How many breaks would you give a six yr old/first grade

[Guest Joan Bishop]

Hi All,

 

I'm a home school newbie, and will start first grade with DD on Monday! Can't wait to get going, here's my question: how many breaks would you give a six yr. old between lessons. Every morning we'll do math, reading, writing and spelling. We'll start at 9 am and go until we've done the above. The afternoons will be dedicated to the rest...history, geography, science, art and music (although not all on the same days). I don't want to frustrate or exhaust either of us in the first week, or not keep her six year old attention span in mind. I didn't train as a teacher, and this will be my first experience teaching formally. What would you Ladies recommend in terms of breaks and recess? Many thanks.

[Greeny]

My 5 year old takes 2 - 2 1/2 hours to complete his work and my 7 year old takes about 3 (you can see what we are doing in my signature). I give them a drink/potty break between every subject. It has been working well. I have found that if I let them have an actual recess where they go play it is nearly impossible to get them back in school mode.

[kolamum]

That depends..

 

Is your child a mover and wiggler?

How long would each subject take?

 

 

Here's how it works here for our wiggler..

 

We do a couple of subjects {I try to keep them to 20 minutes or less for him} when they are done he's permitted xx amount of break time. He generally goes outside to his swing with a timer for the allotted time. I also find that if he's dragging I can say, "If you get x done by x time then you can have x extra free time!" ;)

 

Even still, for a non wiggler and a younger child I'd probably take breaks every 10-30 minutes. I'd give them 10-15 minutes. ;) That's me, I'm the mum of wiggly boys who have a hard time being STILL.

[Spryte]

We do a couple of subjects {I try to keep them to 20 minutes or less for him} when they are done he's permitted xx amount of break time.

 

This is what we do as well. My boy is also a wiggler. Putting the timer to good use here, as he is a big fan of 10 minute breaks. Sometimes 20 minute breaks. :)

[WIS0320]

We take real breaks of 10-20 minutes after each major subject is finished. My kid is wiggly and seems to focus better if she is able to move around a good bit so anytime I see her fading away, even if we are in the middle of something, we jump up and hula hoop or do some jumping jacks and it makes her laugh and feel better. Sometimes the hula hoop is good for practicing math facts - she counts as long as she keeps the hoop up - we've made it past 200 a couple times this week!

[chepyl]

None, unless he needs to go to the restroom. We are generally done in 1-1.5 hours. He has a good attention span and we just plow on through. If we are having a bad day, we take a break.

[ByGrace3]

I don't schedule breaks, my one yo and 4 yo do. :tongue_smilie: There are enough distractions in our day that breaks happen naturally. In general, subjects are anywhere from 10-15 minutes, with Bible at about 30 and math 45-1hr. We normally do Bible after breakfast, break for chores, do math and phonics, she does handwriting (5 min) while I fix lunch for the baby. They get a snack break. I put baby to bed, dd1 does her phonics workbook page (3-5min) while I put the baby to bed, and then she takes about a 10 min break while I switch laundry or something upstairs. Then we hit it hard for an hour completing phonics, FLL, AAS, WWE (on the appropriate days) Lunch (she reads while I prep usually or takes a break depending on the needs at the moment), then science/history, hoping we can eek it out before baby is up :tongue_smilie: Other breaks just happen, unavoidable phone calls, sibling needs, drink breaks....I try to watch her. At this age, they are all so different, the important thing is learning your child, what they need, and being sure you are giving them the breaks they need to stay focused.

[Hedgehog]

We break between subjects for a drink/biscuit (ahem.. fruit)/run round the cul-de-sac. My 6yo is also known as Tigger, so we're doing well to get one subject done before he takes a break.

[FO4UR]

My current 6yo doesn't need a break in her seatwork. She zips right through. She does have breaks built in between things like history/science and reading.

 

My oldest has always needed more breaks. Different kids - different needs.

[cindergretta]

My 6 y/o seems to need frequent breaks. Maybe her day is all playing/recess with breaks for lessons. :confused: I suspect ADHD and I have enough other dc who need unstruction that I catch her as she races through and we do what we can. I am extremely low key and low pressure with K, 1, & 2. Around 3rd, I start stepping things up a bit and around 5th I start encouraging independent work with supervision.

 

Our lessons include chalk boards, windows, sidewalks, pine cones, rocks, the moon, the sun, etc. IOW, I try to do as little as possible with worksheets, work books, seat work, etc. I try to keep a lot of movement, music, crafts, etc., as the focus of the learning process. :)

[BetterthanIdeserve]

My DD6 is a bit of a wiggler (love the exercise ball for her to sit on) but I usually try to get 1 hour of work in the morning before we take our first break (she is usually doing some moving around in that first hour). She gets to choose one 15 minute break and I get to choose a 15 minute break each day. Of course, we often get interrupted by the toddler and we usually get to a point each day where it's better for all concerned that we finish school during the toddler's afternoon nap. We often change our location after every couple of subjects and that in itself provides a short little break and seems to help her refocus - I think she gets bored being in the same place for too long. And sometimes changing rooms is more of a distraction but for the most part it works for us.

[Cassy]

DS7 doesn't really concentrate well for more than about 20 minutes at a time. Most of our work is quite teacher intensive, which means that I do require him to concentrate quite hard during lessons. Most of the time I let him take a break after 20-30 minutes for anything from 10 minutes to half an hour (usually depending on what I need to do myself at that time - ie work with another child, putting laundry in the washing machine, etc).

 

For DS7 it is totally counterproductive to try to work for longer than this on something he needs to concentrate on as I just lose him and he becomes very resistant to work in general.

 

Of course if it's a matter of doing an art or craft project, or something on the computer, then he's quite happy to work away for hours!

 

Best wishes

 

Cassy

[Soror]

My first grader is newly 7, we do 1 hr, then 30 min break/snack time, then 2 hrs but we do activity kind of things then- Science/History/Art etc, then 30 min break and 1 hr reading/Lit.

 

Last year it was similar, 1 hr before first break as we start at 9 and snack at 10am. We do various subjects in that time period though!

[EKS]

I didn't (and don't) give breaks. But I did change things up by following a disliked subject with a liked one or by following a "thinking" task with a hands on one. I also had the work progress from being skill oriented (math, writing, etc) at the desk to content oriented on the couch.

 

I don't give breaks because I find that the amount of energy it takes to get the kid back on task is not worth it.

 

At that age, we did maybe 2 hours of work per day tops.

 

FWIW, one of the kids I did this with has ADHD.

[Stellalarella]

None, unless he needs to go to the restroom. We are generally done in 1-1.5 hours. He has a good attention span and we just plow on through. If we are having a bad day, we take a break.

 

:iagree: Same here for my ds6

[Ellie]

As many as she needs. :-)

[MinivanMom]

My 6 y/o takes a 40 min break about halfway through his work. He does math and language arts (40 min), then takes a break to play (40 min), and then we do history, science, and reading aloud (1 hr). This has been working really well for him.

 

Last year my dd7 worked for 2 hrs straight and then practiced piano for 30 min without a single break. She was very focused and mature for a 6 y/o, though.

[...................]

My first and second graders get a break between every subject of five or ten minutes. They love it and it makes everybody happy.

 

Of course, this is contingent on the child coming back quickly and happily when the break is over. But missing the next break as a consequence quickly cures that.

 

In 3rd grade my son got a break about every hour (for a total of three) and now in 4th grade he gets one 20 minute break, and one 30 minute lunch break.

[Clear Creek]

None. I only require one hour of schoolwork per grade, so my 1st graders only had one hour of seatwork. Even my ADHD one could sit for one hour without needing anything more than a potty break. Now if I wanted that hour to be a pleasant one, I needed to make sure she ran laps around the house or something before we sat down! I still don't give breaks for them now, and they are in 2nd and 4th grade...the only exception is lunch. Other than that, they buckle down and do their work. Trying to drag them back once they are occupied playing is fruitless, so I don't let them wander off during school time.

 

I am not trying to imitate public school, so I don't see the point of dragging formal schooling out all day long. My children have learned to appreciate their chance to do their daily lessons and then move on to explore their own interests for the rest of the day.

[Tracy]

I give my 6yo at least a short break after each lesson that occurs at the table. For example, in the morning, we do spelling and then math right after. But I let her play while I put spelling stuff away and pull out math stuff. This is absolutely necessary for us, because in order to comply with the lesson, she has to supress all sorts of things that her brain is thinking of. Have a bit of a break allows her to get it all out (or at least some of it).

[amyrjoy]

My Ds needs lots of breaks. 3-4? We still get what we need to done. When my DD was in first, I didn't give her as many breaks but it was my first year to homeschool and I know I pushed her.

[presley]

My 6 y/o seems to need frequent breaks. Maybe her day is all playing/recess with breaks for lessons. :confused: I suspect ADHD and I have enough other dc who need unstruction that I catch her as she races through and we do what we can. I am extremely low key and low pressure with K, 1, & 2. Around 3rd, I start stepping things up a bit and around 5th I start encouraging independent work with supervision.

 

Our lessons include chalk boards, windows, sidewalks, pine cones, rocks, the moon, the sun, etc. IOW, I try to do as little as possible with worksheets, work books, seat work, etc. I try to keep a lot of movement, music, crafts, etc., as the focus of the learning process. :)

 

I like your style! I wish I would have experienced early elementary that way as a kid :)

[matrips]

I wish I could figure out a way to do school without worksheets! It sounds like fun, but I wouldn't even know how to begin. Tell us more! With three kids, it just seems so much easier to have a set curriculum and work to do. Not as exciting, but if they ever go to ps, I guess they'll be prepared :)

 

we have set times this year for school (different format than last year). they get one 15 minute recess. however, since I have set times (that are pretty padded), if someone finishes early, then essentially it's another break. It also lets the slower worker catch up and not end up with homework. I don't let them leave the table (that would encourage rushing and sloppiness), but I will give them a book to read at the table. Aside from recess, I don't want playtime in the morning school routine. Playtime is for the afternoons here.

 

we do morning board while they eat breakfast (8-8:30am) so we cover the date/weather/time, lots of memorization, our spanish, and a few extras.

 

9-9:45am- 45 minutes of math (Singapore 2A and MUS Beta)

9:45am-10:15 - FLL 1/2 and WWE1

10:15-10:30 - recess (outside!). this is new this year too. and we all love it! it's very helpful to me to have that little scheduled break.

10:30-11:00 - HWOT 1 and AAS 3

11-11:45/12pm - remainder of school - fun and/or varied items - Building Thinking Skills is a daily and then each day they get to pick 2 of the following (but they all need to get done each week) - art warmups, art project, Essentials in Writing, Sonlight LA, descriptive writing, jeopardy game, Critical Thinking Science, and CC presentation prep.

 

School is then done except for read-alouds which we fit in whenever. It's been pretty low-key and un-stressed so far, but we're only a few days into it. I love the fixed times to keep us on track so I am not affected by procrastinators. And they love their recess! I also throw in a snack as an added bonus :) (we usually never do snacks!)

[crazyforlatin]

DD gives me a lot of breaks, but we do most work orally and sometimes it's easier to move around and do other things while listening to her do math, Latin, or recitation. She is an active child unless she is reading.

[nov05mama]

None, unless he needs to go to the restroom. We are generally done in 1-1.5 hours. He has a good attention span and we just plow on through. If we are having a bad day, we take a break.

 

:iagree: same here. He usually just works straight through...I actually ask him to go to the restroom before we start b/c for a while, he tried to use it as a reason to get up. He's allowed to get up and get a drink and such if he needs to, but usually just works through...and we are done in 1-2 hours each day anyway.