how long is your first grade day?

[DDR]

I know there's no "normal," but I'd love to get a sense of how long your days last. We start around 8:30, take little breaks throughout the morning, and play outside for about 1/2 hour before lunch. He has reading hour while the other two nap. We have grammar and spelling, sometimes science, after his reading hour.

 

I didn't expect, or want, to always have a few things after lunch, but it feels too rushed to try to get everything done beforehand, particularly with breaks to play, get the 2 year old resettled doing something, etc.

[Farrar]

1.5 hours of school in the morning - usually from 8:00-9:30ish. Occasionally longer for a project or something.

 

Then, most days, we have commitments out in the community that are educational, but not formal school - classes, co-ops, field trips, etc.

[Outdoorsy Type]

For my almost 7yo we do Math, Handwriting, Language Arts and Reading Lesson before Lunch, (8.5yo does this too) Then History, Literature/Read Aloud, and Science in the afternoon. With the interruptions from my 3yo, making and cleaning up from lunch etc. we finish about 3-4 P.M.

[mom24boys]

Two hours for us, but I'm teaching a K & 1st together. I could move a little faster if I just had the 1st grader...probably 1.5 hours. HTH

[Kirch]

You want a good day or a not-so-good day?

 

On a good day, we spend probably 2 to 2 1/2 hours or so on school work (not all seat work--lots of reading aloud and hands-on activities).

 

Actually, that's probably about how much we spend on not-so-good days too--it just ends up taking us all day to get those 2 hours in. :glare:

 

I'd love to be done by lunch every day, but I need to work in time with my pre-ker as well, and we all take a 30 minute break in the middle. We try to start at 9:00 and usually finish up with one activity (for 15-20 minutes or so) after lunch. He doesn't work for more than 45 minutes without a break (and even that's stretching it a bit).

[Hillary in KS]

This is my 3rd time through 1st grade. (I also have a 4th and 9th grader.)

 

We start at 8:00 and are usually done by 11:00. We take a couple of short breaks (10-15 minutes), but ds would rather work hard and get it all done so he can be DONE with school, than take lots of breaks.

[WiseOwlKnits]

2.5-3 hours is what we average. :)

[nono]

I have a rule that school starts by 9:15 a.m. When we start then, it takes about 2 hours with no breaks, and then we break until after lunch when we do anything scheduled that didn't fit in the 2 hours.

 

Lately, my dd has been getting up earlier, and we're generally doing school work from 6:30 - 8:30 a.m., and fitting everything on the schedule in during that time. I didn't anticipate it, she's a bit more efficient before breakfast! :confused: but :)

[Laura Corin]

It was roughly half an hour of English and half an hour of maths, followed by one other subject a day for an hour (science two days, history two days, art/music one day). We did a lot of free reading on top of that, plus an hour of exercise.

 

Laura

[Heidi]

Probably about 2 1/2 hours if we do everything... maybe. I have a list of everything to do that day and I split it up throughout the day. Since I have a baby and a 2-year-old, its not possible to just sit down and do school all at once, nor would I want to anyway.

We always do math right after breakfast. Everything else is random throughout the day.

[3peasinapod]

Probably about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, but it is spread throughout the morning with breaks. While I'm working with our 2nd grader, the 1st grader takes at least two 1/2 hour breaks from 8:30 to 11. I'm schooling the whole time with all 3 of them. Our 3yo MUST have mama time otherwise she interrupts a LOT. :001_smile:

[sleepymommy]

M, W- about 2/12 hrs

T- about 1 1/2 hrs

Th-varies, up to 3 hrs

F-sometimes no school, sometimes about almost an hour.

 

We have a lot of outside commitments, hence the varied schedule. But I don't do all subjects right now, just sticking to the basics. I'm just doing math, reading/phonics, WWE and critical thinking.

[Whereneverever]

2 hours or less. My DD1 would sit and do school all day if I let her, so I keep it short to encourage her to go play.

[Tarreymere]

For my almost 7yo we do Math, Handwriting, Language Arts and Reading Lesson before Lunch, (8.5yo does this too) Then History, Literature/Read Aloud, and Science in the afternoon. With the interruptions from my 3yo, making and cleaning up from lunch etc. we finish about 3-4 P.M.

 

Pretty much what we do. Between interruptions from Mr. Three and babysitting Mr. Two-Grandson and Ms. Newborn-Grandgirl, and the resistance of Ms. Firstgrade, we tend to take all day also. We start with math and usually get in Little Lincoln (the charter that pays for our internet), reading, latin, history or science, and we are starting PR1. Somedays everyone cooperates and we are done by lunch, but usually we just keep going til DH gets home.

[Dinsfamily]

We take about an hour to do the basics (math and LA) and another hour (minimum) of reading aloud everyday. Those are mandatory. Depending on the day, attitudes, schedules, etc. we could spend up to an hour doing electives (science, Latin, logic, geography). We get most of our electives done on Monday and Friday since we tend to stY home on those days unless we do a field trip on Friday.

[Snowfall]

It depends. I've said anything from 1 hour to 3 hours, and I think it's all true. lol DD can take an hour of work and stretch it out to last 4, if she's having a bad day. I think I generally only have 60 to 90 minutes worth of real work for her to do, though, not including read alouds. Project days ("Thrilling Thursdays" at our house) include science and history projects, and those days can take longer. She likes that stuff, though.

 

I've also lamented not being done before lunch. I have a thread about it from a few weeks ago. :) However, the end of Daylight Savings has done wonders for our ability to be finished by lunch. lol

[curlygirlzx2]

We do between 2-2.5 hours a day which is dd's max. There are some days that might stretch to 3 hours if she takes more breaks than usual or is having a hard time focusing.

[mytwomonkeys]

i don't designate specific times, but i'd guesstimate our days are no longer than 1.5 hours. he's 6 1/2 (that doesn't include educational videos or games that he likes).

[Aloha2U]

Perhaps the key elements here are how many days a week is one schooling and how many kids are being schooled, IYKWIM. I have a one and only, so the time we spend on lessons may be different than those who have littles running about and/or multiples to teach.

 

That said... 4.5-5 hours is a realistic norm for us, academically speaking. We school four days per week at home, with Classical Conversations and fiddle lessons (w/the fiddle instructor) on the fifth day.

 

HTH!

 

:001_smile: Melissa

[Dinsfamily]

Perhaps the key elements here are how many days a week is one schooling and how many kids are being schooled, IYKWIM. I have a one and only, so the time we spend on lessons may be different than those who have littles running about and/or multiples to teach.

 

That said... 4.5-5 hours is a realistic norm for us, academically speaking. We school four days per week at home, with Classical Conversations and fiddle lessons (w/the fiddle instructor) on the fifth day.

 

HTH!

 

:001_smile: Melissa

 

Good point. Being pg and having a toddler and preschooler along with my 1st grader certainly shapes our days. I also refuse to school during rest time. I have a feeling 1st grade will look very different for each of my dc since our dynamics will change each year.

[catz]

Perhaps the key elements here are how many days a week is one schooling and how many kids are being schooled, IYKWIM. I have a one and only, so the time we spend on lessons may be different than those who have littles running about and/or multiples to teach.

 

I think how much out of the house stuff factors in too. I rarely do more than probably 1 1/2 hours with my first grader. But we do read aloud time for at least 1/2 hour a day I don't count, she reads at night with her dad, takes spanish out of the house, took science at the zoo this fall, does at least 1 educational field trip per week, takes violin lessons, dance, and circus classes. We have a couple playgroups we attend quite regularly. And we sometimes do larger projects that take more time. She practices violin about 1/2 hour a day too. So if I started adding up all those hours, it would add up to quite a bit more.

[JenniferB]

3 hrs. with me + 1 hr. independent, like on Starfall or doing a project, or art, etc.

[Embassy]

About 5-6 hours a day for everything. Maybe only 1 hour of sit down at the table work though.