Poll - When does your student do his or her math lesson?

[LatinTea]

I would like to know when most students do their math. We are struggling in finding the best balance in trying to get it all done. So far, right after lunch isn't working any better than first thing in the morning. Maybe it's just the math and not the time! ;)

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: Feel free to choose a time for each student. I'm sure not all students in each family will do math at the time same time of day. Hopefully this won't mess up the results. First time in doing a poll so we'll see.

Edited September 15, 2010 by LatinTea

[eclipse]

I said later in the morning, but we're really very flexible about it. Actually, ds2 usually does his pretty much first thing, but the other two are usually later in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, rarely in the evening. It just depends on what we have going on that day.

[specialmama]

I had heard that most kids' brains work best first thing in the morning. Not so here! Starting last year, I began to use agendas a la TOG, allowing the student to own their schedule and choose when to do things. It has gone really great. She's shown she's responsible and able to manage a hefty workload much of the time. For my dd, the best time for math varies day to day, but is usually after lunch or toward 3pm. If she's into an interesting part of math, she may choose to do it first thing in the morning, and that's okay with me too.

[Abigail4476]

I voted for "later in the morning" because we do like to get Math out of the way as soon as possible, but I need them to be fully awake before we take it on. Math figures into our schedule around 9:30 or 10, depending on the kid.

[momtotkbb]

For my 1 high schooler she does it usually last on her schedule bec math is very easy for her. We also got in the habit of doing it last bec if I need to teach a concept the end of her school time is best bec there are no other siblings in the classroom.

[bugs]

She needs to have a little brain warm-up with another subject before tackling the math workout ;).

[AngieW in Texas]

I didn't realize I could vote more than once, so I only voted for my high schooler who's at home with me.

 

My oldest is NOT a morning person, so she did better doing schoolwork late in the evening than earlier in the day.

 

My 10th grader prefers to start math later in the morning, typically starting some time between 11:00 and 11:30am. She can't do math first thing in the morning, but she needs to start on it no later than 1pm to really be able to concentrate on it.

 

My 7th grader does best when she can keep math down to no more than 20 minutes at a time, so she does a 15 minute math session around 11am and a 20 minute math session around 1:30pm.

[alpidarkomama]

We do secular studies after lunch, and the order is up to DD7. Usually, we do language arts right after lunch, then math a bit later after DD5 has his turn. :)

[jenn&charles]

Otter does math 3x a day....right before lunch (Math Mammoth or MEP with me), usually before afternoon recess (Teaching Textbooks by himself) and in the evening. :) (Singapore by himself or Rightstart with me).

 

We save the hardest math to do right before lunch when he works with me.

[oldskool]

My kids are so anxious to get math out of the way that they often have it finished before I have finished my 1st cup of coffee. They actually get up before me just to get it done. This is true of both with my mathy ds and math hating 13 yr old dd. They won't even eat breakfast until math is over. I have never really figured out why.

 

Lesley

[Melissa in Australia]

ds 16 does his math for the whole morning, he does math for < 2 hours a day.( Saxon advanced math)

ds 14 does his later in the morning ( Saxon Algebra 1)

Edited September 15, 2010 by melissaL

[Mom0012]

We've always done it first thing in the morning because a) everything we wait to do until later in the afternoon takes twice as long and b) math is our biggest hurdle to get over each day so it's nice to get it behind us.

 

This year, with my son getting older, he is more tired when he first wakes up and isn't quite ready to face the day immediately, so sometimes he will do a few quick and easy things before he is ready to start math. I've also been trying to have my kids' breakfast ready right at 7:30 a.m. when they get up so I can do part of our SL readings at breakfast while they wake up.

 

Lisa

[stephanier.1765]

I let him choose. We never do anything in the same order. Math is something he does when he wants to do something fun. Weird, huh? :D

[jld]

Dd does it right away in the morning. She usually gets up, reads the Bible for 10-15 minutes (she's trying to read the whole thing within a year and a half -- didn't quite make the one year goal ;)), then on to SAM for around 2 hours.

 

I know the focus of classical ed. is history, but dd's focus is math and science. She's doing math and 3 sciences this year, 2 hours each, each day. We'll pick up history and lit, and languages, for that matter, when we can, but we're letting her interests drive the schedule.

[Chris in VA]

WHen I was homeschooling ds21, he did his math in the morning, but rarely first thing. We were flexible with the order of his subjects. I only had two to homeschool, so we didn't have to be rigid.

[EKS]

I said later in the morning because he does it when his ADHD medication kicks in, which is about an hour after he takes it. And he takes it right before he starts his work.

[lisabees]

So far, ds has chosen to do math after lunch. He doesn't start school until 9am. We begin with a morning routine - reading the New York Times, SAT prep, vocabulary work, reading. This routine lasts at least an hour and a half to two hours. Then, he ALWAYS picks English next (AP Language with PA Homeschoolers that he LOVES. He cannot get enough). This takes at least 1 1/2 -2 hours. Then, it's on to "boring" math and other subects.

 

I will admit that ds tends to doze off in the middle of math. Yikes.

Edited September 15, 2010 by lisabees

[LatinTea]

Wow, I didn't expect so many replies! You guys are great. :) My dd is struggling with getting her math done. Last year she did it first thing in the morning and it seemed to wreck the day, kinda like a train wreck. This year it's first thing after lunch, but she just doesn't seem to get much accomplished before it's time to move onto something else. Obviously, she's not fond of math, so maybe no time slot will work great, but I think there's gotta be a time that will work better. I am going to go back and reread the posts (and all the rest I hope to get today!) to see what might work for us.

 

Thanks!

[Gratia271]

You could experiment with mid-morning to right before a lunch break. That way she doesn't begin with her least favorite/hardest subject yet doesn't wait until afternoon when she may be moving at a slower pace. I have experienced the most success with the "heavy" subjects before lunch. The subjects my children enjoy the most wait for the afternoon because I know those will get their full attention regardless.

 

Forgot to state: we do math mid-morning.

[Tree House Academy]

Math is first thing every morning for both kids here.

[Mom22ns]

Ds does math first thing - before breakfast even. However, he gets up between 5-5:30 am to play video games before that, so his brain is awake at 6 when he starts. When he is finished, we go upstairs, make breakfast and wake dd. She crawls out of bed, we all eat breakfast then dd does math and ds does something off his list of independent subjects - usually he reads.

 

Ds is a morning guy. Dd really isn't, but we all like doing math first. When they came home from ps a few years ago, it was a weak subject for both of them. After a couple of years of MUS, they both actually like math and understand what they are doing. It still takes full concentration though and I don't think concentration is ever higher than first thing in the morning here.

[leighp]

We do Bible first thing. Math, her favorite, comes next. Then Language Arts which she loathes, the same way I loathe math.

 

Break for lunch, then do all of our Winter Promise fun stuff.

 

We need to figure out where to squeeze a foreign language in.

 

ETA: Sorry, I have no idea how I ended up on the self education/high school board. Disregard me.

[Brindee]

I had heard that most kids' brains work best first thing in the morning. Not so here! Starting last year, I began to use agendas a la TOG, allowing the student to own their schedule and choose when to do things. It has gone really great. She's shown she's responsible and able to manage a hefty workload much of the time. For my dd, the best time for math varies day to day, but is usually after lunch or toward 3pm. If she's into an interesting part of math, she may choose to do it first thing in the morning, and that's okay with me too.

:iagree: I'm doing that with my dd this year too. USUALLY she does the math later in the morning, so that's what I picked, but sometimes it's later (never at 1am though! :D).

 

I actually started the school year with a schedule. I told her that this was just an idea, so she could see how long is required for each thing. I think she stuck with my schedule for 2 days, then started switching it around to find what works best for her. She's done very well with the responsibility and finishes everything every day!

[6packofun]

I chose later in the morning, but that's because we *start* later in the morning. LOL NO morning people in this house and I like to give them time to fully wake up. But math is usually the first thing everyone does.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Count me for other.:D

 

I usually introduce the new material and work a few problems with them in the A.M. and then later in the day they will finish it up. I would like to see it done before lunch. They say they want it done before lunch, but practice shows otherwise.

[Hunter's Moon]

I said later in the morning.

 

I do any classes that I have on the computer first, which are Chemistry and English (sometimes). Then, I do Math. I start at 10 so I usually start math by 11:30 ish. Sometimes it is after lunch but not usually.

[AnitaMcC]

There isn't a set schedule for my 10th grade twins and 10th grade friend I help homeschool.

 

Often the friend's 10th grader does math first when she gets to my house at 9am. My twins do things whenever.

 

The rule of thumb here for my twins is that they have to work on all core subjects every day (Composition/ Literature, World History II, Science, Math), their electives are done whenever.

 

For Dd and Ds their math is usually done when Dh or I are home and there isn't a set schedule for that. Before 10am and after 3pm are not good... mornings I am getting youngest Ds ready and to school (he gets there at 8:45am), then I get home and usually do a few chores, and evenings I am too busy with helping the younger boys do homework. So as long as they get the math done between 10am and 3pm that is fine with me... otherwise they are on their own-LOL.

[Barb_]

We used to do Math first thing in the morning, but it can drag on some days...or other days we get on a roll and look up and 90 minutes or more have gone by! It was taking a lot out of us mentally and I found that if I knocked out 2-3 subjects that only take 20-30 minutes they were warmed up but still fresh enough to tackle Math, and we feel more like a good chunk of the day has been accomplished. Then if we get stuck, sometimes we break for lunch and then finish Math after eating. I don't think I'd ever wait until after lunch break to start it though. Wouldn't work here.

 

Barb

[Ravin]

DD usually has math homework first thing in the morning while I'm at work, then it's usually the first subject we do--but we usually don't get started on school until 11 or noon or so. Some days it's more like 1 PM.

[Corraleno]

Math is our first subject of the day, but that's after breakfast and a bit of exercise (usually trampolining).

 

Jackie

[flyingiguana]

Sometime after they get up and before I go to bed. (They generally need my help.) This usually works out to sometime after lunch and before dinner.

[Moni]

Not first.

:-)

 

After a morning snack but not right before lunch

 

After Exercise-and-morning-snack seems to be the best brain-wise, but it's the least to happen in practice, so .. :tongue_smilie:

 

:seeya:

[WishboneDawn]

Catherine does it right after violin practice which is the first thing she does and Harry does it after reading and spelling. I think it needs to be done early but the brain also need a bit of a warm up. :)