time for 4th / 5th graders?

[MeganW]

About how much time do your 4th / 5th graders spend on bookwork per day?  How is that broken down by subject?  Trying to figure out if we are at all within the normal range - thanks!

 

Currently, we spend about:

1.5 hrs math (Singapore Standards)

2.5 hrs writing / grammar / spelling / literature (IEW, Shurley Grammar, SWR)

0.5 to 1 hr history (MOH for big kids, SOTW for baby)

0.5 to 1 hr science 

0.5 hr Prima Latina & greek mythology (only one kid - my fast finisher)

 

0.5 hr typing practice

0.5 hr piano

 

1+ hr free reading

 

Reasonable?  Or way too much?  It seems like everybody else finishes so fast.  What is too long?

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2016 by MeganW

[Sherry in OH]

5.5 to 6.5 hours seems okay.  Do you give your children breaks partway through lessons that run over an hour?  If you are looking to shorten your day, cut out or reduce the amount of time spent on subjects also covered at the model school.

 

My fifth grader's schedule by subject is

 

4 days a week:

60 minutes      Read aloud: history, literature, other

45 minutes      Math

45 minutes      Language arts loop    

30 minutes      Greek/Latin

15 minutes      Logic  

 

15 minutes      Lunchtime read aloud (history or literature)

30 minutes      Piano

30 minutes      Silent reading

60 minutes      1-2 of: science, history (hands-on/video), art, typing, music, other

15 minutes      Trombone

                                   

5^th day:

Gym class and instrument lessons 

 

 

[Runningmom80]

We will break down like this for 5th-

Literature: 45
Math: 45
Grammar: 30
Spanish: 30
Keyboarding: 40 (I wish this was shorter but for some reason KWT takes him for-ev-er)
Cursive: 20
Science/history: 60
Piano: 20
Computer science once a week: 60 (on these days we will not to KWT.)

 

so most days around 4 hours. 

Edited August 28, 2016 by Runningmom80

[TheAttachedMama]

My son is in 4th grade this year.   We've been schooling for 4 weeks now.   This is our schedule that we have settled into.   I rotate my time between working with one child at a time while the other child does independent work.   (Bolded subjects are things that I do with them.  Subjects that are unbolded are things they can do 100% independently.  Math is divided between a teacher-taught lesson and independent practice.)  

 

I try to get all of the book work done in the morning and reserve the afternoon for time spent with books.   (The only exception is our ANKI work, but the kids really enjoy that...and I can't fit it in the morning.)  

 

4 Days per week:

 

Before 8AM:  Upstairs Chores and basic hygiene things, Breakfast

At 8AM

1 Hour of morning lessons (Singing Together a hymn, Bible Devotion, French, Latin, CC timeline and SOTW rotated)

1 Hour of math*

(I make smoothies and popcorn while kids work on math independently so they can munch and sip while they work)

1.5 Hours of language arts (divided between W&R Fable, sentence diagramming ELTL or JAG, and AAS 4)

15 mins of piano

15 mins of typing (Typing.com)

15 mins of Latin practice (workbook, copywork, or listening practice)

5 mins of map drills per day, 5 mins of Shakespeare memory work practice

 

Lunch Break

 

After lunch....

15-20 mins of ANKI (Science, history, Latin, French, Poetry, Art Appreciation, Music Appreciation, etc.)  

15-20 mins of oral reading practice with mom (McGruffey Readers and Sonlight)

Assigned Reading:   Read a chapter from bible, Read a chapter from assigned book (lit or history pick), Read anything you like (30 mins)

Kitchen Chores & Gardening Chores

3:00PM ish (Whenever my toddler wakes up) we enjoy a cup of tea and eat something sweet 

 

 

 

Then, they play with friends for a few hours

Then, Dinner and Clean Up

 

Bedtime:   Family Read Aloud

 

 

 

5th Day (light day)

Latin Video Lesson (Classical Academic Press)

Geography Video Lesson (Visualize World Geography)

JAG Video Lesson (Grammar)

Read anything you want about science

Read anything you want about anything :)

Read your bible

Piano (15 mins)

Chemistry Lesson and Project

Art Project

Help mama clean the house

---------

 

* Time divided as follows:   15-20 mins of Singapore lesson and example problems worked with mom from the textbook, than about 20-30 mins of workbook practice, then xtra math, then fix any missed problems in math until 100%)

Edited August 27, 2016 by TheAttachedMama

[MinivanMom]

We use 4th & 5th grade as our transition toward requiring more time. I require 2 hrs in 3rd, 3 hrs in 4th, & 4 hrs in 5th. It breaks down like this:

 

4th:

1 hr - Singapore Math

1 hr - English (MCT plus additional writing time)

30 min - Galore Park French

30 min - Reading aloud literature & science/history (alt days)

15 min - Writing summary of science/history readings

*plus daily free reading

 

5th:

1.5 hr - Singapore Math

1 hr - English (MCT plus additional writing time)

30 min - Galore Park French

30 min - K12 Human Odyssey (reading plus outlining)

30 min - WTM-style science

*plus an assigned book to read each week

[MinivanMom]

For OP: I do think that looks like too much time for a 4th grader. I guess it depends on some of those time ranges. If you're staying more toward 30 min, then that's probably okay. If you're more toward a full-hour, then you're talking about a 7 hr day before free reading and piano practice. 

 

I'm thinking that 2.5 hrs of language arts before you add in reading seems like way too much to me. I would be looking at ways to cut that down a little, and I would probably cut down the typing practice also. I'm not sure that I'd be aiming for daily typing practice with a kid who was still doing such intense language arts instruction.

[Melissa B]

This is four days per week, we have co-op and a half school day on the fifth day.

 

Literature - 2 hrs

History - 1.5 hrs

Science - 1 hr

Math - 1 hr

English - 30 min

Art/Latin - 30 min

 

 

[rebcoola]

4th grader here at almost 5 hrs and she will be adding music practice and has team gymnastics.

 

30-Math

60- Grammar, Writing, Spelling

30- computer review

30-Social Studies

15-Bible

30-Reading

90 - Block Science or Art 

 

[cintinative]

I am confused on the time for literature for everyone. Anyone care to explain what they are including in that?

 

I am now concerned we aren't doing enough!

 

So we do school four days a week with co-op once a week.  Since we block schedule history and science we don't do those every day.  

 

on a typical day:

30 minutes read aloud (mom)  (five days/week)

30 minutes silent read (child)  (five days/week)

30 minutes Bible  (four days/week)

45 minutes - 60 minutes science (twice a week, alternates with history)

60 minutes history (twice a week, alternates with science)

10 -15 minutes logic workbook or reasoning and reading (3x/week)

10 -15 minutes typing twice a week

30 minutes to 45 minutes writing 4 days/week

5 minutes poetry memorization (five days/week)

15 minutes grammar 4 days/week (this is a lot less than last year--doing Fix-It for a break)

10 minutes spelling 4 days/week

40 minutes math book/workbook

10 minutes Prodigy online (5 days/week)

30 minutes Latin/day (5 days/week)

60 minutes art (1x/week)

15-30 minutes artist study (1x/week)

10-15 minutes piano (5 days/week)

1 hour geography (1x/week)

 

ETA: we discuss a book using the Socratic method about once a month for an hour.

 

Edited August 27, 2016 by cintinative

[callapidder]

4th grader here, and two weeks in, our schedule is looking like this:

 

Morning work: 15 minutes -- handwriting sheet, review spelling words, review Latin vocabulary

Bible: 15 minutes

Math: 30-45 minutes (Singapore Standards 4A)

Reading: 30 minutes (BJU Reading)

Spelling/Grammar/Writing: 60-75 minutes (Abeka Spelling, Rod & Staff Grammar, Writing & Rhetoric: Narrative 1)

History: 20-30 minutes (Notgrass -- reading, map work, timelines, review questions)

Science: 20 minutes (Sonlight)

Latin: 20 minutes (Latin for Children A)

Other: 30 minutes (Health, Art, Reading & Reasoning, done on various days)

 

Then, later in the day, he practices piano (20 minutes), and does about 20-30 minutes independent work (reading, poetry memorization, and any studying for quizzes or tests).

 

We start at 8:00 and are usually done with the bulk by 12:00 or 12:30. Monday's are usually longer than other days. He also gets a break after math to work off some energy. There is more I'd like us to do, but I feel like we really hit things hard for a good four hours and I don't want to overwhelm him or stress him out.

[hedwigtheowl]

About how much time do your 4th / 5th graders spend on bookwork per day?  How is that broken down by subject?  Trying to figure out if we are at all within the normal range - thanks!

 

Currently, we spend about:

1.5 hrs math (Singapore Standards)

2.5 hrs writing / grammar / spelling / literature (IEW, Shurley Grammar, SWR)

0.5 to 1 hr history (MOH for big kids, SOTW for baby)

0.5 to 1 hr science 

0.5 hr Prima Latina & greek mythology (only one kid - my fast finisher)

 

0.5 hr typing practice

0.5 hr piano

 

1+ hr free reading

 

Reasonable?  Or way too much?  It seems like everybody else finishes so fast.  What is too long?

 

That is long in my opinion and you still don't have art, PE or general music in there! But it's also comparable to a British academic private school i(n my experience) so it depends on what your point of comparison is. I would cut down the Language Arts and maybe the math if your child is finding it onerous.

[ScoutTN]

Fifth grade for my Dd was this:

 

30 Piano

30 Bible/devotional

---------------------------

45-60 Math

30 Latin

30 Composition

15 Spelling 3x/week

15-30 Grammar 3x/week

60 History 2x/week (alternates with science)

60 Science 2x/week

 

30-60 Read Aloud (during lunch)

10 Memory work 4x/wk (poems mostly)

15-20 Keyboarding

60-120 Reading (Literature, History and free choice)

 

90 Art @ tutorial 1x//wk

90 Drama @ tutorial 1x/wk

 

Most days were about 4-5 hrs. She had 4 longer days and one shorter one for tutorial. She loves to read and does not really consider that work!

[Haiku]

Assuming you do all of these things every day, you have 7.5 hours planned. That means if you started at 8, worked till lunch, took half an hour for lunch, and worked until you were done, you would be working until 4:00. This assumes no breaks other than 1/2 an hour for lunch.

 

Personally, I think that is way too much. Honestly, my 9th grader doesn't even work that long, and she is working on 7.25 credits right now. She works about 5.5-6 hours a day (she has always been a quick worker). She works on the weekends sometimes, too, for an hour or two.

 

When my kids were in 4th and 5th grades, we were doing 3-4 hours a day.

 

Given what you have listed, here is how I would arrange a 4-hour day:

 

1 hour math

1 hour LA, alternating writing/grammar one day, spelling/literature another

.75 hour science, .75 hour history, alternating days or weeks (we did history and science in 2-week rotations)

.5 hour Prima Latina/myths

.25 hour typing practice (I think 30 minutes a day is too much)

.5 hour reading

 

That's four hours. You could start at 8, work till 9:30, and break for 15 minutes. Work from 9:45 to 11:30, break for lunch for an hour. Work from 12:30 to 1:15, and you're done. Lots of kids take piano lessons, and it's not considered school. I would consider piano practice independent of school and let them do it whenever. I think that in 4th/5th grades, 1.5 hours math is too long and attention will likely wane after 45 minutes or an hour. We did 30-45 minutes of math daily at that age. I also think 2.5 hours of language arts is extreme. Not everything needs to be done every day.

 

Think about it this way: if your kids are working on school for 7.5 hours a day in elementary school, what's left to work up to in high school? Ten or twelve hours a day? Is that reasonable?

Edited August 29, 2016 by Haiku

[Sherry in OH]

I am confused on the time for literature for everyone. Anyone care to explain what they are including in that?

 

I am now concerned we aren't doing enough!

 

So we do school four days a week with co-op once a week.  Since we block schedule history and science we don't do those every day.  

 

on a typical day:

30 minutes read aloud (mom)  (five days/week)

30 minutes silent read (child)  (five days/week)

30 minutes Bible  (four days/week)

45 minutes - 60 minutes science (twice a week, alternates with history)

60 minutes history (twice a week, alternates with science)

10 -15 minutes logic workbook or reasoning and reading (3x/week)

10 -15 minutes typing twice a week

30 minutes to 45 minutes writing 4 days/week

5 minutes poetry memorization (five days/week)

15 minutes grammar 4 days/week (this is a lot less than last year--doing Fix-It for a break)

10 minutes spelling 4 days/week

40 minutes math book/workbook

10 minutes Prodigy online (5 days/week)

30 minutes Latin/day (5 days/week)

60 minutes art (1x/week)

15-30 minutes artist study (1x/week)

10-15 minutes piano (5 days/week)

1 hour geography (1x/week)

 

ETA: we discuss a book using the Socratic method about once a month for an hour.

 

5^th grade literature at my house is poetry, tales, Bible and religious stories, classic and modern children’s fiction, and any other readings that do not fit neatly into one of our state mandated content subject areas.   

 

Literature on our daily schedule is read aloud or audiobook.  In my children’s academic portfolios the literature section also includes titles of books read for a monthly book club and a sampling of titles read silently.