For those of you with 3rd graders :)

[ShutterBug]

Hi everyone :)

 

I'm just trying to get an idea if we're spending too much time on school each day.

 

So...if you currently have or have recently had a 3rd grader how much time are you spending on school work (the whole shebang including art, music, science, history, etc..).

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Jenn

[rwjx2khsmj]

We probably spend between four and five hours on focused learning activities.

[FriedClams]

Hmmmm....

 

Bookwork - maybe 2 hours. Maybe. Probably less. He does Horizons Math 3, CLE LA, CLE Reading, Cursive, Latin, CLE Bible, and reads a R&S Bible story and writes 4+ sentences about it.

 

30 minutes of piano daily is not considered "school".

 

Then later we read. He probably reads more than an hour and a half a day. I assign some. Some I don't. I screen pretty much everything and I don't allow much twaddle. We're huge readers here.

 

We also sneak in history and science reading - probably works out to another 30-45 minutes a day 4 days a week. And most days, a read aloud. Some days we miss.

[lotsofpumpkins]

My 3rd grader is spending about 4 hours on school these days. She could be done sooner but she's been dawdling a LOT lately.

 

For 3rd we are using:

CLE Math 3

R&S English 3

R&S Spelling 3

R&S Reading 3

Queens Copywork

R&S Science 3 (2 days per week)

CLE Social Studies 3 (2 days per week)

Thinking Skills 3, R&S Music 3, and Artpac 3 (each 1X per week)

 

She also spends at least an hour reading books of her choosing each night, plus we are doing Apologia Astronomy all together.

[jewellsmommy]

3.5 to 4.5 hours on M, T, W, F

and 5 hrs on TH at a co-op.

[ShutterBug]

Sounds like we're right on target then :) .

 

We're averaging around 4 hours including Bible, math, grammar, spelling, assigned reading, writing, cursive/penmanship, history, geography, read alouds, science, art and logic/critical thinking.

 

I didn't count in piano and chess which he practices daily or free reading which is probably another hour or so.

 

There seems to be a significant shift in what's expected in 3rd grade with regards to writing but I just wasn't sure if 4 hours was too much. Sometimes with activities and extra hobbies/interests it seems like it is..but from what you have posted so far it seems we're doing fine :) .

 

Thanks!!

 

Jenn

[Mallory]

I try to plan between 1/2 and an hour per grade level. That includes everything (math, writing, spelling/grammar, spanish, history, science, fine arts) except reading or read alouds, another hour or two most days.

 

So if my 3rd grader was spending less than 1 1/2 hours on school, I'd add more and if he was spending more than 3 hours then I'd cut back (unless of course, there was lots of wasting time and piddling around).

[meet me in paris]

Some days we can get done in 2.5 hours... some days it's more like 4. Science days are definitely 4. They are doing art & music in Co-op this year, so what we're doing at home is pretty bare bones. You can see what we're using from my siggy.

 

One thing I will say is that it normally takes my 3rd grader *longer* than my 7th grader. My 7th grader is fast (too fast sometimes!) reads quickly, and is motivated to get done so she can move on to other fun things like xbox. 2nd and 3rd grade seem to take the longest in our house since they haven't gotten up to speed yet with all the reading and writing they are all of a sudden required to do. :)

[Paige]

We start at 8am and usually finish at 12:00. Then he reads for an hour, and may have another hour of extracurriculars. So that's about 6hrs but we have a 4day schedule. Now that his sisters are home too, we start later and end later but we also have more breaks because they can play while they wait their turn.

[Halcyon]

We spend about 4 hrs a day, and that doesn't include 45 minutes of free reading or activities (basketball, tae kwon do, art class and swimming).

[truebluexf]

I feel like a slacker now? We spend prob 3 hours max. We do SM, FLL, WWE, AAS daily 4 days a week. We read aloud 30-45min. I'm trying to have a regular quiet time for more independent reading, but DS reads on his own many nights and covers great chapter books. I'm trying to get regular about Spanish again, but I misplaced the DVD and recently found it. On Thursdays, we have coop, which covers art, music, and Japanese. My goal is to cover more science soon. We pick and choose from WP, but are really enjoying just reading together! Instead of doing it during the day, which can be tricky with the 2 year old, we all lay on my bed in the evenings and I read aloud before bed. DH is gone a lot, and this turned out to be a great solution to bedtime winding down time, without me feeling like I'm rushing through each child's bedtime. Oh wait and cursive, we do cursive all the time too, he loves it!! Basically I'm still very focused on the 3r's this year. DS is a reluctant writer, and this year is turning into a great transition for him to come more up to speed in that area.

Edited October 5, 2010 by truebluexf

[Haiku]

Three to four hours a day, four days per week

 

Tara

[Tess in the Burbs]

we start at 9am. Most days we are finishing up about 1pm. we have finished in 3 hours but most days it's 4. This is not with art/music. My kids take music lessons weekly and practice daily outside of school time. Art is often done on weekends with dad. It is one subject we are not consistent.

 

Our day has:

 

Language Arts: cursive, writing, spelling, grammar

Math

History

Science

Latin

 

 

LA takes most of our time. Math depends on the lesson. And I learned to do Latin before science or history so it gets done ;-)

[EKS]

MWF:

Start at 8 and finish by 11:30 or so. Then he does independent work, which is usually reading and writing. Depending on how long he procrastinates (usually by reading extra when he should be writing) he may work another hour or two in the afternoon. The independent work should only take about 30 minutes. After dinner he does violin practice (20 min) and I read aloud to him before bed (30 min). He then reads in his room for maybe an hour. On Wednesdays he goes to violin lessons for 30 minutes.

 

So total time on MWF is maybe 6 hours?

 

TT:

Start at 8, finish at 11:15. Go to classes at our homeschool "school" from 12-4. Then violin and reading as usual.

 

So maybe 8 hours?

 

ETA: To clarify, he does maybe an average of 4 hours per day of what I would consider real lessons. The rest is outside classes, music practice, reading, and so forth.

Edited October 5, 2010 by EKS

[Researcher]

We average 4 hours per day. That does not include piano practice, piano lessons, tennis lessons, soccer, art lessons, etc.

[Moniksca]

I had a 3rd grader last year and we usually took 3-4 hours 4 days a week. 4 hours were days with science experiments or art projects.

[Mommamia]

:001_huh: 4 hours....I couldn't imagine my guys sitting and doing school for 4 hours. Is that one subject after another? We usually do Bible, History(reading) over breakfast. Our daily seatwork is Math, SWO, maybe cursive, some sort of sentence writing, R&S Eng. orally, and a map skills workbook. That could take us as little as 1 hour. We may spread it out through the day doing math and spelling and then english/map later. We read or play learning games throughout the day as well. Fridays are for science experiments, art and music.

 

Do we have to put a time limit on it? Meaning, if they get their work done in a day and it only takes 1 1/2 hrs...isn't that ok? I ask this because I'm worried that we are not doing enough. Though, when I see our pile of work I know that we are:tongue_smilie: And this is where comparison and it's cousin worry come to visit.

[susankenny]

I feel like a slacker now? We spend prob 3 hours max.

 

This is us too. Maybe we should be doing more? I'm not sure now! It feels like a lot though.

[johnandtinagilbert]

We consider our school day to include meals, free time/breaks, PE, piano, free reading....putting it all together, on some days we finish in 5, others 7. Those long days, though, are probably project days where we're lost in history or science being really creative and having a ton of fun. We aren't sitting still for more than 2 hours,ever, without a 30 min. break on either computer games or being outside...outside a lot now that fall has arrived!

[Mom0012]

I would say we pretty much go from 8 - 1, but that we still watch our Spanish dvd lesson and our poetry memorization cds in the car on the way to swimming. We also do science experiments and an occasional art lesson on the weekend. I think if I had just the third grader to focus on, we'd get everything done in the 8-1 timeframe, but since I have another child that I need to spend a lot of time with, things take longer. I also think my third grader kind of slows down knowing my 5th grader is going to be working until at least 1:00.

 

Lisa

[Mom in High Heels]

It depends on how much time wasting he does on any given day. If he works quickly, I'd say we can finish in 2.5 hours. If he's goofing around, then about 4.

This is our schedule:

M, W

History/Geog

Spelling

Latin

LA

Math

Violin (Wed only)

 

 

T, TH

Spelling

German

LA

Math

Science

 

 

F

Spelling Test

Chess

Catch up on any left over stuff

[siloam]

2-3 hours.

 

Heather

[....]

Hi everyone :)

 

I'm just trying to get an idea if we're spending too much time on school each day.

 

So...if you currently have or have recently had a 3rd grader how much time are you spending on school work (the whole shebang including art, music, science, history, etc..).

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Jenn

 

Hi, we spend the entire day doing school. Around 8:30, they play outside, ride bikes, look for bugs, run around, etc and then we start school. The 3rd grader and 2nd grader usually finish somewhere around 1:30 or 2. We also do our Read-aloud at night, so...technically, that counts too. My kids get some breaks during the day, so I can't really give you exactly how much time they spend doing schoolwork. However, school is an all-day thing for us. My kids started off in public school, so they really know no other way. I think as long as they're not spending 2 hours a day on the school bus...they're content. :tongue_smilie:

[Annie Laurie]

We spend about 3-4 hours a day, but some of that is me rotating between kids and my 3rd grader entertaining herself by drawing or reading or a craft while she waits. So her work is probably just 1 1/2-2 hours.