lgliser Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 We don't homeschool yet, but probably will next year. So pardon me if I am delusional here.... The kids will be in first grade and I'm under the impression that we won't really have all that much work. I'll probably just stick to the basics, just like people here have recommended. So I'm picturing a lot of free time. If we ever feel like it, can we do multiple sections a day? Like say, math for example. We do section 1.1 and we're good. They get it. Do they NEED a day to let it sink in or can we just move onto 1.2 the same day if we feel like it. And other subjects too. What if we're just on a roll working and we just feel like working a little ahead? Or is there a benefit in letting things sink in and taking it slow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I just go at dd's pace, with an eye to how long she spends per subject. I like about an hour of math a day. On Monday that was two sections in AoPS Geometry. Today it was one section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 We don't homeschool yet, but probably will last year. So pardon me if I am delusional here.... The kids will be in first grade and I'm under the impression that we won't really have all that much work. I'll probably just stick to the basics, just like people here have recommended. So I'm picturing a lot of free time. If we ever feel like it, can we do multiple sections a day? Like say, math for example. We do section 1.1 and we're good. They get it. Do they NEED a day to let it sink in or can we just move onto 1.2 the same day if we feel like it. And other subjects too. What if we're just on a roll working and we just feel like working a little ahead? Or is there a benefit in letting things sink in and taking it slow? It's hard to predict; I've noticed that learning rates are similar to physical growth in lots of ways--it's not constant--sometimes there's a lot going on and you'll be working to keep up with the pace. Other times, children go into retention mode and don't progress as quickly. As far as doing extra lessons--there is no reason why you can't, but my preference would be to pull out a math or word game instead. If all three aren't working at the same rate it will be easier to keep track of each student's progress. However, if they've done 1.1 and want more that's also a good thing. That said; free time in the elementary years is a precious commodity that is as important as time spent on lessons. My impression has always been that a lot of "sinking in" happens during play time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bensonduck Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I usually follow DD's lead on that. i try for a certain amount of time, rather than a certain amount of work. Sometimes it is half a lesson, sometimes it is 3 lessons. Sometimes it's obvious that she isn't getting it or needs a break, then i put it away and we try again the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2boys030507 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 There are days my boys can fly 3 or 4 sections of math and other times that one section will take a 2 or 3 days. It all depends on what each boys needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 First grade here took about 1.5 hours, and that included reading, handwriting, composition, grammar, history, science, and math. I plan to do something similar next year in 1st, except I won't have history and science in there really (he'll do library books for both topics and some Magic Schoolbus videos, but no formal curriculum). Sometimes we do 2 or 3 lessons in a single day. That's no big deal. If you are going through the material that fast, it's probably either a very easy concept for your child to pickup or it's a review topic that they still remember. The concepts that have taken days to sink in have usually taken us longer to work through the first day they're taught - it's just obvious that it's going to take more time. As you work with your children, you'll soon learn how fast or slow you need to go at various points. It may be a topic by topic thing. And with triplets, you have a mini-classroom situation going on, so sometimes Kid A will get it, but Kids B and C will need another day for it to sink in. So I imagine that your homeschool will look a bit different from those of us schooling 3+ different grade levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Our first grade takes about 90 minutes a day as well. I tend to spend a set time in a subject rather than deciding on how much material to cover. Some things lend themselves to discrete chunks: copywork is one sentence per day. History is one section per day. But things like math we do for about 45 mintues which includes SM, CWP, and LOF. Some days we get through 3 or 4 lessons in SM and some days 1 in that time (she does the workbook pages independently later and, likewise, sometimes does several in one sitting and sometimes takes a few days to complete an assignment). I keep an eye on our general progress and if we seem to be falling "behind" for some reason other than that my kids truly needed (and were getting) more instruction and practice then I tighten up on discipline and time management (in first grade falling behind is usually more my fault than my dc's). But, yeah, there is a lot of free time. And that's great. The first few years of school are where you really see how much time is wasted in the public school day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Some children are gifted and can compact more than a grade in a year, and not run into material that is developmentally inappropriate. All of Joyce Swann's children were able to finish more than one grade a year. My youngest was able to compact in is his early years. My oldest was able to compact in the middle and high school years. Sometimes even though they could compact material, we chose not to, so they could pursue other interests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtoamiracle Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Some days my son wants to do more than one lesson, sometimes not. I go with the flow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 My kids work on whatever subject for however long they want, so sure, they have often gone on binges and done multiple sections of something in a day. Some days they don't want that subject at all. It averages out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgliser Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Thanks everyone! I'm glad it's at least "ok" to do :) I'm totally for going with their flow. I just didn't want to zoom on if there was some benefit unknown to me with waiting a day for things to sink in :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 There's no reason you have to wait -- but what you really don't want to do (with skill subjects like math, reading, language, applied music, etc.) is do the week's worth of work on monday and then not do anything until next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 It's up to you. In general you won't want to always double up because you won't find out till later that you moved too fast and things didnt really sink in. However, now and then you can double up or even skip lessons or parts of lessons. In math it's usually always important to do at least some of the review, whereas the new concepts can more easily be cut in half. Right now we are behind in my dd's math book. The work is very easy for her but there is just a lot of review. So I'm doubling the lessons, but crossing out half of the review on certain things such as addition, that I know she has more than mastered. I noticed thAt she is shaky on shapes (of all things!) so I am not skipping any of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2TheTeam Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 We take it day by day here. Some days we may do extra and some days not. More often than not, we don't. That said, having 2 sets of twins myself (and 2 singles, one older and one younger), I think with trips, you are going to find that most days you don't have the extra time you think you might. 1st grade is still very teacher intensive and you are going to need to take individual time with each child to make sure they are "getting it." Also, your trips are exactly 1 year younger than my oldest who is in 1st this year. They are still young and they are not always going to cooperate for you and sit and do their work like you might want. If they are anything like my children, having several the same age means they are going to play off each other. I'm not trying to discourage you at all, definitely not! I'm just trying to give you a realistic picture that it might not be the tranquill scene you might think it is going to be. (Going by the fact that you think you will have a lot of free time. I don't think you will. ;)) You can do it though!! And, when it works out that you end up doing extra, you will be very happy! Good luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenbabybottoms Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 We occasionally do. If the lesson is a lot of review or a concept that clicked instantly and we finish the lesson very early I may move ahead a bit if the next lesson seems retry basic. I never teach 2 completely different concepts on the same day though. But today for example we are starting a new math program since we just finished her kindergarten work. It was really basic stuff she knew well and after I did the lesson I left her to do what was supposed to be 2 little workbook pages, I checked back 10 minutes later and she had finished all the pages that were meant for this week and started on next weeks lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgliser Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 We take it day by day here. Some days we may do extra and some days not. More often than not, we don't. That said, having 2 sets of twins myself (and 2 singles, one older and one younger), I think with trips, you are going to find that most days you don't have the extra time you think you might. 1st grade is still very teacher intensive and you are going to need to take individual time with each child to make sure they are "getting it." Also, your trips are exactly 1 year younger than my oldest who is in 1st this year. They are still young and they are not always going to cooperate for you and sit and do their work like you might want. If they are anything like my children, having several the same age means they are going to play off each other. I'm not trying to discourage you at all, definitely not! I'm just trying to give you a realistic picture that it might not be the tranquill scene you might think it is going to be. (Going by the fact that you think you will have al ot of free time. I don't think you will. ;)) You can do it though!! And, when it works out that you end up doing extra, you will be very happy! Good luck! :) :lol:You make me laugh.... "Tranquill!!" Anyway, you're probably right in that I'll actually not have as much free time as I imagine.... Oh and don't worry, you didn't discourage me at all. you're keeping it real! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I have trips as well. Homeschooling first grade sounded less time-intensive than it has turned out to be. Group lessons in the skill subjects (reading, writing, math) just did NOT work out at all at our house. Lessons come extremely easy for 1, one kid is normal, & #3 is SLOOOOW. Group lessons meant one kid was bored (and therefore causing trouble), one was appropriately challenged, and one was just completely lost. The content stuff is, of course, easily combined. (Social studies, science, art, music, etc.) If I were you, I would estimate 1 hour per kid, plus another 30 min to an hour together. And practice saying "it's not a race - everyone works at their own pace". You'll say that A LOT as fast kid talks about how far they are ahead of slow kid. The other thing to realize is that they don't always learn at a nice easy one-lesson-a-day pace. Three of my kids learn at a consistent pace. But I have one kid gets on a roll, and I can't give it to her fast enough, and then when she is finally satiated, she has to sit and digest for a month before she is ready to move on. In the end, she gets to the same place at about the same time, but her learning is in fits and starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgliser Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 Hi Megan! Hey I think we chatted on FB about HS a little while back! Thanks for the great advice. Good point about them very probably needing individual attention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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