How much time do you spend preparing in the evenings?

[jpklehm]

Perhaps I'm a bit burned out from this year and need my summer break badly, but I am not as motivated to prepare in the evenings as I have been.

 

So I was wondering, how much time in the evenings (approx.) do you spend checking work and preparing for the next day? On a good evening, I probably spend about an hour or so. I have two boys, ages 12 and 7.

 

Just a checkpoint for me, I think. :) Thanks.

 

Pam

[Murphy101]

About 2 hours. Most it grading. Some of it helping older boys with assignments, less preparing. Except for Fridays and Saturdays - those are almost entirely planning for several hours each.

[2_girls_mommy]

I would say I spend an hour maybe 2 nights a week. The majority of "my" work gets done during the day alongside them. But one night a week I go to the library and sit and reserve books and pull from the shelves for the next week. And maybe one other night, I spend getting some printouts copied, and looking at projects for the week and checking for supplies or shopping for them.

 

But I check all work at table while they are working, or the next day before they start the next assisgnment. I don't have a 12 yr old yet though. I am sure he does a lot more independently, so that would require more from you later.

[razorbackmama]

When I am really on the ball, I can get it done in about 1-1.5 hours. I have 5 kids to prepare for.

 

It burns me out TERRIBLY.:glare:

 

One thing that is sort of helping is to have an inbox for them to put their stuff into during the day. Then I pull it out to grade as I have a free moment. This lessens what I have to do at night a bit.

[jpklehm]

That's true, my 12 yo ds does a lot more independent work and I usually get most of his work checked during the day, as both of my boys are working. I do feel like I need to become a bit more structured with how I use my evenings, though.

[jpklehm]

Good idea, Kirstin. Thanks!

[jpklehm]

:001_smile:

[MerryAtHope]

About 30 minutes for checking work for 5th & 7th graders. Once a week about 30 minutes to fill in my schedule for the week and pull the books etc... that we'll use. I do most of my planning ahead of time (spring/summer) so I already know what books we'll use and the order in which we'll likely use them, and I just pull what's next. When I've used Sonlight, I had very little prep to do. This year I have more because I'm being more eclectic.

 

Merry :-)

[FlockOfSillies]

I seldom do any work in the evenings. If I get behind on grading, I might have to catch up. But I try to do it during the day.

[AHASRADA]

I don't really spend any time in the evenings. I do my correcting during the day, alongside them as they work. I work one-on-one with dd10 in the AM, and with ds13 in the PM, so many mistakes I catch as they are making them. For math, I check while they are doing something else, and then go over the mistakes with them. This is part of our school time.

 

On the weekend, I probably spend about 1 1/2 to 2 hours planning the week. Each dc has a weekly schedule, with the subjects for each day pre-printed on it. On the weekend, I print it out and fill in the lesson numbers or page numbers under each one, and any additional info. they will need. If there are photocopied pages for them to complete, I remove the appropriate ones from the master binder, or copy them if I have not already done so ahead of time. These pages are added to their clipboard, along with any necessary loose-leaf paper for completing the week's assignments, and their list goes on top. At the end of the week, I file their list and completed pages in their binders.

 

I spend several hours over a couple of weeks in the summer, coordinating and planning the year. I divide pages or chapters or lessons by the number of weeks in the year and, in the case of history or science topics, record them on quarterly sheets, so I can see which topic we will be covering which week. That way it is easier to coordinate related literature and library books.

 

For this reason, my weekly planning involves merely pulling together what my yearly plan says I need for that week. Since the kids have their weekly plans laid out for them, they simply look at their list each morning and pull the appropriate books off the shelf.

 

HTH,

[mom2denj]

When I am really on the ball, I can get it done in about 1-1.5 hours. I have 5 kids to prepare for.

 

It burns me out TERRIBLY.:glare:

 

One thing that is sort of helping is to have an inbox for them to put their stuff into during the day. Then I pull it out to grade as I have a free moment. This lessens what I have to do at night a bit.

 

This is what I do. However, I do tend to procrastinate at times. I am trying to get better at grading everything at the end of each day.

[SandKsmama]

None. :-) Is that bad? I really don't. The only thing my guys do that needs checking is math and grammar, and I just check that real quick when they finish it. I specifically chose most of my curriculum b/c I don't like prepwork LOL.

[Ali in OR]

I don't have any evening work either. I spend maybe an hour on Sunday evening filling in that week's schedule and doing any prep work needed. I correct work during the day right after it is done. And I do some summer prep work to make things run smoothly (getting copies made, etc.). As the work gets more difficult I will need to put in a little more thinking time. I think I will hit that with writing this year--I need to put more thought into dd's writing assignments and make sure we're covering everything (paragraphs, outlining, cursive practice, etc.).

[SilverMoon]

I usually have about 20 minutes worth teacher work in the evenings. That includes double checking work, pulling pages for the next day, and fine tuning any details I may have left off the planner for tomorrow. I taught four this past school year, from first grade level up to middle school.

 

I correct work throughout the day wherever little holes of time happen to pop up, and hand it right back to it's kid if it needs fixed. Then I slip it all into last week's pages in my full size plan book. Occasionally some do get pushed to the evening, but usually I'm just double checking the complete stack of finished work (looking for name/date, corrections made, and such). Then I set the whole stack in the done pile on top of my computer desk. I'll file that stack into the appropriate binders on Friday evening or Saturday morning.

 

Major planning is done on the weekends. As I plan I print or copy anything that requires it. To prepare tomorrow in the evening I just need to run down the day's assignments in my planner as I pull any necessary pages and gather books or supplies that don't live on the school shelves.

[fractalgal]

Last year I only spent an hour on Friday afternoon grading everything for the week, and an hour on Saturday morning planning for the following week.

 

This year I spend about 30 minutes on weekdays (during the regular school year) in the evening grading and planning. I'll lay out math manipulatives for the three different levels of math I teach (or whatever else I may need) the night before. Things ran more smoothly this year than last.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

No time grading. DD is only 4.5, so most of her work is done with me right beside her. Occasionally I'll "assign" a couple pages while I'm preparing dinner or something, but I check those over quickly when she's done.

 

Now that I have the next twelve weeks all planned out, I'll spend about 2-3 hours a week looking for and printing worksheets and other printables and compiling our library list, which usually means seeking out books that relate to our topics, requesting some from other libraries, and getting the call numbers for all the books at our library.

[NanceXToo]

None!

 

Last summer, before my daughter started fourth grade, I went through the Oak Meadow 4 syllabus and broke the weekly lessons down into daily lessons summarized in a wordpad document on my computer. This took several days, I did it gradually.

 

But then when we started fourth grade, I could open that wordpad document, highlight and print that week's lesson, and then we'd just sit down and do it.

 

As she's only in elementary school, I don't give her "grades" and I'm usually there with her while she's doing her work or checking it immediately afterward to see what she got right/wrong, what corrections need to be made, etc.

 

That's it. Zero prep time unless I've made a notation that we need specific things from the store in a given week for projects, and if that's the case, then I make sure I get anything I need for the week.

 

I don't know if that will change when she gets more to the junior high/high school years but for now I have/see no need for preparation time on any sort of regular basis.

[bradandmeplus2]

I was starting to get nervous. I only have a DS in K and the thought of hours of grading each night took me right back to why I no longer teach in the public school, too much family time spent grading and preparing. Glad to know for some of you, with a bit of effort, there are no evening hours spent. Thanks for sharing!

[razorbackmama]

I was starting to get nervous. I only have a DS in K and the thought of hours of grading each night took me right back to why I no longer teach in the public school, too much family time spent grading and preparing. Glad to know for some of you, with a bit of effort, there are no evening hours spent. Thanks for sharing!

 

Yep, my time in the evenings is because I have 5 in school. I do not grade the K or 1st graders' stuff because I'm right there for everything they are doing. Oh wait, I take that back - I grade the 1st grader's math since he does it independently. But that takes all of 5 minutes. I don't really have anything to do to prepare for their next day either really.

 

The bulk of my time is spent grading/preparing for my 7th, 5th, and 4th graders (in that order). The 4th grader doesn't take long at all, but she's also not doing the amount of work that the 7th grader is doing either. Since those 3 are all very independent in their work, I do not check it as we go, since I am working with another child at the time. I do try to check it as I get little windows of time throughout the day, but those are few and far between since I have 7 kids total.

 

If I had only 1-2 young kids in school I'd spend no time in the evenings preparing for the next day.

[nmoira]

None, not counting *ahem* research. ;) In the evenings I enter info in HST for the current day, and that's it. Mind you, I only have two kids.

 

Each morning after breakfast I have about 15 minutes of prep work, and I correct work immediately through the day. However, I keep everything together and easily accessible, and put it away immediately after use. It might not be environmentally friendly, but see-through zip-lock plastic bags of various sizes are my best friends when it comes to keeping manipulatives, cards, flashcards, etc. sorted.

[Laura W.]

I don't spend any time on weeknights preparing/grading, etc. I do part of that work during school time. I prepare everything on weekends, and can easily spend 4-6 hours of prep time then. My oldest does very well in some subjects with me doing weekly grading/review, so that's included in my weekend time. (Things she needs checked on a daily basis I do during school hours).

 

I also spend time before the year begins planning. For science, I make up our own curriculum, so I find it critical to have weekly plans before the year begins. We purchase a history schedule, and use workbooks for other subjects. I also plan which FIAR books I'll do with the younger ones that year and get some of the ideas written down so that the actual weekly planning will take less time.

 

Blessings,

 

Laura

Edited June 16, 2010 by Laura W.

[deeinfl]

To be honest, not much. We pretty much make a schedule in the beginning of the year and follow it closely. I check my younger son's work almost immediately as he's finishing it and file it away in his notebook.

 

My older son's work gets checked once or twice a week and that only takes me about half an hour to go through and make notes on what needs to be worked on, discussed, or changed. He also gets a schedule and a planner at the beginning of the year in which he becomes very much responsible for his work.

 

My motto is that by 3 o clock, I'm done for the day and I want nothing to do with looking at books or checking work. Everyone has their schedule and their free time, after 3, it's my time. :)

 

HTH,

 

Dee :)

[Closeacademy]

I prepare everything once a week and it takes about 2 hours. After we are done with schoolwork for the day, I do go through the work and put any independent work my child did that they had problems with in the work with mom stack so that we can review it together. That usually takes about 5 minutes.:001_smile:

[melmichigan]

I try to do all my prep on the weekends and grade any work as part of my day. I try to leave my evenings open, at least from grading. It doesn't mean someone isn't working on something but I am not teaching or grading. :)

[Embassy]

Once I am all set for the school year (planning wise) it takes about an hour a week to just go over what we will do and see if there are any supplies I need. It does take literally over 100 hours of planning time to get all set for the school year though since I put together a lot of my own studies. I am currently in the planning process and it takes up most of my evenings.

 

I don't grade right now, but I do look over my boy's work usually right after they have completed it and go over it with them.

[swainsonshawk]

We use workboxes, so I fill the boxes and check work at night. It takes probably 1-1.5 hours. This is prep work for four kids. I also spend A LOT of time in the summer planning and writing lesson plans along with copies, books, checking library, etc.

[Cindyg]

I spend Sunday afternoon and evening doing lesson planning. I know I spend a lot more time on this than the other homeschool moms I know IRL. However, I don't find this unreasonable. I used to be a classroom teacher, a corporate trainer, and a curriculum developer. I know how much time professionals spend in planning (and grading). (A lot.) Also, I find the more time I spend on planning, the quicker and more pleasantly our school day goes.

[8filltheheart]

None unless one of my high schoolers hasn't finished their work during the day and needs help.

 

I do all my planning/preparation work at one time for a 6-7 week period (and I do the planning over the course of a week.......we school 6-7 weeks on followed by one week off) Grading is done during the day immediately upon completion of work with the exception of grading writing. With my older kids that work on writing assignments independently, we meet on Thursday to go over their rough drafts and final copies are due on Friday.

 

Now, normally, I grade their final copies Fri or Sat. I admit that after the baby was born, I had a stack of several weeks worth of 10th grade essays that I avoided. :tongue_smilie: But, my brain is starting to function somewhat again, so hopefully by the time we are back into full swing of school, I'll be back on top life so I can keep up with all my grading.

[mcconnellboys]

I don't do this in the evenings. I do my plan for the entire year ahead of time and grade during the day while they're doing their work.....

[2cents]

None. I grade as we go during the day. It is easier to have them immediately correct any errors right away while it is fresh in their minds and the books are out. Our lesson planning is already done for the week because I do that on the weekend and it takes about 2 hours. I do it while we watch tv. It makes for an easier week.

[jpklehm]

This is so good to read... I do a lot of correcting during the day but will catch up in the evening if I get behind for that day. And I definitely agree that the more prepared I am for the day, the MUCH better our day goes.

 

I like what one poster wrote about being done by 3 pm...This is doable for us, and I need to enforce it more in our house.

 

What are "workboxes?"

 

Thanks!

[Amber in AUS]

I don't do anything day to day to prepare for the next day. I mark as we go along and i also note down anything we need to purchase as we go so i don't have to go looking later. I guess as they get older i will read their writing assignments in the quiet of the evening but for now i am enjoying it.

[rafiki]

.