three4me Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Dd is in 3rd grade this year. I really feel like she has a light workload, which is what I've wanted. These days her day looks something like this: Math (30ish minutes) Xtra math (10 minutes) Free reading (1hour) Listening to me read aloud about almost anything - loosely doing medieval history, also any nonfiction books that interest her and Ds and rabbit trails those lead us on (15-30 minutes) Notebooking page - usually she writes a narration of what I read to them, or does a longer section of copywork, and adds artwork of some kind and finishes it off with watercolor paints (30 minutes to an hour) Awana (15 minutes) Piano (30 minutes) Typing practice (15 minutes) Most mornings she's diligently working for four hours. I love how our days feel. I don't want them to feel too full. Then I go and see what others have planned for 4th grade and I'm just floored. How are people doing all that work in a reasonable amount of time? I know we need to be adding in a few other things next year, but I'm having a hard time imagining how to do that without it taking so much more time. So I guess what I want to know is... 1. Is the rule of thumb one hour of work per grade still reasonable? 2. Is there any reason we need to formalize history and science, or can we continue haphazardly as interest leads them? 3. What really does NEED to be added to her schedule? Any other input would be appreciated. FWIW, she is slightly ahead in math, enjoys writing, and is generally compliant when it comes to schoolwork. I really don't want to squelch her live of learning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 You're happy, she's happy and receiving an education you can be proud to provide. There in no other pertinent information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) This is what Gr.3 looks like for us... 45 min. of math 45 min. of language arts 15-20 min. of art project, handwriting, typing, logic or vocab/spelling (we rotate these) 30 min. of science (3x/week) or 30 min. of history (2x/week) 30 min. of reading (assigned book) The only thing I might add next year is a foreign language component. We listen to classical composers during the school day (ambient noise). Edited February 20, 2017 by Sneezyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 My third grader does more "subjects" but same amount of time. We also have two light days (because we go to coop those days) and three heavier days. On the light days, we work for about two hours, and on the heavy days about four. M/W (light days) Math-15 min Cursive-15 min Grammar-15 min Reading-30 min Typing/duolingo/geography-15 min each Coops cover-science (engineering), art, theater, kitchen science (chemistry) T/Th (heavier days) Math-30 min Writing-30 min Reading-30 min History-30 min Typing/Prodigy Math/Duolingo/geography-15 min each I read aloud to the kids every night for half hour, and we have a history based audio book going in the car. We are at gymnastics four evenings per week for about 20 hours total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Lake Mom Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I think it can be misleading to only look at a list of curriculum choices for the year. We have a lot of different subjects listed, but we don't do them each day or even each week. Here are some examples. We list Art Appreciation, poetry study, Health, nature study - we'll spend a few minutes each day learning a poem, then we'll switch to reading about a composer and listening to music, then we might focus on painting for a few weeks... We will probably alternate history and science. M,W,F - history & T,R - Science (with occasional Friday nature walks) We also won't do grammar and formal handwriting each day, and we don't do every quiz, test, or activity that a curriculum recommends. I think most people rotate subjects throughout the schedule or even do some subjects for only one term. Most people are not doing each full subject each day. Also, many people focus on short lessons with a buffet of subjects and interests. (Charlotte Mason style) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 We don't do every subject every day. I alternate subjects to keep work times reasonable. My goal for my 3rd grader is for her to work 2-2 1/2 hrs daily (not including piano practice or reading) and for her to have a shorter day on Fridays. If I were to include piano and reading, then it is probably more like 4-5 hrs per day. Her schedule looks like: Math: 30 min Spelling or Cursive (alternating days): 10 min Writing: 20-30 min French: 20 min Literature (me reading aloud to her): 20 min Science or History (alternating days): 20-30 min On Fridays she does only math and art (plus daily piano practice & reading). Next year in 4th grade, we will add in a full language arts program with formal grammar, vocabulary, and writing instruction. She will also switch to completing all her schoolwork in cursive, will add in typing, and will start writing narrations for history & science. She will probably be closer to 3-3 1/2 hrs of work (not including piano, typing, or free reading). I think it's fine to do science and history in a more relaxed manner if that's working for you. I also think that the rule of 1 hr per grade level is fine for most kids, but I don't think most people would include free reading, piano practice, typing, & Awana in that time. I would just be concerned about those extras pushing out time for the basics. I'm looking at your list, and it looks like math is being covered, but you are missing language arts. I'm wondering about spelling, grammar, cursive, and general writing instruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 (edited) . Edited August 31, 2023 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three4me Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Thanks everyone. She started off the year doing ELTL3. But when we moved to doing these notebooking pages we were talking about spelling, grammar, etc. so I dropped that. I do have a writing program planned for next year, and also need to think about foreign language, but it's good to know we're going in the right direction! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outdoorsy Type Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 My third grader's day looks like this: 30min audio book at breakfast 30min math lesson 15min grammar 15min vocabulary and memory review (presidents right now) 15minRead science together 15min Me reading out loud 10min he reads out loud 15min spelling/handwriting 30min History lesson 15-30min History Audio at lunch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meganrussell Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 My third grader has less than two hours a day of schoolwork. Usually it's an hour and a half, but I'm not counting all of the reading, computer games, and crafts she does on her own. She is using Heart of Dakota's Bigger Hearts with Math Lessons for a Living Education, Rod and Staff grammar, cursive workbook, and Ocean Adventure Creative Writing. She takes about 20 minutes for math, 10 to 15 for grammar, 5 for cursive, and 10 to 15 for creative writing. The history, Bible, and science in HOD take her about thirty minutes, sometimes more if there's a lengthy project. I think four hours a day is a long time for a 3-4 grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beka87 Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I think some basic writing instruction would be good for next year, grammar optional. If she is learning and loving it and so are you, just be happy you've found your groove and enjoy. :) Good for you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Dd is in 3rd grade this year. I really feel like she has a light workload, which is what I've wanted. These days her day looks something like this: Math (30ish minutes) Xtra math (10 minutes) Free reading (1hour) Listening to me read aloud about almost anything - loosely doing medieval history, also any nonfiction books that interest her and Ds and rabbit trails those lead us on (15-30 minutes) Notebooking page - usually she writes a narration of what I read to them, or does a longer section of copywork, and adds artwork of some kind and finishes it off with watercolor paints (30 minutes to an hour) Awana (15 minutes) Piano (30 minutes) Typing practice (15 minutes) Most mornings she's diligently working for four hours. I love how our days feel. I don't want them to feel too full. Then I go and see what others have planned for 4th grade and I'm just floored. How are people doing all that work in a reasonable amount of time? I know we need to be adding in a few other things next year, but I'm having a hard time imagining how to do that without it taking so much more time. So I guess what I want to know is... 1. Is the rule of thumb one hour of work per grade still reasonable? 2. Is there any reason we need to formalize history and science, or can we continue haphazardly as interest leads them? 3. What really does NEED to be added to her schedule? Any other input would be appreciated. FWIW, she is slightly ahead in math, enjoys writing, and is generally compliant when it comes to schoolwork. I really don't want to squelch her live of learning. For children who are 8 and 9, I don't think of it as how much time per day, but how much time it takes to do each thing without the dc going into melt-down mode, lol. If the thing I'm using has lessons, then I try for one lesson per day, but I watch my dc to see if that one lesson is too long, in which case we'll take two days. If your dc is doing well the with your schedule, then that's the rule of thumb for *you.* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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