A day in the life of your 1st grader...

[Gentlemommy]

What does a typical day look like for your first grade kid? I'm having a hard time figuring out how much to do every day...sometimes I want to let her play and not do too much seat work, and other times I think I'm failing her by not pushing her a bit more...

It would be really helpful to see what others do on a typical day. Specifics would be great, like if you do copy work, how much is it exactly? One sentence, a verse? 10 minutes, 20? Or math, how many pages? Or time spent? How often do you do science and history? Art, composer or picture study? Do you do grammar, spelling, and phonics, or just kind of read books? Sorry, I'm just having second thoughts and doubts about what I am doing right now lol. Thanks!!!

[Farrar]

My boys are young 2nd graders (just past the cut off here). Last year and the start of this year, our typical day was between 1-3 hours of formal school, then we were out and about often with classes, co-op, park days, field trips and the like. Then, we read for at least half an hour in the evening.

 

That school time, which was usually about 2 hours, was probably about a good hour of seatwork. A typical day might include 1-2 pages of ETC, 1-3 of math (we mostly do Math Mammoth), either a page of handwriting or a couple sentences of copywork, and maybe another page or two of something else - writing, logic workbooks, geography, etc. That time would also include me reading aloud to them for science and history, and then reading either independently or aloud to me. It might also include educational games. We play things by ear.

[Missouri Okie]

We're in Classical Conversations, so during breakfast we review the memory work. Then my first grader plays with his sister until 9:00. During this play time, I have the CC memory work CD playing in the background.

 

At 9:00, we do a lesson in OGPTR (we're around lesson 150) and a lesson in FLL 1. This is couch time and takes about 15 minutes.

 

We move to the desk and do 5 new spelling words and 5 review words in Phonics Road. He does narration or copywork based on the guidelines in WWE. As for the length of both those, our narration passage is 3-4 paragraphs and his copywork is only one sentence based on WWE guidance. After that we do a lesson in RightStart B. All of this desk time takes less than an hour.

 

After a snack, he does 20 minutes of violin practice.

 

After lunch, he reads to me and I read to him, which takes between 30 minutes to an hour.

[Osaubi]

First grade was different for both kids.

 

My ds would go in spurts. He would speed through his school work and then need time to mentally sort through it all. So I let him take days off when it looked like he needed it. He was not required to do much writing and I picked RightStart for his first grade year so we could play games to concepts.

 

My dd who is in first grade now is the opposite. My dd loves to do school. She loves worksheets so I chose Math Mammoth for her. She does 1 to 2 pages per day depending on where she is at and the worksheet. I base math more on cementing the early concepts than worksheets or lessons.

 

We are doing Adventures in America this year for history. They have a one sentence of copywork per week. That is about all the copywork I ask of her. She also does HWOT and sometimes they ask her to write words or sentences.

 

She also does grammer, spelling, geography, science, art, music, and phonics. She a lot of this because we do geogrpahy, science, art, and music as a family.

 

My ds would not have handled that much school very well. For him I kept it to math, phonics, and FIAR.

[Mrs Twain]

We are doing more than necessary for my 1st grader due to the fact that she is tagging along with my 3rd grader. That considered, here is what she does each day (times are approximate):

 

CLE English, 15-20 minutes

Spelling Power, 15 minutes

Horizons math, 30 minutes

Writing (journal writing, WWE--for copywork and narration, or IEW (I am helping her this one)--though I wouldn't have done IEW this early except for my 3rd grader), 30 minutes

Reading, 15 minutes aloud to me, plus extra silent reading

Reading comprehension workbook or Critical Thinking workbook, 10 minutes

Handwriting (A Reason for Handwriting), 10 minutes

Memory Work, A Beka's Oral Language Exercises (10 minutes)

I read aloud to the kids: History, What Your First Grader Needs to Know (20-30 minutes)

Various lapbook projects, work on this briefly 3 times per week

These subjects are each once per week, 30-45 minutes each: Music, Art, Geography, Civics, Science

[FlyingMOm]

My first grader's Daily Schedule:

 

6:30am Wake up & go downstairs with Daddy. Breakfast and free play, watch cartoons, etc. until 8:30am

8:30am Head upstairs. Make beds, get dressed, brush hair, neaten & tidy rooms.

9:00-9:15 Work on Handwriting lesson. If finish early, do a few pages of Logic from Critical Thinking Co. book

9:15-9:45 Right Start Math (which is mostly games, so fun! usually 1-2 lessons)

9:45-10:00 Phonics (one page of Explode the Code)

10:00-10:15 Break- play time with toys or use the computer to play a few games on starfall.

10:15-10:45 Sit with me on the couch while we read our history & literature books- living books/picture books from Tapestry.

 

(one day a week there is a Geography lesson from 10:15-10:30 so history is backed up until 11:00. For that we do 1 weeks worth of lessons from Daily Geography and it takes about 5 minutes. Mapwork is done with Tapestry, during our History slot.)

 

---through a lot of this we often have classical music playing in the background. This year we are focusing on Vivaldi's "Seasons" so that is usually what is playing.

 

10:45-12:00 Recess! Almost always playing outside in the backyard.

 

12:00-1:00pm Lunch. While they are eating lunch we...

--play their Suzuki music

--play & sing aloud to our Wee Sing America selections

--Review our Classical Conversations memory work

--sometimes, if we have time, we do our other memory work (Bible verses, poetry from last year) and a lunch devotion from Step Into the Bible.

 

1:00-3:30 Quiet Time

3:30 Get up- bathroom, drink, small snack

4:00-5:00 Science (Tuesday & Wednesday), , Piano Lesson (Thursday) and on Friday we have a Tea Party. We read a little bit from our Manners Book and talk about what we learned that week. If we have unfinished work, we'll work on that after the tea party. If not, they'll go ahead and go outside for free play.

5:00-6:00 Play outside

6:00-6:45 Dinner & clean up

6:45-7:30 Complete any unfinished work from the day. Family Devotions & Read out loud to Mom for 10-15 minutes.

7:30-8:00 Get ready for bed.

 

Other Extras-

Grammar- we use First Language Lessons so we work the quick, oral lessons in whenever we finish something early and have an extra 5 minutes.

Poetry- we LOVE poetry in our house & read it aloud whenever we get a spare chance in our days.

Classical Conversations- On Mondays the above schedule is scrapped because we have CC in the mornings. In the afternoons, from 4:00-5:30 we do phonics, math & handwriting.

Nature Study and Drawing/Painting Lesson- we are using the "One Small Square" book and have our own square staked and roped out in the backyard. My husband is good at drawing & painting so he usually takes the children out to the square on the weekend. They spend some time observing their square and talking about it and then usually have a drawing or painting lesson on the deck- usually painting something from their square and adding it to their nature journals.

Picture Study- I won a Picturing America grant a few years ago so we have some beautiful works of art available to us. I've got 6 pieces picked out this year. I display them when they coincide with our history topic so we do a picture study lesson when it goes with our history lesson and we do it during the history time slot.

Edited August 29, 2011 by FlyingMOm

[WIS0320]

Here is our daily schedule. We've been in school 6 weeks and I have tweaked things a bit here and there but we seem to be doing 2-3 hours of solid school work per day but I keep things moving pretty well so she is up and about rotating around to different things. I find that 20 minutes is about all I can keep her attention for per lesson. L/A alone generally takes over an hour but each piece of it is 15-20 minutes long.

 

Daily Routine

 

Things have gotten progressively easier as the weeks have rolled by. For us, it appears that having a very predictable sequence to our school time has helped a lot. She always knows what is coming next and the transitions have gotten easier each day. I personally think little kids really like routine and continuity so that has shaped how I've structured our school time. Your mileage may vary. :-)

[Mrs Twain]

Edit to add more specifics:

Music: Music appreciation from What Your First Grader Needs to Know, and Ready to Use Music Reading Activities Kit

 

Art: Reading through Usborne's Art Treasury for art appreciation, plus Drawing With Children

[Gentlemommy]

Thank you for all of your replies! It really helps to see what others are doing! So here is what we have been doing, could you tell me if it seems like too much, too little, or a good balance? Dd is 6.5 and is just starting to read independently. She can read more than she thinks she can, I just pushed her too much when she was younger and now she has a stigma about it.:001_huh:

She is very resistant to formal phonics, ala 100EZ lessons, or Funnix or things of that nature. So far, what is working best right now is to let her read from the First Steps book, and from picture books she knows the story line to. She is quite advanced in math, aand it seems to come easily to her. She really grasps the concepts of multiplying and dividing as well as adding and subtracting.

 

We do school six days a week, simply because my kids really thirve on routine. It also leaves a cushion for those hectic days.

 

Daily, I have her copy a bible verse as her writing. She also has two pen pals that we write to weekly. Have talked about basic grammar and punctuation with her, but nothing formal.

She is required to read something to me, anything at this point.

We do one page from Miquon.

 

Four times a week, I read to her for American history, using the books from Beautiful Feet curriculum.

Two to three times a week, I read to her for geography, again using the BF books recommendations.

 

Science happens daily, one to two times a week we work on our nature notebook and the rest of the time we are outside quite a bit. She also loves reading out of animal encyclopedias and watching Nat. Geo documentaries, so science is easy for us. We will be attending a monthly class at our local preserve as well.

 

 

I have HOD Beyond, but I found that we were skipping so much it wasn't really working. We didn't do their phonics, math, spelling, devotional or science. That left the poetry and history. So I scrapped it for now. I do love the idea of HOD, but it just didnt work right now.

 

So what do you all think? Too much, not enough? I feel really guilty for not doing phonics, but honestly, she is sooooo resistant to reading right now (and that's my fault) I'm hesitant to push it. She'll be ok just reading right now, right?:confused:

[LillyMama]

All right, I've never been one to shy away from someone asking for lots of details! That kind of request is music to my verbose self. =) I have a young first grader/old kindergartner son (turned age 6 in July) and a young kindergartner daughter (will be age 5 in November.) I try to combine the two as much as I can, as my daughter is a bit of a nerd, but we're really finishing up kindergarten, will start first grade in December. Here's what our week looks like:

 

Every day:

8-9 Calendar work, math lesson with number chart (count by tens, fives, twos, etc.) weather charting, math games with manipulatives. We make this as fun and active- with lots of running and hopping- as we can. We will do some vocab review during this time, not written, just things from science or geography lessons we've done.

9-9:30 Math lesson and worksheet (we do Singapore) Depending on the topic, we do anywhere from 1-4 pages. Then we take turns playing math games on the computer.

9:30-10 Mom's Choice reading. We read together books from science and history/geography. This can be anywhere from SOTW or TOG readings to The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That books. We're also fans of anything written by Akili. We will eventually try to add a writing/journaling component here but we're not there yet.

10-10:30- snack. Sometimes I'll read to them over snack, sometimes I clean my kitchen. =)

10:30-11:30- spelling and phonics. We're doing AAS, so right now that takes us about 15-20 minutes- it's all interactive, no writing. We do ETC for Phonics, so they usually do 10-15 minutes (1-2 pages in the book) and then 10-15 minutes of games on ETC Online. While one is on the computer, the other does OPGTR with me.

11:30- handwriting (1-2 pages) and then free play if rest of the work is completed

12:00- lunch

12- bedtime- varies per day

Bedtime: AT LEAST 30 minutes of reading. One Bible Story, then Kids Choice books.

 

Daily Mods and Afternoons:

Mondays they have a tumbling/dance class from 11:30-12:30. So Phonics and Handwriting gets bumped to after lunch. We tend to run errands on Mondays, like the grocery store, or have play dates and park trips. If we do school in the afternoon, it's usually review of vocabulary or more games. Last week we hid in my darkened bedroom with a flashligh and globe and talked about the continents and how seasons work. Sometimes we will do an art-type project as my daughter likes to color and my son likes glue. But I try to make sure Monday afternoons are fun.

Tuesday afternoons- We review science from the week before (we have science class on Wednesdays) Then we'll do map work or projects from our history curricula- I try to make these fun, and outside as much as possible.

Wednesday afternoons- We have science class from 2-3, then I teach piano lessons from 4-6, so my kids play with the younger siblings of my students.

Thursdays- In a couple weeks, we'll have BSF on Thursday mornings, so we'll be shifting all of our morning school work to the afternoon. (BSF is a Bible Study program with it's own curriculum for kids that mirrors what Mom is studying.) Those days we'll do much less at Calendar Time, cut out Mom's Choice reading, and just do about 2 hours of intensive Math, Reading and Phonics.

Fridays are wild-card days. If we don't have any field trips planned (I try to do at least one a month) then our mornings look the same. The afternoons are reserved for finishing up crafts and projects and playing. If we have field trips, I make sure it's educational, with a journal or written page of some sort, and then I just try to do some work over the weekend- maybe an hour each day comprised of OPGTR and ETC Online and Math games.

 

As I mentioned, we've been doing school about a month and we're not writing as much as I'd like. I hope to figure out how to get more writing from their science class and I've also started a Year Long Book of Nature Walks with my kids which includes journaling pages. But that's just once a month.:001_smile:

 

Not sure if all that helps- that's about as detailed as I can be tonight. I will say- this is our GENERAL schedule. Things get bumped and moved, and cut out all together, each week. Also, my kids have surprised me and actually asked for even more school on some days. Rather than looking at all the stuff I have planned and considering it all as necessary, I've decided to pick the few things I think are truly necessary (Reading, Math, Spelling, Phonics) and just having the other things in my back-pocket as "fun opportunities to learn."

 

One last thing- what I love about homeschooling is that we can ease our kids into longer school days. Right now the weather is beautiful (where I live) and my kids still feel like it's summer. We can still go to the pool while their friends get slammed immediately into 6-7 straight hours of school from day 1. So I know we'll build up our endurance gradually and as the weather gets colder and there are less fun things to do outside, it will be easier to nudge my kids into more school work. So, I say, take your time, enjoy the play, but do keep in the back of your mind that you can slowly push your child to take in a little more work as she goes.

 

Good luck!

[boscopup]

My first grader roughly did this last year:

 

 

• Breakfast/Bible story
  
• Math Mammoth (20-30 minutes)
  
• First Language Lessons (5-10 minutes)
  
• Reading (10-15 minutes - specified number of chapters of a book)
  
• Break until after lunch (we had an 18 month old!)
  
• Lunch
  
• Reading out of library book basket while I put little ones down for a nap (20 minutes)
  
• Writing With Ease (10-15 minutes)
  
• History (SOTW) or Science (library books) (20-30 minutes)
  
• All About Spelling (15-20 minutes)
  
• Once a week, we'd do Art using Draw Write Now (15 minutes)
  

Note that I alternated items that required writing vs. items that required reading or listening. He was a typical writing phobic boy ("My hand hurts."), so I had to gradually increase the amount of writing required. Towards the end of the year, writing got a LOT easier for him.

 

This year for second grade, we have more subjects in the morning, because a 2 year old is a bit easier than an 18 month old. :tongue_smilie: Some days we still end up doing everything in the afternoon. Just depends on how much time I waste. :glare:

[Mrs Twain]

So what do you all think? Too much, not enough? I feel really guilty for not doing phonics, but honestly, she is sooooo resistant to reading right now (and that's my fault) I'm hesitant to push it. She'll be ok just reading right now, right?:confused:

 

My kids have learned most of their phonics through their spelling lessons to be honest, though that is just my personal experience.

 

Perhaps you may like CLE. I just started it this year for 1st. I use Rod and Staff English starting with 2nd, so I bought CLE to fill in until then. It is very gentle and nice. It has a little mix of grammar, spelling, phonics, and writing in a workbook-type of program along with the teacher's manual. If you are worried about not doing phonics, this may be an easy way to get it into the schedule without formally doing a phonics program. You can call it "English" or "Language Arts" so as not to evoke bad feelings as if your child thought she were doing "Phonics."

 

Just an idea...

[Farrar]

Thank you for all of your replies! It really helps to see what others are doing! So here is what we have been doing, could you tell me if it seems like too much, too little, or a good balance?

 

One page in Miquon a day seems like not very much to me, but it's all relative. You're obviously doing a great job. And if your dd is reading, don't worry so much about the phonics. Or maybe do a little with games and nonsense words. But either way, don't feel guilty! :001_smile:

[boscopup]

So what do you all think? Too much, not enough? I feel really guilty for not doing phonics, but honestly, she is sooooo resistant to reading right now (and that's my fault) I'm hesitant to push it. She'll be ok just reading right now, right?:confused:

 

It looks good. For phonics, you might try sneaking it in via spelling? Would she like something like All About Spelling? There are a lot of different ways you can teach phonics. Have you tried doing phonics on the white board? With magnetic letters? Anything that's a little more fun than 100EZ/Funnix?

 

If you can't sneak it in, I agree with waiting and trying again later. Incorporate the phonics into the reading of real books (this requires YOU to know phonics, of course).

[LillyMama]

Since you posted while I was typing my novel, I get to write even more! =)

 

My son was very resistant to phonics, he HATED 100EZ lessons. He does like OPGTR a bit better, but he didn't say he liked reading until he got to lesson 60 or so. Then it clicked for him. I suggest getting Scholastic Sight Words Box Set: http://www.amazon.com/Sight-Word-Readers-Parent-Pack/dp/0545067650/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314583251&sr=8-1. Or something similar.

 

My son hated feeling frustrated puzzling out CVC words. But he's got a great memory, so he liked these books- they repeat phrases over and over. So he after one or two readings by me, he could "read" them to his dad when he got home from work. Having success with that "reading" made him willing to put in the time to struggle with phonetic reading (if that is a phrase...?)

 

Also, he started to fly through ETC when we added AAS- there was something about the breaking down the words in AAS that helped him put them back together in the ETC Phonics.

 

It sounds to me like your daughter is a concept thinking- she thinks more top-down than bottom-up, and that explains the understanding of more complex math skills. You'll want to try to find as many things that introduce her to concepts before details (phonics is all details built into concepts the way it's often taught.) This trait is more common in boys, but I myself was a top-down girl, so I relate to your little girl. But we can be hard to teach. =)

[ScoutTN]

Our schedule varies because we have loads of outside activities on Tuesdays and Wednesdays but most mornings look like this:

 

after breakfast and morning chores

 

Bible and catechism - 20-30 minutes

Handwriting - 10 minutes (3x a week - one sentence or 2 pp. HWT)

Math - 20-30 minutes (DS plays in his room)

Spelling - 15 minutes

Recess

Phonics and reading - 20 minutes

Content subjects - 40 minutes, maybe in the afternoon.

 

We do history 2 or 3x a week and science 2x/wk.

Geography, picture study, composer study, nature study, art, grammar all 1x/wk as it fits in. No stress if something doesn't though.

 

RA every day at lunch. DD reads a lot on her own too.

 

DS tags along if he wants for everything except math, reading and spelling. I do 15 minutes or so of phonics/alphabet with him a couple times a week.

 

We do about 2 hrs. per day. History, Science or Art projects maybe go longer.

 

Library every other week. Field trip type activity (with or without a group of HSers) most weeks - perhaps on Saturday with DH.

[WIS0320]

I agree with the others who have said that picking a spelling program and doing phonics that way is pretty great.

Edited August 29, 2011 by drexel

[StartingOver]

We are doing 1st. I just did a day in the life.... http://homeschoolingintexas.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-in-life-of-homeschoolers-quince.html We do a total of about 3 hours, about 20 minutes of that is dedicated to his sister. We homeschool 4 days a week, and do hands on activities on Friday's.

[FairProspects]

Wow, do most of your first graders really do 3-4 subjects in a row before a break? I don't think that would work here at all, the most we can do is 2. I knew ds was wiggly, but I didn't think he was that wiggly!

 

Our day goes something like this:

 

9:00 WWE 1/1 page New American Cursive

9:15 Break

9:30 Spelling

9:45 Break

10:00 OPG

10:10 FLL 1

10:20 Break/Snack

10:40 Math- 1 page

11:00 Break

11:15 SOTW or Piano or Math supplement

11:45 Lunch

 

After lunch is quiet time and free play.

 

And this would be a GOOD day. Please tell me we are not the only ones who take a lot of breaks!

Edited August 29, 2011 by FairProspects

[LillyMama]

Wow, do most of your first graders really do 3-4 subjects in a row before a break? I don't think that would work here at all, the most we can do is 2. I knew ds was wiggly, but I didn't think he was that wiggly!

 

Our day goes something like this:

 

9:00 WWE 1/1 page New American Cursive

9:15 Break

9:30 Spelling

9:45 Break

10:00 OPG

10:10 FLL 1

10:20 Break/Snack

10:40 Math- 1 page

11:00 Break

11:15 SOTW or Piano or Math supplement

11:45 Lunch

 

After lunch is quiet time and free play.

 

And this would be a GOOD day. Please tell me we are not the only ones who take a lot of breaks!

 

I can't speak for everyone else, but we do take what my kids think are breaks but I think of as "creative curriculum." So they'll only sit still to write in a math book for 10-15 minutes, but we do an hour to an hour and a half of math by adding in math games. And we often finish our work early and I'll yell "Time to RUN LAPS" and see how many times my kids can run around the house in three minutes. We also do active pattern games (AB is stomp/clap, so show me what AAB looks like) or sight words that are all actions- my son could "read" run and hop before his own name. So, yeah, just because I say my kids do math for an hour that doesn't mean they sit for more than 15 minutes of that time. The nice part about doing school like this- when it's time to sit and read with mom, they are physically ready to sit down but their brains are still sharp enough to learn.

 

I love homeschooling LG kids, I wonder if I can get away with doing these things when my kids are in high school?:001_smile:

[musicianmom]

My first-grader has the following seat-work:

 

math -- Singapore 2A workbook, usually 2 pages.

copywork -- between 2 and 4 lines of the poem of the week

cursive -- we use Cheerfully Cursive, she finishes 1 page about every 2-3 days

grammar -- 2 pages of R&S, done mostly orally, though I have her write one sentence

spelling -- studied dictation, 2 sentences

 

Then there's circle time:

 

singing the hymn of the week

practicing the Bible verse of the week (usually with a song) a brief related devotional

catechism

Song School Latin

history read-aloud

literature read-aloud followed by some form of narration

 

Then there is either a science experiment, history activity, geography activity, or art project.

 

All of the above typically takes 1 1/2 hours. We are also using Drawn into the Heart of Reading, which takes about 15 minutes a day.

[go_go_gadget]

My son will be 6.5 next month and just finished first grade, and my daughter is 4.5, just about to start first grade, so they're both in the same neighborhood as your daughter. I just posted our schedule today here, and our current curriculum line-up is here.

 

I think that sticking with phonics games for a phonics-phobic child is a great idea, so it seems to me you're doing fine with those and the free reading.

[EmilyGF]

I'm going to preface this with my goals for my DC: to be well-trained and educated as well as to be best friends (the "happy family" goal). So, our time usage reflects that.

 

We start sometime between 8 and 9.

 

Make bed

Family worship - listen to Bible reading, sing songs (music?)

RightStart C - 45 minutes (includes math games, probably one with sister)

WRTR - read phonograms

Miquon - 2 sheets while sister does RightStart B with mom

Read for 45 minutes on couch as family (high quality picture books, story books, favorites, living science books - totally cobbled together)

Outdoor play -30 minutes in their own world

WRTR - 30 minutes - writing, handwriting, and spelling, also word usage and grammar

Geography - find some things on map randomly decided by mom

 

Lunch

 

Silent Reading - 30 minutes

 

Much much later

 

Read aloud from Bible - 10 minutes

Listen to Dad read aloud from chapter book (just started last week)

 

We're getting a solid 3Rs foundation here while building family togetherness and learning about God. The well-chosen picture books expose ds to a variety of things and he pick things up that he reads really really well, so he learns a lot from silent reading.

 

Emily

[Embassy]

 

Here is a school day in pictures with the approximate amount of time each subject took. My younger son was in first grade.

[zenjenn]

My first grader:

 

~9:00 am: 1 lesson from Teaching Textbooks and daily fact practice on XtraMath.org while I do WWE and penmanship with her 3rd grade sister. If she ends up with extra time, she can play BrainAge on her DS or do her kids' typing program for touch-typing practice.

 

~9:45 am: Switch. 1st grader works with me on penmanship and WWE while sister does her math.

 

~10:30 am: Snack

 

~10:45 am: Either history or science with 3rd grade sister. We do SotW, activities, and read associated literature.

 

~11:45 am: Lunch

 

~1:00 pm: Science Experiment on some days, or on Tues/Thurs we are out at homeschool PE from 12:15 - 1:15 so often we'll do a library trip on those days.

 

~2:00 pm: This is usually free time for the 1st grader while older sister does Hebrew or if we're reading additional literature too advanced for the 1st grader to follow. She can select from a variety of free choice activities such as free reading, misc. workbooks of level-appropriate language arts/math, typing practice, drawing, art projects (if we have one) or piano.

 

She also has lego robotics (science) every Wednesday from 3:30-5:30.

[boscopup]

Wow, do most of your first graders really do 3-4 subjects in a row before a break? I don't think that would work here at all, the most we can do is 2. I knew ds was wiggly, but I didn't think he was that wiggly!

 

My DS2 will probably be like that. He's very wiggly. DS1 isn't wiggly though, and he's pretty laid back. Also, I found that if I gave him a break, he was off into the weeds, never coming back. :tongue_smilie: So for HIM, putting as much together as possible kept him focused. By the end of the year, we'd moved WWE from afternoon to morning with the other post-breakfast subjects, and that worked very well. He just can't stay on track if he gets too many breaks.

 

Your son is normal though. It's pretty common for first grade boys to be wiggly. :D

[Rivka]

Here's a sample day for my 6yo first grader.

 

Monday:

- Wake up around 7:30, get dressed, watch a 30-minute video during breakfast.

 

- Song School Latin: review recent songs, listen to the song for the new chapter, complete 2 easy pages of workbook exercises, maybe play a game.

- Writing With Ease 1: One sentence of copywork.

- All About Spelling: We set the timer for 15 minutes of spelling.

- Break while I read to/play with little brother.

- Snuggle on the couch to listen to the Five in a Row book of the week.

- Geography or history lesson related to the Five in a Row book. (This morning she learned about the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and we talked about what it would be like to live in extreme isolation.)

- MEP math 2b: 30-45 minutes of oral, whiteboard, and worksheet exercises.

 

- Mom goes to work. Lunch. Play games on pbskids.org while nanny puts little brother down for nap.

- Play, read, do craft projects, spend time outside in the afternoon.

- Board or card game with parents after dinner. Curl up and read some more.

- Literature read-aloud at bedtime. (Currently Mattimeo by Brian Jacques.)

[MinivanMom]

A typical day for my young 1st grade boy (just turned six) looks like this:

 

9:00 - Journal or Copywork (alternating)

9:10 - Singapore Math

9:30 - Reading Reflex

9:40 - Break to play (except on Fridays when he does Drawing w/Children)

10:20 - Sonlight Read-Aloud

10:40 - Science or Sonlight History (alternating)

11:00 - Reads to me from Sonlight readers

11:20-ish - Done for the day

 

He tends to be up early every morning (by 6 or 6:30) and he plays in his room until breakfast at 7:30-ish. He has chores after breakfast that he needs to finish before we start homeschooling.

 

After we're done with work for the day, he's plays until lunch. We have "Quiet Time" after lunch where he is supposed to quietly look at books while the little ones are napping. Then he's free to play outside or inside until dinner at 5:45, after dinner chores, and then bedtime at 7 pm. Wednesday evenings he has soccer practice and Thursday afternoons he has gymnastics.

 

My older dd's schedule was the same for 1st grade, except she didn't have the break. She was already doing French and writing during that block, but ds isn't quite ready for that yet.

[MinivanMom]

Wow, do most of your first graders really do 3-4 subjects in a row before a break? I don't think that would work here at all, the most we can do is 2. I knew ds was wiggly, but I didn't think he was that wiggly!

 

And this would be a GOOD day. Please tell me we are not the only ones who take a lot of breaks!

 

I never took breaks with my dd7, who was 6 1/2 at the start of 1st grade. Ds turned 6 two weeks ago and he couldn't possibly handle working without a break. I think it's a combination of him being a boy and being younger at the start of 1st grade. We are gradually working towards doing schoolwork for longer periods of time.

[FairProspects]

Your son is normal though. It's pretty common for first grade boys to be wiggly. :D

 

Thank you for that! This is why I wish we had a 2E board though. Because threads like this make me realize our experience is so atypical on so many levels, that my advice to others is just not very applicable. I guess it does make me grateful that we are homeschooling, because clearly my ds could not cut it attention span-wise in traditional school!

 

Neither of my two ever stop moving. We have a huge fidget box full of sensory toys and last night ds 2 commented that he needed to take fidget toys to bed or he would not even be able to stop moving and go to sleep!

[FairProspects]

I never took breaks with my dd7, who was 6 1/2 at the start of 1st grade. Ds turned 6 two weeks ago and he couldn't possibly handle working without a break. I think it's a combination of him being a boy and being younger at the start of 1st grade. We are gradually working towards doing schoolwork for longer periods of time.

 

I wish it was just that ds was a younger 1st grader, but alas, it he is a 7 y.o. first grader and it is just who he is. Even his VT this morning said the best way to keep his attention would be to have him moving in between each subject. I keep waiting for ds to outgrow it, but it is just not happening. Oh well, dh still is in constant motion under his desk at work with his legs, so maybe it is just genetic.

[Tracy]

First of all, I purposely choose curricula that do not utilize worksheets. So today, we spent about 10 minutes doing memory and phonogram work. Then we did spelling dictation for about 30 minutes. Then math for about 15 minutes.

 

After lunch, we took a walk and sat at the golf course reading history.

 

We came home, I read to them while they snacked, and then dd did copywork in about 10 minutes.

 

After dinner, dd read a book for about 5 minutes and did a narration.

 

With that kind of schedule, my kids get lots of play time, so I do not hesitate to pull them away from playing to get the work done.

[boscopup]

Thank you for that! This is why I wish we had a 2E board though. Because threads like this make me realize our experience is so atypical on so many levels, that my advice to others is just not very applicable. I guess it does make me grateful that we are homeschooling, because clearly my ds could not cut it attention span-wise in traditional school!

 

I always feel like MY son is weird, because he was never wiggly. I'm always hearing on these boards about how 5-6 year old boys are really wiggly, and DS just isn't like that and never was. So I think he's the weird one. :tongue_smilie:

 

DS2 is wiggly wiggly wiggly, so if we do anything, it's 10 minutes tops and he's done. I don't know if that will change by time he starts 1st grade or not. That's 2 years away. Anything can happen!

[robsiew]

Keep in mind I hs 4 kiddos and my 1st grader is my youngest. Also, he's very young... just turning 6 this week!

 

Reading: Reads 20 min. a book of his choice

Writing: One day of WWE1

Grammar: One page of GWG1

Spelling: One page of SWO Level A and Spelling City (one lesson/week)

Math: One page of MM1

Phonics: One lesson in Funnix Level 2

Handwriting: 1/2 page to 1 page in HWT

History: 2 days a week SOTW1 (Read the chapter over 2 days, do mapwork the 2nd day) 2 days a week read a story that relates to our topic (this time is about 20 min. or so)

Science: 4 days a week using Elemental Science (about 20-30 min. per day)

 

He gets all this done between 2-3 hours. He starts school about 9:30 and finishes around 11:30.

[brehon]

What does a typical day look like for your first grade kid? I'm having a hard time figuring out how much to do every day...sometimes I want to let her play and not do too much seat work, and other times I think I'm failing her by not pushing her a bit more...

It would be really helpful to see what others do on a typical day. Specifics would be great, like if you do copy work, how much is it exactly? One sentence, a verse? 10 minutes, 20? Or math, how many pages? Or time spent? How often do you do science and history? Art, composer or picture study? Do you do grammar, spelling, and phonics, or just kind of read books? Sorry, I'm just having second thoughts and doubts about what I am doing right now lol. Thanks!!!

 

I'm on my third 1st grader and I have 2 older than her and 2 younger; so, part of the below schedule reflects that. We also generally follow LCC.

 

 

Currently: Copywork -- she usually copies out a short poem (A Child's Garden of Verses is great for this). When she first started copywork sometime last year she only copied a phrase, then we gradually moved to a sentence, then a couple of sentences, etc.

 

Memory Work -- she works on a current (not yet memorized) selection and past (already memorized) selections. Generally lasts 10 minutes.

 

Math -- RS B @ 1 lesson per day. amount of time depends almost entirely on the prevailing attitudes (of both student and teacher).

 

Phonics/Reading -- OPGTR @ 1 lesson per day. generally 10 minutes. read out loud to someone (mom, dad, older brother) 10 minutes per day.

 

History, Science, Georgraphy, Literature -- once a week, each lasting approximately 20-30 minutes.

 

No formal art/music study at this time, unfortunately. No formal grammar or spelling -- these are taught during copywork.

 

SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) - 15 minutes minimun for this child [her elder siblings are required to read longer, but we worked up to those times]. Also, if she wants to read longer she is, of course, allowed and encouraged to do so.

 

I'd estimate that she usually spends around 2 hours per day on seat work. Because dh and I work with the other kids and chase babies/toddlers around she has plenty of free/exercise time as well.

[butterflymommy]

My 6 y.o. is delayed, so she is probably closer to a K level, except in math, where I think she is close to an early 1rst grade level. Due to this we spend most of our time on math since it's the only subject where I can "get through" to her. We spend 30 min to an hr a day on math, which she enjoys. Then she spends about 15 minutes on handwriting and 15 minutes on phonics. This is all the academics I can realistically get out of her, but as I said, she has/ had numerous delays including a severe speech delay, and was in special ed preschool for a while.

 

I encourage her to do puzzles, play with blocks, draw, color, and I limit TV and computer time during the school week. She spends a LOT of time playing which I think is good for her, given her issues.

[Soror]

My 1st grade is just turned 7. We just started back today and are using some new things and a few amount of old things.

 

7ish- up for a walk outside, take care of rabbits

7:30-make bed, room, chore- bathroom, wash walls, sweeping, clean van etc

8- breakfast-

8:30- finish chores- free time

9- school starts Math 30-45 min(just starting RSC- B took longer but it seems looking at these lessons that they might be shorter- it certainly was yesterday)

WWE-1 per day- 10 min

FLL/AAS- Alternate days- 10 min

Reading - I See Sam- 10 min( I broke this into 2 chunks yesterday(first time w/ new set and it took much longer than previous ones)

10-am-Break-Snack- 30 min

10:30-Finish Reading-10 min, Religion-20 min

11am-Nature Study(alternating- this will be 1 day History- 1 day Nature, 2 day Science) Outside and a bit of tag-Inside at 11:45 to look up some flowers

12pm-Painting for art and nature study(alternating- 1 day Music/Art Appreciation, 1 day Music, 1 day cooking, 1 day art/crafts) he decided to draw flowers w/ his etch a sketch(new bday present)

12:30p-Lunchtime

12:45p- Listened to Show about composer Profokiev and a piece by him

1pm- Read Alouds for All- Chapter Book, Picture Books, Bible

2pm- Quiet time

4pm-Snack and 15 min computer time

Some outside time, playtime and general whatever time

7pm - Supper and Dessert

8pm- Toothbrush, Jammies, Prayers

8:30pm- Nightime

 

4 hrs total, that includes extra 'fun' subjects and 1 hr of read aloud time

 

9a-10am- Math, WWE, Grammar/Spelling, Reading(1 hr)

10:30-11- Reading, Religion, Lit(30 min)

11-12pm- Nature/Science/History(1 hr)

12-12:30- Art/Music Appreciation/Music/Art/Cooking(30 min)

1-2pm- Read Aloud(1 hr)

 

School seemed to go well yesterday we are doing a similar schedule as last year but some tweaks for adding in some programs

Edited August 30, 2011 by soror

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I don't use a time schedule with dd, we just start at 8:30ish and do Bible. She reads her reader while I set up for math. After math she gets a break...no time here but I strive for 20 mins unless she is doing something constructive. Next is English and then we go outside so she can swing on the tire swing or play with chalk while I read aloud. Snack break. We go back to the table for spelling, handwriting and Latin. Another small break while I get History ready. We do science after lunch. Once a week we do art and nature work. This is the only child I have been this relaxed with and it seems to make a more efficient student.