How many hours per week do PS students spend on each subject?

[rookie]

Do they do an hour of science every day or every week?

What about history?

English?

Math?

 

Do they do a little of a subject every day or do they focus on the three Rs and then do an extra subject each day?

 

How are the 8 hours laid out?

 

How much time for breaks, potty, snacks, lunch, recess, music, art?

 

I am asking for elementary and middle school.

[Jen500]

When my dc were in ps:

 

most mornings were heavy on language arts

1 hr math/day everyday

45 min lunch

15 min recess

pe-1 hr twice a week

music-30 min twice a week

art- 30 min once a week

 

not sure about science and history. It wasn't covered on their yearly testing in their grades, so...:glare:

[Julie in MN]

Do they do an hour of science every day or every week?

What about history?

English?

Math?

 

Do they do a little of a subject every day or do they focus on the three Rs and then do an extra subject each day?

 

How are the 8 hours laid out?

 

How much time for breaks, potty, snacks, lunch, recess, music, art?

 

I am asking for elementary and middle school.

 

In our area, by 6th grade (and sometimes as early as 4th, depending on the school), each class is the same length just like high school. There is a little crossover, where history may do a project that is also part of an English research paper or something, but basically all courses are the same length during the day -- around 50 minutes? -- whether the class is English or art.

 

In early elementary, each teacher is different around here. For example, I remember science for my youngest in 1st grade consisted of a very excited male teacher who had received a special science grant -- and only did science once because there just wasn't time. In 2nd grade, he had a brand new female teacher who at conferences in November still wasn't sure if she was supposed to teach science. Both teachers spent major time on reading and even after-school time tutoring their students.

 

At ALL ages, there is a LOT of time spent keeping order. There is a lot of time spent moving from one task to another (partly to keep kids from drifting into chaos). But there is also a lot expected to be done at home, making up for time not spent at school (such as math facts practice in the early grades, reading in the middle grades, or research projects in later years).

 

Julie

[Mom22ns]

My kids were in ps one until 4th, one through 5th grade.

 

Our ps uses a single classroom model through 4th grade. The teacher breaks up the day as they see fit. Our schools use a lot of unit studies in these early years. Each year the day got more structured with subjects more laid out and routines staying more consistent every day.

 

For 5-6th grade, the teachers team teach. They have either 2 or 3 teachers in a "pod". Each teacher has a subject that they teach to all the classes ie science, math and social studies were the typically shared subjects. The classes moved between the teachers for these classes getting exactly 1 hour/day every day of all of these subjects. The rest of the day was divided between LA, specials (library, music, art, PE, computers), recess, lunch, and whatever projects the homeroom teacher had going.

 

7-8th grades were on a standard classroom rotation schedule just like high school.

[rookie]

My kids were in ps one until 4th, one through 5th grade.

 

Our ps uses a single classroom model through 4th grade. The teacher breaks up the day as they see fit. Our schools use a lot of unit studies in these early years. Each year the day got more structured with subjects more laid out and routines staying more consistent every day.

 

For 5-6th grade, the teachers team teach. They have either 2 or 3 teachers in a "pod". Each teacher has a subject that they teach to all the classes ie science, math and social studies were the typically shared subjects. The classes moved between the teachers for these classes getting exactly 1 hour/day every day of all of these subjects. The rest of the day was divided between LA, specials (library, music, art, PE, computers), recess, lunch, and whatever projects the homeroom teacher had going.

 

7-8th grades were on a standard classroom rotation schedule just like high school.

 

 

I want to make sure that I understand:

 

Were they then doing 5 hours of science a week, 5 hours of history a week, etc.? Or was the 1 hour per day for main subjects like LA and Math?

 

What about test prep?

 

Where I live, I hear that they spend weeks/months studying for the state test at the exclusion of other subjects.

[Mom22ns]

You are right, 5 hours/week each of science, social studies, math and more than that of LA when you add up silent reading, reading assignments, writing etc.

 

They do take a lot of time out for review for test prep. In 3rd, 4th and 5th grade they test in math and LA, so they probably spend half of their time (in those subject) in test prep for 2 weeks, then another week (again during those subject times) that is all test prep. This is done once/year here. 6th grade is similar. I don't know what it is like after that - we'll probably never find out :001_smile:

 

The test prep showed, our schools test very high. Top 10% in the nation pretty consistently. The elementary down the street made the list of the top 10 elementaries in the nation last year.

 

I always feel like I have to work pretty hard to do better than our ps do. Time spent isn't the only measure of work accomplished though - remember you can often do more in less time in a smaller group.

[Momling]

We were in our local public school until last month.

I have the schedules in front of me:

For a week of kindergarten:

Morning circle - 80 minutes

Literacy - 2 hrs

Recess/snack - 1 hr

Music - 30 min.

Story/share - 2.5 hr

study buddies - 30 min.

Math - 3 hrs

Science observation - 30 min

Friendship skills - 25 min

Writers workshop - 30 min.

Friendship Friday - 45 min.

 

For 2nd grade, I never got a complete schedule, but I know there was a daily reading block and a writing block and a math block. There was no science or history. There were a ton of crafts, a lot of recess, music, PE, library, etc...

 

Other districts are definitely more focused on academics, but our district prides itself on its 'progressive' approach to education, so the kids had no textbooks, grades, tests or homework. I had some mixed feelings about the academics... I guess that's why I'm here!

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest was in ps for 6th and 7th grades. Every class met daily. All blocks were 50 minutes with 5 minutes to get to the next class.

 

2 blocks English

1 block each of math, science, history

1 block p.e

1 block elective (either choir or band or Spanish or 6 weeks each of study skills/theater/art each semester)

1 block lunch

 

So she had

9hr25min of English each week

3hr45min of each other subject each week

 

My youngest went to 5th grade last year, but she was only there for 2 weeks, so I'm not real sure what the schedule was. I knew what it was at the time, but I never had to pay much attention to it, so I don't remember it.

[bethben]

I had this question last year because I felt guilty that ds was getting done so soon. My oldest is in special ed and just happened to get a class schedule for 4th grade. I can't remember how much was spent with each specific class, but I figured they had a maximum of 5 hours teaching/class time per day. I took out all the recess/transition to different classrooms/lunch. And the thing is - how much of that time was actual teaching and doing the work? There are getting the books out for the new subject, settling down the class, discipline issues, reteaching something because a few kids didn't get it, ect. So, the guilt left and I figured ds was doing just fine.

Beth

[dragons in the flower bed]

My sixth grader had two math periods, one "test prep" and one "instructional," two English periods, one "English" and one "reading," and a study hall period, each of these every day. He had science twice a week and social studies twice a week, art the fifth day. He also had phys. ed. twice a week, health 1x week, practical arts 1x a week, music the fifth day. No textbooks were issues and the content of the worksheets he brought home was equivalent to what I taught him at home in fourth grade.

[Pippen]

A typical 5th grade schedule in our district:

 

Math 50-60 min

Science 30 min

Social Studies 30 min

Reading 50-60 min

Spelling/Grammar 20-30 min

Writing (varies greatly depending on the teacher ) 10-30 min

PE 30 min

 

Art 40 min once a week

Music 25 min twice a week

IMC/technology 35 min once a week

Edited January 15, 2010 by Pippen

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

I've read the whole thread (so far) and I always find it interesting to see the differences between classrooms. I asked a similar question a while back.... Tell me about the "assignments" for each subject.... and, I got a great variety of answers.

 

The thing is.... As homeschoolers we do not 'need' to compare our schools with classroom schools. BUT, it DOES help tremendously to get a variety of different ideas and see "school" with a different perspective.

 

HEY... that is the whole idea behind these formuns! That is why WTM is one of the BEST in cyberspace. We can see a huge amount of variety and see a huge amount of IDEAS. Then, we take the best of all that variety and have something fresh to incorporate into our homes!:lol:

 

Years ago I read of some studies done by a major secular publisher. (Sorry, but I do not remember the reference... it was like 12 years ago when I first started this journey. ) Anyway, the studies showed that K -12 schools actually spent about 3 ot 4 hours per day actually doing academic subjects.

 

I've got teacher friends and family that verify that. My nephew claims the entire last 6 weeks of his middle school history classes are a complete WASTE of time. He's a great teacher and continues to REALLY teach, but the students are NOT learning. He also told me that in his school during the last 6 weeks, after state testing, a good number of teachers don't really teach or assign much of anything.

 

So, although I do think it is a good idea to see how many hours per week are spent on various subjects inside of classrooms, AND it is a good idea to look at SWB's recommendations in WTM........... it is best to figure what works for your family. And that can be tricky. :)... Hense we ask, "What are the pubic schools doing? " LOL

[Tidbits of Learning]

I want to make sure that I understand:

 

Were they then doing 5 hours of science a week, 5 hours of history a week, etc.? Or was the 1 hour per day for main subjects like LA and Math?

 

What about test prep?

 

Where I live, I hear that they spend weeks/months studying for the state test at the exclusion of other subjects.

 

That is the way it is where I live. Beginning in 3rd grade with the pre-state test, they start preparing after Christmas break until April. After the test, the only new thing they bring hom is a very old health book (circa 1992) and learn to say no to drugs. That is it until 4th grade.

So in 3rd grade, they prepared for a state test and my dd did not learn 3rd grade. They didn't learn multiplication. They had a multiplication fact chart taped to their desk. So 3rd grade was basically 1/2 a year of school and 1/2 a year of preparing for a practice state test. It is a lot of the reason we are homeschooling this year.

 

My kids went to public school from k-3rd. In k, they would spend varying amounts of time on their "schedule" they would send home. Often these are on the local school website. I would just look up your local school and look at the teacher's web sites. They will have what you need to know about your area and time spent teaching on what subjects and how often they are taught.

[Mom22ns]

So in 3rd grade, they prepared for a state test and my dd did not learn 3rd grade. They didn't learn multiplication. They had a multiplication fact chart taped to their desk. So 3rd grade was basically 1/2 a year of school and 1/2 a year of preparing for a practice state test.

 

The really sad part about that is that the first 1/4 is usually all review, so that means they only spent 1/4 learning new material.

 

It is true that there is huge variety, but even in the best districts, there is a great deal of time spent on moving kids from place to place, getting books out and putting them away, re-teaching and answering questions that were just answered for the students that aren't paying attention or just don't get it, and of course, the dreaded state testing preparation time!

[Pippen]

That is the way it is where I live. Beginning in 3rd grade with the pre-state test, they start preparing after Christmas break until April. After the test, the only new thing they bring hom is a very old health book (circa 1992) and learn to say no to drugs. That is it until 4th grade.

So in 3rd grade, they prepared for a state test and my dd did not learn 3rd grade. They didn't learn multiplication. They had a multiplication fact chart taped to their desk. So 3rd grade was basically 1/2 a year of school and 1/2 a year of preparing for a practice state test. It is a lot of the reason we are homeschooling this year.

.

 

Instruction of new material in math is nearly done for the year in my district's upper elementary grades. Most teachers have or will soon complete the 6th unit in the math curriculum. They usually do 1-2 more units along with test review during these next months and then maybe one more unit after that (often without a lot of emphasis since it won't be on the state test).

[3andme]

Here is the schedule for my 3rd grader's class. It breaks down to: Math - 1 hour, Lang. arts/Reading - 1.5, Science/Soc. Studies - 30 to 45 min. Lunch & Recess - 50 min, PE/Music/Art - 40 min.

 

There is heavy emphasis on the math and language arts. For science and social studies they usually do 1 science unit study (e.g. Rocks and Minerals) and 1-2 social studies unit studies (e.g. Map study, Indians) per semester.

 

7:55-8:15 Headline News, announcements

 

8:15-9:20 Math

 

9:20-9:30 RECESS

 

9:30-10:30 Language Arts

 

10:30-11:10 Specialist (PE/Music/Art/Library)

 

11:40-12:10 LUNCH

 

12:10-1:25 Reading, Science, Social Studies, Health

 

!:25-1:35 RECESS

 

1:35-2:10 Reflections and closing

 

2:15 Dismissal

[Sue G in PA]

Don't have my dc schedules handy but you really can't use them anyway. I hear dd talk about how much "waste" time is included in each hour of teaching. I hear about how they only get to one or two problems in class b/c the teacher has to make sure EVERY student understands. So, kids like my dd who get it right away...are bored or do the weeks homework in class while the teacher is still teaching. She has science every day for 8th grade and I must say I LOVED her teacher until the "real" teacher came back from Iraq to "teach". He's a real winner. :glare:

 

I used to worry about not getting enough done...until my older 3 went back to ps. Now I don't worry. I worry about THEM, not us. Crazy. As for Elementary...science and history are more "when we get to it". They cover a lot...but my son doesn't retain. Lots of projects (that is a plus) and hands on...which we never got to much so this is a good thing. Anyway, it's good to get an idea but don't try to compare b/c you can't compare apples and oranges!

[LibrarianMom]

My dd 2nd grade has math, reading, writing and P.E. every day. They have spelling at least 3 times a week and more if they don't pass their pre-test. Art, music, and library are all once a week. Each student has computers twice a week. Science and social studies are scheduled for twice a week but are sometimes pre-empted for other subjects. They have lunch and two 20 minute recesses. Learning to write a good solid paragraph is her teacher's main emphasis so a good deal of time is spent on weekly writing assignments. Often these paragraphs tie into science or social studies topics as well.

 

Beginning in 4th grade, science and social studies are taught more consistently but still not every day. Beginning in 6th grade all of the academic classes are taught each day.