1st Grade/6yo: How much time each day?

[ScoutTN]

How long do you spend doing school with your first grader or 6 yo?

5 or 4 days a week?

Thanks!

[KrissiK]

That is a hard question to answer. Generally, about 2.5 hours. But... that all depends on how fast he works, how much he dawdles, etc. etc. etc. On a good day, when he gets his work done it's 2.5 hours.

 

I forgot to add that we do school 5 days a week!

Edited October 20, 2010 by KrissiK

[Celia]

Usually about 1.5hrs (not including PE, Art, Music or Dance)

 

4-5 days a week

[Georgiana Daniels]

We shoot for 5 days a week. Usually we work about 3ish hours, depending on so many variables I can't pin down anything more specific.

 

Interested to hear everyone's answers.

[HollyB]

It usually takes about 2.5 hours. We do 5 days per week, with a lighter schedule on Fridays. We do math and anything that we didn't get to finish earlier in the week. We also do most of the fun projects then, so the week feels shorter.

[Tutor]

My 1st grader's schedule is pretty flexible and his work is scattered throughout the week. Generally, the time spent looks like this:

 

5 days/ week - 1 hr/day on math, handwriting, spelling, grammar

 

2 days/ week - 1 hr total on history and science

 

1hr/day or more - reading (him to me, me to him, listening to family read-alouds, family worship time, etc)

 

Some of the reading has to do with science and history, so we really spend more than an hour per week on history and science, but that's when we have our focused "lesson" where he listens to SOTW or does a science or history project or activity.

[petepie2]

We usually spend about 2.5 hours each morning on math, language arts, history, geography, and science 5 days a week. We don't do all subjects every day:

 

Math: M-F

WWE: M-Th

Spelling:T,Th,F

FLL: M,W,F

Science: M,W,F

Geography: T,Th

History: M-F

 

We spend another 1-1.5 hours in the afternoons for read-alouds, her reading to me, and any art, music, or other projects.

 

In the mornings, she also practices piano and does scripture/catechism memorization before starting math. I don't consider these things "school".

Edited October 20, 2010 by petepie2

[coffeegal]

How long do you spend doing school with your first grader or 6 yo?

5 or 4 days a week?

Thanks!

 

I prefer a short and sweet schedule with my 'littles'. Last year, ds 7 had around 30-45 minutes of schoolwork: Math, Language Arts, Penmanship, History, and Science. He then spent the rest of the day in free time, which tended to include play outside, free reading, coloring, some writing, and watching/helping his older brother with science experiments. :D

[WiseOwlKnits]

3 hours a day, 4 days a week is our plan. :)

[sleepymommy]

It depends on how much he time he wastes, but we go for about 2 hrs a day on M, W, Th, about 1 hour on Tues, and nothing much on Friday (other than math drills in the car). He has co-op classes on Tues and Fri.

 

We do math and phonics always. Handwriting most days, some CTC books some days. I just ordered WWE1, so we will fold this into our days soon.

 

If he doesn't piddle around he can finish in just slightly over an hour.

 

I don't do much in the area of science or history other than occasionally reading books and keeping up with the homework from his science co-op. He's taking science and ancient history at the co-op classes. I will likely add these into our schedule after the new year. I'm trying to slowly build up his concentration and focus.

[kmacnchs]

1.5 hrs, 4-5 days/week (depending on what we have going on/if we are going anywhere)

 

45 min math

Grammar & narration-2x/week, writing 3x/week, spelling-daily - 30 min total

15 min science

15 min history

 

Oh, and she reads aloud to me daily for 15-30 min (she has finished OPG and reads well) so I guess that would be 2 hrs daily.

[Embassy]

About 5-6 hours a day including everything like PE, Art, and Read Alouds. Most of our subjects involve hands-on activities so they take longer.

[mytwomonkeys]

1.5 hrs, 4-5 days/week (depending on what we have going on/if we are going anywhere)

 

this is us. we also read together at night. usually he reads one of his CLE or HOP stories to me. then i'll read a few chapters to him, and we do a bible story too.

[Farrar]

1-2 hours a day on regular school stuff - we school, probably on average, 6 days a week (dh doesn't have weekends off, so we school on weekends, but often skip another day or two to make up for it). When we hit that 2 hour mark, I usually know it's time to stop if we haven't already.

 

We also spend a lot of time in extracurriculars, field trips and various homeschool social obligations - all of which is part of "school" in a greater sense, but isn't the math and phonics and sitting at the table doing "work" kind of stuff.

[mazakaal]

My 6yo 1st grader does about 2.5 hours per day usually 5 days per week.

[Momling]

We do about an hour of sitting down work (Math, phonics, handwriting)... plus another half-hour of reading together - in bed. Additionally, she takes some science and art classes... but they're pretty low-key.

[Laura Corin]

Maybe an hour a day of desk work, plus PE, read alouds and any art/craft/nature activities.

 

Laura

[Brooketopia]

You know, that's an interesting question that I was surprised to figure out the answer for.

 

For basic stuff, 3.5 hours because she takes forever to do her work.

And then we have an hour of some sort of fun thing at the end of the day, which would bring the total to 4.5.

 

Ideally, she'd be doing some free reading for an hour as well, but that's a little hit-and-miss.

 

Five days a week. And she's still bugging me to do more than that. Argh.

[Tiberia]

We do 1-2 hours of table work (math, phonics, writing, grammar, memory). If we can get these done, I consider it a full day of school. We do this 5 days a week.

 

But, we usually spend several extra hours a day either listening to history and doing a history project, listening to Song School Latin, doing science research or a project, visiting the library, doing music class or a PE activity, or reading aloud to each other.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I'm pretty relaxed with the first grader

Read her AO yr 1 selections~20 min?

CLE LTR~30 min

CLE LA ~15 min

CLE Math~15 min, RS B~15 min

Science~15-30 min

so 2 hours but she also spends time reading, doing lapbooky, arty things, nature walks, PE and Spanish and listening in on big brother's stuff

[sbgrace]

Our academic stuff is about 45 minutes to maybe an hour for each child--that's math, phonogram review, handwriting, reading aloud, chapter book w/narrations.

 

I do bible and unit study topics (history, science, art/music, literature) daily too though and those take longer. It's all hands on so fun for us and really varies based on what I have planned. Maybe an hour?

 

We are 4-5 days a week but go year round so I don't worry if a week is short.

Edited October 20, 2010 by sbgrace

[Tonia]

About 1.5 hrs for basics (math, reading, etc.) Plus history or science and lots of reading aloud.

[Dinsfamily]

On average: (meaning I allowed for an average amount of dawdling)

 

1.5-2 hrs on basics (math, spelling, reading, grammar, writing)

 

15-30 mins on extras (science, Latin, logic, geography) rotating on different days

 

Plus about 1-1.5 hrs reading aloud some of which is at bedtime.

 

My ds will sometimes go ask to do extra math, science, Latin, grammar, reading or geography but I don't really count that since it's unpredictable and voluntary.

 

We work 5 days per week but Mondays and Fridays are heavier since we don't have any outside activities and Thursdays are very light because we spend much of the day out of the house. We also do at 1hr of reading aloud on Saturday and Sunday.

[lauracolumbus]

We do about an hour/day 4x week of seat work (math, lang. arts, Latin, smattering of science, geography, logic). She has a lot of extras though. We do CC on Mon, a science class (learning survival skills) on Tues., swim/art on Wed. and a full day lit/hist co-op on Fridays. She also reads in the evenings and we do a lot of BOCDs while we're travelling around town. About an hour seems perfect w/all of these 'add ons.'

 

Laura

[sarawatsonim]

Usually about 2-2.5 hours depending on the dawdling issue. If she is having a good day, we can usually be done in 1.5-2 hours. We do work 5 days a week.

[Snowfall]

60 to 90 minutes. If we're having a hard day, maybe 2 hours. That doesn't include P.E. class at the Y, which is 2 hours per week, or other classes we do every now and then. That also doesn't include reading aloud. Thursdays we take longer because we do experiments and crafts, so maybe 3 hours on Thursdays. That's all stuff she likes doing, though. Otherwise, I'd never be able to hold her attention for 3 hours. That's too long for my dd, but I envy those whose kids have such great attention spans already!

[Beth in SW WA]

My dd6, first grade, does this...

 

Daily:

 

Bible/Hymns: 20 min

Math: 1 hour

WWE: 30 min (listen, narrate/copywork)

ETC: 10 min

Reading: 30 min

Violin: 15 min

Memory Work: 10 min

Read-aloud at night with family member: 20 min

Spelling: 10 min/day average

History/poetry/stories on ipod at night at bedtime: 1 hour

 

Weekly:

 

Composer: 30 min

Spanish: 30 min

Science at CC for 30-45 min

Art class is 2 hours

Orchestra class is 1 hour

PE 1 hour plus playing/running outside often

[Clear Creek]

The basics take 1 - 1.5 hours, depending on the amount of whining (all hers, I promise :tongue_smilie:), and another 30 minutes in the afternoon for history or geography.

[siloam]

About an hour a day, 4 days a week.

 

Heather

[Penelope]

About an hour a day, 4 days a week.

 

Heather

 

This is what I will do with my next first grader. This would not include reading to them and doing arts or crafts or other fun things we wanted to do that involved learning.

 

With my oldest, we did more than that, and it was fun, but, looking back, we did not need to do quite as much as we did. Reading, copywork, and narration are the focus; everything else gets repeated and expanded on in small increments a few times over the next few years.

[myfatherslily]

2-2.5 hours a day, 5 days a week. Plus art lesson and science class outside the home, both once a week.

[Mallory]

About an hour a day, 4 days a week.

 

Heather

 

 

This is my 1st grade standard as well ;)

 

That's about 20 min for each of the 3R's.

 

Sure we do more read alouds or crafts or exercise or sciency things, but that is just fun things our family does together not school.

[Spy Car]

I'm starting to feel like a real meanie :D

 

Bill

[siloam]

I'm starting to feel like a real meanie :D

 

Bill

 

You still haven't answered the question!

 

:scared:

 

Heather :D

[jer2911mom]

I'm starting to feel like a real meanie :D

 

Bill

 

Me, too! And I have a Kindergartener!

[Spy Car]

You still haven't answered the question!

 

:scared:

 

Heather :D

 

Uh, OK.

 

Well on top of 6.5 hours of Public School (which does include recess and lunch) at a school where they do keep the children quite busy, I'd say we have probably average around 2-2.5 hrs a day of combined school homework, after-schooling, and child read aloud time. And we after-school on weekends too (while remaining "flexible" and not missing opportunities to have fun).

 

We just don't watch TV. And endeavor to keep it all fun.

 

Bill (pro-fun meanie :tongue_smilie:)

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

My ds6 does about 4 hours a day for 1st Grade.

 

Math- 30-40 minutes (We ended up combining MM with CLE Math1)

Phonics with PP- 5 minutes

Phonics with LTR- 25 minutes

LHFHG- 1 hour (we use History, Bible, Science, and Storytime)

LBC Grade 1- 40-60 minutes (we use Art, Nature, Aesop study, Geography, and Music)

Foreign Language 20 minutes (we switch between Latin and French)

Italics Handwriting- 10-15 minutes

FLL (on MWF) - 5-10 minutes

Reading -10minutes

ES Bio- 15minutes

[ReidFamily]

I have no idea how long it would take if we just sat down and did it in one chunk. For us, and how our life goes right now, school is an all day almost every day thing. I have a crazy 2 year old son that makes anytime but his naptime challenging for staying on track with anything.

 

When he takes a good 2-3 hour nap we get all of the subjects done except our reading aloud. All though that has only happened 2x this year. LOL. So, our school day is all day plus we love to go places and so we do bits here and there and make up for lost time during the weekend or in the evenings.

 

This is our first year of "formal" schooling. Up until now it has been completely child led and we had absolutely no schedule. So I am happy that I am writing out a "plan" which is also a first for me.

 

In fact, until coming to this board I had no idea that homeschoolers actually planned out their lessons and syllabus for the year. I didn't even plan out my schedule for the next day, let alone a whole year! LOL. So, I started by planning the next day and now I have graduate to writing down Mon/tue/wed/thu/fri and putting down what I hope we'll finish in a week. Someday maybe I'll graduate to a monthly or gasp, yearly plan.

 

As long as we come close to my weekly goals I don't really care. Plus, she's only 5 and so we are ahead of where she needs to be. I'm just trying to keep up with her.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

1-1 1/2 hrs each day. We only read about history & science twice each week, so the days they don't are shorter.

 

We do the following every day:

Math

Copywork

Spelling

Reading

[Penelope]

I'm starting to feel like a real meanie :D

 

Bill

 

I think some of it depends on what someone considers "school."

 

I do a lot of things intentionally that are educational, but they don't all go under the name of "school." School to me means focused study including seatwork, on subjects the child would not normally choose to do on his own. ;)

 

And we don't watch tv, either.

 

I do think hours of outside play are important at this age, though.

Edited October 21, 2010 by Penelope

[MissKNG]

Uh, OK.

 

Well on top of 6.5 hours of Public School (which does include recess and lunch) at a school where they do keep the children quite busy, I'd say we have probably average around 2-2.5 hrs a day of combined school homework, after-schooling, and child read aloud time. And we after-school on weekends too (while remaining "flexible" and not missing opportunities to have fun).

 

We just don't watch TV. And endeavor to keep it all fun.

 

Bill (pro-fun meanie :tongue_smilie:)

 

Wow! If I wrote a post like that (if my big girl were 6), I would get a slew of "let them play at this age" responses! You rock, Bill! :lol:

[Spy Car]

Wow! If I wrote a post like that (if my big girl were 6), I would get a slew of "let them play at this age" responses! You rock, Bill! :lol:

 

As if it needs to be said, my son also plays Association Football (soccer), Rugby, Baseball, and Cricket. He plays hard with friends afterschool almost everyday. Has active play-dates with a large network of cronies who meet up regularly. He is an active, sociable and tough little-man. Hardly a "hot house flower." ;)

 

Bill

Edited October 21, 2010 by Spy Car

[catz]

Usually about 1.5hrs (not including PE, Art, Music or Dance)

 

4-5 days a week

 

:iagree: My first grader also practices violin 6 days a week and takes dance, circus, spanish, and science outside the house currently. Not to mention she usually does another play group and often another educational field trip during the week. But 1.5 hours at table work 4-5 weeks would be about where we are. Sometimes it even goes faster depending on what we're reading and the math topic du jour.

[catz]

 

I do a lot of things intentionally that are educational, but they don't all go under the name of "school." School to me means focused study including seatwork, on subjects the child would not normally choose to do on his own. ;)

 

And we don't watch tv, either.

 

I do think hours of outside play are important at this age, though.

 

:iagree: My kids often engage themselves in their own educational activities for hours at a time. If my kids weren't the type to read for an hour or 2 on their own daily (or write, do creative building, research, etc), we'd probably do more structured work.

 

My child went to 2 years of PS. I would argue he was engaged in learning a TINY fraction of the day he was there. He actually hated it. But if he liked it, he'd still be there and we'd be offering him academic challenges in other ways. I think you know you're doing the right thing for your own child if they are happy, learning, and challenged (but not overwhelmed). If your child is pushing back hard, you probably have a change to make.

[NanceXToo]

We won't be at that stage til next year but I'm guessing about an hour and a half.

[siloam]

Uh, OK.

 

Well on top of 6.5 hours of Public School (which does include recess and lunch) at a school where they do keep the children quite busy, I'd say we have probably average around 2-2.5 hrs a day of combined school homework, after-schooling, and child read aloud time. And we after-school on weekends too (while remaining "flexible" and not missing opportunities to have fun).

 

We just don't watch TV. And endeavor to keep it all fun.

 

Bill (pro-fun meanie :tongue_smilie:)

 

That doesn't sound over the top to me. School would have a lot of free/play time with other kids, which my kids do with each other when not doing school. I didn't count our family read aloud & craft time, which runs about 30 mins 4 nights a week, so if you add that in I am closer to 1.5 to 2 hours of school a day. I probably would do more if I had more time, but when it was just my oldest I was running around after 2 toddlers and a baby, and last year when ds was 1st grade I spend at least an hour with each child one on one.

 

I always wanted to do Konos because it sounded like it was so much fun stuff to do. It sounds like you have just made a schooling environment of fun activity. Plus only children love all that one on one time with their parents. Ask me how I know. :D

 

Heather

 

[Spy Car]

It sounds like you have just made a schooling environment of fun activity. Plus only children love all that one on one time with their parents. Ask me how I know. :D

 

Heather

 

 

I think you hit the nail on the head Heather. Children enjoy one-on-one time with their parents, and we try to make that time really enjoyable whether it is playing sports, games, doing math together or reading...or even the occasional round of Mario Cart Wii (where I constantly get creamed by a child 1/4 my size :D).

 

Bill

[4kids4me]

My 1st grader's schedule is pretty flexible and his work is scattered throughout the week. Generally, the time spent looks like this:

 

5 days/ week - 1 hr/day on math, handwriting, spelling, grammar

 

2 days/ week - 1 hr total on history and science

 

1hr/day or more - reading (him to me, me to him, listening to family read-alouds, family worship time, etc)

 

Some of the reading has to do with science and history, so we really spend more than an hour per week on history and science, but that's when we have our focused "lesson" where he listens to SOTW or does a science or history project or activity.

 

This would be similar to my schedule....generally I have found up until grade 4 or 5, it's an hour a day/grade for the main stuff, then there's the extras, which would be history, science, phys ed, reading, etc. We're up to gr. 8 now and after gr. 4 it's a gamble...it just depends on the child's learning style, how many children you have, etc.

[In the Rain]

My 1st grader works about 1 1/2 hours, 4 days a week. That doesn't include walks, play time, devotionals with dh or read alouds throughout the day.