Wow, do you spend as much time as WTM suggests?

[Jenny in GA]

After checking WTM out of the library twice, I finally bought it, and was looking at the scheduling part last night.

 

I realize the schedule is not meant to be the Voice of God and that their published insisted on a schedule. But ...WOW!! I am not spending nearly as much time as what they recommend.

 

I have a second grader and a fourth graders.

 

According to their schedule, the second grader should be doing between two and a half to three hours on "every day" stuff, plus another nine hours a week on things you don't do every day ... so that's about four and a half hours a day, total.

 

The fourth grader should ... well, I'm adding this one a little quicker, but it looks like it's somewhere between five and six hours a day!

 

Wow. My older girl spends about three hours, and the younger girl spends a little less than that!

 

I can't imagine my nine year old spending six hours a day on schoolwork. That sounds like something a diligent high schooler would be doing.

 

Anyway, I'm just curious if others here follow the WTM schedule more accurately ... and if not, how is what you do different?

 

Jenny

[Pata]

It doesn't take us that long. My dd is in 3rd and our day is between 3-4 hours.

[JMDRAD]

I'd be interested in what others have to say about this. My dd is going in to second grade this year and according to what I have planned we will be doing about four hours of school each day. That includes reading time but does not include extra activities and projects. I've been told it's a bit much but we both enjoy doing school, it's definitely not a drudgery for us. I guess you just schedule how ever much time works for you and your child and enables you to accomplish what you need to.

[Chris in VA]

You know, I never really kept track of the time. We'd start somewhere around 9 with a devotion, get thru math, do other things, have a snack around 10:30-ish, and then...IDK. We'd read aloud sometime during the day--often multiple times. We'd go out if we wanted to--We just did the next thing, and wound it all around the other things we wanted and needed to do. I didn't feel that school stuff was all that taxing, and most of it was very pleasant. It was just part of our day, our daily life, almost (tho we didn't school on the weekends or in the middle of the summer).

 

It didn't really bother me if we went longer or shorter, because we got to most things eventually, and we WANTED to do these learning things. It wasn't like we were wanting to get on with things so we could do something else, iykwim.

[SilverMoon]

Nope. :001_smile:

[kalanamak]

 

According to their schedule, the second grader should be doing between two and a half to three hours on "every day" stuff, plus another nine hours a week on things you don't do every day ... so that's about four and a half hours a day, total.

 

 

That is for schooling for 4 or 5 days a week for 36 weeks. That would be too much for us. I take [(weekly hours per subject) X 36] / 12. I then plot out each month. If I want some time off, I make it up before and after the time off. So, I do do the time she mentions and am very happy with 1) the advice 2) the limit (or I'd push, I fear) and 3) the year rounding. It is serving us very well. HTH

[FO4UR]

I have a 2nd grader...he typically takes about 2 hours to do his work if you don't count breaks in between. That's not counting read-alouds of his choosing or the projects he comes up with in his free time that may or may not have anything to do with "school" which I would count towards "school" if I needed to fill the time for state requirements b/c it IS learning...it's just not mommy-forced.

 

We fit a lot into that 2 hours...I can't imagine needing more at this age.

 

Our days the last 3 weeks have looked like:

 

9 am - school

 

10 am - break

 

11 am - school

 

Noon - lunch and quiet time and then free time/family time/chores/etc...

[elise1mds]

It's probably fairly close for us. We follow DD's private school schedule, so I do need to make sure that most of our educational goals are accomplished in the same number of days as she attends. We usually have 'school' from about 8-10 a.m., more or less, and since he LOVES to read and explore and do experiments, he easily achieves another nine hours somewhere in there. Today we've done math, writing, science, and piano. He has a swimming lesson at noon, wants to do his French with his sister after she gets home, and is currently reading. We have an ongoing science experiment that has him checking the moon each night and charting it. I'd never thought about exactly how much time we spend on things, but yeah, I'd say we're fairly close even without feeling overwhelmed. I have no idea how that'll change as he ages, though. I think that'll depend on him.

[Alexa]

I've heard a good rule of thumb is about 1 hour/grade level. So, a second grader would ideally spend about 2 hours on school daily, a third grader would spend 3 hours, and so on. They learn so much just through play when they are little!

 

ETA: I think it's fine to not count read-alouds and such as formal "school" time.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Alexa

[runamuk]

My 4th grader would spend 5 - 6 hours each day on school work. There was quite a bit of foot-dragging and goofing off when it came to science and math, though, so actual work time was more on the order of 4 - 4.5 hours a day.

 

We're going to be doing things a bit differently this year, so I think we'll have shorter school days and have more time for fun stuff.

[Halcyon]

My upcoming 3rd grader will spend 3-4 hours a day at actual 'school work' and he does projects/reading on his own time throughout the week.

[HootyTooty]

Are we talking about actual instruction time or how much you block for school?

 

My dc will be in grade 4 this year. I block out 6 hours of our day for school. There is probably about 2-3 hours of instruction time scattered in there along with experiments, snack/lunch breaks, independent reading time, and watching videos.

[lmrich]

my third grader will spend 3 - 4 hours on school work - including projects, but not reading.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

We'll be spending anywhere from 2-5 hours a day, 7 days a week, depending on the day.

However, that includes 30 minutes a day of "PE time", 30 minutes a day of reading aloud from a chapter book, once a week (on the 5 hour day) watching a movie in French, 30 minutes twice a week for art projects (that often don't take 30 minutes, but sometimes it does and so that's what I've allowed), 45 minutes once a week for dance, etc. If I really cut it down to just the academics, I suspect it would be more like 2 hours 4 days a week, but our schedules are very busy and it makes it easier for me to make sure I get everything we want to do done if I actually schedule it.

[5LittleMonkeys]

When I first read WTM and added up all the subjects with all the times I just about fainted. Then I read many, many threads here about "how much time does your ___ grader spend on school a day" and felt very relieved.

 

My dd7 (2nd) spends about 3.5 hours per day.

My dd11 (6th) spends about 5.5.

My dd12 (7th) spends about 6.

 

These times don't include outside activities, reading on their own, or self-interest projects.

 

These times are average. Some days dd7 is finished in 2 hours and the other two finished in 4.

[Daisy]

We've never spent less than 4 hours a day doing school. But I have two children so I'm frequently going back and forth between them. It does mean things take a bit longer.

 

I'd say that is our average for K-4.

For 5th it was more like 5 hours a day.

For 6th, we've definitely hit 5-5.5 solid hours of school a day.

[simka2]

Ours ends up being somewhere around that, but it really depends on the child. On ds8 can get his morning work done in about 1.5 hrs...the other ds8 will take around 2.5 hours to do the same work.

 

We start @ 9am and get done between 3 and 4pm.

[Tam101]

My ds8 spends on average 3 hours a day on seat work, but after adding in all the extras sports/PE, piano-lessons-practice-recitals, all-day field trips, cooking projects, book club, chess club, independent reading, educational DVD's...ect by the end of the year our daily average is approaching 6 hours a day.

[Jenny in GA]

Are we talking about actual instruction time or how much you block for school?

/QUOTE]

 

Actual time spent doing schoolwork. For example, 40-60 minutes doing math, 20 minutes doing grammar, etc.

 

It doesn't even include things like field trips or library visits.

 

Right now I know exactly how long we spent on schoolwork, because my youngest is in pre-school. We have exactly three and a half hours before we have to go pick him up!

 

Jenny

[Sahamamama]

That is for schooling for 4 or 5 days a week for 36 weeks. That would be too much for us. I take [(weekly hours per subject) X 36] / 12. I then plot out each month. If I want some time off, I make it up before and after the time off. So, I do do the time she mentions and am very happy with 1) the advice 2) the limit (or I'd push, I fear) and 3) the year rounding. It is serving us very well. HTH

 

This is a very wise post, IMO. It seems to me, as I look ahead to 2nd grade (even 1st this year), that there is no need to do it ALL, at least formally. There is only a desire to provide a well-rounded education, and to do that well. But wisdom needs to set a limit on our eagerness! ;) Otherwise, it would be French! Math! History! Geography! Latin! Science! Writing! Literature! Spelling! Music! Art! Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! and the list would never end.... Our children would end up like this: :svengo:

 

I look at the WTM schedules as charts that no one pays attention to, but I'm thankful someone else did the math. :D Now I don't have to.

 

There are several factors to balance out in planning: (a) how much material to cover, (b) how often to "do school" (4 days? 5 days?), and © how long to go each day. Each area impacts the others. It's like trying to make a triangle out of string. If you pull one "corner" out, then the other "corners" move. KWIM?

 

-------------------------------------- How Many Subjects

 

 

 

---------------How Many Days --------------------------------How Many Hours Per Day

 

If you make your year longer, you could make your days shorter and still cover the same amount of material. If you make your days longer, you can make your year shorter. Also, if you choose fewer subjects/less content, your days will be shorter. The opposite of this is probably true.

 

This is obvious, of course, but I think we often try to "fit in" everything and still keep our days short and STILL keep our year at 180 days. But only so much will fit into a certain length of time -- 2 hours per day is going to be HALF as much study time as 4 hours per day. Some people do find ways of being more efficient with the same amount of time (hours x days) by using a filing system, binder system, or work boxes. Some students are quicker with their work than others, but not necessarily are they learning more. It all depends on what kind of day you are trying to create -- a rushed, harried, "come on, get that done, okay, now this, hurry, hurry" type of day.... or, a relaxed, laid-back, "that's okay, we'll get to it later" type of day... or something else that works for your students and you.

 

What seems to be working here is to (a) decide on a reasonable [for me ;)] course of study for the year; (b) divide that work into 36 weeks [organized in 36 hanging files in a file box]; © get the work done in 52 weeks by trying to loosely "stay on track." This means that, if the weather is lovely and we are not behind, we can go out the door with no guilt at all; it is just a "lovely day," not a "school day." It also means that there are weeks, especially in the winter, when we work on school materials for a longer period than "normal."

 

I gave up trying to be on a rigid schedule when my husband's job changed. We never know where he'll work the next day, nor when/if he'll be home. I have to go with the flow of each day. A set number of hours per day would never work here. Instead, we plan out the work for the year, file it into 36 "Weeks" (a term we are redefining!), and work through it with happy, joyful, willing hearts.

 

HTH.