Length of Math in Your Homeschool

[Chelli]

I've been reading various posts that talk about how long people are spending on math each day.

I'm starting to think that we've been slacking.

 

Grace (5th Grade):
Math in Focus lesson and worksheets (30 minutes) Possibly changing her to CLE math in the next month or two. I think she needs more spiral than mastery. The CLE Light Unit that I purchased takes her even less time to do than Math in Focus so this time would probably go down to more like 20 minutes if I made the switch.

Reflex Math for math fact work (20 minutes)

2 Challenging Word Problems and 1-2 pages of Intensive Practice (15 minutes)

 

Sophia (2nd Grade)

Math in Focus lesson and worksheets (20 minutes)

MEP Lesson (15 minutes)

Reflex Math for math fact work (20 minutes)

 

2 Challenging Word Problems and 1-2 pages of Intensive Practice (15 minutes)

 

When I look at these times my 2nd grader is doing almost as much math each day as my 5th grader. Is my 5th grader doing too little or my 2nd grader doing too much? FWIW, neither of the girls complain about their math. Grace is reasonably good at math, but doesn't like it (I was the same in school). Sophia is very good at math, picks it up very quickly, and LOVES it! Despite everything listed above she still begs to do more.

Could you please tell me how long you spend on math and what you do in that time and at what grade?

[Gil]

Everything seems fine to me. Both girls are working on their level, at their pace and making progress.

[Chris in VA]

Well, my dd did Saxon 1,2,3, and 6/7 (a year ahead). We just did it until she was done, breaking it up somewhat. I'd teach the lesson, then she'd do the  worksheet. When she got into 6/7, I'd teach, get her started on some of the practice ("homework") set, and then we'd go on to another subject. She'd come back to do the rest. The next day, before I "graded" it, she'd look over her work to catch any little errors. I didn't really keep a close eye on the time.

We were just "do the next thing in a rhythm kind of homeschoolers," not really "do this for X minutes then that for X minutes" kind of homeschoolers.

 

So, I'd say, and this is my opinion, keep in mind 3 things:

1. If they are working (not slacking) at a good pace, finish what the curriculum assumes is one assignment each day, as a general rule.

2. If they seem worn out and it's a struggle to finish, give a break or go on to the next subject, and do more later (so, 2 sessions). Or do it over 2 days.

3. Don't feel you need to do extra ALL the time to fill in holes in your curriculum. Instead, find a curriculum without so many holes!

 

Elementary students need to have a good base in math, but imo, they don't need 2 hours of math a day (unless maybe they are really gifted). There will always be more they can do, but just because they can, doesn't mean they should.

[Chrysalis Academy]

My 7th grader did math for around 45 min a day in 4th grade, and around an hour a day since 5th grade.  My current 3rd grader does 2-ish pages a day - sometimes that takes 15  minutes, sometimes it takes an hour! I haven't shifted to a specific time requirement for her yet.  And I wish I could tell you exactly what they do during that time, but it's been way too all over the place!

[Roadrunner]

We devote about an hour to math, but it isn't exactly quiet at our table. My older began Aops recently, and it looks like his time commitment to math is going to increase to about 1.5 hours a day. His choice. I would have been equally happy with 45 minutes at their ages.

[mathnmusic]

I have similarly aged kids and similar math programs going on as the OP - my 10 yr old ds does a CLE light unit lesson (5-15min) to keep up with math facts and operations, then does 1 lesson of Dolciani pre-A (40-70 problems, around 1 hour).  Lately we've been dipping into Keys to Decimals and Percents, since we never covered those really well before.  My 8 yr old does CLE light unit lesson (~10min), then MEP math lesson starting memorizing a section of the "Things to Know" review sheet on their website (30-40 min), and both kids do Beast Academy and CWP 1-2x/week.  As a subject math definitely takes the longest amount of time (we're used to it) and we start it first thing after Bible.  Having lots of other little ones, I don't really teach, I leave that mostly to the texts (heretical, I know), but am available for questions and try to correct their work daily and go over errors with dc as soon as it's feasible.

[SparklyUnicorn]

That doesn't seem slacky to me at all.

 

I don't know how long my kids spend on math.  I've never really timed it. 

 

 

[Soror]

My 7yo-2nd grader just does a lesson a day, sometimes that pushes an hour and sometimes it might be 20 minutes, usually it is 30-45 minutes. I try to cap my son at around 1 hr, I generally do his by time because the work we do isn't really divided into lessons.

[Miss Tick]

I think that sounds good. I shoot for about an hour with my 4th graders, but it is hardly an hour of quiet, dedicated problem-solving!

[warneral]

Typically 2 30 min sessions per day. Thursday is co-OP day so just 30 min is typical that day. Some days it ends up just being 30 min if we have outings and field trips. They also do math in the summer.

[Farrar]

My boys are in fifth grade. About an hour on average. When they were younger, it was a little shorter, but probably still about 45 minutes, so I don't feel it changes so much. Certainly in first grade it was less, but it was still probably nearly half an hour.

[wapiti]

Does the 5th grader need 20 minutes of fact practice daily? That seems like a lot, but of course your student may have particular needs. (Thinking out loud, if possible, I would rather use some or all of that for lesson time, challenge time, or sometimes review.)

 

If I had spare time from, say, some or all of that 20 min, I might like to throw in a more challenging problem that takes a long time to think about, to develop patience for problem solving - I am guessing that is already part of the goal, but 1-2 CWP problems *plus* (did I understand this right?) a page or two from IP in 15 minutes sounds like those assignments might not be hard enough? (I don't know those books though!)

[Chelli]

Does the 5th grader need 20 minutes of fact practice daily? That seems like a lot, but of course your student may have particular needs. (Thinking out loud, if possible, I would rather use some or all of that for lesson time, challenge time, or sometimes review.)

 

She STRUGGLES with math facts and still doesn't have all of them down. Well, she doesn't have them down to the point of instant recall. You can ask her what is 8 +5 and she can get the answer, but she might have to think about it for 15 or 20 seconds. I think that by 5th grade she should just know it, but maybe that's not necessary. Her multiplication and division facts she only knows by skip counting. We've not worked on memorizing those at all yet. Honestly math facts have been the hardest part for her. My mom told me to bribe her with money to learn them!

[TracyP]

not sure why this posted, let me try again.

[wapiti]

She STRUGGLES with math facts and still doesn't have all of them down. Well, she doesn't have them down to the point of instant recall. You can ask her what is 8 +5 and she can get the answer, but she might have to think about it for 15 or 20 seconds. I think that by 5th grade she should just know it, but maybe that's not necessary. Her multiplication and division facts she only knows by skip counting. We've not worked on memorizing those at all yet. Honestly math facts have been the hardest part for her. My mom told me to bribe her with money to learn them!

aww poor dear! nevermind everything I posted then, she clearly needs the practice!! I would try to come up with a strategy for learning facts that works through her strengths, if possible, and avoids weaknesses. For example, if rote work isn't efficient for her, I would see about using context when possible, such as filling out charts regularly and looking for the patterns, etc. Depending on the specifics of her issues, I might consider allowing use of the chart during the other math work, though it doesn't sound like the fact issue has impacted the speed of the rest of her math.

[TracyP]

5th grader

30-40 min AoPS

20 min CLE (1/2 lesson)

 

3rd grader

30 min BA

10 min CLE (partial lesson)

 

1st grader

15 min CLE

[MiMi 4under3]

DD13 does a lesson each day in Saxon 8/7 for however long it takes. It should be about an hour but she wastes time so it's more like 1.5 hours. Today she kept getting up to hug and snuggle the dog on the couch, so it took her from 8am to 10:30!   :cursing:

 

Later in the day, we do a few pages from Aops Pre-A or J. Armadillos for another 45 to 60 minutes.

 

DS11 and DDs 10 do a few (3-5) Saxon lessons each week after school. It takes them about 30 to 45 min. That's in addition to math at school and math homework.

[The Princess and the Jedi]

That doesn't seem slacky to me at all.

 

I don't know how long my kids spend on math. I've never really timed it.

Sparkly Unicorn, you can never change your signature. "Dancing Bacon" is my daughter's favorite thing ever.

 

I agree, not slacky at all.

[serendipitous journey]

That doesn't seem slacky to me at all.

 

I don't know how long my kids spend on math.  I've never really timed it. 

 

This is where we are.  We're doing AoPS at a pretty mellow pace, and I give problems sandwiched in rounds of school (as in, 1/3 Latin page, 1-2 problems math, handwriting, read something, 10-15" break, do another cycle). 

 

If the child is thriving, challenged and engaged it seems good to me; I like them working at a certain level relative to standard-for-grade (which will vary for each child) and if they aren't then I re-evaluate both the child's work and the standard.  :) 

[Korrale]

She STRUGGLES with math facts and still doesn't have all of them down. Well, she doesn't have them down to the point of instant recall. You can ask her what is 8 +5 and she can get the answer, but she might have to think about it for 15 or 20 seconds. I think that by 5th grade she should just know it, but maybe that's not necessary. Her multiplication and division facts she only knows by skip counting. We've not worked on memorizing those at all yet. Honestly math facts have been the hardest part for her. My mom told me to bribe her with money to learn them!

How about 20 minutes of playing a game like blackjack or even addition war?

I agree about trying to get those math facts down pat. I tutored a child that had the exact same issue.

[Mommy to monkeys]

4th grade

Cle about 20 or 30 minutes to do the lesson independently

5 - 20 minutes to do the flash cards, drill, and go over any problem areas

 

6th grade

Cle 45 minutes to an hour to do the lesson independently

5 to 10 minutes max to go over mistakes. Ds is meticulous with math even though he doesn't care for it, so very often there are no errors.

[happypamama]

7th grader -- Saxon Algebra 1/2 -- 45-50 minutes. Maybe 10-15 minutes of instructional time, and the rest is doing the practice problems. There just haven't been any really complex topics; most of it has been, "oh, you've done this before, so now they just changed a slight amount, and you do it the same way."

 

4th grader -- Singapore 4 -- 20-40 minutes. A page of tricky word problems can take a while if he needs guidance in how to set them up, or he can blast through two pages of the Intensive Practice quite quickly (which is what he did last week with fractions). He's a quick math student, though, and picks stuff up easily. I expect that his time will increase as the work becomes more challenging. I do need to add in some drill time, since he's not quite as quick at recalling his multiplication facts as I'd like.

[Reefgazer]

My DD (7th) is doing Saxon and it takes about 45-50 minutes/day.  I am going to be adding in/transitioning her to AoPS because Saxon seems a bit easy for her, so i expect that time will increase a bit.  DS (4th) is doing Saxon also, about 35-45 minutes/day, and some supplementing with Beast Academy brings that to about an hour/day (we don't do BA every day).

[idnib]

5th grader: 45-60 min daily during the week for Singapore, 1 hour/weekend day for Beast Academy

 

1st grader: technically 20 minutes or so/day, but she and 5th grader have gotten into a groove of him teaching her more advanced stuff outside of school time. :001_wub:

[momto2Cs]

For my dd11, sixth grade, math lasts as long as a Math Mammoth lesson takes, which varies from 15 to 30+ minutes, depending on both the lesson, and her attitude that day.

 

My ds13, eighth grade, is doing AoPS, so I set a timer for 45-60 minutes, and he just goes for it.

[Ali in OR]

My sixth grader does 1 Singapore lesson (or a 2 page spread from CWP or a Life of Fred Lesson) each day. For continuous review she also does part of a Horizons lesson--I cross out stuff I don't think she needs to practice or just select fewer problems for her to do--she does 1/2 to 2/3 of a lesson. Total time for math maybe 30-45 minutes per day. Time per day takes a serious jump in 7th grade here. We use Singapore's Discovering Math and I would say it was at least 30 min of teaching time and then maybe 45-60 min homework time.

[Tanikit]

That is a LOT for a 2nd grader - in general they advise an hour of homeschooling per grade - which would mean that there would be almost no time left for language arts and reading since she is doing more than an hour a day of Math.

 

My DD is in 1st grade and is doing 20min of Singapore and about 15-20min of something else (LOF or Math fact practice or challenging problems from some other source - sometimes all 3 on one day depending how long each takes) - and she is racing through curricula this way. I would probably do less than this with a child who did not like Math as much as my DD does. 

[AimeeM]

An hour a day per grade is a suggestion. I can't imagine only an hour per day with my kindergartner, much less next year when he's actually in first grade - simply not enough time, imo, to cover the things I need to cover.

That is a LOT for a 2nd grader - in general they advise an hour of homeschooling per grade - which would mean that there would be almost no time left for language arts and reading since she is doing more than an hour a day of Math.

 

My DD is in 1st grade and is doing 20min of Singapore and about 15-20min of something else (LOF or Math fact practice or challenging problems from some other source - sometimes all 3 on one day depending how long each takes) - and she is racing through curricula this way. I would probably do less than this with a child who did not like Math as much as my DD does. 

 

[LMD]

i schedule an hour for maths. My 4th grader user it all. My 2of grader often finishes in 40mins and plays a math facts game.

[kiana]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with allowing a second grader who is begging for more math to do over an hour a day of math.

 

I would absolutely never force a second grader who did not want to do it to do that much, but she likes it. 

[Momto4inSoCal]

We do MM about 30-45min and they spend another 15-20min on IXL math program. I also plan to add a multiplication fact test daily just for practice till they have them down. Maybe 5-10min. My oldest is having a really hard time in math and just started a weekly 1 hour tutoring online session. 

[The Princess and the Jedi]

She STRUGGLES with math facts and still doesn't have all of them down. Well, she doesn't have them down to the point of instant recall. You can ask her what is 8 +5 and she can get the answer, but she might have to think about it for 15 or 20 seconds. I think that by 5th grade she should just know it, but maybe that's not necessary. Her multiplication and division facts she only knows by skip counting. We've not worked on memorizing those at all yet. Honestly math facts have been the hardest part for her. My mom told me to bribe her with money to learn them!

I also struggled with math facts and had the worst speed drill scores in my class. On the other hand, I was excellent with the conceptual side. In high school, I was always the baby in my math classes because I was placed higher than my classmates. My math facts kicked in when I started doing longer algebra problems and a missed fact wasted all the work I did on a six step problem. I also began visualizing numbers as dot patterns and could manipulate them quick enough that no one really noticed I didn't have instant recall.

 

Singapore math recognizes some students struggle with facts over a certain level teaches mental math strategies in the instructor guides to help students who struggle with instant recall or those who know their facts but temporarily forget one. I wish I had learned them when I was in elementary school.

 

Here are a few strategies that helped my son who also struggled: http://www.teachallkids.com/node/2072

[Mandylubug]

She STRUGGLES with math facts and still doesn't have all of them down. Well, she doesn't have them down to the point of instant recall. You can ask her what is 8 +5 and she can get the answer, but she might have to think about it for 15 or 20 seconds. I think that by 5th grade she should just know it, but maybe that's not necessary. Her multiplication and division facts she only knows by skip counting. We've not worked on memorizing those at all yet. Honestly math facts have been the hardest part for her. My mom told me to bribe her with money to learn them!

 

Some kids never learn them to be so instantly recalled. My "failure" at this task was drilled into my head starting in 1st grade through college and it caused me to consider myself weak in math (which is false). I'm not saying to not encourage her to work on them but stating consider the "what if's." She can be slower to process and recite facts and still be a strong math student.

[mom2scouts]

My math hating child would spend hours on math!  I should say he would spend hours avoiding math.  I usually let them work as long as necessary for any subject, but I had to put a one hour limit on math and anything not done became homework to be completed before any screen time.  Suddenly, math started getting done in a reasonable time and I was able to give him more than an hour if I saw he was working diligently.

[sixpence1978]

Some kids never learn them to be so instantly recalled. My "failure" at this task was drilled into my head starting in 1st grade through college and it caused me to consider myself weak in math (which is false). I'm not saying to not encourage her to work on them but stating consider the "what if's." She can be slower to process and recite facts and still be a strong math student.

 

I agree with this.  My DD still doesn't have instant recall either.  She uses touch math or skip counts.  But you know what, she always gets the right answer.  Yes, it takes a bit longer, but she is accurate.

 

I actually struggled with my math facts all through school as well and still don't have them all down, but was an excellent math student.  I got a 5 on my AP Calculus exam and went on to earn a Math minor in college.

 

By all means, keep working at it.  But also don't let it slow you down.

 

I'm jealous at some of these CLE lesson times.  My DD takes 45-60 minutes on a CLE lesson with problems crossed off.

 

[RosieCotton]

We do about an hour a day but it just depends - sometimes more sometimes less, 20 minutes on current SM lesson, 20 min on either math fact practise or spiral review I print off from mathdrills, do a few CWP, then 10 (which turns into 30) on math fact games we play online, mental math drill, or games we play together with cards etc.

 

May I suggest math fact copywork? It worked awesome here. ! We write out all 4 +/- facts (you could do mult/div too) -- I think we did it often at first, until they started getting quicker with them. Then maybe twice a week to refresh it. If they forget some later, then go back to it again.

 

We did them on our 6ft white board hung low everyday for drill. Then we did them on paper.

I made boxes on a blank sheet of paper, use each box for a set of math facts. One sheet can be what makes 15?

Give hints to start off if you need to, then drop the hints. (Show the 8, 15, and X in a box to get them started).

 

Once they get better at the basics, add more like Miquon does - make 15 with 5 numbers 3+4+4+2+2=15 for fun. I was surprised how this caught on here. . . They are always the boxes that get done first. ! 

 

Then start to mix up the sum's on the same page at random.

 

Good luck!

[SereneHome]

This might bite me in the behind later, but I am more and more leaning towards concepts vs time scheduling.

 

One day last week we spent about 1.5 hr on math bc I was trying to get a concept into him and I tried from a few different ways and even though he wasn't getting it, his eyes weren't glazing over, so I continued.   Yesterday, we spent about 15 minutes bc he just zoomed through it and I saw no reason to continue with busy work.

 

I am beginning to look at the whole thing the same way as I look at their diets - keep a balanced week and we are good.

 

Hopefully, I am not screwing them up for life :)

[phathui5]

My kids

 

8th grader - 60-90 minutes (Saxon, Coursera, Khan)

 

6th grader - 45-60 minutes (Saxon, Khan)

 

2nd & 3rd graders - 20-30 minutes 

[Chelli]

Thank you all so much for your responses!!!!

 

It seems like we are right on track.

 

And, yes, my 2nd grader really does beg for math. In fact she brought me her Intensive Practice workbook over the weekend wanting more pages to do from it. She has me print off those color by number addition and subtraction problem pages to work and color. She puffy heart LOVES math so I feed that as much as I can because I do NOT puffy heart love math!

 

Thanks again for your insight!

[kiana]

I would also give her Math for Smarty Pants for Christmas as soon as you feel her reading level is high enough  :)

[...................]

5th- 45 minutes horizons

15-20 minutes Zaccaros math

Maybe your 5th grader is just really fast and focused

[sbgrace]

This might bite me in the behind later, but I am more and more leaning towards concepts vs time scheduling.

 

One day last week we spent about 1.5 hr on math bc I was trying to get a concept into him and I tried from a few different ways and even though he wasn't getting it, his eyes weren't glazing over, so I continued.   Yesterday, we spent about 15 minutes bc he just zoomed through it and I saw no reason to continue with busy work.

 

I am beginning to look at the whole thing the same way as I look at their diets - keep a balanced week and we are good.

 

Hopefully, I am not screwing them up for life :)

 

This is what I am doing, and have done from the start. The whole point is learning the material, not time spent. We're moving at or above grade level, so it seems to be working here.

 

OP, I don't know how much time we spend, though I'm pretty sure it's not an hour, but we're also using Math in Focus and Singapore word problems, so I thought I'd reply.

 

Today child 1 (math weak, poor attention span) did 4 two step fraction related word problems (then zoned out on me), a quick white board review of an upcoming topic (multiplying fractions), and ran through select math facts (multiplication/division). Because of attention issues, all this took longer than it should have for the content covered, but that's how it goes with him.

 

His twin did a chapter review test in the Math in Focus, 4 problems in Singapore CWP, a review of a past MIF concept on the whiteboard with me, and ran through multiplication/division facts.

 

I generally do a text lesson one day, and the workbook practice on the concept the next. Sometimes those portions even spread over more than one day. I like them to focus on the concepts twice. Sometimes, though, we skip the text when the concept is easy or review.

[RosieCotton]

So now with all these responses, let me ask . . .

 

If the recommendations are 20-30 min per day for 2nd grade, why are so many of us doing so much more than that?

 

Are we doing too much? Why are we doing more? Are we compensating?

 

Just curious what thoughts people have on that since so many are doing more than the recommended.

 

 

[Chelli]

So now with all these responses, let me ask . . .

 

If the recommendations are 20-30 min per day for 2nd grade, why are so many of us doing so much more than that?

 

Are we doing too much? Why are we doing more? Are we compensating?

 

Just curious what thoughts people have on that since so many are doing more than the recommended.

 

With my oldest, she only did about 30 minutes of math a day for 2nd grade. It was perfect for her. Sophia is a totally different animal when it comes to math. Just to compare in a different way, Grace would sit and listen to read alouds for hours. Sophia will only sit and listen for 15-20 minutes. Their second grade plans look very differently because of this. Grace's was a focus on books; Sophia's is a focus on math and logic.

[FairProspects]

My 2nd grader does 20-30 min and is way above grade level in math. My 4th grader is doing more like an hour and always has. It just has to do with the relative processing speeds of each kid. My older ds is sloooow.

[kiana]

So now with all these responses, let me ask . . .

 

If the recommendations are 20-30 min per day for 2nd grade, why are so many of us doing so much more than that?

 

Are we doing too much? Why are we doing more? Are we compensating?

 

Just curious what thoughts people have on that since so many are doing more than the recommended.

 

I would look at it as a recommended minimum.

 

If your kid is enjoying it there is no reason NOT to do more (unless of course it is interfering with other subjects). Same with things like practicing the piano ... there's a recommended minimum but I wouldn't stop a kid who was wanting more.