How long is your school day?

[Garga]

We start the day at 7:45 watching CNN Student news while we eat breakfast.  I take notes that the boys later copy from me.

 

8:00 is the official start of school.  We take an hour for lunch. We don't get done until 4 or 4:30 and then there is homework for the boys to do themselves, 30 minutes to an hour's worth

 

So, on a full day we're doing school 7.5 to 8.5 hours.  I have a 4th grader and a 7th grader.  The 4th grader is NOT working that whole time.  I will give him work and he'll do some, but then I move to the 7th grader and the 4th grader has time for a break.  The 7th grader does not get as many breaks, since the 4th grader's one-on-one sessions with me are short.

 

Is this normal?  We don't waste a lot of time.  We stay on task pretty well.  I have papers copied and ready to give to them and pencils sharpened and ready to use,etc.  

 

I am a classical homeschooler. I school for academic reasons. I try to avoid any homework on weekends. I've heard that a general rule of thumb is an hour's worth of school per grade year, so we should be at 7 hours (for the 7th grader), and we're close to that (7.5-8.5), but I worry that we're doing too much.  

 

What do you think?

[FaithManor]

8:30 a.m. to about 3:00 depending on the length of assignments. I have three high schoolers so in math, they often do have to wait for me for a little bit while I work with a different brother, and when we are watching Great Course lectures with note taking plus working in the text, that subject takes a full hour maybe a little longer. They are working on seven credits each. Also, as they get closer and closer to college, I do work towards a good long day so they'll be prepared. But, again, still not like high school. In college, I had a lot of Monday, Wednesday, Friday courses and very few Tuesday/Thursday...the scheduling was different, so I am working towards adjusting some subjects to the same...an hour to an hour and half of lecture, note taking, quizzes, demonstrations, etc., and then a couple of days off in the week to do the writing assignments, science problems, etc. I will probably keep to a five day per week foreign language and math schedule. I just can't seem to work it out for them to finish on time if we aren't doing those two subjects every day.

 

I generally, rarely worry about doing too much, but hubby is also very academically oriented and so he's been supportive of a longer day and stricter schedule for middle through high school. However, I am being very careful with our ds who is recovering from the car accident because with medical appointments, muscle atrophy, etc. his stamina is a little low and right now, health and healing trumps everything. Starting college on time is not the big priority. If it happens, it happens. He's going to apply this fall, but if he has to then contact the schools and take a gap year, so be it. A year in the grand scheme of things is not a deal breaker.

[bluegirl777]

I have a 4th grader and a 6th grader. We start around 8:00 am and finish between 2-3:00 pm. This includes a morning break and lunch. We cover "harder" subjects in the morning and then do the subjects they most enjoy later in the morning and afternoon. Total working hours for my youngest = 4-5 hours (but he usually does "busy work" in between times when I am working with oldest) and around 5 hours for my oldest.

[TammyinTN]

I have an 11th grader...M-W-F 9-1 classes with mom --Algebra, geometry, and Intro to Psy on Monday, British Lit, Grammar, Voc.  Wednesday, World Geo on Friday.  

T-Thur--9-11 Algebra, Geometry, Chemistry online 1:15-2:45 and Th Lost Tools of Writing 12-1:30.  

 

I like to leave the afternoons for him to do his assignments, homework and listen to lectures.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Justmeandyou]

I have 4 kids , so school takes *me* roughly 5-6 hours.  The older kids work from about 9-12, then 1-2 ish.  I homeschool largely for academic reasons as well, however, I feel that free time and play grow a child's mind as much or more than academic work, so I make sure my kids have plenty of free play or free time to pursue their interests each day.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My 4th grader works pretty steadily from 8-11:30 or 12 and we're done. Last year my 7th grader probably put in one more hour than that. We're all about the streamlined though.

[Jasperstone]

Wow, that's a very long day. Each to their own though.

 

I just don't get why you would set homework when you homeschool???

[helena]

We go 8-3 with an hour break for lunch. A bit of homework here and there. Piano practice usually fits into the school day. Art studies and home ec spill over from Friday to the weekend. Of course... my 10th grader's online math and French classes haven't started. That's when the mellow schedule will go all  :willy_nilly:  :willy_nilly:  :willy_nilly:  :willy_nilly: . 

 

 

[freesia]

I think it's long for the fourth grader, too. Does he have alot of wasted time while waiting for you to get to the next thing?

 

Could you change around your schedule a bit. For instance, I meet with my fourth grader at 9:00 for about 1/2 hour. we go over his math lesson, grammar lesson,handwriting, do some spelling, assign his science reading, maybe edit his writing. We do one thing after another. Then he is free for an hour until we do our history group time at around 10:30. He gets some of his work done then, but mostly plays with his sister. At 11 sometimes we do a group project of some type for about 1/2 hour. We have outside time, lunch and then quiet time. He can easily finish by 2:00.

 

He does spelling, math, grammar, writing, literature reading, history and/or sciene reading (and sometimes worksheet)daily.

[abba12]

In those grades as kids we would begin school as soon as we got up, around 7:30-8:00, eating breakfast while doing math etc. Grades 4 and below would usually be done around 10:30, grades 5 until about 8 finished by lunchtime most days. High school took longer. We also did our reading at night, and this time did not include art projects or involved science experiments etc.

 

I'd look at your schedule and see if you are trying to do too much, and assess your priorities.

[Garga]

Wow, that's a very long day. Each to their own though.

 

I just don't get why you would set homework when you homeschool???

Ah, yes, homework. I should have clarified. I started out calling it "independent work" which is what it is, but the boys prefer to call it homework, so that's what we call it.

 

We save things from a few subjects for them to do at the end of the day. That way I can see whether the lesson has sunk in and they're retaining it for more than a few minutes. So, there's a math sheet, a bit of writing...stuff like that.

 

Ok. You guys all school for a lot less time than I do. Ugh. I suppose I'm trying to do too much. :( I just don't know what to give up. Thanks for answering.

 

P.S. Well, come to think of it, the boys are veeeeerrrry slow writers, physically. It feels like it takes years for them to copy a sentence or two. And this year, I'm making them copy lots of things from me. Maybe that's what's taking so long? My hope was that they'd get faster at writing by the end of the year. Maybe in a few weeks we'll start to move faster. (But will we really move 2 or 3 hours faster?)

[FaithManor]

That was my first reaction, too but then I realized that I have no idea what is the norm. I guess it could make sense if you spend one chunk of time instructing/learning and then send the kid off on their own to do some independent work later to make sure they master it. Hmm now I am curious how many people assign homework that homeschool.

 

(I mean parent instructing/child learning. Or child doing it all independently depending on what it is).

I assign reading and work that must be done outside of instructional time. Now, that said, rarely does my instructional time last a whole hour. Occasionally it can, and especially if we are listening to a Great Course lecture or two and discuss it or when we go over a particularly heady subject in say physics....I think that my boys thought I was waxing a little too eloquently on Special Relativity the other day, LOL! So, they will have work on those days that will take time outside of the instructional period. However, I would consider this normal for middle school and high school. This didn't occur during the elementary age years.

 

Since we are a pretty college oriented family, we took a look at the rigor we had in college - we went to an excellent school - and then worked back to what would be preparative for that so that the freshman year of college is only incrementally harder than the senior year of high school, and then what would be preparative for high school in order to extrapolate about how much time the kids should be working at each stage in order to be ready for the incrementally harder next stage and so on. So, if the kids are having 30 minutes or half an hour in the morning for a break, followed by a fairly decent lunch period, followed by breaks and or snacks in the afternoon, then I would expect a 6 - 7 hr. day from start to completion from an 8th grader. I would be very concerned about a 7 hr. day without generous breaks. Even a working adult, apart from first responders and possibly the President and his cabinet, get an hour at lunch. Shoot, watch CSPAN, congress gets more breaks than elementary students! But, this is assuming due diligence from the student. If a 12 year old is running around and NOT working every time mom or dad turns her back to work with another student, then YUP, that kid is going to be doing school work well into the afternoon and evening and maybe even on Saturday while everyone else is playing soccer outside. Them's the breaks, as the saying goes!

[chocolatechip]

Wow, that's a long day. 

 

I feel like the 1hr/grade yr. thing might be a little off. 

 

That would mean that a senior would spend 12hrs/day. I never spent 12hrs/day in high school. THANKFULLY. 

 

What subjects exactly are you doing?

[Arcadia]

I suppose I'm trying to do too much. :( I just don't know what to give up.

 

P.S. Well, come to think of it, the boys are veeeeerrrry slow writers, physically. It feels like it takes years for them to copy a sentence or two. And this year, I'm making them copy lots of things from me.

What do they have to copy? My boys are slow in writing. There is nothing they need to copy. For math, they write down the question number and do the work. Same goes for all the other subjects. When their hands are tired from the writing, they do their reading, play piano or practice their german on Duolingo.

[happypamama]

A full day (including read alouds, group subjects, typing, etc.) would be around 4 hours for my 4th grader, maybe 5, if every single subject happens to hit a big portion on one day, and about 6-7 hours for my 7th grader.  There's just a point at which they just can't get enough academics done in a shorter period, even if they're working really hard, but I also think that there's a point at which it won't get any longer, kwim?  Like, I gradually ramp up from a very short period of time (under an hour) to several hours, but the leap from 4th to 7th is not so big as the leap from 1st to 4th, and the workload isn't necessarily going to double from 7th to 12th, if that makes sense.  The work will be more in depth and harder, but not necessarily just longer.

 

I'll be back in a bit to talk about how it breaks down on an ideal day.

[blondeviolin]

My third grader is working about 3hrs or so and my first grader 1.5 hrs. I'd say the 1hr/grade is pretty accurate for elementary-aged kids.

[LMD]

so what do you all include in your school days? I have trouble keeping it under 5hrs for my 4th grader, but then I'm including P.E. and music practice...

[Garga]

What do they have to copy? My boys are slow in writing. There is nothing they need to copy. For math, they write down the question number and do the work. Same goes for all the other subjects. When their hands are tired from the writing, they do their reading, play piano or practice their german on Duolingo.

 

 

They need more output this year, especially the 7th grader. 

 

1.  I write 3 sentences (or less) of notes on our CNN Student News for current events every day.  

2.  Four sentences (twice a week--so it's only 8 sentences a week) that include their vocabulary words.  They dictate the sentences to me and copy them down later.

3.  After we read world history, they each dictate to me 3 sentences of anything they learned in the lesson. This is 4 times a week.

4.  While I read some American history to them, once a week, I pause and write down the names of anyone mentioned and a fact or two about them--just words, not full sentences.  They copy those as I read or after if they didn't finish while I was reading

 

Any other writing is their own that they don't copy from me:

1. Writing is IEW and they write rough drafts and final copies (during "homework.")

2. For Civics (required by state law between 7th and 12th grade, so we're doing it now) there are questions in the book.  As "homework" the 7th grader answers one or two of them in writing each night until they're done (he has a week to complete the questions.)  The fourth grader only gets one question to answer in writing a week as homework. 

 

It's sort of a lot of writing and sort of not.  At 41 years old, I can do the copywork in under 5 minutes.  It takes them longer.  

[freesia]

They need more output this year, especially the 7th grader. 

 

1.  I write 3 sentences (or less) of notes on our CNN Student News for current events every day.  

2.  Four sentences (twice a week--so it's only 8 sentences a week) that include their vocabulary words.  They dictate the sentences to me and copy them down later.

3.  After we read world history, they each dictate to me 3 sentences of anything they learned in the lesson. This is 4 times a week.

4.  While I read some American history to them, once a week, I pause and write down the names of anyone mentioned and a fact or two about them--just words, not full sentences.  They copy those as I read or after if they didn't finish while I was reading

 

Any other writing is their own that they don't copy from me:

1. Writing is IEW and they write rough drafts and final copies (during "homework.")

2. For Civics (required by state law between 7th and 12th grade, so we're doing it now) there are questions in the book.  As "homework" the 7th grader answers one or two of them in writing each night until they're done (he has a week to complete the questions.)  The fourth grader only gets one question to answer in writing a week as homework. 

 

It's sort of a lot of writing and sort of not.  At 41 years old, I can do the copywork in under 5 minutes.  It takes them longer.

How much longer? I would think a 7th grader should be able to finish this fairly quickly. Do you wait to go on until they are finished? Could this be part of their independent work? That may speed up the day.

 

For my boys, but not my oldest girl, that amount of copying would have been difficult and tedious in fourth grade. Both would have, or would now, procrastinate forever rather than getting it done. What are your goals with the copying for him?

 

(I'm not criticizing your program, just looking for ways to help you bring your fourth grader's day down a bit).

[Garga]

so what do you all include in your school days? I have trouble keeping it under 5hrs for my 4th grader, but then I'm including P.E. and music practice...

 

OP here:

 

Ok.  Here goes:

 

This is what we do daily:

 

Watch CNN Student news while we eat breakfast (10 minutes)

Bible (20 minutes)

Health (15 minutes)  Required by law between 7th and 12th.  Getting it done this year.

Math (60 minutes)

Reading (40 minutes)  They refuse to read on their own, so I include it in our school day. Every other day I read aloud to them instead of them reading on their own.

Spelling (20 minutes)  (yes, they need this class)

Vocabulary (10 minutes) of SAT prep type words

Typing (10 minutes)

 

Over 3 hours right there.

 

Then, we cycle through the following on a 6 day rotation:

 

Art (twice a cycle--so twice every 6 school days)  (60 min per class)

Civics (once a cycle) Required by law between 7th and 12th  (60 min)

Etiquette (this is really fun for the boys. Once a cycle) (60 min)

Grammar (twice a cycle) (20 min)

History (four times a cycle.  They adore history) (60 min)

Logic (twice a cycle.  They adore logic.) (60 min)

Piano (ha.  Haven't managed to fit it in yet)

Science (4 times a cycle) (60 min)

 

ETA:  Egads that's a lot.  I don't know what to cut, what with some things being required by common sense (math, grammar, writing, etc) and the stuff that isn't required is the fun stuff (logic etiquette, art).  

[Arcadia]

1. I write 3 sentences (or less) of notes on our CNN Student News for current events every day.

2. Four sentences (twice a week--so it's only 8 sentences a week) that include their vocabulary words. They dictate the sentences to me and copy them down later.

3. After we read world history, they each dictate to me 3 sentences of anything they learned in the lesson. This is 4 times a week.

For the CNN Student News, your 7th grader should be able to take his own notes. Your 4th grader could give it a try.

For vocabulary sentences, my boys just write their sentences in their LA notebook. Sometimes they check the paper dictionary for a word that they are not sure of. Is there a reason for them to dictate to you first?

For world history, my boys just write a three to four sentence summary per lesson. Sometimes they write a one page report for the whole unit like history of aviation. Is there a reason for dictating first instead of letting them do it themselves?

 

My older spent less than 4hrs daily in 4th grade last year covering math, LA (grammar, vocab, lit), german daily and alternate days for history/geography and art. They spend their free time on science and music so I don't count that time as school. I didn't count the 1hr of reading daily since that is leisure reading.

 

ETA:

Maybe don't count the stuff that isn't required into the school hours. I just count those as "afterschool fun stuff". If I count the time my kids spend on robotics, my school hours would be too high :) I didn't count PE either but they do some form of PE at least an hour a day.

[jenn&charles]

7 to 9 hours for my 10th grader, but that counts piano and his extra classes like Police Explorers.

[Farrar]

Fifth grade. Varies wildly, but if I had to average, I'd say about four and a half hours. Some days were less, some days we're more, but usually when we're doing a project of some kind or a science experiment or some art or something.

 

Really, I think if it works for you guys, don't worry about it.

[freesia]

Ok, it sounds like you spend a good chunk of time doing classes together (history, science, etc.), right? It also sounds like the cycled classes are some of your and the boys favorite times. That makes things tougher.

 

If you want your fourth grader's day to be shorter, you could cut those times in half. (My 6th and 9th graders join our whole family for 30 minutes of history with my fourth grader. They also have independent reading and questions to answer. This way we do it together, but it doesn't take as long). They could do separate sciences. . . . Just brainstorming. I think you are a bit stuck--if you want to keep them together then you need to shoot for your seventh grader's level and attention span so he gets what he needs. However, it's a bit much for younger brother.

 

I would drop the copy work, too and just have them write their own sentences.

[DragonFaerie]

We start around 8:00 and work until noon.  The kids usually have breakfast in there somewhere, but they also do some work while they eat.  We break for lunch from 12:00 to 1:00, and then it's back to work until around 4 pm.  DD stops around 2:30 or 3:00 in order to do her 90 minutes of instrument practice.  DS goes until 3:30 or 4:00 depending on whether he's accomplished much that day or not.  So that's around 7 hours give or take.  DS really should not need that long, but he is an expert procrastinator and time-waster.  DD is doing 9th grade, so I'm not surprised that her day is long (she, however, is very surprised; LOL).  I wish our days were shorter, but there's not anything I'm willing to cut, so it is what it is.

[Veritaserum]

We start between 8 and 9 and end around 3. The kids work on independent assignments and projects in the morning. Then I read aloud literature and history. After lunch and during the baby's nap, we do math and other mom-intensive subjects. My older hser is in 7th this year.

[happypamama]

You've met my kids, so this may give you a frame of reference; this is how our day breaks down.  (Re: your kids and the copying -- it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I would check to see if they really need it for retention.  Some kids learn that way, and some don't.)

 

Everyone:

-roughly 30 minutes at lunch of: Bible and other memory work (science vocab, martial arts memory work, etc.), Bible lessons, and some selections (rotating/semi-random) from vocabulary, Greek/Latin roots, hymn study, read alouds, particularly interesting picture book (like, a couple of weeks ago, 4th grader read about the Alamo in history, and I found a lovely book of voices of the Alamo, so we read that together), etc.  

 

-read aloud and Bible stories before bed, plus whatever recorded books we do during car rides

 

-2 hours or so once a week on geography, art, picture study, composer study, and Shakespeare/cultural literacy tales -- that's our "going out" day, and because it eats up so much of our day with the 40 minute drive each way, they might do math or personal reading that day, but often not.

 

4th grader (good reader, happy reader, but not super fast at it):

-personal reading -- 30-45 minutes

-math -- 15-30 minutes, rarely more than 30 (depends if we're doing challenging word problems or not); if it's a quick concept and all done orally, it might only be 15 minutes, or it might take him 30 if he has to write things out.

-history/geography -- 15-30 minutes, rarely more than 30; it's half a chapter from SOTW or a couple of pages from Usborne and a map, usually.

-language -- 10-20 minutes -- we alternate Latin and modern foreign language

-science -- 15-30 minutes -- a chapter from Mr. Q or a project that we all do together, and we don't necessarily do science every day

-writing -- 15-30 minutes -- depends on whether he has a selection from WWE4 to read

-typing -- 10 minutes-ish

-general skills -- 20 minutes or so -- rotating list of spelling, poetry, anything extra for the portfolio (so, health, safety, etc. would go there)

So: just over 2 hours of independent work if every single thing is very quick, and more likely, a little over 3.  Hmmm, there are also some breaks in there, but unless he's really dawdling, it's under 4 hours.

 

7th grader:

-personal reading -- 45-60 minutes, depending on how hefty a book; she's reading Oliver Twist right now, but the Wrinkle in Time series went faster.

-math -- 60 minutes, maybe more -- pre-algebra has little new info, so it might only take us 10 minutes to go over it, and the rest is doing the problems

-history/geography -- 20-40 minutes -- usually 40ish, by the time she does some reading and some output (worksheet, map, summaries, outlines) but sometimes it'll go really quickly

-language -- 10-20 minutes, alternating Latin and modern foreign language (she does Latin on the days that 4th grader does modern language)

-science -- 30 minutes -- 2-4 pages of Kingfisher or a group project

-writing -- 10 (rarely)-30 minutes or so; we break up some of the days of WWS1 into multiple days

-typing -- 10 minutes-ish

-general skills -- 20 minutes-ish -- rotating list of spelling, poetry, logic, grammar, portfolio stuff

So: just under 3 1/2 hours of independent work if she really works and if everything happens to be short, or closer to 4 1/2.  There are breaks in there too, and I know she doesn't always stay on task.  And math and reading may actually take longer, depending on how focused she is.

[MinivanMom]

*My* school day lasts from 8-3, because I have five kids I'm homeschooling. My kids' days are shorter. My 5th grader spends about 4-4 1/2 hrs each day. My 4th grader spends 3-3 1/2 hrs each day. That doesn't include independent reading or music practice. My younger kids spend less than 2 hrs each day.

 

I think your day sounds long for a 4th grader, but if he's happy and it's working, then that's what matters. Do what works for you.

[abba12]

I don't think you can drop any subjects but I would consider dropping the time of each subject

You're basically doing 4 hours of science and 4 hours of history a week. Fine for high school when you usually have like 5 or 6 subjects, but perhaps not necessarily for primary/middle.

My family had two models, either an hour of science twice a week, or 20 minutes of science every day. Same for history. 

You're also doing a lot of extras. The fact is, we can't do everything all at once. There's a million good things to do, but we have to choose. Fitting in art, etiquette, logic, and civics takes an hour each day of the cycle. I would consider dropping one art, taking logic and civics to 30 mins, and incorporating etiquette with, say, dinnertime. Or doing art for the first semester and logic for the second semester. They are all wonderful things, but they all take time, and time is limited.

 

Can you find out your priorities, is 4 hours of history a cycle a priority for you? (for some families it certainly is, while others don't do it formally until high school) Is the extra copy-work more or less important than art? (arguments can be made for both). What things need that time the most?

 

Figure out how many hours you have available to you, total, in a week (or, in your case, in a 6 day cycle.) If you want your 4th grader to do 4 hours a day then, fine, that gives you 24 hours to assign. Figure out where those hours need to go. Maybe you need to switch subjects between semesters or drop some extras, or incorporate things into the day (like reading at night or etiquette at dinnertime). Or even move things, like 2 hours of art each Sunday afternoon or something. Or maybe you just need to cut some things (a full hour of math would be, to some families, too much for a 4th grader. Many on these boards seem to do 20-30 minutes, though I personally am with you and lean towards more time on math)

 

There's no right or wrong answer here because it all depends on your families priorities. My priorities look very different to many others here, for example, and we wouldn't see eye to eye on what to cut and what to keep.

[trulycrabby]

OP, if your kids are happily learning these subjects, then I would say your school day is just fine. It does sound like they enjoy most of their work.

 

DS10 is doing mostly 5th grade subjects except for pre-algebra. Our school day can take anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on what we are studying and whether we are doing PE. I include independent reading, right now he is spending several hours a day reading Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time Series; he is on the second book.

[idnib]

We start around 8:30. The kids have breakfast and some chores before that.

 

I let each child choose the order in which they want to do these:

 

Math (1 hour DS10, 20 min DD6)

Music practice (30 min DS10)

Latin (15 min, DS10 only. This will get longer as the book gets more difficult and we have to review.)

Read aloud (me to both, 30 min)

McGuffey (both, 5-15 min each)

Phonics (DD6, 20 min)

Logic (DS10, 20 min)

Spelling (both, 20 min each)

Writing (DS10 45 min, DD6 20 min)

 

Keep in mind there's overlap in the kids' work times.

 

Then we break for lunch. There are a few short breaks in the morning, more for DD6 than DS10.

 

After lunch:

 

M, W: 1.5 hours of history, followed by silent reading. I do this last as the kids often get sucked in and go on longer than I would have assigned, sometimes into bedtime.

 

T, Th: 1.5 hours of biology, followed by silent reading, see above.

 

Fridays: Art study, music study, cartography study, literature reading. Sometime we just visit some friends.

 

M-Th we are usually done around 3:30, later if DS has his 3:00 music class and we need to finish up after. DD6 is usually done early but sometimes takes long breaks and therefore finishes at the same time. Fridays we are often done by noon and then we read or spend time with friends. Sometimes we spend the whole day with friends. 

 

ETA: For PE, my kids swim sometimes, do sports classes twice/week, and do regular exercise on other days at home or at the park. I didn't count that in my time.

[Justmeandyou]

OP here:

 

Ok.  Here goes:

 

This is what we do daily:

 

Watch CNN Student news while we eat breakfast (10 minutes)

Bible (20 minutes)

Health (15 minutes)  Required by law between 7th and 12th.  Getting it done this year.

Math (60 minutes)

Reading (40 minutes)  They refuse to read on their own, so I include it in our school day. Every other day I read aloud to them instead of them reading on their own.

Spelling (20 minutes)  (yes, they need this class)

Vocabulary (10 minutes) of SAT prep type words

Typing (10 minutes)

 

Over 3 hours right there.

 

Then, we cycle through the following on a 6 day rotation:

 

Art (twice a cycle--so twice every 6 school days)  (60 min per class)

Civics (once a cycle) Required by law between 7th and 12th  (60 min)

Etiquette (this is really fun for the boys. Once a cycle) (60 min)

Grammar (twice a cycle) (20 min)

History (four times a cycle.  They adore history) (60 min)

Logic (twice a cycle.  They adore logic.) (60 min)

Piano (ha.  Haven't managed to fit it in yet)

Science (4 times a cycle) (60 min)

 

ETA:  Egads that's a lot.  I don't know what to cut, what with some things being required by common sense (math, grammar, writing, etc) and the stuff that isn't required is the fun stuff (logic etiquette, art).  

 

At my house, I'd cut Art, Civics (I know you can't, but I am not under any restrictions).  I would reduce the time for the rest you cycle.  Logic, Etiquette would total 45 minutes a week at most,  Science would be 60 minutes a week (two 30 minute slots) and History would be 60 minutes each week.  I don't count reading or music in my school time. 

 

If you and your kids do not mind putting in that much time each day, then don't feel the need to change things. *I* could not do that.  I would crumble. 

[AngelaNYC]

I have one homeschooler - 13 y/o ds (8th grade).  Formal academics usually take about 2 hours per day.  We start at 2pm and we're done before 4.  I'm trying to bump it up to 3 hours, though.  Oh and we do a 4-day week, with Wednesdays for field trips or our restaurant adventure.  I can't imagine taking longer than that.  Both of us would go insane.  Our formal academics include math, science, history, grammar, composition, literature (classic novels, Shakespeare, & poetry), art and music appreciation, nature study, citizenship, geography, religion, and Spanish.  Some subjects are done 4x a week, some 3x, some 2x, and some 1x.  Lessons are 15-20 minutes each (math and nature study are about 45 minutes each, weekly religion class is 75 minutes).  

 

Ds also does a lot of informal stuff, like health, PE, technology, practical arts, fine arts, and homeschool group activities.  It all counts.

[Catwoman]

Well, it seems like an incredibly long school day -- and not just for the kids, but for you, too! :svengo:

 

That said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :)

 

If your kids are stressed and tired at the end of the day, or if they are having trouble focusing for so many hours, I would definitely cut back, but I don't think you need to make changes based upon what other people are doing with their kids.

[Gentlemommy]

I have a 4th grader, 1st grader, and 3 year old.

Just so you know where we are coming from our philosophy...I like to think we are a rigorous (meaning, I push them to work above their level, we explore topics deeply, and try to look at things from many angles), but not frivolous (nothing we don't need-no busy work, no pages and pages of handwriting or math problems) we strive for quality work, and lots of free time.

 

We start the day at 8am, get up, dressed, and do morning chores (making beds, feeding pets). We eat, and I play our audio book at the table. Everyone helps clear the table, sweep, and unload the dishwasher. I like to start with a nice, clean space.

 

At 9, on T/W/Th school starts. I alternate between one on one time with each child, while the other two play, or the older sister reads to the next youngest, or does independent work while the littlest plays with a busy box. In these three hours, everyone gets the three R's done. Obvious

Y, my fourth grader is working most of that time, taking just one15 minute break to play, however my first grader does about one hour of work, and spend the rest of the time playing or reading with her little sister.

By noon, we break for lunch, and then afternoon chores. They have table/kitchen chores, plus a daily revolving chore. After those are done, they have one hour for media time, free time, ect.

On Mondays we do a homeschool coop that does history, art, geography, and science.

Every other day, at around 2, we do one more hour of school. This is science, history, or geography, on a loop.

By 3:30, on T/Th/F, we head out to the gym for practice.

Monday and Friday mornings we go to the barn to ride and volunteer. The big girls bring their school and do that while the other sister rides. It gives them about an hour, so dd1 gets math and sometimes spelling done, dd2 gets everything done.

On Wednesday littlest dd goes to her gym class at 1, so I do our geography loop there in the lobby with the big two. Wednesday evening is Awana from 6-7:30. Once a month they do a homeschooled art class in the afternoon.

On Saturday my oldest has archery from 9-11, then we come home and do school.

I do not assign reading to my fourth grader, she happily reads on her own for about 3 hours per day. I do assign reading for my first grader to read aloud to me for 15 minutes. I read to them at bedtime, for half hour each.

 

Our schedule is packed full. We MUST do school in the time slots we have on the schedule of it won't get done. We do school on Saturdays or Sunday if we need to. We do school in the car a lot of times. We go out of town a lot, and go camping quite a bit. To me, getting to kayak, waterski, knee board, fish, swim, rock climb, horseback ride, hike, bike, volunteer, travel, spend time in the forest, on the lake, in the mountains, at the farm, visiting museums, aquariums, historic sites, new cities, and spending lots of time with family and friends is just as important as 'school' or seat work.

YMMV depending on your personal goals and educational philosophy.

[ScoutTN]

My fourth grader does piano, math and all language arts including Latin and penmanship in about 2.5 - 3 hours. We do morning time for 30-60 minutes and that is Scripture, poetry and other reading aloud, memory work and sometimes singing.

 

I read aloud at lunch for about 30 minutes.

 

We do an hour after lunch 3x a week. Science and history.

 

So, three days a week she has 4-5 hours with a 15-30 minute recess in the morning and an hour for lunch. One day is just 3 hrs in the morning. One day is just piano and art & drama tutorial and lots of independent reading, no formal schoolwork.

[mommymilkies]

Amen. Last year dd16 spent around 4/5 hours. They were intense hours. It was in nobody's best interests to drag it out to 1o hours daily.

 

In those 4/5 hours over the year she managed to write a thesis length paper on women artists, so I figure it was - you know - OK.

Thank goodness.  I started feeling like a slacker!  I'm pretty laid back but my kids are so far succeeding and doing well compared to their peers. 

 

I have 5 kids ages 3-13.  My oldest does an uncounted number of extra things outside of her assigned work because she likes it.  She self teaches Ancient Greek, Welsh, and Viking Languages on her own as well as some computer programming.  She works about 8-1 and sometimes has reading outside of that or extra work she needs to finish.  She takes plenty of breaks through the day-circle time, snacks, lunch, baking bread, listening to me read, playing with the little kids.  She practices violin and piano daily. She plays soccer in Fall and Baseball in summer.

 

My 4th grader does a lot less than you listed.  But she has language processing issues and pushing her hard for unnecessary subjects ends in severe meltdowns.  She does spelling, math, handwriting, geography practice, SSL, Bravewriter, block work (rotate history and science) and individual reading daily in under 3 hours.  She listens to me read and does circle (memory work, songs, etc.). 

 

I'm usually busy ~9 am-1 pm with schoolwork and do a little cooking and cleaning in there.  We do a little in the afternoons or evening if we feel like it-extra art, geography, meetings, or literature discussion, usually.

[LucyStoner]

It varies a lot. Some days we amble and take a lot of rabbit holes, other days we just do the minimum. We are not unschoolers but I do teach most subjects to line up with my son's interests and needs. Almost all projects are things we decide together or he suggests or just starts.

[abacus2]

Our days start at 9am. On a good day we finish by 3pm, but it is not unusual to finish at 5pm. My 5th grader is not an efficient worker; she will frequently drag things out and need to be reminded to get back to work. I am juggling two other grades and a household and there is only one mommy. We do break for lunch and sometimes outdoor recess. My Ker's work takes maybe an hour total, my 3rd grader is working for 2-3 hours total, and my 5th grader is "working" the majority of the school day. They don't have homework or extra independent work; all of their school is completed in this time frame. We also have one day a week devoted to music class and only a couple of our regular work items.

[JonesAcademy]

So glad that I saw this post. I have created our new schedule and am vexed about the duration of the day(5.75hours). My children are 4,6 and 7 and I think that my schedule is far too long for all of us. The 6 & 7 year old have memory work(30), Math(60),drawing(30),Foreign Language(25),Spelling(40)-yes, All About Spelling 1 takes us that long, Reading with me(70-older 2, 30 min,  youngest 10), with a 10 minute snack , the schedule is over 5 hours and I am trying to figure out what to do. History and Science are not in here, except for the memory work, but not activities. I'm bummed and wondering if this is the curriculum for me.

 

 

[JBJones]

I have a 6th grader this year. We do four and a half to five hour days. It's plenty for now.

[Garga]

OP here.

 

A couple of things:

 

The idea of doing an hour a day per grade tops out at 7th-8th grade. You do not do an hour a day in 9-12th. Once you hit about 8 hours that's it. Some people thought I was expecting to do 12 hours in 12th grade. I'm not. :)

 

Yesterday I used a timer. I discovered that we were taking an extra 5 or 10 minutes here and there to finish up a chapter in reading, or to work on a tricky math problem...whatever.

 

With the timer, we stayed better on track and got done at 3:00 instead of 4 or 4:30. Interesting. Looks like we'll be using the timer more often. :)

 

Thank you for all the replies. Some of you are FAST and some of you seem to be much closer to what I do (about an hour per grade year.) We discuss a LOT. We do lots of science experiments and they take TIME. My oldest is doing MUS (quick) and Jousting Armadillos in math (slow). We're only in chapter 2, but some of those math puzzles take TIME to solve. They just do. I tried one on my own the other night and it took me a full 30 minutes. One problem.

 

Now I sound like I'm getting defensive--I'm not! It seems like I'm simply doing things that take time.

 

Oh, and when I say that math is an hour, for example, only about 20 minutes of that is the 4th grader's work. The 7th grader is doing the 40 minutes, with maybe a practice sheet for "homework." (Not of the hard, long problems--those are done together.)

[Miss Mousie]

DS13 and I are first-time homeschoolers, only one month in to 8th grade, so my response may be useless  :)

 

We start at 7:00 and have about 3.5 hours to do all "together" work.  I then give him a short list of independent work, which I try to keep to 2-3 hours.  Mondays are different because it's all independent work, so usually only about 3 hours, and Fridays can be different because I try to keep his independent work low or have none at all.

 

So far, it is working.  We had no chance to "de-school," so part of the lightish schedule is so I can shake up the idea of what "school" is (he had proposed a schedule almost identical to what he had in PS - nope, not happening! :) ).  I also have in mind to ramp up bit by bit so we're working harder through the winter when it's nasty out, which I hope will then allow for relaxing a little more when it gets nice out next spring.

 

 

[brehon]

Without reading the other replies -

 

Way. Too. Bloody. Long.

 

(in my rarely humble opinion)

 

6 kids: 4 actively working on schoolwork; 2 causing confusion and delay :)

 

7th grader takes the longest, obviously.

5th grader starting to copy a few of her older bro's less than desirable habits vis a vis working diligently

4th & 2nd graders working well

4 yo "doing school" with her phonics

2 yo into E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G

Mom and Dad hanging on to the threads of what is left of our collective sanity.

 

Good times.

 

No, really, it *is* good times. Just busy and extremely tiring.

[FriedClams]

I blogged about a "Day in the Life of Middle School" here: http://friedclamsandsweettea.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/day-in-the-life-of-middle-school/

 

Normally, 8-2.

[The Governess]

My days are long too. My 3rd grader takes about 3 hours. At least 2-2.5 hours of that is one-on-one with me. She has an I'm-not-good-at-math complex, so depending on the topic math can get really dragged out. I try to break it up into 2 or 3 sessions.

 

My 5th grader is doing 6th grade work. It should take her 5 hours but normally ends up taking longer than that because she dawdles with her independent work when I am working with my third grader. It is a rare day when she finishes by 3. She usually has a couple things to finish in the evening.

[catz]

Well, we just started this week, so we're still ramping up.  My 13 year old will be taking 3 academic classes at a co-op, so we need to see what the homework is going to look like.  I suspect my 8th grader will be able to be done in 5-6 hours a day and that includes practicing voice and piano.  He is doing mostly independent work this year at home, which he prefers.  But he also does some out of the house stuff I consider schooly and reads for 1+ hours per day beyond that.  I think this can vary widely depending on what homeschooling looks like at your house and still be rigorous.  It also depends on kids.  My older tends to be nose to the grindstone until he's done.  In some ways he gets done faster at 13, than at 9 or 10.  And my 10 year old right now is as pokey as can be. 

[HS Mom in NC]

My youngest is 9.

 

We school from 9-3 at the longest, usually 9-2.  We usually take 3 breaks a day. I also do read alouds during school time. We school 4 days a week. I don't give homework.  We're homeschooling, so all school time is homework.

 

[Soror]

We aim for an hourish per grade as well and this year our days are substantially longer this year as both dc's have had an increase in time and not a corresponding increase in independence (dd1 is just younger so she just needs me and ds is severely adhd and his executive function skills are about 30% behind).

 

Anyway, we are starting around 8:30ish  and take about a 15-30 min snack break and 30min -1hr lunch break, busting hump and taking the shortest breaks we can get done at 2:30 but 3:30ish is more usual.

 

Dd (2nd) works about 1.5 hrs with me- 45 min math, 45 min phonics/spelling/reading/writing- 30 min- 1hr read alouds

 

Ds (4th-5th) works about with me 1.5-2.5 hrs- 30-45 min math, 15 min spelling, grammar/vocab/poetry 15-30 min daily rotating, writing 30-45 min daily; Read-alouds science, history and lit 60-90 min

 

on his own he does 15 -20 math facts/fluency practice; reading science/history/lit 1hr

 

Dd plays off and on throughout the day in the midst of school, sometimes we get it all knocked out at once but often she likes to have breaks between her subjects, which is fine for me. Sometimes I try to do some of ds' less intensive things with him while dd is finishing up her math sheets but that doesn't necessarily work very well.