How Long is Your School Day?

[cin]

We are finished with almost everything within 3 hrs and DH is concerned that we are NOT doing everything we should be doing. Here's our curriculum:

 

5th Gr

 

Math CLE

Grammar CLE

Reading Currently, Black Beauty 3-4 ch/day, with ques. and answers

Handwriting 1 pg

Puzzles/Logic 1-2/day

 

Science Apologia Astronomy; 1 ch/wk with notebook work

MFW Geography

 

 

2nd Gr

 

Math CLE

Grammar CLE

Phonics RS

Handwriting 1 pg

Puzzles/Logic 1-2/day

 

Science Apologia Astronomy; 1 ch/wk with notebook work

MFW Geography

 

On the days that we do the Geography, it is an extra 30-60 minutes, depending on the depth etc.

 

DDs do their Astronomy Notebook stuff at various times, so that time has not been added in.

 

 

My 5th grader is a super motivated, super focused child. And she can get her desk work done in under an hour, on some days. She's also rather bright. My 2nd grader, on the other hand, can take a LOT longer, but on average, is done in about 90 minutes.

 

So, what am I missing? Or am I missing anything?

 

Oh, we do WWW; the dictations take about 15 minutes, 2/wk.

[Agamemnonsmom]

I have a first grader about 3 months younger than your 2nd grader. It takes us 2 hours to do the basics (phonics, handwriting, spelling, math, geography, WWE, WWW). After lunch and a break is Greek, read aloud & he practices his reading aloud to me, and anything we didn't get to in the two hours in the morning. Our afternoon schedule also includes alternating between history, science, and art and it takes about 1-2 hours (including the Greek, reading, etc). So total between 3-4 hours including reading aloud.

[Food4Thought]

For my 2nd grader, seatwork takes about 90 minutes to two hours. He reads for an hour or two every day as well, and often picks up some sort of project/experiment to occupy him for hours. I'm sure if I was in a state that had to report by the hour, I could tell you that we actually school for 6-8 hours a day because I would count Snap Circuits and computer games and the notes he writes and his endless questions about the nature of the universe.

 

Do you have a history curriculum? I'm scanning your list, but maybe I'm not seeing it there. Otherwise, it looks like you're covering the basics. Kids don't have to be sitting at the kitchen table all day to be learning something, iykwim.

[nitascool]

We begin school at 8 and end at 3. With an hour for lunch. That's a total of 6 hours of active schooling for ME (not all the children are working diligently the entire day). For each child I've added an average of 1 to 2 hours of teaching time to my day.

 

So, what am I missing? Or am I missing anything?

I noticed that you don't have spelling or vocabulary study (I realize that some children are natural spellers but most can benefit from some vocabulary study), history, foreign languages, art or music. Also handiwork (such as knitting or woodworking) and home economics. None are really "necessary" studies (except for history), but can expand your academic day if that is what you're looking to do.

 

It's been a pretty good rule of thumb for me that each grade level should add about an hour to the child's scholastic day. 30 to 60 min. in K, 1hr in 1st and so on. My 11 year old was doing 5 hour of work last year and is doing 6 this.

 

My 4th grader does six hours this year but that is because we include his Occupational and Physical therapy exercises into his school day (which is about 1.5 to 2 hrs of exercising broken up throughout the day).

 

My 1st grade is working about 1 to 2 hours depending on his motivation. Some days he prefers to play with his sister. Still he begins at 8 and ends at 3... with lots of time between to play. But actually sitting down and doing written work is no more the 20 min. at any given time.

 

Mine are 6th, 4th, 1st and K.

Our schedules look something like this

 

6th Gr

Bible reading daily

Spelling daily We us AVKO

Italics 2 pgs daily

Practice Town 2pgs daily (kinda like diagramming sentences)

Grammar/Writing/Vocabulary/Poetry 1 chapter per week

Math MUS 2 lessons a week

Life of Fred 5 chapters a week (this is reviewing Fractions)

Usborne History Reads Two 2 page spreads a week and does an outline

History Reading (Living Books on Medieval Times)

History read aloud (to his little brother & sister)

Apologia Zoology 1 1/2 chapters a week + notebook and reading suggestions

Latin 1 chapter per week

Logic 1 ch per week

Art 2x a week

Music 2x a week

Health a health journal daily

Nature Study 1x a week

Computer science 1x a week with typing the remaining 4 days

 

4th Gr

Has a similar schedule

He does not do Computer science but does typing 5 days a week

He also does piano practice and Occupational and Physical Therapy Exercises throughout the day

 

1st Gr.

Bible

Italics

First Language Lessons

Spelling

Phonics Pathways

Reading Pathways

Reading various books (3 to 4 a day)

Math U See

Story of the World Vol. 2

Zoology 1

Thinking Skills 1 for logic

He has health readers instead of a journal

 

My K

Bible

Italics

Phonics Pathways

Reading Pathways

Reading various Books

Math U See

And lots of Read-alouds

[WIS0320]

I have a first grader and we spend on average 3 hours per day, sometimes a little less and sometimes a little more.

[boscopup]

My 2nd grader spends about 2-2.5 hours on school.

[NittanyJen]

You will find quickly here that people are just all over the map-- some will insist they can do a subject in 15 minutes per day (including math!!); others will do school for 7-8 hours per day. Some of the variation is because of what counts as school for some people (lots of people do gym class, art, 4-H, etc, but do not count it as school time; others do); others because some of us have our kids spend an hour on a subject vs 15 minutes. Families really vary in their approaches. There is no "standardized way to homeschool."

 

I just printed our schedules for tomorrow.

 

DS10/roughly 5th grade (for Tuesday):

 

Typing

German

Grammar

Vocabulary

Mapping the world

Writing

Latin

Math

Trumpet practice

Karate

Read Aloud Time

Self Reading Time

Chemistry

Chemistry KOGS

Music Appreciation

Chores

 

No way is that going to be done in 3 hours or less (self reading is 45 minutes and read aloud is at least half an hour; math is usually close to 60 minutes . . .).

 

DS8/roughly 3rd grade (for Tuesday)

 

German

Grammar

Spelling

Writing

Latin

Math

Read Aloud

Self Reading

Chemistry

Swimming Lessons :auto:

World Mapping

Chores

Recorder Practice

Music appreciation

 

We also include morning and after-lunch break/play times.

 

Our schedule changes from day to day. We switch between Science and history. We don't do grammar every day. On days when he doesn't have swimming or gymnastics, DS8 has physical therapy. He also does other subjects such as handwriting and typing and other OT type stuff. Today's German will be a little off-beat; instead of Rosetta Stone, we'll be watching the BBC cartoon series Muzzy, to get some slightly more natural language immersion going on, and because it's fun :).

 

But do also let your husband remember that . . . he probably doesn't *see* what goes on. You are not trying to replicate public school at home. If he has fears about how much you are accomplishing, it needs to be based in evidence about what your girls are accomplishing and be rational, and not be based in his expectation that you spend as much time as the school does, because schools do waste a lot of time lining up, waiting for everyone to get quiet, giving instructions 3x, etc etc. If you are not going to teach things like foreign languages and the other extras, then you are going to finish in a lot less time and still get quite a lot accomplished. Sometimes men have that issue with . . . if they don't see it for themselves, they just don't get it. I hate to generalize, because it always means you are wrong about some specific person, but in my experience, a lot of guys tend to be kind of concrete thinkers. They wrap their heads around what they have seen in front of them. Supporting spouses of homeschoolers (ie if a husband is not the primary education spouse) tend to continue thinking of the school model as the standard to be met, including in terms of how much time it takes to absorb knowledge, whether they realize it or not. A specific amount of time is not a good measuring tool for how accomplished you are.

 

I find it better to set specific goals, and figure out how to measure those goals (I want my kid to know his times tables. How do I want to test it? Does he just have to answer me orally? Does he have to take a written test? A timed test? to the x10? x12? x20?). If I meet the goals by passing the measuring stick we set out, then I figure we're doing okay. I sit back every once in a while and try to assess whether the measuring stick is relevant and makes sense (I started our homeschooling journey with a philosophy and an overriding set of goals for the boys. Using these to check my monthly/yearly goals against helps!).

 

Good luck :).

[raceNzanesmom]

Right around 3 hours for my 2nd grader, slightly less on Fridays.

[Lily_Grace]

I have a 6th grader and we usually spend 5-6 hours on school work. At his age he's working on more detailed things - a lot more outlines, science work, and longer essays, reports, and computer based products like powerpoint presentations. His curriculum this year has many more components than in previous years. Instead of reading and discussing a part of a book, he reads, answers questions, does projects and we discuss the chapter or two. Instead of doing A science experiment and reading, he does the experiment, creates his own hypotheses, and retests after doing research on the topic.

 

In the early years we were doing 2-4 hours daily of intense work. It's just gone slightly up this year and I think here is where it will hold steady for a while.

[SnegurochkaL]

Last year my 3rd grader spent 6-8h on school daily during week days and 4 hours on Saturday. My pre-Kner was using 3-4 hours on "school" stuff ( logic, math, mazes, science, history, reading alouds, foreign languages)

[Joyofsixreboot]

We're speedy people too. I now count time they read on their own, time preparing for a play they're doing, instrument practice and "life skills" such as cleaning, cooking and animal care and any art projects. You can see our curricula in my siggy. Using CLE makes things go more quickly in my experience.

Edited September 6, 2011 by joyofsix

[....]

I think the one hour per grade level is fine for early elementary students... 1 hour for 1st grade, 2 hours for 2nd grade, etc.

 

I think my 1st grader spends about an hour on schoolwork.

The 3rd grader and 4th grader work throughout the day from maybe 9:30 to about 3. But...I have 4 kids and we are really inefficient. Also, I have a 3 yro. :glare: We take breaks during the day - and play outside. That probably adds to our gross inefficiency. :tongue_smilie:

 

Also...you're using CLE. We've used a ton of CLE in the past. You really can do school in 2 hours with that program. I always said that if we were in a bind one year and I needed them to be independent, everybody is doing CLE.

[JudoMom]

We begin school at 8 and end at 3. With an hour for lunch. That's a total of 6 hours of active schooling for ME (not all the children are working diligently the entire day). For each child I've added an average of 1 to 2 hours of teaching time to my day.

 

So, what am I missing? Or am I missing anything?

I noticed that you don't have spelling or vocabulary study (I realize that some children are natural spellers but most can benefit from some vocabulary study), history, foreign languages, art or music. Also handiwork (such as knitting or woodworking) and home economics. None are really "necessary" studies (except for history), but can expand your academic day if that is what you're looking to do.

 

It's been a pretty good rule of thumb for me that each grade level should add about an hour to the child's scholastic day. 30 to 60 min. in K, 1hr in 1st and so on. My 11 year old was doing 5 hour of work last year and is doing 6 this.

 

:iagree:

 

We tend to average about 1 hour/grade level. Since your older dd is completing her work so quickly, I would make sure she is being challenged appropriately.

[Coffeemama]

My 5 th grader does between 4 and 5 hours a day.

[TracyP]

You will find quickly here that people are just all over the map-- some will insist they can do a subject in 15 minutes per day (including math!!); others will do school for 7-8 hours per day. Some of the variation is because of what counts as school for some people (lots of people do gym class, art, 4-H, etc, but do not count it as school time; others do); others because some of us have our kids spend an hour on a subject vs 15 minutes. Families really vary in their approaches. There is no "standardized way to homeschool."

 

But do also let your husband remember that . . . he probably doesn't *see* what goes on. You are not trying to replicate public school at home. If he has fears about how much you are accomplishing, it needs to be based in evidence about what your girls are accomplishing and be rational, and not be based in his expectation that you spend as much time as the school does, because schools do waste a lot of time lining up, waiting for everyone to get quiet, giving instructions 3x, etc etc. If you are not going to teach things like foreign languages and the other extras, then you are going to finish in a lot less time and still get quite a lot accomplished. Sometimes men have that issue with . . . if they don't see it for themselves, they just don't get it. I hate to generalize, because it always means you are wrong about some specific person, but in my experience, a lot of guys tend to be kind of concrete thinkers. They wrap their heads around what they have seen in front of them. Supporting spouses of homeschoolers (ie if a husband is not the primary education spouse) tend to continue thinking of the school model as the standard to be met, including in terms of how much time it takes to absorb knowledge, whether they realize it or not. A specific amount of time is not a good measuring tool for how accomplished you are.

 

I find it better to set specific goals, and figure out how to measure those goals (I want my kid to know his times tables. How do I want to test it? Does he just have to answer me orally? Does he have to take a written test? A timed test? to the x10? x12? x20?). If I meet the goals by passing the measuring stick we set out, then I figure we're doing okay. I sit back every once in a while and try to assess whether the measuring stick is relevant and makes sense (I started our homeschooling journey with a philosophy and an overriding set of goals for the boys. Using these to check my monthly/yearly goals against helps!).

 

Good luck :).

 

:iagree: I always say my 2nd grader works for about 2 hours. This is only required seatwork. This does not include independent reading, piano practice, read alouds, etc. So much learning goes on outside "school time" when you are a homeschooler. The post I quoted makes so many good points.

[mom&nana]

I probably spend about 3 hours with my first grader. My 7th grader has been finished with school within 2-3 hours. I will definitely be beefing up her schedule as I feel 2 hours is no where near enough for her age.

School is pretty easy for her right now, and I'd like her to be challenged a little.

 

We generally start school around 9 and finish around 3, sometimes earlier and sometimes later.

[chepyl]

I was told by oneexperienced HS mom that the one hour per grade level was a good judge of how long you should be working. I do think that some kids can be done faster. If DS is focused, he can do a SM lesson in less than 15 minutes. He would be in K in ps, he is in SM 2a. I don't think I should push him more, I don't want him finishing calculus at 12. Spelling takes 5 -10minutes. I dictate the list, he writes it. If ue gets them all on Monday, we practice a few words a day to reinforce and retest on Friday. Last week we did 3 lists to dind one that he missed a word on, this week I dictate sentences from those parser words (we,did a 20 minute full spelling lesson on Friday to learn the new rules). Yesterday's dictation took 5 minutes with no mistakes.

 

I play our work to take about an hour a day and we cover math, grammar (all oral write now), handwriting, spelling, science, history, and phones. We added memory work this week. That does add and extra 10 minutes to go over. His independent reading is done at the end. With everything, on a good day he is done in 1.5 hours. If they are progressing and retaining, don't worry. If you speed through things and they don't remember it, you should take more time.

[Mom28kds]

When they get done with their work. I don't think it's about how much time they spend it's about learning and doing their work. People are still in public school mode when they are concerned about the time. In school, when a child is done with their work they have to wait for everyone to be done or wait until the alloted time for the class to be over. At home, when my children are done with one subject they move on to the next. Therefore, we don't have all the wasting of time and they get their work done much quicker. This is the beauty of homeschooling. This gives so much more time for them to expore and be kids.

[Parrothead]

About 6 hours, 5 days a week for my 7th grader.

 

Back when she was younger she averaged 1 hour per grade level.

[Mandy in TN]

We are finished with almost everything within 3 hrs and DH is concerned that we are NOT doing everything we should be doing.

 

My 5th grader is a super motivated, super focused child. And she can get her desk work done in under an hour, on some days. She's also rather bright. My 2nd grader, on the other hand, can take a LOT longer, but on average, is done in about 90 minutes.

 

So, what am I missing? Or am I missing anything?

It looks like you are covering all the basics.

 

For the second grader 90 minutes of seat work and three hours total work sounds fine. I don't know that I would change anything unless she is asking for more.

 

I may would ramp it up a little for the fifth grader, but only because I would want her to learn study skills and diligence. If everything is super-easy for her and she is flying through her seat work in an hour and all her work in three, then it is improbable that she is learning determination and how to handle school work that requires her to stretch her mind and put forth genuine effort. Maybe you could add longer composition work or research on topics of her choice or a foreign language?

 

We are required to complete 180/ 4 hr days. My third grader does about 3 hours of seat work. This doesn't include reading, music, PE, or any extras. My extra student Cuppycake is in 6th grade and takes between 4 and 5 hours to complete her seat work, not including reading, music, PE, or any extras, but she is not super motivated or super focused. She really has to work to complete her seat work. I let her work for an hour or two before I start Doodle's work.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[woolybear]

Today? A lifetime.......:crying:

[Haiku]

We work from 9-12 and the from 1-2:30ish. Often the afternoon wraps up before 2:30. My kids are in 4th and 3rd.

 

Tara

[Mimm]

Did you forget to list history?

 

We do about six hours a day. We start at 8am this year and finished around 2:20 or 3 but we take time off (as much as an hour) for lunch. I have a fifth and a third grader. We put in similar time last year for second and fourth grade. It sounds like my kids goof off more than yours. :) Still, if my kids were finishing that early, I would add more subjects in to keep them challenged. I would want them writing for more than 15 minutes twice a week, for instance.

 

Also, :grouphug: woolybear. Last week was like that for me, and I'm making my kids make up for the work they didn't do. (I'm so mean.) :p I think most all of us have those days, sometimes several in a row.

[Mrs Twain]

Personally, I like reading through a scope and sequence to make sure I am not missing any major areas in my curriculum. I prefer using The Core Knowledge K-8 Sequence. You can download it for free here. You don't have to be rigid about following it or any other sequence, but I do think it is helpful to have a checklist to make sure there are not huge gaping holes in the curriculum, especially for children who are getting into older grades.

 

Perhaps you and your husband could read it together and discuss if you should add more things to the schedule. I like to discuss my curriculum choices and schedule with my husband. He has many good ideas and insight about how to improve our program. IMO, two heads are better than one! It is also good to have unity if possible between husband and wife on the homeschooling.

 

My 3rd and 1st grader spend about 4.5 hours per day, five days per week doing academic work. We add in a good amount of breaks, so we do school from 8:00 a.m. to about 2:30 p.m. A schedule like this may not work for everyone, but it works well for us.

 

On your schedule, I would add in more writing, especially for the 5th grader. Also spelling, vocabulary, and history are pretty standard and recommended. I also like to do music, art, and civics/governement/state history/economics, each once per week. Additional subjects depending on your preferences could include foreign language, computer skills/typing, public speaking, research skills/report writing, and memory work. I would definitely ramp things up for your 5th grader so as to be ready for middle school subjects.

[nrself]

Remind DH how much time is spent on other stuff and time wasting in public school. Music, PE, recesses, lunch, busy work, changing classrooms, waiting on other kids to finish, handing out papers, waiting for the bell to ring...

 

Nicole

[jayb842]

My little boy is a 3rd grader. He's working from 9:00-2:30 with about a 30 minute lunch break. We're using Calvert so it seems to be a full day’s work. My husband has the same concern. We're doing a lot of extra stuff. He's in homeschool chess club, swimming, karate and co-op one day a week. I had to get that accounting mind of his to understand the fact that our son was doing all of this after school.

[Satori]

My dd6 will be 7 in a few months and we're considering this year second grade. We will be striving for between 3-4 hours a day, four days a week, not including read-alouds/independent reading/independent writing.

 

The fifth day is spent at an all-day school for homeschoolers, but it doesn't really challenge her academically, I consider it a long playdate.

[SorrelZG]

K/1st: 60-90 minutes with room for cleanup breaks for when someone dumps a full bladder and/or potty cup all over themselves and the floor while we're busy with math.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

My dd is 10 and spends 6-8 hours on her studies on the weekdays. She also reads during her free time and for several hours on the weekend (literature, science, history etc.)

 

We are covering more subjects than you have listed. If my dd were finishing in an hour or two I would know she wasn't being challenged enough. In that case, I would add more subjects and increase the level of the work.

 

Note that I'm not suggesting busywork--the object is not just to be busy, but to be busy learning. :-)

[Mommy22alyns]

Rebecca takes about 2.5 hours to do:

 

Bible

Handwriting

Spelling

Phonics

WWE

Grammar

Math (CLE)

(extra, either Logic or Geography)

Reading aloud from McGuffey's reader

Art

 

Then we take a break for lunch.

 

After lunch, it's:

 

History

Science

Book Basket

SL reading

TT

Latin

Typing

 

We can start at 11 and Becca can still be working at 4. Sylvia has usually finished all her work by lunchtime and then only does history/science and then plays.

[scrapbabe]

When they get done with their work. I don't think it's about how much time they spend it's about learning and doing their work. People are still in public school mode when they are concerned about the time. In school, when a child is done with their work they have to wait for everyone to be done or wait until the alloted time for the class to be over. At home, when my children are done with one subject they move on to the next. Therefore, we don't have all the wasting of time and they get their work done much quicker. This is the beauty of homeschooling. This gives so much more time for them to expore and be kids.

:iagree: I think this is true from K through 12th grade. Should a 12th grader have more to do? Absolutely. But who gets to decide how long it should take someone to do their work? My 11 year old could take an hour with spelling. My 14 years old could take 15 minutes. It doesn't mean he did less and I should add more work or more subjects. I don't worry about how much time as long as they accomplish their work.

[cin]

Today? A lifetime.......:crying:

 

Missing the "Like" button for this; We have had days like this!

 

 

 

Wow. Thanks for all your feedback. It's given me alot to think about. CLE does have spelling included, and I forgot that dd10 does do vocabulary. They start co-op tomorrow and she will be taking a writing class, along with an architecture and a United States Geography class. She'll be writing 2 reports for that class this quarter. They each take piano (45 min/wk each) and they practice about 20 minutes each day. And they do a 90 minute gymnastics class each week. Forgot about that.

 

re History; we are currently doing the MFW geography, and will start their history in February. We'll be doing that through the summer. Aside from that, I'm not sure how to challenge her more. This has been an ongoing problem. We switched to CLE math this year because of all the writing in R&S and we did drop back a grade. And there is plenty that she hasn't had. Without giving her busywork, how would I make things more challenging? She's already doing her vocabulary at 2-3 units/wk, instead of the usual 1. And passing my impromptu quizzes. I'd like to add some logic, but not sure where to look for that. Any detailed suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

PS; I am going to look for a typing program/game for her. That's a GREAT idea!

Edited September 6, 2011 by cin

[momto2Cs]

About 3 to 3.5 hours a day, maybe 4 on longer days. That's for a 5th grader and a 3rd grader.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

My 11 year old could take an hour with spelling. My 14 years old could take 15 minutes. It doesn't mean he did less and I should add more work or more subjects. I don't worry about how much time as long as they accomplish their work.

 

I guess it depends on your goals. I don't compare what my dd is doing to others--only to what she is capable of doing. If she can whiz through math in minutes I wonder if she is being challenged enough. Why settle for lessons she is breezing though when she can be challenged and learn to push her limits? If she is capable of much more, why not require it?

 

I think it depends on the goal. I don't add more work or subjects just to fill time (no busywork!) but for a myriad of other reasons.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Hilltop Academy
quote

[Mrs Twain]

Wow. Thanks for all your feedback. It's given me alot to think about. CLE does have spelling included, and I forgot that dd10 does do vocabulary. They start co-op tomorrow and she will be taking a writing class, along with an architecture and a United States Geography class. She'll be writing 2 reports for that class this quarter. They each take piano (45 min/wk each) and they practice about 20 minutes each day. And they do a 90 minute gymnastics class each week. Forgot about that.

 

re History; we are currently doing the MFW geography, and will start their history in February. We'll be doing that through the summer. Aside from that, I'm not sure how to challenge her more. This has been an ongoing problem. We switched to CLE math this year because of all the writing in R&S and we did drop back a grade. And there is plenty that she hasn't had. Without giving her busywork, how would I make things more challenging? She's already doing her vocabulary at 2-3 units/wk, instead of the usual 1. And passing my impromptu quizzes. I'd like to add some logic, but not sure where to look for that. Any detailed suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

PS; I am going to look for a typing program/game for her. That's a GREAT idea!

 

Yes, you are doing a lot more than you mentioned in your first post!

 

Here are a few ideas that may be worth thinking about.

 

For computer skills, you could teach Word (having your dd type up some of her reports and do formatting), Excel, and Paint. I also like to use www.abcya.com which has various computer games by grade that teach kids computer skills. They have "Alpha Munchies Typing Game" that is pretty fun to play and definitely helps improve speed on the typing. There are various free typing programs available. A couple I know are BBC Dance Mat Typing and Peter's Online Typing Course.

 

You could also add in a foreign language. Most libraries have the more common languages available in CD programs. One of the best I know is Pimsleur which teaches by listening and practicing using CD's 30 minutes per day. Friends who have had to learn a language to live overseas say the best combination is Pimsleur plus Rosetta Stone. My library also has a free online language program called "Mango Languages." It has many of the common and also not so common languages to choose from. It is quite high quality.

 

Memory work is great to do. You can do anything from Bible passages to excerpts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to science principles... Here is a good list to get started with ideas.

 

If you want to add more history, you could get a history atlas and have your dd outline and/or do summaries of a time period(s). I like the old edition Kingfisher Illustrated History of the World (1992) which I bought used on Amazon. You could also have you dd make her own history timeline or notebook. That would be challenging as well as extremely useful for life.

 

Just a few thoughts...

[SnegurochkaL]

I guess it depends on your goals. I don't compare what my dd is doing to others--only to what she is capable of doing. If she can whiz through math in minutes I wonder if she is being challenged enough. Why settle for lessons she is breezing though when she can be challenged and learn to push her limits? If she is capable of much more, why not require it?

 

I think it depends on the goal. I don't add more work or subjects just to fill time (no busywork!) but for a myriad of other reasons.

 

:iagree: My oldest daughter is required to do load of work I assigned to her. We need to count time for state, so at the end of the day I try to count how much time was spent on particular subjects. Once I goofed and gave my daughter a folder with math assignments which had about 70 problems, half of which were challenging/extra difficult similar to SM IP. It took 7 hours for my child to finish math and half of the time I was complaining that it took her so long. She made few mistakes completing 95% correctly and was still upset that not all of them were correct. It took me an hour to check her work:(. I wanted to give her a break for next 2 days, but we ended up doing a regular load, but doubling on subjects we skipped during a "math day". My son who will be 5 in few months has his "assignments folders" which he needs to do, so he might take few little breaks, but trying to finish them withing a week. Since he is still young , he has weekly assignments for such subjects as math, logic, reading.

[mytwomonkeys]

we school about 5 hours a day (well, my daughter does anyway...it's less for my son).

 

i start with my daughter and we complete:

 

-history read-alouds with mom

-bju english

-bju spelling

-times tales

 

then i work with my son, while my daughter works independently on:

 

-CLE math

-how great thou art or dance mat typing (she rotates these usually)

-independent reading

 

while she works independently, i work with my son on:

 

-bju spelling

-r&s english 2 (orally)

-hooked on phonics

-independent reading

-CLE math

-spectrum writing

 

then we all come together for:

 

-HOD science

-HOD history/geography

 

we do bible at night