn't consider dropping it. We never had 1 nights notice to do homework that seems rather odd?!

I did drawing & painting. The painting took hours and then half way through the term the teacher changed the topic we were on so that also contributed to my C as I couldn't catch up, as well as the individual pieces taking time to do. In order for us to get a good mark the teacher expected pages and pages of work before the final piece.

itcanbedone_2

Pechow wrote: »

So life studies? Well, the more she does, the faster she'll get at it. You can look up lots of different self-help methods online, for example set a timer for five or ten minutes, and as soon as the time is up, stop drawing and move on. You learn to work faster and faster, and it helps you loosen up-to stop focusing on getting every detail right, and instead start with sketchy shapes and fill in the details. She could do a page or two of loose sketches, then one or two detailed images that take up the page. It sounds like she's just getting caught up in things a bit and as a result spending more time than strictly necessary.

Thank you, I will speak to her tonight. thinking about it she finds sciences a lot more straightforward (not easier, but there is an end point). Maybe it is about not knowing when to stop.

itcanbedone_2

claire16c wrote: »

That's the reason why I got a C in art & A or A* in everything else! (Well that and the awful teacher we had I went from loving art to not enjoying it anymore and I'm quite good at it!) I just couldn't be bothered to spend so much time on doing all the course work for it when I could do maths, German etc in a quarter of the time.

But it didn't really stress me out. I just did what I could.

I didn't consider dropping it. We never had 1 nights notice to do homework that seems rather odd?!

I did drawing & painting. The painting took hours and then half way through the term the teacher changed the topic we were on so that also contributed to my C as I couldn't catch up, as well as the individual pieces taking time to do.

At her school most of her subjects seem to be one or two nights depending on how the lessons are spread. I'm going to tell her to stop stressing. I would rather have a happy girl to be honest

Pechow

Also, in regards to feeling like she has to do more to get a higher grade, that's not always true. I was a terrible student, but technically very good (sorry!), so didn't do much work overall compared to others but what I did was good and what was needed. There was also a girl in my class who wasn't good at drawing at all, but she ended up getting A (and a solid B at A-level) because she put so much effort into her work. She would do great research, write notes every step of the way about everything she was doing, come up with great ideas and follow through, etc. She did get a lot better technically because of all her work, but she was never really good. She just fulfilled all the criteria for marking the coursework (and then some).

Something she should be doing at all times is making notes of her thoughts and feelings about whatever it is she's drawing/doing, and talking about what she used/how she did it. So something like "Here, I drew a life study of an apple. I picked one with a mix of colours so I had something more interesting to practise with, and could see how red and green mix together and how the colours change in the light. The colours remind me of autumn leaves. I did this in acrylic paint, as I thought the thickness of the paint would have more of a texture to it and make it more visually interesting. If I were to do it again, I would try using coloured pencils, to try and copy the little details on the skin better". It sounds like a load of waffle but it gets the marks and that's what they're looking for. Oh, and always try to work it into the theme! Say the theme is "destruction", you can write about apples falling from the tree, draw a rotting apple, etc.

Oh, and don't be afraid to write on the drawing, I hated that but my teacher kept getting me to do it.

itcanbedone_2

Pechow wrote: »

Also, in regards to feeling like she has to do more to get a higher grade, that's not always true. I was a terrible student, but technically very good (sorry!), so didn't do much work overall compared to others but what I did was good and what was needed. There was also a girl in my class who wasn't good at drawing at all, but she ended up getting A (and a solid B at A-level) because she put so much effort into her work. She would do great research, write notes every step of the way about everything she was doing, come up with great ideas and follow through, etc. She did get a lot better technically because of all her work, but she was never really good. She just fulfilled all the criteria for marking the coursework (and then some).

Something she should be doing at all times is making notes of her thoughts and feelings about whatever it is she's drawing/doing, and talking about what she used/how she did it. So something like "Here, I drew a life study of an apple. I picked one with a mix of colours so I had something more interesting to practise with, and could see how red and green mix together and how the colours change in the light. The colours remind me of autumn leaves. I did this in acrylic paint, as I thought the thickness of the paint would have more of a texture to it and make it more visually interesting. If I were to do it again, I would try using coloured pencils, to try and copy the little details on the skin better". It sounds like a load of waffle but it gets the marks and that's what they're looking for. Oh, and always try to work it into the theme! Say the theme is "destruction", you can write about apples falling from the tree, draw a rotting apple, etc.

Oh, and don't be afraid to write on the drawing, I hated that but my teacher kept getting me to do it.

thank you, I really appreciate this. X

daisiegg

I really feel for your daughter. I teach a 'core' subject and it is always art that stresses the students out more than anything else. Frequently at GCSE level we get students fretting that they don't have time to do their maths, English and science work (which, let's face it, are more important unless they are already planning a career or further study directly related to art) because art is taking so long. I actually started art at GCSE and dropped it after about half a term for the same reasons....I was allowed to drop it and not replace it with anything else, though, because I had done a couple of other GCSEs early so already had over the required number of subjects.

One thing I would take issue with, though, is homework being due the following day. That seems like madness! I would never set homework due the next day and more often than not I give a week to do homework...you have to be realistic and remember that students have other homework, as well as home lives, extra curricular activities, possibly jobs, and do need time to sleep and eat!

If it is really becoming problematic I would get in touch with the school and ask about their homework policy. They ought to have a homework timetable and I would be surprised if it allows them to have more than one piece of homework per subject per week. If there is no such policy/timetable in place, ask why. If it is in place but the teacher is not following it...ask why!

Good luck to your daughter and I hope she gets this sorted out. It is all very well saying 'just don't do the homework' or 'don't spend so long on it' but for a conscientious student that will be next to impossible!

TopQuark

Hello OP,

Can you not speak to the school and request that she drops it (and not have to take something it its place)? I've no idea whether they would allow it, but maybe its worth a try? English, maths and science need to come before everything else. If they won't allow it, maybe she will just have to accept that she can't spend so much time on it and will therefore end up with a lower grade. Unless she wants to be a fashion designer or architect etc., in which case this may not be the best option.

That said, GCSEs are not the be-all and end-all these days; they are simply a basic minimum requirement. As long as she gets respectable pass marks in the core subjects, I don't think it really matters in the grand scheme of things; they are just the ticket to the next level. I don't even put my GSCEs or A-Levels on my CV any more.

Hope you find a solution in any case.