Keeping track of hours?

[MAIMOM]

I was watching a teacher training session and she mentioned my child writing down her time spent on and subject.

 

Is this a requirement? Should I have her do this? Our state does not require us to keep hours. Are there any advantages? or reasons to do so?

I am :bigear:

[regentrude]

our state requires it, but we find it useful for several other reasons:

1. My kids have to put in a certain amount of school time each day. This helps them make sure they have worked enough (they are working very independently and I am not always with them.)

2. We do not work on a strict schedule; my kids choose which subjects to work on and for how long, keeping track of time spent on subject will help us identify when subjects get neglected.

3. For self-designed courses that do not follow a standard curriculum, I use the number of hours to help me decide when we have done enough work for a credit.

 

So, for us it is useful - but many people do not keep track of hours. You do whatever works for your family.

[MAIMOM]

our state requires it, but we find it useful for several other reasons:

 

3. For self-designed courses that do not follow a standard curriculum, I use the number of hours to help me decide when we have done enough work for a credit.

.

 

Is there a standard for how many hours a credit is? We have always used a set curriculum....like chalk dust pre cal. I just assumed completion of the work and tests was a credit. Am I off base?:confused:

[Joan in GE]

1. My kids have to put in a certain amount of school time each day. This helps them make sure they have worked enough (they are working very independently and I am not always with them.)

2. We do not work on a strict schedule; my kids choose which subjects to work on and for how long, keeping track of time spent on subject will help us identify when subjects get neglected.

3. For self-designed courses that do not follow a standard curriculum, I use the number of hours to help me decide when we have done enough work for a credit.

 

The umbrella school we use requires it, but even if it didn't, regentrude's ideas are basically ours.

 

ALSO some children/adults are not very good at estimating time at all. If they're really engrossed in something, the time flies and if it is difficult, time really drags and they think they have spent a loooooonnnnnng time.:001_smile: So a timer helps the understanding of reality.....

 

ETA - if you search 'credits' and time...you should find some of the variations that people use....also Carnegie Units, etc...

 

Joan

[Mom22ns]

It is easy to know what a math credit is ie completing pre-calc. But what is an American History credit? Is it reading a 200 pg textbook? Is it reading a 1200 page textbook? How much writing is involved? How many primary source documents will be added? How many biographies? Historical fictions?

 

You get the idea. I could study American History for years and not run out of material, but pre-calc has a well defined amount of material covered. Tracking hours can be very helpful in defining a credit for a course that can have a broad range on content.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Momto2Ns

[regentrude]

Is there a standard for how many hours a credit is? We have always used a set curriculum....like chalk dust pre cal. I just assumed completion of the work and tests was a credit. Am I off base?:confused:

 

For math and anything with a standard textbook or a set canon of what has to be covered, it is easy. But a self designed course in medieval and Renaissance literature or Ancient history? What is "completion of the work?" How many books should be studied and in what depth? There is no commonly agreed standard of what constitutes a high school credit for something like this. People spend decades working on this topic without "finishing"... so how much is appropriate for a high school credit? (In contrast, algebra 1 is finished when the student can solve quadratic equations and move on; precalculus is done when he is ready for calc.)

OTOH, the Carnegie unit corresponds to 130-160 hours and is pretty much recognized as a valid measure for a one year high school course, corresponding to one hour o instruction per day for a school year. So, I use this as a guideline to know what is too little and for how much I can honestly say that the work done merits a high school credit.

 

Of course this is not the only measure, as the level of work should also be sufficient, and just being slow should not be rewarded... but it helps me to judge whether we have plenty of work or should do some more.

 

With a scripted curriculum, this is not an issue.

Edited August 24, 2012 by regentrude

[Ellie]

If it isn't required in your state, then it isn't required at all.

[bobbeym]

2. We do not work on a strict schedule; my kids choose which subjects to work on and for how long, keeping track of time spent on subject will help us identify when subjects get neglected.

 

:iagree: We track time to help DS learn time management skills. Tracking hours isn't required in Texas.

[marbel]

What do you use to track? Just a piece of paper and pen? A spreadsheet? An ipod or iphone app? I want to start my kids doing this as we move toward more independence in their scheduling and work.

[regentrude]

What do you use to track? Just a piece of paper and pen? A spreadsheet? An ipod or iphone app? I want to start my kids doing this as we move toward more independence in their scheduling and work.

 

My kids use a simple paper planner and write it down.

Once a week, I put the information into an excel spreadsheet, which I have programmed to add times per day and per subject. Takes five minutes.

[Joan in GE]

Actually I do the nitty gritty record keeping. But dd keeps her eye on the clock and then tells me...or uses the timer for things like violin practice. When she was younger she used the timer more...

 

We use HST+ - you can easily just adjust the time by putting the cursor on the top or bottom line of the subject in the 'agenda' and clicking and moving the cursor like you would change the size of a window...or you can enter it manually which is more time consuming....So we start with the expected time and adjust the box based on reality....

[elegantlion]

I keep a printed word table in my planner. We're required by the state to keep track of hour anyway. I write the daily hours on my weekly sheet, ds still does most of his work in the classroom. I round to 15 min (.25 increments), which makes it easier adding them up.

 

My word document is divided into subjects and I just enter those at the end of the week.

[Candid]

What do you use to track? Just a piece of paper and pen? A spreadsheet? An ipod or iphone app? I want to start my kids doing this as we move toward more independence in their scheduling and work.

 

I'm with Ellie, I don't keep track. I'm much more interested in what is covered and to judge that I'd much rather look at what folks I admire cover than time.

 

However, if your kids have smart phones or a tablet, they might be able to use an app.

 

I use: https://www.expensify.com to track our home school expenses, but it also can keep track of time.

[Loudwater School]

The cover school we used when I was teen required it, because as soon as you had done 180 hours of work in something, they gave you a credit in it. We used a form like the one here, with our subjects on the left, and the days of the month on the right. We kept our forms on the kitchen fridge and just added the minutes each day as we did them. I intend to do this with my kids too. It's an easy way to make sure enough work was done to equal one high school credit, and it helps kids get a sense of what they're doing.

[MAIMOM]

Thank you Loudwater School for the form. We will be moving and may need to count hours depending on what state we move to. That will be helpful.

[Frances]

Our state doesn't require it, but I found it useful when putting together a transcript. I just had my son jot down the time spent on each assignment in the planner I used for high school. He only did this for classes at home or outside classes that didn't assign grades or credits, not his college classes.

 

The part that was actually the most useful when it came time for college applications was that I also had him note the time spent on extracurricular activities each day. Many applications require detailed information about the time devoted to ECs.

[J-rap]

We do not count hours, but our days were always pretty consistent as far as the number of hours it took to cover everything. I think with practice, I just knew how much we could do or needed to do in a day.

 

For the record, our public high school requires 120 hours or the equivalent for a full credit.

[marbel]

Thanks for the ideas and links! Food for thought, as usual.

[MAIMOM]

Thanks for the ideas and links! Food for thought, as usual.

 

:iagree:

[Lori D.]

We have always used a set curriculum....like chalk dust pre cal. I just assumed completion of the work and tests was a credit. Am I off base?:confused:

 

 

Not at all! :) When you are using a set curriculum, mastery through completion of the material is a good, and easy, way to account for one credit. Using a textbook or set curriculum makes that easy, as the amount of work that can reasonably be learned in one year has already been determined for you.

 

SIDE NOTE: the idea of what constitutes "completion" has become a gray area for many school systems. Many say that completing 90% of a textbook counts as completion; I've even seen percentages as low as 75%. JMO, but if you have been counting 100% completion as one credit, then be consistent and as much as possible continue to make that your standard.

 

 

But what if you do not use a textbook or set curriculum? What if your put together your own coursework? Or want to be able to give credit to learning your student has accomplished through unusual or out-of-the-box activities and materials? Then you need to determine how much material, reading, assignments, projects, etc. equal one credit. That is where tracking/counting hours can be helpful in keeping you consistent so that you are awarding similar credit to similar amount of work, whether done with or without a textbook.

 

 

Is there a standard for how many hours a credit is?

 

On the minimum end of how many hours equal one credit is the Carnegie unit (or credit hour) is 120 hours of teacher contact -- in other words, in-class time. However, this does not include the outside-the-class work of homework, projects, writing assignments and reading that high school classes typically required.

 

On the maximum end of how many hours equal one credit is the typical school year approximation of a class meeting for 1 hour per day, 5 days a week, for 36 weeks equals 180 hours (1 x 5 x 36). (Even though actual class time is less than this -- usually about 120-135 hours -- homework and outside-the-class readings and projects usually take this back up to 180 hours.)

 

 

So a credit can be counted as between 120 to 180 hours; just be consistent in how you count it for all the classes your student does:

1.0 credit = 120-180 hours

0.75 credit = 90-135 hours

0.66 credit = 80-120 hours

0.50 credit = 60-90 hours

0.33 credit = 40-60 hours

0.25 credit = 30-45 hours

 

Generally, courses with a lot of reading (Literature, History), with lab work (Science), or with practices (Music) will run closer to the maximum of 180 hours. "Checkbox" or required courses (Government, Economics, Personal Finance, Health), depending on what materials you use, tend to be accomplished closer to the minimum of 120 hours.

 

When making their own courses, many homeschoolers strive for consistency from one course to the next, and so tend to plan a similar amount of work and hours for each class -- for example, an average of 135 to 160 hours equaling one credit.

 

Here is a helpful past thread on "Could you explain what equals a credit, 1/2 credit, etc.?". This HSLDA article on Evaluation of High School Credits and this Lee Binz, Home Scholar, article on Home School Credit for Special Courses, both help you figure out credits when making your own course.

 

 

The big thing is to not get hung-up about hours -- just use tracking hours as a tool, as needed.

 

As other posters have said, a credit needs to FIRST be about the body of work -- one student may be able to complete the Algebra course in less than a year, say, 30 weeks. Another may require 1.5 years in order to complete with mastery a similar body of work. Counting hours is not about comparing students' speeds of working, but about making sure you are awarding the appropriate amount of credit to your student when you are making your own course, as there is a tendency in homeschooling to set the bar WAY higher than similar courses in a school system or in a set curriculum, and really be shorting your student the credit they earned.

 

I find that google searching for an online syllabus of a similar course and looking at what is required -- number of pages, amount of books, number and length of assignments or projects, etc. -- helps me stay in the ballpark in determining amount of work, and then if we seem to be getting done in too short or too long of a time each week (seen through tracking hours), I re-evaluate why the time discrepancy (i.e. student being lazy?) with what I initially laid out as the amount of work (i.e., I required too much? too little?).

 

Hope that helps to clear the confusion! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Lori D.

[MAIMOM]

Lori this is very helpful information. Thank you

[homeforthelord]

Last month I started using the Homeschool Helper App for the ipad. It can track time spent on an assignment for you - when you enter an assignment/lesson, there is a box called "Duration." You can either enter how long you expect your teen to spend on the assignment, or have them enter how long was spent on it after the fact. Super easy. (After all these years of homeschooling & using paper planners, I'm loving this app!)

[Luckymama]

Last month I started using the Homeschool Helper App for the ipad. It can track time spent on an assignment for you - when you enter an assignment/lesson, there is a box called "Duration." You can either enter how long you expect your teen to spend on the assignment, or have them enter how long was spent on it after the fact. Super easy. (After all these years of homeschooling & using paper planners, I'm loving this app!)

 

Jennifer, I'm using the same app. Can you see the total duration in one of the reports? I'd love to easily track the hours dd is spending on geography so I can tell if I should give .5 or 1.0 credit.

[mom31257]

I'm only going to track hours for credits that are all about time, such as PE. For things like Biology, Geometry, etc., when dd's finished the book, she gets the credit. I don't feel that I should track her time on those kinds of subjects. What takes one kids an hour to do might take another one 30 minutes. I'm not going to give her busy work just to make up the time.