So what does your school day look like!?

[Nancy Ann]

We start at 9 and finish by lunch. I am just homeschooling one son who is a 3rd grader. I really like to be done by lunch and have the afternoon for rest and play time or for park days with our homeschool group on Tuesday.

 

It get's really tiring doing 3 hours of school all in a row. I try to break it up with reading aloud to him and doing a math game. I really think this is the only schedule that is going to work. I have tried in the past to do a little bit here and there throughout the day but it just doesn't work!

 

Will we gradually get used to doing this much all at once and it won't be so hard after awhile or am I expecting too much. I am just concerned that he won't be able to learn well. He didn't seem to be as quick with his math as he usually is.

[Nancy Ann]

I try to start no later than 9, but I prefer to get going by 8:30. DS 8 reads for about an hour while I work with DS 5. Then DS 5 is done and goes off to play, work on some crafty thing, play on the computer, etc. Sometimes DS 5 joins us for a subject. I then work with DS 8 until noon. We break for lunch. We then resume at about 1 and work until 2 or 3. This is an average day. Sometimes it is longer, and sometimes it is shorter. We do that 4 days a week. One day a week we meet up with a homeschool group or do field trips.

 

DS 8 also does science with his dad 1-2 nights per week. They spend 2-4 hours a week on it.

 

So we are sort of wimpy over here!!:lol: I have been a very relaxed homeschooler since my son was a Pre K and gradually I feel we need to beef it up and I am incorporating more WTM in what we do. It doesn't seem like we are doing too much I just think we are not used to it. Maybe I just need to give this routine some time. We have only been doing it for a few weeks.

[femke]

In the morning we do hands-on activities; cutting, painting, drawing, basically anything my little one can join in. After lunch (when ds1 takes his nap) we do our curriculum-work. In the afternoon we read books or do some more hands-on things. But our only time scheduld right now is right after lunch, for about an hour or two. Before and after, just how the day goes.

[papillon]

Our start/stop times vary daily, but here's a look at our typical day, in order of subjects...

 

Math (daily)

Writing (daily) -- 1-1/2+ pgs., DS, for 4th grader; 1 pg. copywork, DS, for 2nd grader

Grammar (daily)

Spelling/Vocabulary (daily)

Reading/Literature (daily)

History/Geography (Monday + Wednesday)

Science (Tuesday + Thursday)

Typing (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday)

Game Day -- Educational, of course =) (Thursday)

Activity Day (Friday) -- Reserved for Art, Music, Projects, Labs, or Field Trips

Independent Reading/Quiet Time (daily)

 

:001_smile:

[Hedgehog]

Our recently devised simple schedule goes something like this:

 

breakfast and chores

9:00 devotions

9:30 schoolwork

11:00 break

11:30 schoolwork

1:00 dinner

2:00 quiet time (nap, audiobooks, reading)

3:00 short walk with the dog

4:00 ballet practice

5:00 play

6:00 tea

7:00 bible reading with Daddy

8:30 bed

 

For the little ones, it's the same except they only have the first section of schoolwork - and that's pretty relaxed. During the second section they play together.

[Mimm]

We start at 8:30, take a 15 minute break at 10am and an hour for lunch, and finish up at 3 or 3:30, depending on if we get around to art that day. Also, they have to practice piano in the afternoons. Reading other threads about this has made me feel like I'm demanding too much, especially of my second grader. But last year she was at school doing pretty much the same hours. They had a shorter lunch break but two recesses, both about half an hour long, plus a morning snack.

 

This includes school reading, but not fun reading. Imogen reads more on her own than Genevieve.

 

Edited to add: Genevieve doesn't complain about the long hours or anything. Today when I said she could be done at 3, she said, "What about art? And you didn't read out loud!"

Edited November 15, 2010 by Mimm

[Joyofsixreboot]

I've got some weirdo kids who figure the earlier they start the more time to lazy around so

 

7:15 (or so)~math

7:50~AO yr 1 readings (4th grader listens too)

8:15~4th grader LA, 1st grader LTR

9:00~1st grader LA and 4th grader reading

9:30~history

10:00~science

10:30~memory, read aloud or project

11:00~done

 

We do co-op 2 days in the afternoon. We also do art projects or nature walks. Two days/week my 4th grader works on a written paragraph about what we've done in history or science. Fridays they both write a week review.

[ondreeuh]

We don't usually start until between 11 & 12. This leaves the morning free for preschool work with my youngest or a field trip, and I work 1:1 with my fourth grader while the littlest naps. We are usually done by the time the youngest wakes up around 3. If it's a busy day like today (we did social studies AND science) then I teach the math lesson and review the types of problems with ds during our school time, and let him answer the problems later in his room.

[julikins]

We try to start by 8:30-9:00 and do our Bible reading while my DS5 colors a related picture and my DD8 does her handwriting work. Then DD8 does her independent work while I work on phonics instruction, science reading and read-alouds with DS5. Then I work on spelling dictation, math and language with DD8 while my son plays or continues reading his science books. We usually have a 15 minute break around 10:30 and then my daughter does everything else she needs to do until lunch--usually science and reading. I've had some health issues, so have laid low on the history, just keeping it to interesting read-alouds at lunch. Hopefully when life gets back to normal, I'll be able to incorporate more history/geography and arts/crafts and piano again. Sometimes the 3 R's are all I can accomplish, but I know it won't be forever and they are still young. So we'll get to the rest soon enough.

[Stacy in NJ]

I would try to start a little earlier or work a little later only so that you can incorporate short breaks between subjects. I think most 3rd graders would have a tough time concentrating for 3 hours without breaks. I'd suggest giving him a 10 minute break between subjects.

[kristavws]

Here you go:

 

7:30-8:00 Piano/Vioin Practice

8:00-8:30 Bible Study

8:30-9:00 Singapore Math

9:00-9:30 Assigned Reading

9:30-10:00 Latin

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-11:30 Writing, Grammar, and Spelling

11:30-12:00 Horizon Math

12:00-12:30 Lunch/Break

12:30-1:30 History (on Friday Geography)

1:30-2:30 Science (on Friday Art and Composer Study)

 

We have outside classes one day a week, so only follow this schedule 4-days. We usually end up working until at least 3:00, since my boys love history projects and science experiments!

 

Krista

[justamouse]

many times I read a thread title and have a one liner answer in my head before I even open it up. To this one, it would be:

 

 

chaos.

[Nancy Ann]

I would try to start a little earlier or work a little later only so that you can incorporate short breaks between subjects. I think most 3rd graders would have a tough time concentrating for 3 hours without breaks. I'd suggest giving him a 10 minute break between subjects.

 

 

Yep, I am thinking this too. We may try to start at 8:30.

 

Thanks for all the input ladies. It helps to get an idea of what you all do.

[Embassy]

We have rather lazy mornings and start around 10 or 11. We usually have a big lunch break and finish up around 5. My boys are in 1st and 3rd. We spend a lot of time in school, but most of it isn't sit down at the table type of work.

 

I made a video of our school day last school year. It is somewhat similar to this year if you want a peek.

[m0mmaBuck]

We start no later than 9 and try to have the bulk of our work done before 2:00 with 5-10 minute breaks between subjects.

[Mandy in TN]

I'll just cover the 8yo's school.

 

Which day?

There are 7 days, there are 7 days, there are 7 day in a week

 

Sunday

Dh and I are both at home. We sleep late. I try not to get up until 9-9:30, but that doesn't always happen. Dh and I have alone time until the boys get up or I wake them up. Sometimes they will sleep until noon or later. Other than sometimes doing violin, Kumon, or some reading my 8yo hardly does much school on Sunday. It is our cleaning day.

 

Monday- Friday

Dh and I usually get up between 7:30 and 8. Dh leaves at 8:30. I don't want or expect to see children before he leaves. If they wake up (the two left at home seldom wake up), they stay in their rooms. This is our alone time, because at night we stay up pretty late as a family. We rarely eat dinner before 8:30, because dh is rarely home before then.

 

Monday

In the afternoon he takes school to Kumon where I work in the JK room. Then, he goes to cub scouts from 7-8:30.

 

Tuesday

We have an xtra student who usually arrives about 10:30. We get started about 11. My junior has a class at 1:15 and we all load up and take him. Then, we get home about 2:30 and if we didn't take lunch with us we eat. Then we work and play until it is done sometime between 5 and 7. Then, we all (including our xtra) head to Chik-fil-A for family night. Tuesdays and Thursdays are longer, because 1. we do most if not all of our science and history on these two days 2. we have an xtra student. 3. I try not to be so regimented that it sucks the joy out of getting to have the xtra student.

 

Wednesday

We try to fit in a little school and food before we leave. We go to violin for the 8yo. We need to be there in the town just to the north at 2:00, but it is a 45 min drive and so I try to leave a little after 1. The 8yo does some work in the vehicle on the way there. After violin we take the junior to math tutor and go to the library down the street from the tutor to study while we wait. If there are no delays, we get home at 5ish and finish up anything that is left.

 

Thursday

Thursday is a repeat of Tuesday without the Chik-fil-A.

 

Friday

The 8yo goes to a drama and art tutorial from 9:30 until 12:30. Last week we went out to lunch and to the science museum. Sometimes, I bring a lunch and we eat in the car and go to the library. Sometimes we go out to lunch and go home to do a little school work.

 

Saturday

I work in the morning at Kumon and the little man does a little work, primarily violin and math, when I get home.

 

Mondays the 8yo sits still for over 3 hours at Kumon, but even then I bring a snack for him to eat in the waiting area. It is a long time. He doesn't like it and I woudn't want to do it every day. I much prefer our T, Th schedule that is spread out all day to our Monday schedule. Heck, I even prefer the car schooling that we do on Wednesday to the Mondays of having him be still and quiet for so long.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[prairiegirl]

We start at 9 with a half an hour of read alouds then we get to the nitty gritty. I am always working with one child while the other two are working on their own. If a child is done their independent work then they can play. We work until noon. We take a two hour break and then get back at it at 2:00. It varies from day to day as to when we end. Some days it is 3:00, other days it isn't until 5:00.

[dm379]

On M,W,F we start at 8 and end at 2. They get an hour off for lunch and a 20 minute break every 90 mins. On T, Th ds has speech. Tuesdays we work from about noon - 2 and Thurs. from 11 - 2 or so. We never go past 2 and if they finish their work early then they can do whatever they want as long as it is educational until 2.

[fastforward]

I have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader, plus my almost 3 year old. I'm still trying to work out a specific schedule, but we do have somewhat of a routine, if that makes sense. We typically work on Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays and the occasional Friday and/or Saturday. Fridays are hard because my husband is home and we have scouts every other Friday (and I am in full preparation mode on scout days). Monday is our co-op day, and we are absolutely too tired to delve into schoolwork by the time we get home.

 

I try to start before 10am so that we can all have the afternoon free. Usually my 1st grader and 3 y.o. wake up earlier than my 3rd grader, so I start work with her first. We get through her CLE math, reading and language arts in about 1.5 hours. Once or twice a week, we cover science and mild social studies/history work. While I work with the 1st grader, my 3rd grader will finish up her breakfast, play with the "baby" and complete some independent work that I put into her "work to do" folder. (This is usually some copywork to strengthen her cursive skils, a Weekly Reader or Scholastic News pamphlet to read, or some math drills.)

 

My 3rd grader takes about 3 hours to complete all of her work, and starts as soon as I'm finished with my other daughter. Right now, we focus on math, WWE, FLL, independent reading and science copywork. I've temporarily shelved SOTW and formal geography until January because the math skills that she has been working on have taken over our lives! Just kidding, but we have had to focus more on math since entering the realm of long division.

 

My daughters do an art class on Fridays and will hopefully resume piano studies and swimming in the new year.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Last year we were always done by lunch, but I felt stressed and often got aggravated. This year we sleep in and start around 10. If I know we have to be somewhere I try to start at 9. I let ds10 start with all his independent work and after lunch we work together. I do work with Ds6 first, we do math and phonics. Then ds6, dd2, and I do some music or art.

Some days we spend all day outside and do school from 4-9pm, working around dinner.

I moved read-alouds to bedtime. I often spend an hour reading their books, but it works for us.

[Momma H]

We have a really weird schedule!

My kids get up between 6:30 and 7:00 to do thier required hour of MM. Then, they do thier science mostly independently. (they help eachother out and do experiments together too) Usually, they are done by 8:00 with that stuff and they do nothing else of school until about 1:30 or 2:00 (after lunch and I put the 3 year old down for her nap). At that time we work on Phonics Road, Write Shop, MFW and our extra bible work. We work until about 5 every day.

The kids used to get started at 9:00 and do thier math and science but it was harder with the distractions of the little kids and life just going around them so they feel they can focus and get thier work done early and have thier free time all morning until after lunch, otherwise, it felt like they did school all day until 5:00.

At about 10:00 I work with the little kids on thier stuff until I make lunch at 11:30 or 12:00. We end with the "I Can" series and they could do that forever so I have to watch my time.

This is a wierd feeling schedule but it works because I feel like my little kids get enough attention during the day and the big kids get some free time to do all thier stuff they like to do. I works.:lol:

[Lizzie in Ma]

I blogged one recently. :)

http://www.aworkinprogress.net/2010/09/day-in-life.html

[Guest AshleyWilis]

Hi everyone,

Well we went at 8:45 School was at a distance of 10 minutes, My father used to drive to school... My school days were awesome, I was although I was a average student in class but I really love those days of my life...

[lisabelle]

We're lazy and start late, and every day is different. But let me break it down for you day-by-day (ds is 11):

 

Mondays:

10:00-11:00 Grammar

11:00-11:50 Math

12:00-1:00 Lunch/FIRST Lego League Team Meeting

1:00-2:00 History of Ancient Warfare co-op class

2:15-4:00 History

 

Tuesdays

10:00-11:00 Vocabulary quiz/next lesson

11:10-11:45 Orchestra

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Math team

2:00-4:00 Science

 

Wednesdays

9:30-10:00 Piano lessons

10:00-12:00 FIRST Lego League class

12:00-1:00 Lunch/FIRST Lego League meeting

1:00-2:00 Math

2:00-4:00 Literature

 

Thursdays

10:00-12:00 Writing assignment

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Math team

2:00-3:00 Math

3:00-4:00 History or science

 

Fridays

10:00-11:00 Math

11:10-12:20 Orchestra

12:20-1:00 Lunch

1:00-dad gets home Documentary Fridays!

 

It's not unusual for us to work later on Mondays and Thursdays, seeing through whatever has been particularly interesting/challenging for the week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays our stop time of 4:00 is pretty rigid as we host one of ds's friends who needs childcare.

 

In the evenings, ds practices piano and viola while I'm cooking dinner. After dinner he works on Boy Scouts stuff or amateur radio stuff.

 

Documentary Fridays are subject to cancellation/postponement to a later time depending on where we're at with our subjects.

 

And life will be much, much simpler once the FIRST Lego League competition is over and done with.

[Nancy Ann]

Just updating:

 

We have been starting school at 8:00 and go until noon lunch. This has been working really well. It gives us a chance to have a snack break and it allows us to take our time. Also, I have noticed that as I stick to our schedule and the curriculum I chose for this year things have gone faster and easier. I think in the past I have done so much changing out of curriculum or I see someone else doing something that looks really cool and so I completely revamp what we are doing. This always caused so many bumps.

 

I use to do chores or other thing in the morning but now we have breakfast, I have my morning prayer time and we start school. All the other stuff waits until later or I tidy up the kitchen and house in the evening before bed.

[Upstatemamma]

We start our day right after breakfast. The time varies a lot. It depends solely on the time everyone wakes up. My son has the easiest time learning if it is right after breakfast. We do it all then. It is a lot for me but it is the way he learns best. My girls (two and a half and almost two) play while we do work. If we have something to do in the morning we will go out and do that but it is harder for him to focus after that.

[KatieH]

My perfect day for my 9yo goes-

 

Start at 9am with prayer and the Gospel reading for the day

Get Latin, English, and Math done by lunch time, take "lunch break"

Finish up with Science, Religion, and History, take another break, then violin practice for at least 30 minutes

 

We try to be done around 2ish.