What does high school look like in your home?

[Hunter's Moon]

I'm just wondering what high school looks like in your home. I've been looking at the "how long" high school questions, but what do those hours really consist of?

 

Thanks :D

[regentrude]

My DD is only a freshman, so I don't have a lot of experience, but here is what she does:

She has to work five hours every day in her core subjects: Math, Physics, English, History and French. Every day is a bit different, she gets to set her own schedule and does not cover every subject every day. It averages out over the weeks.

For physics, she attends a college class, has to do the assigned reading and the homework. Class is 3 hours a week, out of class work around another three hours a week (but only while the university is in session, when classes are out she will be done).

For math, she works her way through the textbooks. All her math time is actually solving problems.

For English/history, we do a Great books study. During her school time she reads the works, completes writing assignments, outlines the history textbook, works on her research projects, listens to lectures from the Teaching Company.

For French, we have one hour lesson weekly with a native speaker. The rest of her time she works on grammar, does writing assignments, watches video lectures, reads, talks with me in French.

 

Electives take additional time. She is learning web design by designing an actual web page for her horse barn and for a local equestrian association. Her time is spent writing and editing code and thus learning about html and ccs.

In addition, she will receive a credit for equestrian studies. She spends 25 hours a week at the barn, takes riding lessons, participates in farm chores and learns about horse care. She observed a dentist and a chiropractor working on the horses. We will add a theoretical component for this credit which I have not yet figured out.

 

So, this is what high school looks in our house at the moment.

[4wildberrys]

Both of my high schoolers, 9th ds and 12th dd take about 6 hours a day to finish---but that includes much chatting, meals and kitty distractions :tongue_smilie: We live in the middle of nowhere---literally---so we have no CC close by for classes, no outside activities worth pursuing this year at their level and they don't have time to work after school. So dd is the first to get up and she works on her basics ever day: SL Core 400, MUS Stewardship, Write Source 12, Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings, Catholic Morality/Worldviews course, Spanish and then her very favorite---the SL AP Psychology course. She usually finishes around 2-3 every day. DS gets up later :glare:, and reads some lit, showers and then sits down to work at about 11am lately. This puts him at 4-5 pm finish time:using MFW AHL, some Core 200 history and lit, AOP LA 9, MUS Geometry, Apologia Biology, Henle Latin, Traditional Logic. Our new plan is to get him up at 7:30-8am so we are not working so late in the day----it's more exhausting for me!! We all sit at the dining room table together to work and chat....with occasional head butting between my kids and/or mom ;)

[memphispeg]

Dd usually sits down about 8AM and spends 2 hrs. reading History and English. She is not a morning person. She does some short essay sorts of writing on the readings during this time period. From about 10 until 11:30 or 12 she takes whatever test she has for that day (There always seems to be one.) Otherwise, she does Math or Bio for a while. We have some lunch and she does more Math/Bio and then does an hr. of online German. We finish up at about 2 to 2:30 (unless we are doing a lab). She rests, we eat, she goes to ballet. In the evenings, she usually does her longer writing assignments or studies for the next day's test(s). Weekends she mostly finishes up on writing assignments and projects. She also does Math for .5 to 1 hr during these days.

We are trying to incorporate more standardized test practice in this next few months so, this will add to her school time. Jr. year is hard and busy for her but, she likes it that way.

[Brindee]

DD has been getting up at 7:30, showering, devotions, eating, then practices half of her piano (1 hour). Then she does her other classes: Math, the MFW AHL readings and assignments, Spanish, Biology readings, watching virtual labs, computer stuff for her 1/2 credit class, and lunch is thrown in there somewhere. She'll do the 2nd half of her piano (another hour) as well. She felt a bit behind in Grammar, so she's doing a bit of a grammar refresher a couple times a week. Oh, she also practices voice for about 30 minutes a day and guitar (no credit, just on her own) for 15-20 minutes 2 or 3 times a week. She has daily "chores" to do as well. When she has a very busy week where things are taking longer, dh and I will do many of her chores for her, so she can concentrate better on her "job" of studying, writing papers, preparing for tests, etc.

 

Once a week she has a piano lesson and a voice lesson. They're from the same teacher, so they run successively, which is nice. I think that's it!

 

Oh, CC classes are not an option 'til Junior year here, so that's not been an option for her....

 

**She went through a stage where she needed more sleep, so would get up at 9am, but follow about the same schedule. I felt she needed the sleep, and she completed her work, it just went later in the day, so I let her do that. But then, about 3 weeks ago, she went back to the 7:30am all on her own.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Brindee

[Barb_]

Jenna, junior year:

 

8-9:30 Calculus

10-3 College classes/extracurriculars

Philosophy

Modern US History

Physics

Acting

Yoga

Ballet

4-5:30 Tutoring her middle school student

7-9 Latin, Psychology, Japanese

 

Outside of her classes, Jenna is self-taught.

 

She has a 60-90 break each day at school when she gets her college reading and studying done.

[Chris in VA]

My son had a desk set up in the basement (you can see pics on my blog http://www.twilightandsunrise.blogspot.com if you go to the last year and scroll down).

 

He would start the day by about 8:30am, showering and doing a devotion in his room, alone (using One Year Bible). Then he'd come and have breakfast. He'd go to the basement and start his work. I'd write his assignments on a small white board near the desk, and he'd erase as he completed them. (For certain courses, I scheduled each day in a spiral for him, so those were just listed as "do Day 6" or whatever). He worked straight thru the am, pausing for lunch. Early on, we discussed history/lit (Omnibus) every day, did Latin together, and math. Sometimes I taught a hard concept, like balancing equations, but left the bulk of the subject to him (using materials written to the student, mostly--like Apologia bio and chem). Other subjects were a little more independent. Later, almost everything was independent, and discussions were more rare. We were dealing all thru his high school years with his younger brother, who needed several hospitalizations and residential treatment stints--so ds21 had to become pretty used to getting his work done without me peering over his shoulder. He also had daily chores, which he did willingly as the price of homeschooling.

 

He did not write enough, but did an online writing course near the end. Having Aspergers, discussions were actually more difficult for him, esp as we left the logic stage (he was still in that stage in 9th grade) and entered into rhetoric stage--finding symbolism or just digging deeper than comparisons and facts was hard for him, but he gave it his best shot.

 

He ended up doing school thru the summer before his Sr year, and graduated in Dec of that year--we had held him back a year in 3rd grade, and graduating in the actual year that he "should have" was important to him. He took the GED b/c VCU required it--and smashed it, tho he didn't study for it and was quite worried. His SAT's were low, but VCU accepted him, tho the cinema program did not--he got in the next year, making a 3 year program into a 4 year one, but that is fine with all of us. He took the rest of what would have been his Sr year to work, so was able to contribute more to his college expenses.

 

He finds he's quite mature compared to other kids--chronologically older, but also more able to work independently, make good use of his time, and discipline himself to get his work done. Homeschooling really helped him.

[Gwen in VA]

Ds2 -- lots of volunteering in the middle of the day, so school is done at random times. He is frequently gone for weekends and even weeks to pursue his hobby/avocation/passion, so school is done in the cracks and crannies. He is happy, and we are convinced he has what it takes (grades, test scores, etc.) for him to get into the school of his dreams.

 

Dd2 -- Practicing the piano at 6 a.m. Driving over to the organ at 8 or 9 a.m. I retrieve her at 10:30 or later. And most days at 3 she leaves for fife and drum. But somehow in the middle of the day she gets some of her schoolwork done, and she is taking rigorous classes. School also gets done on Friday nights, Saturday afternoons, and even Sunday evenings. It gets squeezed into those tiny moments when dinner isn't quite ready. It even happens when she is waiting for me to put my shoes on to drive her somewhere. She is happy. We are delighted that she is willing to work so hard to pursue her passion (music) and what is required (school).

[EKS]

My son is in 9th grade. He starts around 8:15 and works straight through on his own to about 12:30. I don't know if he is concentrating at all times on his work, but I do know he is sitting at his desk looking as though he is working. He takes 15 minutes for lunch and then he and I work together for about 2 hours. After that he finishes anything that he didn't get done in the morning. In the evening after dinner I read aloud to him for about 30 minutes (right now I'm reading The Jungle for American lit) and he does any assigned reading for the day.

[imeverywoman]

Monday: 7:30am piano lesson followed by the 9-2pm-ish volunteer hours

 

Rest of the week:

 

8-9 am discussion time with me

9-10 writing

10-11 Spanish

11-12 math

12-12:30 lunch

12:30-1:30 science

1:30-2:30 history/core reading

2:30-3:30 SAT prep

3:30-4:00 LA (vocabulary, grammar)

4:00-..... golf course

 

 

 

We are doing SL Core 200, MUS Algebra 1, Apologia Biology, R&S Grammar 7, and IEW.

[FloridaLisa]

Dd1:

 

Mon and Wed:

6:30: out the door

8:00 - 12:00:classes at CC

1:00 - 2:30: home and lunch

2:30 - 5:30ish: tutors 2 middle and high school students

5:30ish - ? : dinner, running, and schoolwork

 

Tues/Thurs:

7:30 -- chores, breakfast and starts school

2:30 - 5:30ish

5:30ish - ? : dinner, running, schoolwork

 

Friday is co-op day

 

Ds2:

Mon - Thurs:

8:00 - 3:00ish chores, breakfast, school

afternoons filled with more school, banjo lessons, or (usually) basketball pratice, basketball games or conditioning.

 

Friday is co-op day

 

HTH,

Lisa

 

ETA: Volunteering for dd is usually Friday afternoons and volunteering for ds usually happens on Saturdays.

[Greta Lea]

I did that instead of writing directly to you in this thread. Here's a link to my blog entry...

 

http://basicallybeechick.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-in-lifehighschool.html

[LuvingLife]

Monday is usually my crazy day of trying to catch up with everything, my parents shopping things like this. I get about 3-4 hours of work done on this day, so not too bad.

 

The rest of the week is pretty smooth though, here is what I do, but not always at the scheduled hours.

 

Tuesday-Friday

9:00-10:00 am; Geometry

 

10:00-11:00 am; Algebra 1

 

11:00-12:00 pm; history

 

12:00-12:30 pm; lunch

 

12:30-1:00 pm; reading

 

1:00-2:00 pm; American Lit.

 

2:00-3:00 pm; biology

 

School for me usually ends at this time, but this isn't always the schedule. After three I usually do what I want, like practice violin and other music, do photography, volunteer, help with my siblings schoolwork, things like this. I do a lot of music so my week usually consists with this.

 

I have found that if I try to do a normal 5 hour schoolday, then I can get a lot accomplished. But the reason I homeschool is not only to get a better education, but also be able to do the things I love. Music and photography are my favorite, and I volunteer with my friends alot as well.

 

We plan to move this spring, so I am trying to catch up on school as much as I can to be prepared for the move and not have to worry so much about schoolwork. Don't woory too much about school, it is not the end of the world, which I have finally come to terms with. :)

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

For the past 2 weeks high school has looked liked NO school in this house!:001_huh:

 

We've had the flu, a 600 mile trip to care for grandma after surgery, and I've worked (part time job) a lot.

 

We AVERAGE:

 

Math 45 minutes

Science 45 minutes

English 45 minutes

Latin or Spanish 30 minutes

Half credits like health 20 minutes

Test prep 20 minutes

"fun" reading 45 minutes

 

No all subjects are done every single day. School starts at 9am and is finished when all assignments are checked off.

 

Some days a single subject might run almost 2 hours... other days that same subject might be 15 minutes.

for example:

One day Biology might be "study flash cards"... a 15 minute assignment. The next day the assigment might be to "read 15 pages of materials making flash cards as you go".... easily over an hour for my son.

 

Several times during the year i will time assignments, especially math. I want to allow enough time to finish without being rushed while not allowing time to waste.

 

Most high schools allow 50 minutes per class and give outside homework. From my sub teaching I can see that usually 20 minutes is teaching time and 30 minutes COULD be available for assignments. But it usually takes most of 50 minutes to teach 20 minutes worth of material.

 

I would not worry about the time spent in each subject very much at all. yes, it is nice to have a general schedule, but as long as you are learning and reading a lot you are doing great!

[Linda1951]

8:30 done with breakfast get ready to go over what is done for the day

9AM aMERICAN history for an hour

10 am astrology

11am consumer math

1pm after lunch we do our literature reading and writing

2pm English

she is 11thgr

[Hunter's Moon]

Thanks everyone for posting your schedules! I enjoy seeing them.

 

I've altered mine and this is the one I followed last week and will continue to follow as it worked well.

 

Monday/Wednesday:

 

History (2 hours)

Break (30 mins.)

Pre-Calc (90 mins.)

Chemistry (60 mins.-90 mins. depending on the concept)

Lunch (30 mins.)

Grammar (30 mins.)

Composition (30 mins.-45 mins. depending on what I'm doing)

Genetics (1 hour)

Break (30 mins.)

Algebra II Review (30 mins.)

Piano (60 mins. throughout the day)

 

Tuesday/Thursday:

 

Literature (2 hours)

Break (30 mins.)

Chemistry (60 mins.-90 mins. depending on the concept)

Pre-Calc (90 mins.)

Lunch (30 mins.)

Grammar (30 mins.)

Composition (30 mins.-45 mins.)

Break (30 mins.)

Algebra II Review (30 mins.)

Piano (60 mins. throughout the day)

 

Friday:

 

Health (30 mins.)

Pre-Calc (90 mins.)

Break (30 mins.)

Chemistry (60 mins.-90 mins. depending on the concept)

Genetics (60 mins.)

Grammar (30 mins.)

Lunch (30 mins.)

Composition (30 mins.-45 mins.)

SAT Prep (30 mins.)

Break (30 mins.)

Algebra II Review (30 mins.)

Piano (60 mins. throughout the day)

 

SAT Prep is also done over the weekend along with Music; Chemistry lab is done on Saturday for the previous week. There is also Pre-Calc and Algebra II work over the weekend, as well as Genetics work when there is a problem set to do (I use MIT Open Courseware for Genetics.)

 

Starting time varies; I aim to start early (7-ish) because my allergies cause headaches and stuff later in the day and it is hard to concentrate once I get one.

 

Yoga is usuallly thrown into the day 5x/week for about 30 mins.

Edited February 28, 2011 by BeatleMania