How many of you with upper elementary/ middle school students. . .

[Marie in Oh]

are finished by lunch? I ask because I was just told that that is more than possible and that I just am an over achiever. I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school. Am I missing something? You can see my kids' ages in my signature line. What say the hive?

[elegantlion]

Since we don't start until 10, no way. We are usually done by 3 - 3:30 with about an hour of breaks in there. so if we started by 8am, we still wouldn't be done until 1pm with breaks.

 

We haven't started back this year yet and I'm assuming it will take longer, probably 5 hours of schooling minimum.

 

I don't try to compare. If they are not doing foreign language you can deduct 30 mins to an hour at least. Then if they're not doing logic that can deduct some more time.

 

With one child at the middle school level if I were doing a traditional type schooling we COULD be done before lunch. But I enjoy the logic and languages and time for discussion.

[Night Elf]

Obviously it depends on the materials used and the focus/learning style of the student.

 

My dd12 is a 7th grader. We're doing part-time school right now because half of her courses are taken through a group that offers homeschool classes during the traditional school year. If the time spent on those classes is the same this year as last year, let's see...

 

MUS Algebra - 20 - 30 mins.

K12 American History to 1865 - 30 - 45 mins.

Write Shop - 15 mins. (so far, but we're at the very beginning)

Mind Benders - 15 mins.

 

then her classes outside, which are one hour each week always has daily homework:

 

literature - 30 mins. of reading a day

creative writing - 15 mins.

science - 30 - 45 mins.

 

All total, which are basically rough guesses, can be up to about 3 hours. We work 4 days per week and get started about 10:00am each day. She's usually done by 1:00pm, but sometimes even earlier than that.

[bearnpurple]

We usually don't actually get started until 9:30 or 10:00 ..... break for lunch around 12:00 and then start up again around 1:00 and finish around 3:30.....so we average 4 1/2 hours a day...sometimes longer and sometimes shorter depending on the lesson and how many distractions we have......

 

We are starting back slowly next week and I am hoping for a 9:00 start for my ds in 8th grade and a 10:00 start for my dd in 3rd grade. My dd5 in K can start anywhere in between. My son will probably be done by 1:30 and then take his lunch so he is done for the day (minus any extra reading).....My Kindergartener will probably be done by noon or so and my dd in 3rd (bless her heart) will be done by 3:00.....she works at a slower pace than the rest.

 

My goal is for me to be pretty much done by 3:00 except for planning for the next day so I can start supper and finish cleaning/laundry before hubby gets home. Also, I am working on Mon & Tue evenings from 4 -7 through the school year so that is a motivation also!

 

Anyway, it is possible on some of your days - or just a nice change of pace.....when we "planned" to only do 1/2 on Fridays last year, I found them working harder on Mon-Thurs to try to get the whole day off on some weeks.......nice! It could be a good motivator on nice days to finish school in the morning so they can take advantage of the outdoors (even do a nature journal) in the afternoon!

 

Just some thoughts!

 

Good luck!:001_smile:

[Renee in NC]

Not here. We go 8-3, but not all of that time is spent "on task." They take turns (in 30 minute increments) playing with the baby and/or completing activities with the 4yo.

 

My 7th grader will have the following classes:

 

Math

Grammar & Comp

Literature

World Geography

Earth Science

Intro. to Spanish

Religion

Logic

 

Except for Religion and Logic (which alternate days) each class above is 45 minutes 5 days a week (approximately.) That is 5 1/4 hours per day, not including breaks.

[shanvan]

Since we don't start until 10, no way. We are usually done by 3 - 3:30 with about an hour of breaks in there. so if we started by 8am, we still wouldn't be done until 1pm with breaks.

 

We haven't started back this year yet and I'm assuming it will take longer, probably 5 hours of schooling minimum.

 

I don't try to compare. If they are not doing foreign language you can deduct 30 mins to an hour at least. Then if they're not doing logic that can deduct some more time.

 

With one child at the middle school level if I were doing a traditional type schooling we COULD be done before lunch. But I enjoy the logic and languages and time for discussion.

 

:iagree: This is pretty close to the way things work at our house.

 

We also start somewhere around 10am because I schedule quite a few chores and piano practice before our school day begins. This gives me time to do my own Bible reading and to get organized for the day.

 

The workload I require plus the extra time I take to do Bible and read alouds together just don't allow us to be finished that early.

 

There is a family in our neighborhood that starts at 7am, kids all work independent of mom, and are done by 11am! When they first moved here mom would send them over at 11am to see if my kids could play. They would continue to try to play with my kids again at 2, then 3. Finally I explained our schedule to the mom. She seemed surprised that I was actually doing some teaching and especially shocked to hear that we enjoy doing some subjects together. School at their house is 'just the facts' and over as fast as possible. I was relieved when they finally started to get that we had a completely different approach to school.

 

I'm happy to read there are other families with a schedule similar to ours. Thanks for this thread!

 

Shannon

[2cents]

Not us anymore. We were done by noon when they were in early elementary but once they got into upper elementary and middle our days became longer. They start around 7-7:30 and we don't end until around 2:00.

[birchbark]

I think things just take longer with bigger families. There are a lot more details to your day. :001_smile:

 

I was schooling only one last year in third grade. We started between 9 and 10 usually and finished around one, no breaks. Then we would have lunch. And that included piano practice. So I would not expect to be finished by lunch if I had more students and some were upper elementary/middle school. The only way I see that happening is if they were really self-motivated and got up to start early.

Edited July 30, 2010 by birchbark

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Last year we started at 8. My 5th grader was generally done around 2, and my 3rd grader by 1. That included a 30 minute morning break and 30 minutes for lunch. HTH

[melmichigan]

are finished by lunch?

 

:smilielol5:

 

I think things just take longer with bigger families. There are a lot more details to your day. :001_smile:

 

The only way I see that happening is if they were really self-motivated and got up to start early.

 

Definately this.

[holdoll]

I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school.

 

:iagree:

 

You're day sounds identical to ours.

[HSMom2One]

If I wanted a simple, fill-in-the-blanks kind of education for my dd, I would be done at lunchtime. But that is not the case here. We spend a good 5-6 hours per day 3x a week, and at least 3.5-4 hours per day 2x a week. That's because we want time to delve into fascinating subjects, enjoy our reading and have meaningful conversations about the things that are being learned. In other words, we want to learn WELL! There should be no race with the clock when it comes to school. Our kids are much more important than that, and life itself is much deeper than filling in the blanks with correct answers. Why would we want to merely memorize facts and move on?

 

I feel so sorry for your neighbor and her children. They are truly missing a rich educational experience!!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Marie in Oh]

:smilielol5:

 

 

 

Definately this.

 

:lol:

[ChiMomNP]

We are done by lunch but I only have one child and do not allow any breaks except for the bathroom during the official "school hours" in our home. He works a solid 3.5-4 hours a day. I imagine it is much harder with more kids to accomplish that. I'm right there to make sure he stays on task, I don't have any other children to focus on during that time.

[Marie in Oh]

If I wanted a simple, fill-in-the-blanks kind of education for my dd, I would be done at lunchtime. But that is not the case here. We spend a good 5-6 hours per day 3x a week, and at least 3.5-4 hours per day 2x a week. That's because we want time to delve into fascinating subjects, enjoy our reading and have meaningful conversations about the things that are being learned. In other words, we want to learn WELL! There should be no race with the clock when it comes to school. Our kids are much more important than that, and life itself is much deeper than filling in the blanks with correct answers. Why would we want to merely memorize facts and move on?

 

I feel so sorry for your neighbor and her children. They are truly missing a rich educational experience!!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

 

that we are always delving deeply into fascinating subjects. :lol: Sometimes just the basics take all day to get through. I agree though that it isn't a race. I was just surprised that the goal of being finished by lunch still remained after kids were in, say 5th grade up. I don't think I am an over achiever, except for perhaps the sheer number of kids. :D Otherwise, if you look at my signature line and the curriculum for each of the kiddos, I don't think we are going over board. It is basics plus language for the upper elementary kids and that plus logic for the oldest who is in 7th.

[Karen in CO]

are finished by lunch? I ask because I was just told that that is more than possible and that I just am an over achiever. I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school. Am I missing something? You can see my kids' ages in my signature line. What say the hive?

 

I was going to say that we might be if we started earlier, but then I saw your signature line. YOU are done by 2:30?! wow. that is amazing. I don't think there is anyway I'd be done that early with more than the two I have.

 

Last year, I started 10ish and was done by the time of our late lunch around 2:30, but that didn't count the hour or more of read aloud at night or the hour of reading.

 

This year, I'm planning for the day to be spread out further because my work schedule had changed.

 

Go ahead. Be an over-achiever. :D

[AngieW in Texas]

Last year my 6th grader worked from 9am-2pm (on days she worked diligently) with an hour off for lunch and taking care of a neighbor's dogs. If she started at 8am and worked diligently until she was done, she could conceivably have been done by noon, but that NEVER happened. I didn't include guitar practice as part of her schooltime.

 

She gets done a lot quicker in the summer because I don't require her to do much. She does 30 minutes of free reading, 30 minutes of math, and 15 spelling words. She also does guitar practice (about 20 minutes) and piano practice (10-15 minutes) each day. She's always done with this list by noon. It should only take her about two hours to get through, but she likes to drag things out.

[Marie in Oh]

I was going to say that we might be if we started earlier, but then I saw your signature line. YOU are done by 2:30?! wow. that is amazing. I don't think there is anyway I'd be done that early with more than the two I have.

 

Last year, I started 10ish and was done by the time of our late lunch around 2:30, but that didn't count the hour or more of read aloud at night or the hour of reading.

 

This year, I'm planning for the day to be spread out further because my work schedule had changed.

 

Go ahead. Be an over-achiever. :D

 

Ha Ha! 2:30 was a good day. As you can see, it says OR 3:00 or 3:30 which was often the case.

 

OK, I am beginning to feel normal again. Thanks ladies.

[melmichigan]

The only people I "know" who are done that early with older kids are the Maxwell's their schedule is here http://www.titus2.com/download/Maxwell2009-2010-Schedules/Sched09-10.htm but you won't see me and mine up that early in the morning and functional on a daily basis and then throw in all the youngers, it's not happening. ;)

 

For us that would totally eliminate all the joy in homeschooling. I like the relaxed schedule we follow.

Edited July 30, 2010 by melmichigan

[Guest Barb B]

No, no, no - at that age - 8:30 - 3:00 (on average). That includes one 1/2 hour break at 10:00 and a break for lunch (however long it takes to make and eat - not longer). I don't see how to get Math, religion, english, reading, history, science and spanish done by lunch. That would maybe be 20 minutes per subject?!

 

Barb

[tofuscramble]

We are almost always done by lunch. My eldest two (11 and 7) are completely independent workers. I work with the 4 year old or if I'm working, (I WAH) then one of the older two boys will sit with the little one while he does his work.

 

We usually start at about 8am and we are done by noon. The rest of the afternoon is spent on their personal projects which tend to be a little "schooly" by their choices (writing, arts and crafts, making things, building things) but it is entirely their time to do whatever they like.

[Mommyfaithe]

are finished by lunch? I ask because I was just told that that is more than possible and that I just am an over achiever. I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school. Am I missing something? You can see my kids' ages in my signature line. What say the hive?

 

We have NEVER, EVER, EVER finished by noon.....EVER!!!!

 

Faithe

[jcross222]

I have 6 children and on paper my two oldest could be finished in 4.5-5 hrs. So if they started at 8am I suppose they could finish by a 1pm lunch.

 

Reality,however, is COMPLETELY different.

From the eternal questions like,"Mom, where's my.....", to my 9month old and preschooler jumping in the mix we don't get started until 9 (sometimes later) and usually are finishing around 3pm.

I DEFINITELY think many children, especially young ones, can often slow the progress of the group. But they sure make the days more interesting!:001_smile:

[Guest aquiverfull]

Rarely.. I mean very rarely are we finished by lunch. :)

We generally start school anywhere from 8:30-9am and finish somewhere around 2:30-3:30pm.

That is just for one child. I'm adding in a PreK and K'er next year so I anticipate that our days may be longer, but I hope not too much longer.

[chris's girl]

Usually done by 11 here, but it's certainly not NECESSARY that you do that. My 12 year old, 7th grader has:

English

Spelling

Math

Reading

History

Science

Bible

 

We will be adding art appreciation and logic, so those might have to be done after lunch. But she normally starts around 7:30 or so. She does everything independently unless she gets stuck, and we always discuss, but that might be throughout the day.

[Mommee & Baba]

Last year we begun most of the time around 10am and finished around 2. But this year we're going to be adding in 3 new subjects. I'm going to be waking the kids up at 7:30am to a protein breakfast and giving them an hour for us to begin our school day around 8:30. I hoping on average we'll finish around 2:30-3:00. This will allow us time to do our chores and prepare dinner. I'm going to estimate about 45min for lunch and 1- 30min break during our "school" time.

[coffeegal]

We are almost always done by lunch. My eldest two (11 and 7) are completely independent workers. I work with the 4 year old or if I'm working, (I WAH) then one of the older two boys will sit with the little one while he does his work.

 

We usually start at about 8am and we are done by noon. The rest of the afternoon is spent on their personal projects which tend to be a little "schooly" by their choices (writing, arts and crafts, making things, building things) but it is entirely their time to do whatever they like.

 

:iagree: This is very similar to my house. My 7yo isn't very independent, but the oldest 3 are. We don't do many discussions during school hours, but discussions happen during dinner and become quite lively. I've also chosen to keep our subject load smaller than many, and combine whereever I can. For instance, Rod & Staff English includes both grammer and writing. History Odyssey includes history, geography, literature, writing, and some art history. Science includes both science and health.

 

Also, through trial and error I've discovered that too many hours of schoolwork left me with fried children who sat around with glazed eyes unwilling to do anything else. No schoolwork left me with children wandering the house complaining of being bored. A moderate school day (3-4 hours) and the children spend the afternoon pursuing individual interests and hobbies. :D

[homeschoolally]

We haven't finished by lunch since about 4th grade. We work hard until at least 3, usually 4, most school days. You are not alone!!!!!!!!

[Mom0012]

We start at 8:00, sometimes a little earlier and are usually done by 1:00. I read our SL books during this time while the kids are eating breakfast or lunch.

 

I am actually going to try a loop schedule this year and see what happens if I make our school hours from 8 - 12. If we aren't getting enough done, I'll drop that, but I want to see what happens. I may or may not do our SL reading during this time depending on how things go, but I think they could at a minimum get everything done between 8 - 12 and then I could do the SL readings from 12 - 1 while they eat lunch. We shall see. I have a rising 5th and 3rd grader.

 

Lisa

[Sukale]

This is my first post here, so Hello everyone:seeya:. When my dd was in k-3rd we would finish our day with lunch. From 4th on I try to finish by 2:00. She usually finishes up by 3:00. She is starting 6th this year and want to start later in the day to sleep in. So the rough plan for this yr is school from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm with a lunch break.

[justamouse]

are finished by lunch?

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

seriously, don't crack me up like that, it ruins my screen.

 

I WISH we were done by lunch.

[EKS]

The last year my older son was finished by lunch was in fifth grade. That was the last year that I sat with him for everything (redirecting his attention every. single. second.) and it was also the last year that my younger son was in preschool all morning. In sixth grade, he was rarely finished by lunch because he had to do certain things (like math problems) independently (which could take forever) and I was also juggling two students.

[rafiki]

.

[txhomemom]

I cannot imagine getting up at 7 or 8 in the morning to do school! Call me a wimp, but I have a 6th grader and we don't even start school until around noon because she is a night owl. I also have a 4-month-old in the house so I spend mornings playing/taking care of her and then when she goes down for a nap around noon we start our school. Since we have a little one in the house this year, we have cut down our school subjects to just the basics and we only do work three days out of the week. On those days we spend whatever time is necessary to get the work done so it could be 2 hours one day or 5 hours the next. I also have a rule that if my dd does not finish her work by Wednesday evening she still has to work on it for the rest of the week and cannot play video games, etc. I have her doing some independent work so that helps lessen the amount of time that I have to spend actively teaching her, however, we still enjoy reading together and doing fun projects, etc. Next year, I may just hand her a weekly schedule at the beginning of the week and tell her that when she is done with all of her work for the week then she can get access to her video games.

 

I don't think the amount of time spent doing school will be the same for all families. I know that if I had more kids to teach then I would be doing school all day.

[patchfire]

Well, dd starts school at 7 & her schedule ends at 2:30. That does include an hour total for lunch & breakfast, time to practice piano, and fifteen minutes x 2 to play with her siblings/take a break/etc. So I suppose if we took all of that out... nope. It's still five and a half hours, and really, what kind of work would she be producing in five and half hours with NO breaks? Psh. She's in fifth grade age-wise, and this is similar to her schedule for fourth as well.

 

Ds is kindergarten age. He could be finished by lunch easily, but so far we've been saving some history for the afternoons.

[mcconnellboys]

I have found over the years that a lot of people say "do school" and mean totally different things by it. Many just mean the written work when they say "do school". They don't count reading time at all.

 

Many folks don't do read alouds. As children get older you can certainly cut down on that or cut it out completely - but what a loss for everyone!

 

So when people say it takes me xxxxx time to "do school", I tend to say what does that include?

 

If they are telling you that they do language arts, math, Bible or other religious study, perhaps geography, one or more languages, read alone time for the child, maybe logic, AND also cover a meaningful amount of history or science daily from 8 or 9 until noon, then I'd have to see it to believe it.

 

If they're not doing nearly the number of courses you're doing, then that's fine, too, but you do have the right to customize your school to what you want your children to learn. Maybe their children don't want to go to college. Maybe community college is okay with them. Maybe you have your sights set higher.....

[Shelly in the Country]

Not here. For my 10yo, school, on most days, goes from 8:30 - 3:00 with an hour break for lunch. She has managed to finish before noon before, but that is a rarity. She's my daydreamer though. My ds6, on the other hand, is like a machine. Very intense and focused little guy. Time will tell. His current workload (spread thoughout the day since I need to wait for naptime to do my one-on-one with him) takes about 2 1/2 hours each day.

[Daisy]

My children are up by 5:30 - 6am and usually doing school by 7am at the latest, so yes, on many days we are finished by around 12:30pm. But we school as long as it takes. Sometimes, due to dawdling, we don't finish until 3pm. When both children are diligent they can finish by lunch time. That includes all subjects except for art, read-alouds scheduled for the evenings, and independent reading.

 

I think we have to be careful when people say they are done by noon. As evidenced by this thread, some start their day much earlier than others. And others may appear to be schooling for longer, only because they start so much later. After all there is no difference between 10am-3pm and 7am-noon.

 

Some families school all day through the many interruptions caused by smaller children. Others have only two school-aged children and can focus their instruction for four uninterrupted hours. All those issues with impact the length of our school day.

[MerryAtHope]

Well, I don't think I'm an over-achiever, just working hard to get what we need to done! No foreign language, no logic--our only "extra" is music!

 

I haven't been able to get done by lunch since my oldest was 5th grade. And actually in 4th grade I was just in denial because I moved lunch to 1:00 in order to be done by lunch! :lol: We don't eat breakfast until 8:30 anyway, so didn't seem too unreasonable!

 

Well, now we still eat at 1, but we aren't done with school by then. Last year my son realized this (not sure why it didn't hit him before!) and it was as big a shock to him as it was to me the year I figured it out. He really had to do a mental adjustment to this idea. This year he's expecting it & I think it will go better.

 

Anyway...I don't know how some people's kids do it all. Either they read and write faster than we do hear or....something. But it's not possible here, so you're in good company! I have only 2 kids and it takes us 5 hours in the daytime and that doesn't include lit. read-alouds which we do at night!

 

Hang in there! Merry :-)

[amydavis]

We haven't finished by lunch since about 4th grade. We work hard until at least 3, usually 4, most school days. You are not alone!!!!!!!!

 

:iagree:

 

I just can't imagine doing it, without giving up our break in the middle of the day, which I think my family needs for our sanity! Ds10 will be starting 5th, and there is no way we will be done by lunch.

 

He'll have Grammar, Writing, Vocabulary, Literature, Memory work, Latin, Math, Science, Brain Teaser/Logic Puzzles, Bible, Art/Music Appreciation, History, and Geography. This isn't counting the fact that we have further fleshed out his history, since he requested, with the Famous Men of Rome curriculum and the D'aulaires Greek Myths curriculum. ...And he's begging for French!

 

Obviously, some of these aren't done daily...but still. There is no way, that I have found, to offer him the education he and I both desire - and still be done early in the day.

[Mom2boys]

I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school.

 

Our schedule is the same as yours. :thumbup:

[Deb in NZ]

I schedule what I feel could be accomplished in about 4 hours if ds#2 applies himself. We don't take planned breaks as I found over the years that planned breaks meant we accomplished a lot less overall in the day. School is usually 9:00-1:00, followed by lunch. After lunch is time for music practice, literature reading, etc. Of the 4 hours "school work" ds#2 only works with me for about one hour (spelling, Latin, & composition), but I am available to aid as needed during that time. Focusing on bookwork in the mornings only allows for time in the afternoons, before activities, for nature walks, handicrafts, life skills, etc. Our HS is a blend of Classical, CM, & Moore Formula. It works for us. When I was teaching 3dc, we usually worked together for about an hour daily on history, bible, science, etc. & they had about 3 hours of individual work of which about an hour was direct teaching. CM's schools finished before lunch. Look at AO to get an idea of what she covered in that time.

 

Blessings,

[missmoe]

8 until about 3 most days for us. 1 hour lunch break and a 15-20 min break somewhere in the afternoon.

[homeschoolmommaof4]

Considering we don't even get started until around 10 or 11 - and we eat lunch around 1, nope. We are rarely ever donw by lunch. BUT I am really working on getting the kiddos started earlier (but I have to get myself up out of bed earlier first) so we can be done by 2 each day.

[birchbark]

The only people I "know" who are done that early with older kids are the Maxwell's their schedule is here http://www.titus2.com/download/Maxwell2009-2010-Schedules/Sched09-10.htm but you won't see me and mine up that early in the morning and functional on a daily basis and then throw in all the youngers, it's not happening. ;)

 

For us that would totally eliminate all the joy in homeschooling. I like the relaxed schedule we follow.

 

I looked at this and immediately thought of Maria Von Trapp: "Excuse me sir, when do they play?"

[Medieval Mom]

are finished by lunch? I ask because I was just told that that is more than possible and that I just am an over achiever. I am sorry, but we do school from 8:30 to 2:30 (sometimes 3:00 or 3:30) with an hour for lunch, and I do read alouds at the lunch table, so we are technically still doing school. Am I missing something? You can see my kids' ages in my signature line. What say the hive?

 

I didn't read the other responses, so please excuse me if this has been said before. But, frankly, I think you are doing VERY WELL to have SEVEN children finished my 3ish. Wonderful!!! Keep up the excellent work, and do not worry one more minute about it! :)

 

For what it's worth, what's wrong with aiming high? I never liked that label of being an over-achiever:001_huh:

[Lizzie in Ma]

Never have been, never will be.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[NanceXToo]

Well, my daughter was only 4th grade last year, so not sure if that counts in the age group you are referring to, but we were often done by lunch. We spent about 3 hours a day doing our OM curriculum, and if we started between 9 and 10, we were usually done between 12 and 1.

 

We still did educational things outside of those hours- plenty of outings and field trips, plenty of reading, she'd go to work with her dad sometimes, we did outside activities and classes, we watched educational shows, played educational games and whatnot, not on any sort of schedule, but often.

 

But our main curriculum stuff? Yep. Often done by lunch. And I foresee being able to do that this coming year for 5th grade, too, pretty much. After that, I don't know, I've only gotten as far as putting together our 5th grade schedule. Not sure yet how much time 6th grade will add on.

[branycbur]

My dd is 10 (grade 5) and we go from 9am to about 2:30-3:00.