s/o Large Families - How many hours per day does school take you?

[Renee in NC]

I am writing out how much time it will take to do various things with the 5 school-aged kids. It adds up to quite a bit, so I was wondering how much time you spend schooling children everyday.

 

Thanks!

[johnandtinagilbert]

All day, M-F + a little planning in between. *I* spend from about 7-8am---4pm with dc, sometimes 5. This doesn't mean that the dc spend that much time. The Ker has about 2 hours of school; the 2nd and 3rd are generally finished by 2, which includes recess, chores and meals; the 5th grader is also finished by 2 (actually earlier b/c she chooses to work on independent studies in her bed at night) and the middle and high schoolers are in good shape to finish by 3 or 4. The older they are, the longer it takes. Truthfully, home schooling encompasses the whole of our day and what remains is filled with extracurricular activities that include sports, church and Boy Scouts. The house is generally not "mom clean" but does offer "kid clean" on a regular basis. I dont' see this changing until I get a few in college :) It's surely a full time job!

[mommymilkies]

Just three doing school right now, but one very high needs extroverted toddler (aka the energy vampire). It takes us about 6-7 hours altogether each day.

[Mommyfaithe]

I am writing out how much time it will take to do various things with the 5 school-aged kids. It adds up to quite a bit, so I was wondering how much time you spend schooling children everyday.

 

Thanks!

 

I am schooling 3 full time now...grades 2,3 & 7. We start school at about 10 am be ause I work in the early am from my home office and we school through to approximately 2:30. During that time we do family bible study, history read aloud, math, reading & LA. At 2:30 everyone is dismissed and I usually go for my walk...or fall of from exhaustion, which seems to be the case more recently.

My dd will then do her science most days.

 

I also do 1 hour of read alouds at bedtime.

 

So, academics take me about 6 hours. Ds 7, takes about 2 hours, ds 8 about 2 hours and dd takes about 4 hours to do her work.

 

Faithe

[Homeschooling6]

I'm currently schooling six children ages 6-12 years of age and I feel like I'm schooling all day at times. I think it comes to 6-7 hours. When I can't fit Lance or Ethan in for a subject like Phonics or Math during the day then I'll do that after dinner.

I do take a 2hr break during quiet time. All kiddos have to stay in their rooms and either sleep or play quiet games for two hours. We've been doing this since the children were toddlers. Keeps me sane ;)

 

If you want to add correcting and getting things ready for the next day then tack on another hour or so.............

[Marie in Oh]

;)

 

Well, it seems like it at least. I have 5 in full time school, plus my very eager 4 yo a 2 yo. Usually 8-3, sometimes 4. We take about 45-1 hr for lunch. I spend the morning with the littles one on one, and the older children do their independent work. After lunch I answer the older kids questions, then we do our group work, and then I finish up any straggling subjects (today it was WWE 2 with the 7 yo-- two days worth). It ain't easy, and some days I just want ot quit, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

[Sue G in PA]

I have 7 (one is a toddler). I feel like I am at it all.day.long sometimes. And others...we are done at 2. It depends on how cooperative my dc are. Some can get their work done by 1 if they start early and others just drag it out all day and into the evening after dinner. :glare: I am "done" at 3pm b/c I have to get dinner and a few minutes of down time. But then we do some later in the evening. I wish we could just be done at 3. That would be heavenly.

[UmMusa]

I have four kids, 1 being a toddler. We spend 7 hours before we're officially 'done', but that includes appointments, lunch, and dealing with said toddler.

[krisperry]

All day, M-F + a little planning in between. *I* spend from about 7-8am---4pm with dc, sometimes 5. This doesn't mean that the dc spend that much time. The Ker has about 2 hours of school; the 2nd and 3rd are generally finished by 2, which includes recess, chores and meals; the 5th grader is also finished by 2 (actually earlier b/c she chooses to work on independent studies in her bed at night) and the middle and high schoolers are in good shape to finish by 3 or 4. The older they are, the longer it takes. Truthfully, home schooling encompasses the whole of our day and what remains is filled with extracurricular activities that include sports, church and Boy Scouts. The house is generally not "mom clean" but does offer "kid clean" on a regular basis. I dont' see this changing until I get a few in college :) It's surely a full time job!

 

:iagree: this sounds like me too

[Emmy]

This is daunting to read!

[Renee in NC]

This is daunting to read!

 

Sorry to scare you!:tongue_smilie:

 

I'm just glad to know that it isn't just me.;)

 

For me, Barton is going to add 1.5 hours to my day. I am thinking of something like workboxes (without 6 sets of boxes!) for activities to keep children occupied as well.

 

I used to own MOTH and have an idea of how to make a schedule, but I am thinking of purchasing the book again to have as a reference.

[JudoMom]

My day can easily run 7-8 hours (not including an hour lunch break), and that's not because we finish, but because I'm burned out for the day and declare myself done. My older boys' days run 5-6 hours, and my Ker has about 45 minutes. The others are in between.

[Emmy]

... and that's not because we finish, but because I'm burned out for the day and declare myself done.

 

This is me. We never really get *everything* done. I just declare "mommy is done". :) I need to figure out how to do this though...my oldest is heading into logic stage (and he's ready) and my 1st grader has had uneven schooling since his kinder year was when I was pg with twins and his first grade year was when I had new twins LOL. My 4yo is dying to do school for hours and I just want to say - you are the least of my problems little man, go watch Dora! :tongue_smilie:

[sandra in va]

We take a good 8 hours - with a lunch break in the middle. As Tina said, the younger the kid, the shorter the school day. But, I don't have the youngers finish earlier, their work is just spread out over the whole day depending on when I'm available to work with them.

 

Some notes - there is usually some homework for my olders, as well, depending on the week's assignments and how efficiently they work during the day. Also, instrument practice is not included in this time. And, like others have said, I still don't get to everything I want!

[Mommyfaithe]

Sorry to scare you!:tongue_smilie:

 

I'm just glad to know that it isn't just me.;)

 

For me, Barton is going to add 1.5 hours to my day. I am thinking of something like workboxes (without 6 sets of boxes!) for activities to keep children occupied as well.

 

I used to own MOTH and have an idea of how to make a schedule, but I am thinking of purchasing the book again to have as a reference.

 

Renee, I started workboxes this year with a bit of a bend. I don't put in daily work, just each subject is separated into a drawer.....and we do each subject daily. That way, I am NEVER looking for stuff...as we get finished, it goes back in the drawer. I just LOVE it! Wonderful improvement over the school boxes (milk crates) we used before with everything in them.

 

Faithe

[Susan in TX]

It really depends on what type of curriculum you are using and how many subjects you are teaching. I am schooling four and it only takes about two hours. But I don't use teacher intensive curriculum and we only do the 3Rs. Anything beyond that is covered informally mostly by reading library books.

 

Susan in TX

[coffeegal]

Sigh. We school 3-4 hours, or 30-45 minutes per subject area. Our major subject areas are math, language arts, classical languages, history, and science. Everything else is done informally at other times. Our day starts by my getting the older 3 started, then I chase the toddler. Once she's down for her nap, my 8yo and I complete his schoolwork, then I check schoolwork as the older 3 finish. Almost everything we use is written to the student, or is able to be completed independently. SWB audio lecture about Teaching Students to Work Independently is close to how we work naturally.

[silliness7]

I personally spend 8 hours a day on schooling my 5. The kids don't school that long (for the most part) but I do. :tongue_smilie:

[merry gardens]

I am writing out how much time it will take to do various things with the 5 school-aged kids. It adds up to quite a bit, so I was wondering how much time you spend schooling children everyday.

 

Thanks!

I planned our homeschool schedule this fall and found that we literally did not have enough time in a normal length school day to accomplish everything I wanted to do. That was liberating! It wasn't that I simply wasn't doing enough or wasting too much time during the day. I adjusted our schedule to more realistic expectations. I re-adjusted it again after Christmas.

 

I homeschool four school-aged children, plus a pre-schooler and toddler. We start between 8:00 and 9:30*, and we finish at 4:00, with lunch, recess and snack breaks. (*Staggered music practice starts at 8:00--by 9:30 everyone begins.) Some subjects get more attention from me on certains days and less attention on other days. Some subjects I handle more seasonally, where we'll do a lot and then take a break from it for a while. I combine subjects whenever I can, but different children have different needs. One child needs intense tutoring daily, while another works fairly independently well-above grade level, (quietly catching onto information when I explain it to the older ones.) During the summer, we work less and take breaks from several subjects, but we continue with some subjects at a leisurely pace.

[Renee in NC]

I planned our homeschool schedule this fall and found that we literally did not have enough time in a normal length school day to accomplish everything I wanted to do. That was liberating! It wasn't that I simply wasn't doing enough or wasting too much time during the day. I adjusted our schedule to more realistic expectations. I re-adjusted it again after Christmas.

 

I homeschool four school-aged children, plus a pre-schooler and toddler. We start between 8:00 and 9:30*, and we finish at 4:00, with lunch, recess and snack breaks. (*Staggered music practice starts at 8:00--by 9:30 everyone begins.) Some subjects get more attention from me on certains days and less attention on other days. Some subjects I handle more seasonally, where we'll do a lot and then take a break from it for a while. I combine subjects whenever I can, but different children have different needs. One child needs intense tutoring daily, while another works fairly independently well-above grade level, (quietly catching onto information when I explain it to the older ones.) During the summer, we work less and take breaks from several subjects, but we continue with some subjects at a leisurely pace.

 

One thing I did realize is that I had myself doing *2* Barton sessions a day, when I am going to do every other day so that each boy gets 3 sessions per week (M-Sa.) I am also going to stagger them - my 6yo dd, for example, is willing and able to start work at 7am, while the boys would do better sleeping a little later. So, I can do some of her work with her and then get the boys going.

 

I think I am going to buy MOTH and MOTC, though, to help with the structure.

[BlsdMama]

I am writing out how much time it will take to do various things with the 5 school-aged kids. It adds up to quite a bit, so I was wondering how much time you spend schooling children everyday.

 

Thanks!

 

School aged children:

 

14.5yo 9th grader

11.5yo 6th grader

9yo 3rd grader

7yo 2nd grader

6yo K

4.5yo K

 

 

Technically though, my 4.5yo is ahead of my 6yo so they are very much reversed in ability/age.

 

I spend about an hour with the oldest, whether it's going over her Latin or discussing a book, or just checking out what she has done or is doing for the day.

 

I spend about an hour with DS on grammar. He does History on his own, Science with his oldest sister, reads history to the little girls, and then math is TT. He does spelling (Phonetic Zoo) with me and then I generally help him with writing though not every day. So, about two hours.

 

Elizabeth won't begin formal math until this summer. So, she does handwriting independently, she & her sister read her history and science assignments together, and I do grammar with her as well as any spelling, writing, etc. She gets 1-2 hours combined with her younger sister.

 

Rebecca essentially does almost everything Elizabeth does, at the same time. Technically she's a first grader, but she just took off. ;)

 

I spend about an hour with my "Kindergarten class." ;) On an ideal day, we read from Vos' story bible, the Burgess animal book, and do recitations. The littles (Sarah & Daniella) do all of this with us. Then, when they go down for the nap, Tim & Abigail get quick phonics lessons (about 15 minutes each) and then they lay down. The older girls do their book reading during this time & at night. We go to bed at 8:00, but kids who can read chapter books get to stay up until 9:00 reading. There is MUCH motivation in this house to learn to read - no naps & a later bedtime.

 

As a family, Bible & memorization are in the AM if I'm on target and on schedule and that can take 30-60 minutes. In the PM, I read a chapter or two from whatever book we're on and that takes 30-60 minutes.

 

If I add it up, that's seven hours of my time. Hm, that explains why the day feels a little busy, lol. But it is very broken up and I'm never just lecturing or sitting at the table all the time. :)

 

 

On scheduling:

Sorry to scare you!:tongue_smilie:

 

I used to own MOTH and have an idea of how to make a schedule, but I am thinking of purchasing the book again to have as a reference.

 

Neither MOTH or WorkBoxes worked for us. We had to "tweak" it. I posted a sample schedule from last year on my blog, but we actually operate much more loosely than even that. Notice there are very few actual TIMES on the "schedule." It's a routine. The kids learn what follows what and it flows fairly smoothly... Perhaps not as smoothly as when we had two, but pretty good for eight. ;) There is also a post and pictures on our tweaked version of workboxes.

 

http://truevineherbs.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/okay-i-get-an-f-for-workboxes/

 

I wouldn't say it's stressful or chaotic exactly. Neither do we resemble the Duggars in any way.

 

I will say for the mama talking about her four year old wanting to learn - DO IT! My current 4yo has just begun to read. My 2.5yo knows most of her letters & sounds. The sooner you teach them to read, the sooner they can read their SOTW readings and their little CLP science readers and then do simple oral or written narrations and call it good for school. ;) When Becca learned to read early it gave me such a feeling of relief - of not being "behind" or needing to get this next thing done. Now that Abby is beginning to read, I feel like I have two years of relaxed enjoyment in front of me, lol. If only this reading thing would click for Tim!

 

I planned our homeschool schedule this fall and found that we literally did not have enough time in a normal length school day to accomplish everything I wanted to do. That was liberating! It wasn't that I simply wasn't doing enough or wasting too much time during the day. I adjusted our schedule to more realistic expectations.

 

This was us as well. My hardest time was when Ana was a 6th grader, CJ was a 3rd grader, Elizabeth was in 1st, and Becca was Pre-K. And probably the next year as well. I just had such high expectations. High expectations are GREAT. However, you can't have both high expectations AND expect to do everything WITH your child when you have multiples. We still have high expectations for Ana, but she is entirely in charge of her education. We/She plans what is going to be covered for the year, and then breaks it down further. She is in charge of planning her day & the execution. I'm really more of a sounding board / discussion buddy. :D We're in the process of training CJ to this end as well. Elizabeth gobbles up the majority of my one on one, "don't interrupt us" time. She's at that 3rd/4th grade level where she is doing things that are hard for her & isn't self sufficient yet & needs a lot of teaching time. I think it's just that age?! Rebecca is only six. She's reading. She's writing. My work here is done for a year or so. Other than oral narration & memorization, I'm needed for precious little here. We've learned to cut to the chase, do what serves our purposes BEST, and not feel so hurried. A hurried mama is usually a grumpy mama. I don't want to be that person. I REALLY don't.

 

Just try to remember good, better, best. Sometimes we fill our time up with really, truly good things. But are they the BEST we could be doing? Oral and written narrations are a BEST use of my time. Having the kids do a specific reader and then worksheets, and then having to CHECK those worksheets are good, but not best. Pour your energy into best, let the rest go.

 

And there are times when something *is* "best" - i.e., as in the best curriculum out there. However, if it's not a great fit for your family (as in it takes a huge amount of one on one time or makes you feel incredibly stressed) then it's not best for YOUR family. Ditch it and find something that works better for you. The best curriculum / work isn't the most award winning... It's the books, the curriculum, the theory that will inspire you to get up every day and DO it. ;)

Edited March 2, 2011 by BlsdMama

[razorbackmama]

I have 5. I spend roughly 6.5-7 hours teaching someone. This does not include planning/checking work time, which takes about 1.5-2 hours a night. We do not do anything rigorous because we have several special needs (none severe, but they aren't "normal" either). I am going through Barton with 5 of my kids, etc.

[Renee in NC]

It really depends on what type of curriculum you are using and how many subjects you are teaching. I am schooling four and it only takes about two hours. But I don't use teacher intensive curriculum and we only do the 3Rs. Anything beyond that is covered informally mostly by reading library books.

 

Susan in TX

 

What materials do you use? It's amazing that you can get math, reading, writing, grammar, spelling, etc. done in 2 hours! I have my 13yo scheduled to do math for an hour alone!

[Susan in TX]

What materials do you use? It's amazing that you can get math, reading, writing, grammar, spelling, etc. done in 2 hours! I have my 13yo scheduled to do math for an hour alone!

 

My 8yog, 10yog, and 14yob are all using CLE math, language arts, and reading. This has been a lifesaver! My 14yob could not do schoolwork independently until we switched to CLE. Now he does it by himself without complaining and requires little help from me. My 10yog can also do all of her CLE independently.

 

My 12yog uses Saxon Algebra 1/2, Rod and Staff English 5, Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary, and CLE Reading. (I did not switch her to CLE math and language arts because she was further along and has no trouble working independently.)

 

If I were to add in any formal study of other subjects such as history or science, school would take longer. Sometimes we do projects such as lapbooks and they are time consuming but I consider that "extra" so I don't stress over it. It is something we do when time permits.

 

Susan in TX

[Mommy7]

I love this thread! I am always trying to get my schedule figured out! I have scheduled as in MOTH for years now. I am schooling 6 dc this year. I am ALWAYS amazed at how long the day is for us! It is reassuring to see that we are not alone in the marathon school day world.

 

I have streamlined everything I can think of. It takes me from 8:30 am to 3 pm to school them. So, that's 6.5 hours. Then, I have about 30 minutes to an hour of checking independent work. So, it ends up being 7-7.5 hours. I am wiped out at the end of the day! Any other tired, but dedicated moms out there???? I see there are plenty of you. Tired and dedicated could apply to a mom with 1 or 2 dc, though. :D

[5LittleMonkeys]

Dd13 does 5 hours a day M-F - Math, Latin, Lit, Grammar, Critical Thinking\Logic, Writing, Science\History, additional reading

 

Dd11 does 5 hours a day M-F - Math, Lit, Grammar, Critical Thinking, Writing, Science\History, additional reading, Spelling

 

Dd8 does 3-4 hours a day M-F - Math, Reading, History, Literature, Writing, Botany (which includes: penmanship\copywork, grammar, and additional writing instruction)

 

Ds4.5 does about 1 hour a day M-F - Math, Phonics, PreK skills

 

Including lunch we go from 9 until 3, so I spend about 5 hours on instruction. My oldest works mostly independently and my second oldest does about half of her work independently. We were working more hours at the beginning of the year when we did formal history and science but after Christmas the oldest two switched to interest project based science and history so we could focus on core skills. That cut about and hour off of their schedule everyday.

 

Next year is going to be way different though because my two oldest will start doing about 7 to 7.5 hours per day. Ds will move up to about 2 hours. We will have to start at 8 and won't be done until 4.

[ArizonaGirl]

I have five in full time school at home, plus a four-year-old and two-year-old.

 

We start around 8 or 9 am and I usually declare myself done around 3 or 4 pm, but they usually don't all finish by then.

 

I've learned that although I'd like to work with everyone on everything everyday, I often only get an average of three times a week with each child on the subjects that consume my time the most. On the busiest days, sometimes math is just flashcards and a review worksheet--at least they are doing something.

 

We focus heavily on Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. History and Science are read aloud together for the younger ones and alone for the older ones. We often read school books aloud at bedtime, and I often have to grade high school work after bedtime.

 

We drew a generic checklist chart on a whiteboard on the wall, and for the past month that has helped considerably. Can you check off your math, science, history, silent reading, phonics, spelling, writing, grammar, piano practice, etc.? I can look at the chart and at a glance see who has been on task and who hasn't. We erase it each night, and start new each day. I put an "x" on anything I choose to excuse them from each day because my time is limited. When all subjects are checked off, you are free to choose what you want to do.

 

School does seem to take all day. Sometimes I wish I could just have one or two to educate, or that I had started homeschooling one at a time instead of jumping straight in all at once a couple years ago. That first year was rough, but I am glad to have them all. We have adjusted, but constantly change things. Sufficient sleep for Mom is a must.

 

I also have to plan breaks and time for myself, even if it is on a Saturday night or date night with my husband.

[sandra in va]

 

We drew a generic checklist chart on a whiteboard on the wall, and for the past month that has helped considerably. Can you check off your math, science, history, silent reading, phonics, spelling, writing, grammar, piano practice, etc.? I can look at the chart and at a glance see who has been on task and who hasn't. We erase it each night, and start new each day. I put an "x" on anything I choose to excuse them from each day because my time is limited. When all subjects are checked off, you are free to choose what you want to do.

 

 

 

 

In the throes of a busy day, I have often thought of doing this very thing! It would be so helpful to see who has done what each day. We have paper checklists the kids use. (from the 1st grader up through 9th grade) The younger kids just use it to mark when things are done. The olders use it to write down their assignments and plan their week. Throughout the day, I look at their individual checklists and keep up that way, but it would be nice to have it all on a wall in one place. I got the checklist idea from TOG.

[robsiew]

I have 4 and we generally start 8:30/9am and we're done by 2/2:30. This includes a break for lunch. Like others have said... this is MY time, not all the children. Also, I have one who likes to do independent work at night so his schedule is a bit different....

 

That doesn't include about 45 min. each night to go through the day's papers, file them and get the next day set up.

[cjbeach]

I only have 3 at home but if we start at 8ish we're mostly finished by 2:30ish. *KEY* for me personally, getting everyone up early and at our table by 8. Starting out early just seems to give us the groove we need. If I start later I get far less accomplished. We eat at the table (well kids do, I'm coffee early) and while they're munching I do memory work with them, then religion, and maybe a read aloud. Then we all get up, clean up from breakfast, change clothes, make beds then as quickly as possible start on Math. Then LA and on and on. Our breaks are computer breaks for educational games.

But I feel like I homeschool all.day.long. I"m forever "prepping" or looking at curriculum or (and this is huge) finding library books online and reserving them (and of course the bi-weekly library trips).

Homeschool is HARD work.