Guest onehome Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 (edited) What is your typical day homeschooling a kindergartner? I can't wrap my head around how many hours I should spend "doing school". What does your typical day look like? He is an only child. I have a hard time getting the day started and knowing when to finish, especially when we have appointments and other activities going on. Edited May 4, 2012 by onehome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I'm a pretty relaxed homeschooler to begin with but especially for the youngest years/Kindergarten. I don't think K work needs to take more than an hour and a Ker's day should consist mainly of a lot of free play, imaginative play, getting outdoors, helping mom and dad with things around the house, doing any activities and field trips you have him signed up for, etc. We also play educational board games and computer games and play with manipulatives and so on. The K curriculum I use is very easy-going and Waldorf inspired. I did add on some reading lessons (Funnix and then Reading Eggs) because he was an older K, almost 6, and liked doing stuff like that at the computer, but I didn't force it, I did it if he was willing. Kind of sporadic, to be honest. Next year when he's in 1st we will buckle down a little bit more but still don't expect to spend more than like 1.5 hours with him doing 1st grade materials. A lot of people think 1 hour per grade is sufficient although I probably do about an hour less than that on average as they get to middle and later elementary school. We learn in a lot of other ways aside from worksheets, textbooks and so on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 We played Go Fish with alphabet cards to learn letter sounds. I drank my coffee in bed and we worked on phonetics, read Bob Books, played math games, read alouds, library and museum trips, climbed trees, made forts. Sit down schooling didn't take much time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoVanGogh Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Kindergarten was an hour, three or four days a week, for my only. If we were doing a project (science or art), it might last two hours. I felt we were very relaxed, though everyone's opinion of 'relaxed' is different. But I didn't push sit-down work. We only did school when he was interested and engaged. We used Five in a Row and mostly sat on the couch and read, did a bit of math, plus lots and lots of nature studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ednkirstin Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 We've pretty much always done first grade work in K, and it still only takes 1-2 hours max. I wouldn't stress at all over K. That's one of the beauties of homeschooling, especially the younger years. They don't have to be stuck in a classroom all day when they really only need a small bit of formal instruction. Kids are free to be kids. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 How many hours do you think you "should" spend doing school? Truly, everything a child does from the he gets up until the time he goes to bed is learning for him. I have no qualms about counting everything as "school." That means, oh, 12-14 hours a day of "school.":D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 We started homeschooling our only in first grade. We did about 1.5 hours of school time, that was in the seat working. If I could go back I would change it to an hour and spend about 3-4 hours in intentional play or outdoor activities. In fact this is how we'd structure our day: Handwriting Math worksheet Phonics that's all the formal curricula we would do. I would add: Nature Study for science (Barb @ Harmony Fine Arts has a great sequence to follow) Art and music would be whatever was interesting for the day. Play music while you play with art. Math would be done informally with toys, candy, manipulatives, (we used Hot Wheels) History would be field trips to area historical sites Reading would be done on the couch together, much much more reading real books together. Helping bake cookies together helps fine motor skills PE would be at the park Plan playdates with friends. We traveled to others homes a lot. Show what you did to dad when he gets home. Let your dc tell them. Run errands, we loved going to the grocery at 11am, it was so quiet and nice. Take at least an hour to yourself each afternoon. Either nap time or play quietly in your room time. I think as the parent of an only this is an important habit to cultivate. They need to know how to entertain themselves. It gives you a break before the evening begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 For us we do Kindergarten 2 hours a day. Friday is our day off for things like art/music......unless she wants to do something school related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 One hour per day of formal curriculum. Lots of hours of play, arts and crafts, outside time and field trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3peasinWa Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 One hour per day of formal curriculum. Lots of hours of play, arts and crafts, outside time and field trips. i have an only. This is what we do too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 For K, I like 15 min each reading, math, and handwriting practice. Then find books at the library on bugs, plants, rocks, etc. any science subject that interest you both. Read the books to the Ker, then go outside and investigate. Is the book right? Did you find something different? Did something else catch your eye? Get some books on a history topic or community topic. Read them. Go visit anything you have nearby. Now is the best time to go visit firestations, zoo, museums, historic monuments, whatever you have in your area. The more hands on stuff is, the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 When I did kindergarten for my oldest kids, we worked on phonics and math as academic subjects. We read a lot of books, did unit studies that were either sciencey or artsy (Johnny Appleseed, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Presidents Holidays, oceans, growing plants, etc.) Now, that #3 is my kindy, she basically gets math, phonics and handwriting and a bit of Social Studies/Science and it takes us 1/2 hour a day, which is fine with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Every child is different at that age in their needs and how much school they can handle. I don't have an only child but at the moment my K'er is the only one I am formally homeschooling. We do from 3-5 hours a day. Half an hour on reading, writing,math and then about an hour on Moving Beyond the Page. After that we do things like Science, history, art, unit studies etc. We do 3 hours definately every day and then more hours if she is in the mood for them. She still gets in lots of play, free time etc. Before I have the K police coming down on me for doing too many extra subjects -it's a State requirement that I cover 8 subject areas -even in K - so I don't have a choice. I try to do it as lightly as I can whilst still covering the major things I have to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 One hour per day of formal curriculum. Lots of hours of play, arts and crafts, outside time and field trips. :iagree: That's us too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onehome Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 Thanks everyone for your input! I'm going to shoot for an hour a day of formal school and then the rest just stick with what we have already been doing. Playing, field trips, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 K for us is a math worksheet, a penmanship page and phonics instruction. All total that would be @ 45 min to an hour. The rest of the day was playing, exploring, games, outside, field trips, library, lots of read alouds, arts and crafts etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustybug Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 My K'er only spends 1 1/2-2 hours max on school which includes history, science, math, phonics, and bible. We also spend tons of other time reading, doing crafts, puzzles, playing, coloring, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 I'll be doing K next year w/ my 2nd ds and I'm aiming at 30 min a day but figure it will likely take more like an hour b/c he likes doing "school". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 For K, I like 15 min each reading, math, and handwriting practice. Then find books at the library on bugs, plants, rocks, etc. any science subject that interest you both. Read the books to the Ker, then go outside and investigate. Is the book right? Did you find something different? Did something else catch your eye? Get some books on a history topic or community topic. Read them. Go visit anything you have nearby. Now is the best time to go visit firestations, zoo, museums, historic monuments, whatever you have in your area. The more hands on stuff is, the better. :iagree: This is about what we did for K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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