How many hours per day for middle school?

[Ann.without.an.e]

Just curious how long it takes your middle schooler to complete their work. Just an average. Thanks.:001_smile:

[JudoMom]

4-6 hours.

[elegantlion]

We do 4-5 hours.

[5LittleMonkeys]

This year (6th and 7th) it was about 5-6 hours. Next year will increase by about an hour.

[creekmom]

4-6 hours.

 

:iagree: ...IF he stays focused!

[Chris in VA]

:iagree: with Judo--that's our plan, at least. Of course, that includes science experiments, taking little breaks, and Saxon math, which can take a while.

[missmoe]

7th graders take about 6 hours. My 8th grader takes about 7 hours.

[HSMom2One]

4-6 hours here too. I think seventh grade is going to involve just a bit more though, so we may be looking at 5-7 hours next year.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Luckymama]

Dd's in fifth grade. She takes anywhere from 3-6 hours each day. Some days are just very efficient, lab days take longer, some days the reading is lighter/heavier, etc.

[Chava_Raizel]

Dd is 6th grade and she takes about 4-6 hours to complete her school work.

[prairiegirl]

Dd is in 6th grade this year and it takes her about 4-5 hours. Next year will be a big step up for her so I am sure the time will increase by an hour or two.

[NanceXToo]

My daughter in 5th grade has been finishing in 3-4 hours.

[Teacher Mom]

My daughter is in 7th grade and "school" takes 6 to 6.5 hours. She does have papers to write, however, that are not including in the total. Her study time is also not included.

[swainsonshawk]

My son has recently become more focused and directed in his schoolwork. It is no longer like training a puppy to get him to do his work and focus on it. What used to take him 5-6 hours to complete, he is now getting done in 2.5-3. Not that I want to "punish" him with more work, but for 7th grade I'm planning on upping the requirement to more like 4-6 hours

[Stacy in NJ]

:001_smile:

[Narrow Gate Academy]

For 6th grade, it's 5-6 hours generally. Less on days when she's really focused.

[swimmermom3]

My seventh grader works from 8am-3pm with a 45 minute lunch break in the middle. He occasionally has homework when he progresses too slowly.

[Ann.without.an.e]

My seventh grader works from 8am-3pm with a 45 minute lunch break in the middle. He occasionally has homework when he progresses too slowly.

 

When you say he works til 3pm, what if he finishes early...would you keep him until 3 working on something extra? Just curious?

 

:001_smile:

[swimmermom3]

When you say he works til 3pm, what if he finishes early...would you keep him until 3 working on something extra? Just curious?

 

:001_smile:

 

This is my most analytical child and my slowest mover. I have finally settled on the method of allowing x amount of time for each subject. I fill the day and he usually only has homework if he does not finish a reasonable amount of work in the time allotted. Until recently, he had a couple of hours of swim practice after school which made it an absolute necessity to finish the work during the day. It has taken me a couple of years to develop a productive schedule that combats the "slug on valium" syndrome.

 

There were two years where I had both boys home and my oldest son is the exact opposite - think Hammy on caffeine in Over the Hedge. I felt exceptionally bipolar by the end of the day. Also, in working with my older son, I learned to be careful about offering the option of getting out of school early for getting work done early. He could fly through a day's work in 2-3 hours and then we would spend the next couple of hours battling over the quality of the work.

 

I guess my point is that what other people do can be something to consider, but children and their abilities and temperaments vary greatly and you have to do what works best for both of you no matter how cliche that sounds. My youngest has always been conservative with his energy except in the pool, but always sharply focused. He is the last child I would have expected to be hit by the "hormonal half-wit" syndrome which disables so many middle schoolers, but alas, even he has succumbed. :tongue_smilie: It is just one more thing to deal with in finding the right amount of work for a middle schooler. Good luck!

Edited April 27, 2011 by swimmermom3

[Haiku]

This surprises me. My oldest dd is in a high school run by a university, and the school's focus is getting kids who would struggle in college college-ready. Her school day is from 8:45 to 3:30. She gets a 40-minute lunch break and five minutes between classes. So cut out that 75 minutes, and she is actually in class 5 1/2 hours. Of that, she is not directly focused on her studies the whole time. Sometimes she gets work done early and just hangs out. She rarely has homework, although she does have a series of projects she has to complete. These sometimes require homework, but frequently she gets things done in school (she has an "advisory" period, which is a fancy name for a small-group study hall).

 

I know as well as anyone that my goal as a homeschooler is not just to do "as well as" the schools, but if my kid can be in a university-run college prep high school and get away with 5 1/2 (at the max) hours a day, why are middle schoolers working for 7 hours a day? Part of the reason I chose to homeschool is so that my kids would have more time to pursue other aspects of life than just academics.

 

To me, 7 hours of focused schoolwork would be a quick road to burn-out.

 

Tara

[Princess Peach]

Oldest DS (6th grade) takes about 3-4 hours to complete his work. I expect the time may go up next year, but only by maybe an hour or so.

[Stacy in NJ]

I agree with you but.......

 

I have a hard time understanding why a 7th or 8th grader would need to work for 6 or 7 hours per day. Our experience is that homeschooling is waaaaay more time efficient than institutionalized schooling. That said, I think there's a lot of wiggle room for what school actually is. I don't include any break or lunch time in my hour count. I also don't include any discussion time - that just happens - but can be very "educational" nonetheless. My boys tend to whip through the easy stuff (spelling for example) as quickly as possible. Some folks just move more slowly than others. My father once told me that I'm the type of person who stands in front of the microwave and screams "Hurry Up!". We're not a family of lingerers; we're all about get'er done. I believe we accomplish as much or nearly as much as most other homeschoolers. As someone with an expectation of college for both of my boys, I'm fairly confident that we're on track. If being on track means we're working 3/4/5 hours per day instead of more, I'm okay with that as well.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

[Jilly]

Oldest DS (6th grade) takes about 3-4 hours to complete his work. I expect the time may go up next year, but only by maybe an hour or so.

 

 

My twins work between three and four hours a day for sixth grade also.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin used to work 9-5, but that included 90 minutes of breaks and an hour of exercise.

 

Laura

[EKS]

When he was in middle school my older son (who is a slow worker) worked 4-5 hours in 6th grade and 5-6 hours in 8th grade.

[swimmermom3]

Theoretically, homeschool "should" be more efficient and it is if your children are like Stacy in NJ's. Then there are kids like my youngest. Earlier this year, he would take his math book with his 20 problems and re-emerge hours later. So I gave him a timer and I had a timer. One day he was so excited because math took him just about an hour. Funny thing that my timer said it took him about 2.5 hours. It's all a matter of perception.:tongue_smilie: He stopped his timer every time he went to the bathroom, ate a snack, played with the cat, or ventured out to tell me about his business plans! So in his mind, math only took an hour.:001_huh: At this rate, if we limited school to 3-4 hours a day, we would cover 1-2 subjects per day.

 

That brings up another point. Looking at the number of hours a student works and passing judgment on efficiency, tedium, etc. doesn't really fly because there are so many variables to consider. Each household, student, and teacher is unique with their own singular set of needs and standards.

 

One student may spend 3-4 hours a day on school and may only study 4 subjects. Another student may spend 7-8 hours a day on school, but the parent has not pointed out that two hours of that time is spent on music practice because the student is in youth symphony.

[Ann.without.an.e]

Theoretically, homeschool "should" be more efficient and it is if your children are like Stacy in NJ's. Then there are kids like my youngest. Earlier this year, he would take his math book with his 20 problems and re-emerge hours later. So I gave him a timer and I had a timer. One day he was so excited because math took him just about an hour. Funny thing that my timer said it took him about 2.5 hours. It's all a matter of perception.:tongue_smilie: He stopped his timer every time he went to the bathroom, ate a snack, played with the cat, or ventured out to tell me about his business plans! So in his mind, math only took an hour.:001_huh: At this rate, if we limited school to 3-4 hours a day, we would cover 1-2 subjects per day.

 

 

 

Wow, I have of these too and I have no idea what to do with him sometimes. I am at my wits end. I need to know anything you have learned...anything. :D

[laurad1125]

24 hours a week. (spread over 4 1/2 days)

[Stacy in NJ]

too much time vs. not enough time.

 

:boxing_smiley:

 

Kids and families are so very different; I don't know that counting hours and comparing is all that helpful. Different strokes for different folks.:001_smile:

 

Theoretically, homeschool "should" be more efficient and it is if your children are like Stacy in NJ's. Then there are kids like my youngest. Earlier this year, he would take his math book with his 20 problems and re-emerge hours later. So I gave him a timer and I had a timer. One day he was so excited because math took him just about an hour. Funny thing that my timer said it took him about 2.5 hours. It's all a matter of perception.:tongue_smilie: He stopped his timer every time he went to the bathroom, ate a snack, played with the cat, or ventured out to tell me about his business plans! So in his mind, math only took an hour.:001_huh: At this rate, if we limited school to 3-4 hours a day, we would cover 1-2 subjects per day.

 

That brings up another point. Looking at the number of hours a student works and passing judgment on efficiency, tedium, etc. doesn't really fly because there are so many variables to consider. Each household, student, and teacher is unique with their own singular set of needs and standards.

 

One student may spend 3-4 hours a day on school and may only study 4 subjects. Another student may spend 7-8 hours a day on school, but the parent has not pointed out that two hours of that time is spent on music practice because the student is in youth symphony.

 

ETA: Also, kids that pound through their work also present their own challenges. If I'm not super diligent about double checking his work, my oldest gets amazingly sloppy. I'm the quality control agent in our homeschool.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Stacy in NJ

[mcconnellboys]

6.5 most days....

[Ann.without.an.e]

I started this thread not to debate enough time vs not enough time. I am claimed to be a slave driver and I wanted to know if I am really "that" bad. Guess what? My kids have it easy ;) And, yes, I am going to inform them of that :D

[blessed2five]

I agree with you but.......

 

I have a hard time understanding why a 7th or 8th grader would need to work for 6 or 7 hours per day. Our experience is that homeschooling is waaaaay more time efficient than institutionalized schooling. That said, I think there's a lot of wiggle room for what school actually is..

 

I agree that one of the advantages of homeschooling is that they can complete their work in less time than PS. With that said my 7th and 8th graders usually spend a total of 5 hours per day on actual school work and sometimes I feel I am giving them too much work and not leaving enough room for them to just be kids :001_smile:

[5LittleMonkeys]

To me, 7 hours of focused schoolwork would be a quick road to burn-out.

 

Tara

 

The time I indicated includes time spent on things dd13 would do even if they weren't assigned. She loves to do Latin and often does it on the weekends. She also loves science and pursues topics of her own choosing. On Monday I told her she could take a break from math for awhile since we are at the end of our year. She's spending about 45 minutes a day doing it anyway. What you say about burn-out may be true for some but I would have to load this dc up with about 10 hours of subjects she hates for it to feel like burn-out to her.

 

My other middle schooler is similiar. The time I indicate for her includes time spent on her own interest projects in history and science. This dc would burn out on 7 hours of boring bookwork but that is why I customize her education to reflect her interests.

[8filltheheart]

My kids work about an avg of 1 hr/day/grade level. That is true in middle school as well, so my 6th grader takes about 6 hrs.....some days less, some days more. By high school, days are anywhere from 7-9 hrs long and sometimes they have to work a couple of hrs on the weekend as well.

[Haiku]

I wasn't trying to debate what is enough/too much. I was just surprised to see kids working seven hours a day, is all.

 

Tara

[Capt_Uhura]

Theoretically, homeschool "should" be more efficient and it is if your children are like Stacy in NJ's. Then there are kids like my youngest. Earlier this year, he would take his math book with his 20 problems and re-emerge hours later. So I gave him a timer and I had a timer. One day he was so excited because math took him just about an hour. Funny thing that my timer said it took him about 2.5 hours. It's all a matter of perception.:tongue_smilie: He stopped his timer every time he went to the bathroom, ate a snack, played with the cat, or ventured out to tell me about his business plans! So in his mind, math only took an hour.:001_huh: At this rate, if we limited school to 3-4 hours a day, we would cover 1-2 subjects per day.

 

That brings up another point. Looking at the number of hours a student works and passing judgment on efficiency, tedium, etc. doesn't really fly because there are so many variables to consider. Each household, student, and teacher is unique with their own singular set of needs and standards.

.

 

I have one of those too!!!! Drives me insane. I am a sit down and get it done person. My son fiddles w/ his legos, stops to tell his brother something, goes to the restroom, gets a drink of water, gets a snack, drops his pencil, notices a bird building a nest outside the window, wants to know what kind of bird, we stop to look it up in our bird book.....

 

 

That's why instead of posting # of hours, I wish people would post a day in the life....but I know that takes time and we are all short on time.

 

I wonder how folks can get it all done in 3-4hrs for a 5th-6th grader. We spend about 40-60min on a read aloud, that would leave 2-3hrs. Math alone takes 30-60min depending on the day. That would leave 1-2hrs to do language arts, history, logic, reading. It takes us an hour just for language arts. It'll take 10min to do MCT Practice Town and have a discussion about it w/ both boys. It takes another 5min for DS10 to do a Daily Edit and check his work. Then if we do a writing assignment, that could take an 30min. Then another 15min for Sentence Composing. that's an hour. Then add in the time it takes for DD4 to ask DS10 a question and for him to answer. Then for history, time to do the reading, time to do the outlining and discuss as we go. Both boys like discussing and relating to other things such as Civilizations Game etc so lots of little bunny trails. Then add in stopping to get snack for DD, set her up w/ playdoh, read her a story, handle her tantrum, run after DS7 who has finished his work and snuck upstairs..... we are doing something from 9am-4pm with about 1-1.5hr for lunch and several small breaks. But if I were to set a timer and figure out actual focused, on task time, it's probably more like 3hrs....so I guess we're on the public school schedule. :lol:

 

And then there is the matter of what folks are including in those hours. I see folks say their DC do 3hrs/day but then later find that that doesn't include independent reading, PE, etc.

 

Now when I only have 1 kid for some reason (illness usually), we are done so much quicker and get more done b/c of less distractions and the one kid staying on task longer.

[8filltheheart]

 

 

That's why instead of posting # of hours, I wish people would post a day in the life....but I know that takes time and we are all short on time.

 

.

 

When I post hrs, they reflect the summation of their daily assigned workload hrs. If they diddle-daddle, it may take them longer. When I write their lesson planners, I gauge the expected amt of time to finish and assign accordingly. It is why I state that their days aren't finished until everything in their planners are completed.

 

Occasionally my estimations are incorrect, but pretty much they are on target.

 

So......5 targeted hrs of focused academics is what my 5th graders are normally doing.

[Mom22ns]

My eighth grader spends a solid 7 hours, sometimes more, but he is a slow worker.

 

My sixth grader spends close to 6. I don't anticipate that going up for at least one more year, maybe not until high school. She can get a lot more done with her time - usually.:D

[Capt_Uhura]

When I post hrs, they reflect the summation of their daily assigned workload hrs. If they diddle-daddle, it may take them longer. When I write their lesson planners, I gauge the expected amt of time to finish and assign accordingly. It is why I state that their days aren't finished until everything in their planners are completed.

 

Occasionally my estimations are incorrect, but pretty much they are on target.

 

So......5 targeted hrs of focused academics is what my 5th graders are normally doing.

 

Thanks for the clarification 8Filltheheart!

[AuntPol]

Family read aloud -30 minutes

Literature w/analysis: 30 minutes

Shakespeare/Myth/Poetry/Plutarch/Nature Study-30 minutes+

Grammar/Spelling/Vocabulary-30 minutes

Latin/Art-30 Minutes

Writing-30 minutes

Math 30 minutes+

Science 30 minutes+

History/Bio, etc -30 minutes

History Projects- 30 minutes

Geography/Economics/Govt/Logic/Apologetics-30 minutes

Bible/Current Events-30 minutes

 

Theoretically -6 hours

[Ann@thebeach]

Wow, I'll admit it, I'm surprised at 7+ hrs a day. But, we are not a strictly "classical" family either. We are not nearly as rigorous as many are here (obviously from these hrs!) but I feel comfortable with the 3-3.5 hrs a day for my 3rd and 6th graders. This does not include reading time just because that is done various times day and night.

It also does not include karate classes or guitar lessons because I see those as extras.

We try to have lots of discussions about things and DH likes to have "supper table" discussions about a topic of interest. While I don't count this in the daily hours, I think they learn a lot from these discussions and it takes the place of some of our daily work depending on the topic.

 

My oldest will be doing more next year with history, lit, and science, but I don't see him doing more than 5hrs a day. First off, I know he'd burn out doing more than that. He also won't be doing all these subjects every day-such as science 2x a week and history 3x a week.

 

I think these threads can be dangerous because everyone does their thing based on their own kid's needs and parent expectations.

But they can be so intimidating to others that are just starting and think "geesh, I thought homeschooling was supposed to save time on school work and now I should be expecting 6 hrs a day? Maybe he should just stay in school." They are just seeing the hours but don't necessarily understand what's behind them KWIM?

[Stacy in NJ]

If you haven't already. It gives you a better idea of how some of us spend those actual hours.

 

Wow, I'll admit it, I'm surprised at 7+ hrs a day. But, we are not a strictly "classical" family either. We are not nearly as rigorous as many are here (obviously from these hrs!) but I feel comfortable with the 3-3.5 hrs a day for my 3rd and 6th graders. This does not include reading time just because that is done various times day and night.

It also does not include karate classes or guitar lessons because I see those as extras.

We try to have lots of discussions about things and DH likes to have "supper table" discussions about a topic of interest. While I don't count this in the daily hours, I think they learn a lot from these discussions and it takes the place of some of our daily work depending on the topic.

 

My oldest will be doing more next year with history, lit, and science, but I don't see him doing more than 5hrs a day. First off, I know he'd burn out doing more than that. He also won't be doing all these subjects every day-such as science 2x a week and history 3x a week.

 

I think these threads can be dangerous because everyone does their thing based on their own kid's needs and parent expectations.

But they can be so intimidating to others that are just starting and think "geesh, I thought homeschooling was supposed to save time on school work and now I should be expecting 6 hrs a day? Maybe he should just stay in school." They are just seeing the hours but don't necessarily understand what's behind them KWIM?

Edited April 29, 2011 by Stacy in NJ

[Spock]

This year I had a 5th grader, 3rd grader, and 12th grader. My 12th grader was almost completely independent.

 

My 3rd and 5th grader usually started school around 9, and finished anywhere from 12-7PM. Usually Mondays were lighter days, so we could go to the library and each lunch with my mother. Those were the days they sometimes finished by 12, though we sometimes still had to bring work to do in the library.

 

My schedule/plan for time for 4th/6th:

 

Bible reading & oral narration (we usually do this together, though we may switch to reading alone): ~20-30 min

Bible memory: 10-15 min

 

Singapore Primary Math: 20-30min (some days take longer, and a few take less)

Intensive Practice or Challenging Word Problems: 20 min (sometimes takes less)

Math facts drill: 10-15 min

 

English Reading:20-30 min

English Read aloud/Literature: 20-30 min

Poetry: 5-20 min (5 minutes most days, when we just read a poem. 20 minutes once a week, to use an MCT poetry book)

Vocabulary: 20 min, 4x week

English grammar: 20-30 min

English writing: 20-30 min (written narration, outline, etc.)

Dictation or Copywork (for spelling): 20 min

 

Spanish reading: 20 min

Spanish read aloud: 20 min

Spanish writing or grammar: 20 min

 

Science: 20-30 min

History: 20-30 min

 

Music and Art: (composer, folk song, hymn, Spanish song, artist, drawing) ~45 min

 

Lunch: 20-30 min

 

All of this comes out to around 6 hrs per day. I have tried to shorten it, but the only things I could really cut (music and art) are things they love. They truly need all the reinforcement in math and English, and Spanish is a priority for family reasons. I wish we had more time for science, though, since my daughter especially likes science.

Edited May 1, 2011 by Spock

[8filltheheart]

Wow, I'll admit it, I'm surprised at 7+ hrs a day. But, we are not a strictly "classical" family either. We are not nearly as rigorous as many are here (obviously from these hrs!) but I feel comfortable with the 3-3.5 hrs a day for my 3rd and 6th graders. This does not include reading time just because that is done various times day and night.

It also does not include karate classes or guitar lessons because I see those as extras.

We try to have lots of discussions about things and DH likes to have "supper table" discussions about a topic of interest. While I don't count this in the daily hours, I think they learn a lot from these discussions and it takes the place of some of our daily work depending on the topic.

 

My oldest will be doing more next year with history, lit, and science, but I don't see him doing more than 5hrs a day. First off, I know he'd burn out doing more than that. He also won't be doing all these subjects every day-such as science 2x a week and history 3x a week.

 

I think these threads can be dangerous because everyone does their thing based on their own kid's needs and parent expectations.

But they can be so intimidating to others that are just starting and think "geesh, I thought homeschooling was supposed to save time on school work and now I should be expecting 6 hrs a day? Maybe he should just stay in school." They are just seeing the hours but don't necessarily understand what's behind them KWIM?

 

While I absolutely agree that parents need to form their own educational plans based on the needs of their children, I do believe there is value in seeing academic schedules for kids as they get older. In my experience, one of the main areas of difficulty within the homeschooling community is the lack of appropriate increase in workload when shifting from elementary school to middle school and from middle school to high school.

[BlsdMama]

Wow, I'll admit it, I'm surprised at 7+ hrs a day. But, we are not a strictly "classical" family either. We are not nearly as rigorous as many are here (obviously from these hrs!) but I feel comfortable with the 3-3.5 hrs a day for my 3rd and 6th graders. This does not include reading time just because that is done various times day and night.

It also does not include karate classes or guitar lessons because I see those as extras.

 

Over years, I've found that what you are saying is often the difference between the 3 hour schedule and the 7 hour schedule.

 

We don't count DD's piano or DS' guitar as "music" and they often read books on composers or watch a documentary and we don't count that as school.

Free writing and/or journaling isn't "school" - it's life.

Nature walks & study isn't really school, is it? It's life.

We don't count the breeding of rabbits, or the study of the catepillar, or the identifying of leaves & plants as "school" in our tally.

My kids don't even really think of reading history as "school."

 

In all truth, they see their formal writing assignments, spine reading, math, and grammar as the only "school" they do.

 

Often when you see someone list 7-8 hours, this will include piano, journaling, creative writing, nature study, personal interest projects, etc. And when you see someone's schedule that says 3 hours each day, there are usually a lot of things going on that their particular family simply doesn't count.... Discussions, narrations, memorization, and more.

[Ester Maria]

I know as well as anyone that my goal as a homeschooler is not just to do "as well as" the schools, but if my kid can be in a university-run college prep high school and get away with 5 1/2 (at the max) hours a day, why are middle schoolers working for 7 hours a day? Part of the reason I chose to homeschool is so that my kids would have more time to pursue other aspects of life than just academics.

I am not so sure, Tara... depends on how you view it. Those can be actual, real, academic 7 hours, and still be a blessing compared to what the kid would be faced with in a school setting.

 

Traditionally schooled kids often have a lot of leeway during their school classes, i.e. not all of their work is highly efficient and concentrated work, but they also have homework... and often, in academics-heavy prep schools, lots of it. Sure, I could send my kids to 8 am - 1/2 pm traditional school for those six days a week (with breaks, etc.), but would they really be "done" at 1/2 pm? I am not so sure. Add at least 10-15 hours of homework per week, assigned reading, etc. (and I am writing this from the point of view of somebody who was a bright, academically talented child who was capable of "getting away" with less time than "supposed"... for many more children, it would actually take double as much, in good and challenging prep programs, and the majority would probably fall somewhere in between).

Next, what do we do with those kids who lived abroad and have an additional "native language" to keep up with (or who have a different native language at home and their parents want them to be literate)? I cannot sentence them to school foreign language, can I? And even if I somehow make a "deal" with the professor to give them differentiated work, if it is the same language that happens to be on their plate at school, it will still not be enough... So, add additional 5-6 hours for English / Italian / whatnot alone (one or two private lessons per week + some work to do for those private lessons, readings to go through, etc). And even many kids who are not in that situation attend additional language courses outside of the school setting, in high school at least.

 

Next, what do we do with Hebrew school (or other groups' particular cultural and religious instruction)? That alone would take 5+ hours weekly (and that is a very generous estimate, for girls, from not particularly religious families!), probably more. Many kids, particularly boys, and from more observant families, would be more likely to do an hour or two daily and more on weekends.

 

So the initial "8 am - 2 pm school" very quickly turns into "8 am - 2 pm school with about 20+ additional hours weekly" for a lot of kids.

 

And if your kid has a particular academic interest they wish to pursue on a higher level? Add private lessons, more hours spent on it, add interest clubs, etc.

And if your kid is into music? Music theory alone - solfeggio and harmony on a basic level - is several hours weekly. Regarding practice, that oscillates, but anyone remotely into it will also not do less than 10ish hours weekly. Those who are seriously into music, double or even triple it.

And if you as a family have certain things you wish to teach in addition to the regular school program, because you are not fully satisfied with how school does it (e.g. classics for me)?

 

What I am trying to say, I guess, is just how problematic that "counting" is. Most traditionally schooled kids in academically heavy prep programs, with any kind of additional activity, actually put in way more hours weekly than what we see from the outside when we speak of "8-2 school".

Edited April 29, 2011 by Ester Maria

[Ann.without.an.e]

What I am trying to say, I guess, is just how problematic that "counting" is. Most traditionally schooled kids in academically heavy prep programs, with any kind of additional activity, actually put in way more hours weekly than what we see from the outside when we speak of "8-2 school".

 

 

I always telling my DD when she complains, "you can go to school from 8-2:30 and then have hours of homework to bring home". I can't believe the amount of homework PS kids bring home. I think to myself, "what are they doing AT school?" If we happen to school from 9-3, but then have no homework, we are putting in a lot less hours than traditional school, but only because our hours are more efficient.

[Capt_Uhura]

In our district, DS would get in the bus at 8:30am and would get off the bus at 4pm. He would then have about 1-2hrs of homework each night. In a neighboring district, over every. single. break. her same-grade DS has a report to write, assigned books to read or project to do...even over Christmas break. We do nothing over that time but enjoy family.

 

I include everything in the times I give. I think of it as time spent learning so unless it's absolute free play, I count it. So I count their reading time, read aloud time, PE, 2hr nature hike. So now that it is spring, you'll often find DS at the table finishing up some work at 8pm b/c we spent 3-4hrs outdoors. It's not an excuse not to get regular work completed....we simply shift the schedule around to enjoy the nice weather while we have it.

[BlsdMama]

The time I indicated includes time spent on things dd13 would do even if they weren't assigned. She loves to do Latin and often does it on the weekends.

 

I have a DD like this. She's 15 now. You are going to LOVE high school! DD planned and scheduled all of her own history and lit selections, then broke them down into weekly plans, assigned writing papers to both subjects, and has very carefully adhered to everything she planned from the beginning of the year. Honestly? I did think she'd burn out. She reads from her lists in the evenings, on the weekends.... And yes, she works on Latin for fun too.

 

Just so you know - your best times with her are coming up. Mine is an absolute JOY to have in high school right now - I couldn't possibly be loving it more.

[elegantlion]

 

I include everything in the times I give. I think of it as time spent learning so unless it's absolute free play, I count it. So I count their reading time, read aloud time, PE, 2hr nature hike. So now that it is spring, you'll often find DS at the table finishing up some work at 8pm b/c we spent 3-4hrs outdoors. It's not an excuse not to get regular work completed....we simply shift the schedule around to enjoy the nice weather while we have it.

 

We did a nature hike yesterday, it was wonderful.

Edited May 1, 2011 by elegantlion