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Do you finish after lunch?


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Particularly with lower elementary kiddos? If so, what time do you start? I'm just curious, because we can't seem to get finished by lunch many days, even though we aren't doing more than 60 to 90 minutes of work. I don't include read alouds in that time, but I don't mind doing those whenever we have a moment. I've heard so many people say they finish by lunch, but we are only able to do that 60% of the time. I'd like to be done by lunch, because it is SO hard to get her back on track once we break for lunch. I have no idea why, but mornings are much better for accomplishing school with DD and yet I just can't seem to get it all done then.

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We start around 9 or 9:30. If we are doing well, we finish around lunch time. We also have a hard time getting back on track after lunch. If I can tell that we are not going to finish by lunch, I'll save the easier stuff for after lunch and push the harder stuff.

 

I have a Pre-K and a 1st grader.

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Nope, we break for lunch and pick back up where we left off.

I really wanted to be done by lunch this year.... I've had to ditch all the "extra" subjects and the ones that were doubled up on. I've streamlined our day and we still dont get done by lunch time.

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We do. We start 8:30/9:00 and don't get done until about 2:00. That's with 1/2 hour for lunch. Usually I only have one child left to work with and Science after lunch though. After science everyone is done except the one who is left and usually my oldest who is just. slow. :glare:

 

When we first started 2 years ago I thought I should be getting done before lunch so I tried to force it. Nope. Just doesn't work here. Now I have 4 kids I'm officially schooling so that's even more of a pipe dream! ;)

 

ETA: Sorry I realized I answered that question wrong! I typed "We don't" instead of "We do!"

Edited by robsiew
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Guest TheBugsMom

We don't school in a 'block' of time. My dd gets her school done through-out the day. We will do math, then take a break; FLL, WWE, and spelling, take a break; her reading and history reading and any notebooking along with that, then take a break....and so on.

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I have only one 2nd grader, and we usually start by 9 and we can almost NEVER finish by lunch. This is a continual source of frustration and guilt for me, because it seems to be an often touted benefit of homeschooling that I can never seem to attain. Even when we start before 9 we can't seem to do it! Usually it is more like 2 and sometimes later. I can't seem to fit it all in plus do the household stuff I need to do and get done by lunch. We do math, First Language Lessons, Writing with Ease, AAS, Bible, reading (both reading aloud) sometimes HWT, plus science 1x/wk, history 2x/week, latin 1x/week. I totally agree that the more we can get done in the morning, the better. I'd love to start about 8, but it is almost impossible because I need to go to the Y for my sanity and don't get home until 7; by the time I get ready, get dd up and moving, both of us eat breakfast and get dd to do her 15 min. piano practice it is at least 9. I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see how people who are consistently done by lunch actually make it work (esp. those with more than one dc)!

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Nope, not ever...

 

We do the "have to" assignments in the AM (starting around 9), break for lunch (around 12ish - lunch time includes about 30 minutes of "free time", so they can let off steam and make an easier transition back into school), and then we do the "want to" assignments (science experiments, cook-offs, read-alouds, projects, etc). The only exception to this is dd's guitar practice, which she does right after the lunch break.

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We finish well before lunch, but it's only Kindergarten. We do school from 9 until 11:30, but one day is co-op, and we usually either do some other group thing or go to a museum on one day. So it's only 3 days a week when we're really buckling down; the other two days we go lighter on the sit-down stuff.

 

I do not try to accomplish any household stuff during school hours. I don't cook, clean, do laundry, take phone calls, make appointments, etc. until after lunch.

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I felt too strongly to answer correctly. It should be that YES!!!! we school after lunch.

:D

 

I went into the year expecting it and it was too stressful to move through subjects like that. We could probably do it.....but it wouldn't be pretty.

 

My goal is to start by 9:00 and our schedule is approximately:

 

1-1 1/2 hours--Math block for both kiddos

10-15 minute break for small snack, trampoline, take dog out back

1-1 1/2 hours--language arts block for both

 

Hour break--lunch, trampoline, take dog out, fun read-alouds

 

Then we still have Bible, art, history, science, and violin to do. We don't usually get all of these done, so I just try to rotate which ones we do. I don't plan a break here, since these subjects involve more moving around/crafty things. If the natives get restless, we just do another 10 minute break outside.

 

On average, our day lasts from 9:00-2:30 or 3:00.

 

ETA: I do have high hopes for the future because "I" am the limiting component, since they both need me for.....every subject. Now that 2nd grader is reading independently...it's getting SOOOOO much easier to hand her some things to do on her own. So, I figure this year and next will be my 2 most teacher intensive years. After that, I hope to do more trading off and actually have them doing productive school while I'm working with sister......RIGHT??????

Edited by snickelfritz
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We used to finish before lunch when the older kids were younger. We'd start at 8:30 or 9:00 and work solid. Whatever we didn't finish, we saved until the next day.

 

Now that I'm schooling all four dc, no way can I get done before lunch. Most of it is still finished, but not all. We work until about 2:00 now with a 45 minute lunch break. I like it. We aren't rushed, and I can save some of the writing tasks for my youngers for after lunch when they are refreshed again.

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I was having a hard time finishing by lunch--this year I have K and 2nd and everything took longer than I'd planned. So I moved lunch back an hour. :D We now eat at 1. We start at 8:30 for the K'er, 9:30 for the 2nd grader, and we finish before lunch nearly everyday. Actually we finish by about 12:30 most days and have a half hour to make lunch and blow off steam.

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I've got five kids. The oldest three are in 5th, 3rd, and 1st. I also have a 4yo and a 2yo. We start immediately after breakfast, which means my 2nd dd is usually started by 8 and my oldest might not start until 10 (she is a night owl and sleeps in). We are usually done with everyone's skill subjects by lunch, but my oldest sometimes has to finish after lunch because of her late start. After lunch we do group subjects (history, poetry memorization, Latin, geography, music, art, and possibly others that I can't remember right now).

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I'm only homeschooling 1 kiddo with a 2 yr. old in tow and we never finish before lunch, ugh! When we began this journey, I never imagined we'd go past lunch since finishing before lunch is the norm for many homeschooling mom's in our area. But they all do boxed curriculum....

 

We begin at 8:30, break from 12pm-2pm (errands, park, etc.) and finish up what ever is left after 2pm. Typically we are done by 3:30pm. This includes reading. If we didn't read so much, we could be done by lunch.

 

DD pokes around a lot and TALKS non-stop, which doesn't help.

 

I wish I knew the secret!

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Last year with a 3rd and 2nd grader we almost always finished by lunch in 4 days a week, including 2 trips back and forth to the preschool with my 4 year old.

 

Now I have 3 kids at home...it usually takes until about 1PM (starting at 8:15) but that now includes things I didn't count last year: 30 minutes for lunch, 15 minutes for piano practice, 20 minutes assigned reading in their rooms...move all that to afterschool hours and we're still done at noon. I'd like to get more done but I brought them home to let them continue to be kids while getting a good education, so we call it quits most days even if we're not done. We also do a lot of activities outside the home, mostly in the afternoon.

 

The older 2 work solid...no snacks or drinks except at the designated snack time. I rarely answer the phone. I don't do chores or anything except maybe check email during quiet moments. School time includes an hour for math, 15 minutes apiece for vocab, spelling and grammar, 30 minutes for writing, 20 minutes for reading, 15 minutes for piano, 15 minutes read aloud/memory work/snack, plus time for history and science as time permits. My house is a mess :)

 

Brownie

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1st grade & Kinder & non-schooler :) We don't school all at once but here is what we do:

 

History (I read during breakfast 3x/week)

8-8:45 Math w/1st grader while youngers are having room/playpen time

We play until 'non-schooler' takes a nap

10-10:20ish - Bible

10:20ish-11:00 - 1st grader does independent work (math, spelling, writing); Kinder does math, writing, phonics, & reading (bob books) with me

11:00-11:15 - Kinder plays independently; 1st grader does grammar (2x/week), narration (2x/week)

11:15-11:30 - Science (reading books, coloring, activities, etc.)

We are done until younger 2 go down for naps in the afternoon at 2:30, when 1st grader reads aloud to me (more difficult books) for 15-30 min...

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We generally start sometime between 9 and 10am. My 5yo is the only one who is consistently done before lunch. My 1st grader is usually done between 1 and 2pm. My 4th grader is done around 2:30-3pm.

 

Some days, I am really energetic and focused. We start by 8:30, and my boys get done before lunch. But with a baby, and housework, and the distractions of siblings who are taking a break, most days go more slowly than I would like. I'm trying not to beat myself up about it too much. :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I just remembered that one of the biggest distractions at my house is all the books laying around. Sometimes I find myself shouting across the house, "Stop reading! No, you may not finish the chapter! You weren't supposed to be reading in the first place! Now get in here and read your history..." :blushing:

 

I suppose there are worse things than schooling into the afternoons because my children are reading books or playing with each other. ;)

Edited by bonniebeth4
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It's hard for me to finish before lunch too.

 

My 2nd grader usually schools 9-10 and 11-12. My Ker and preKer usually get 30-45min of my time too. Then we tack on history or science...

 

It's becoming an all-day affair here, and I'm OK with that so long as the 3R's are done early in the day. (and I get an hour in the afternoon of QUIET)

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My 1st grader and I do 1 hour of work in the morning. This includes, phonics/spelling, handwriting, math, and WWE level 1. She also spends about 15 min. on her own working on her poetry memory.

 

We then spend another hour and a half after lunch doing SOTW 2 (30 min.), my version of 5-in-a-row (20 min.), Read-Aloud (30 min.) and Bible Story (10 min.) I also am doing Apologia Zoology I but this is greatly over her head. She will color while I read and then runs off while the older ones make notebook pages.

 

She has about 3 hours of work a day. She could certainly get done by lunch if my schedule allowed it. Now I did not get very strict with my schedule until it became necessary. I've got to get 5 kids schooled and I'm happy to be done by supper. Back when my oldest was in 1st grade school looked much different. :001_smile:

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now in previous years I would have been able to answer YES...we finish before lunch.....but this year we just can't seem to get it all done.....we take a lunch break if needed and usually come back to work after that---a few hours later I take a break to get dinner done and lately we've been having to work some in the evenings too.....not sure if I'm trying to get too much done or what......still haven't found our groove for 2nd grade LOL..... :001_huh:

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My kindergartener is done by lunch time if we start right at 8:30. Sometimes he's draggy, though, and that means a few books get pushed to right after lunch. We have breakfast from 8-8:30 & lunch is at 11:30, with a 45 minute break between 10-10:45. (In theory, 15 minutes of that is outdoor time, and 30 minutes of that is playing with his younger sister while the older one plays piano; if we're really behind, I do school with him between 10:15 & 10:45 as well). Sometimes he'll do one worksheet before breakfast.

 

My fifth grader starts at 7, breaks at 8 for breakfast, 10 for outdoors + piano, 11:30 for lunch (another 30 minutes), and finishes by 2:30 more days than not. She has to do trumpet practice & literature reading between 2:30 & bedtime (30 minutes each).

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It just depends on when we start school, as to whether we're done by lunch. We usually start later on days we don't have other plans, otherwise we have to be done by lunch to leave for other activities (which is only once or twice a week). My son is 6, and he takes an hour for school. My daughter is 9, and her schooling takes closer to 4 hours this year.

 

Susan

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Until this year we were able too....not this year. No way. The earliest we finish is about 1 and we start at 8:00 every day. I've tried everything I can think of to finish earlier and I've finally decided our day is less stressful if I'm not rushing them to finish by a certain time.

 

Oops~ I didn't answer right.....YES we always finish after lunch!

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My poor kids school 9-5 most everyday - except that Monday school lasts until 7:30 and Tuesday it lasts until 6:30.

 

I work from home so my kids get to "be in school" everyday, all day, but I suppose you're talking about school work. We spread it out throughout the whole day so I don't know how long it lasts or when we would be done if we schooled in a big block.

 

The kids have breakfast, math, writing, poetry, project of some sort, nature walk, lunch, something, project, outside play, then afternoon activities - fencing, pottery, ballet, art... I used to school in a big chunck, but the flexible time is working better for us.

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We don't get done before lunch, but that's on purpose. My 6yo needs a lot of playtime before he's ready for any schoolwork. Here's our rough schedule:

 

10:15 - 11:45: 3rd grade 3r's with mom

1:00 - 1:45: all ages together history, science, religion with mom

1:45 - 2:15: 1st grade 3r's with mom

 

This schedule leaves us plenty of time for playing in the morning (and mom's morning chores), relaxed lunch with dad, and more playtime/mom chores in the afternoon. My kids do best with large chunks of time for creative play, so this schedule actually feels perfect for us.

 

When baby comes any day now, everything will be up for grabs again.

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We usually start the day around 9 am. The Boy (1st grade) usually finishes before The Girl (4th grade) unless he takes a longer break than usual. That being said, we usually manage to wrap everything except history up before dh gets home for lunch. We eat with him and then retire to either the living room or back lanai to do history (3 days/week)

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When they were lower elementary, heck yes we finished before lunch! Well, sometimes we didn't START until after lunch, but it was never more than 2-3 hours tops.

 

Honestly, my 5th grader can still get her work done in less than 3 hours pretty much every day. Anything that goes past that is usually a hands-on project, more the fun type stuff. My 7th grader does tend to have stuff to finish up after lunch these days, but, hmmm, not tons of stuff, really. She definitely doesn't do a 9 to 3 schedule or anything like that. We are lucky that they are both quick workers (altho' this only holds true for the youngest when I am in the room, ;)).

 

Of course, everyone has a different idea of when "school" is over. We have never formalized independent reading time or PE into the school day; if we did, the day would be longer. But I really urge all parents of littles to try and compress that school day; enjoy this time of relaxed learning and spontaneous field trips! This time will be gone before you know it. I absolutely treasure the "slow start" we had, and it didn't cause any problems for us at all.

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Of course, everyone has a different idea of when "school" is over. We have never formalized independent reading time or PE into the school day; if we did, the day would be longer.

 

:iagree: Yes, we get school done by 1pm (with the exception of longer science labs or history projects) BUT I don't count her independent reading----even books assigned for history---, her flute practice nor her ballet classes (ie PE).

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W. But I really urge all parents of littles to try and compress that school day; enjoy this time of relaxed learning and spontaneous field trips! This time will be gone before you know it. I absolutely treasure the "slow start" we had, and it didn't cause any problems for us at all.

 

You know this is what I have been pondering as I read the book, Outliers. Part of what he says helps people get ahead in Singapore and other places is that they are in school SO much and Americans feel like you need to have a more balanced life. That said he also said there was a HUGE difference in achievements in poor children and those in middle class and up, mainly because of expectations and surroundings. Those huge summer breaks wreak havok on poor kids, but middle class and up actually gain in learning over the summer. Why? because the poor kids are just playing outside, or playing video games and there are rarely books in their homes. The other children are going to academic camps or the library or vacations where they learn things. There homes are more often to be filled with books, so those 1st and 2nd graders are reading throughout the summer whereas poorer children do not. Now these are ps not homeschooled children. I'm guessing the statistics would be the same for homeschooled because we ARE looking for the opportunities and concerned about the education and we have more books than usual.

 

But I digress. I have never, ever finished by lunch. But we also spread it out. My daughter couldn't concentrate for more than 30 minutes at a time in K. Now in 3rd we are doing more like an hour at a time, so she has lots of breaks in between. I'm not sure what the total time is. And like other posters said, she is being productive with time that isn't "school" like reading, listening to books or radio theater on tape, drawing, writing a note to a friend, etc.

 

Christine

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I work 1 on 1 with my 5th grader from 9:30 to 12:30, and we're done. She usually has some "homework" to complete on her own in the afternoon (spelling workbook, math exercises, typing, etc.) while I work with my 8th grader (who was working independently all AM).

 

HTH,

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