mirabillis Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hi all! I've seen great 7th grade planning threads, and have great ideas. What I'm wondering is a breakdown of time. I feel my son whizzes through his coursework too quickly, and can be done in 2-3 hours, so I feel we aren't doing enough. So if you could tell me how much time is allotted to each subject, how many days per week, that would be so awesome!!! I'm hoping to start fresh this Monday for the 2nd half of 7th grade to be more robust than the 1st half. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I aim to spend an hour per day per subject - so about 6 hours. What really happens is that math takes 2+ hours and sometimes essays in English or history take longer than I expect. I always end up cutting short geography and French and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 It varies a lot from day to day, depending on writing projects, etc. but it probably averages out to something like: Math - 1 - 1.5 hr Writing - 30 min - 1 hour Lit/Discussion - 30 min - 1 hour Spanish - ~30 min History - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Science - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Filmmaking class - 30 min - 1 hour About 6 hours of schoolwork a day, I'd say, feels about right. She is often involved in a play, which rehearses 2+ hours a day, and does horseback riding for 2-3 hours twice a week Independent reading and extracurriculars are in addition to that, also we do read alouds together, typically lit at night and nonfiction right after lunch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 My 7th grader is the same as yours - generally gets through his work in 3 hours or less, occasionally longer. He is doing everything I require of him, he isn't behind, and I don't really see the point in adding more work for him just so school takes longer. I just enjoy the fact that he is fairly efficient and let him have the rest of the day to pursue other interests. But that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 It varies a lot from day to day, depending on writing projects, etc. but it probably averages out to something like: Math - 1 - 1.5 hr Writing - 30 min - 1 hour Lit/Discussion - 30 min - 1 hour Spanish - ~30 min History - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Science - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Filmmaking class - 30 min - 1 hour About 6 hours of schoolwork a day, I'd say, feels about right. She is often involved in a play, which rehearses 2+ hours a day, and does horseback riding for 2-3 hours twice a week Independent reading and extracurriculars are in addition to that, also we do read alouds together, typically lit at night and nonfiction right after lunch Do you do all the subjects every day? (Like History & Science as well?) Also for History & Science, do you have an independent curriculum, or something more teacher-led? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't time each subject. It's more like I aim to start by 9ish and be done by 3 or 4 with breaks in between. There are days we whiz through things quickly. But then there are days we are really working hard for hours. That just seems more natural to me than setting a timer for each subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upennmama Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I don't time it. Math (TT) takes her about 45 mins Grammar takes 15 mins or so, vocab (wordly wise) another 20. History averages out to an hour or so. This includes reading, answering short answer or essay questions, doing timeline, discussion on fridays, maps, etc. Lit probably takes 30 mins, writing another 30 (WWS). She takes a science class for 2 hours once a week, plus another maybe hour or two of homework each week. Then throw in random extras like an extra writing assignment I might give her, read alouds, etc. Probably a total of 4 hours a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Do you do all the subjects every day? (Like History & Science as well?) Also for History & Science, do you have an independent curriculum, or something more teacher-led? Yes, all the subjects every day. For History & Science, we are doing the Big History Project, which is divided into 10 units, with added content - additional books, documentaries, etc. The first 5 units were mostly science, and we supplemented with more science, so for the first semester it was more like double science and no traditional history. Now that we are in the second half, humans are finally entering the scene, so Big History + supplements will become our history "hour" and we'll add in other science. We really like science, so we intentionally double-dipped with science this year. Because we can! :D So it's not totally teacher led, nor totally independent. Big History is planned out for you, we watch most of the videos together and then each unit has an investigation, which involves reading and analyzing a set of documents and writing an essay. She does this with discussion assistance. For most of the additional readings, I created a study guide for the book that she's reading, she reads it independently and then answers the questions in the study guide. Either that or she reads independently and then we discuss. So I'm involved in her history and science studies, but I'm not actually teaching those subjects for 2 hours a day - it's mostly things we're watching together and discussing, or she's working independently and coming to me for discussion/help with planning her Investigation and/or organizing her essay. Does that make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dauphin Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 It varies a lot from day to day, depending on writing projects, etc. but it probably averages out to something like: Math - 1 - 1.5 hr Writing - 30 min - 1 hour Lit/Discussion - 30 min - 1 hour Spanish - ~30 min History - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Science - 1 hour (reading, writing, watching docos) Filmmaking class - 30 min - 1 hour About 6 hours of schoolwork a day, I'd say, feels about right. She is often involved in a play, which rehearses 2+ hours a day, and does horseback riding for 2-3 hours twice a week Independent reading and extracurriculars are in addition to that, also we do read alouds together, typically lit at night and nonfiction right after lunch What would independent reading include? At first glance I thought it might be for history or lit, but it looks like that is factored in... We are having trouble finishing our to-cover list by the end of the day but I am allowing for her to read during the school day (for TOG history and lit); she often tries to knock them all out first. We've gone from trying to cover each subject each day (we seemed to lose too much time in the transitions and often had things left off at the end of the day due to not finishing), to alternating days (Science/Latin/Math on one day, Writing/Lit/History on another). And still don't seem to get to everything. I'll admit that our day gets interrupted by having to go pick up two siblings from school, and it's hard for her to concentrate during that time or afterwards. But i wonder if I could assign the readings she's expected to do independently to the "after-carpool" time frame.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Well, for Shannon I don't assign independent reading, because she's a huge reader, she reads many hours a day on her own. Her independent reading comes from books on her shelf or from a stack of interesting things from the library that I keep stocked. It's all free choice and no assignments, though she does often want to talk about a book that she has read. The Lit/Discussion portion of our day covers assigned books, which are things we've chosen to read and discuss together. Science & History reading fit into those time periods. I like your idea. We knock out the more demanding subjects - math and writing - first. She also does Spanish in the morning. Usually we are doing science, history, and Lit, which are all heavy reading/discussing/documentary watching, after lunch. We never do that stuff in the morning, if we save the harder stuff till the afternoon it doesn't get finished. I think your idea of assigning independent reading later in the day, when there are more distractions, is a good one. Is there someplace quiet she can go just for that time? I'll let Shannon go read on my bed if Morgan has a playdate, or something else distracting is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 My 7th grader schedule is all over the place because she dwaddles. What I aim for is something going like this... Math- 1 hour writing- 1 hour grammar- 30 min vocab/figuratively speaking (alternating days)- 30 min spanish/poetry/read aloud- 1 hour music- 30 min science- 30 min history- 30 min Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Lessons are from 8.30 - 15.30 with a 1.5 hours of breaks. Each subject is ca. 30 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamahammer Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I aim to have any scheduled work take less than 3 hours, on average. Most of his work is independent, with me available for any questions/conversations. We don't have a set schedule - they have a weekly calendar that lets them know if we have appointments or things scheduled on any given day, and other than that, they can work however/whenever they want, but can't go play with friends until they're done with school work and chores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Everyday: Morning meeting & history - about an hour Math - about 45 minutes Writing - about an hour Piano - about 30 minutes On a block schedule taking anywhere from an hour to two hours each day, depending on how much he dawdles and what's assigned for that week: Vocab, programming, & logic (Mon) Science (Tu, Th) Literature (Wed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My son takes about 5-6 hours Lials math with Jann in TX Math problems from his tutor Science with apologia academy online Lifepac history (including testing) PacWorks grammar (including testing) Abeka literature (answers questions on paper) Christian worldview using a college level book (summarizes on paper and discuss with me) Writing- goal of one paper due every other week, more or less tied to other subjects if possible No foreign language this year :) Math and Science take up the most time, with about an hour each, followed by Writing. pS this is a non-dawdler. So all times are accurate. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 IMO, if a kid can be done quicker & still put in good (best work s/he can do at the time, keeping in mind that we are not always at our peak performance) effort, that's all they should have to do. With that in mind, my first had these times scheduled for 7th grade. Latin - 4 hrs/wk Spanish - 2 hrs/wk Religion - 1 1/2 hrs/wk Math - 5 hrs/wk grammar - 1 1/2 hrs/wk Literature (assigned reading & figuratively speaking) - 4 hrs/wk writing - 4 hrs/wk History - 3 hrs/wk Science - 3 hrs/wk Logic (1 semester) - 2 1/2 hrs/wk Total - 28-31 1/2 hrs/wk So, about 6 hrs/day including reading time. My next 7th grader will have less subjects and take longer to do them because they are totally different kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 My 7th grader is lighter on subjects, mainly because she reads so extensively outside of assignments, I like to give her lots of free time. Her books from the library out right now include How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming and The Idiot's Guide to String Theory. All times are approximate, but 4 hours would be about correct, so I think these are pretty good estimates. math 45 minutes, science 30 minutes + (depends on if it's reading or lab; she's doing Rainbow Science), lit/writing 1 hour, Latin 30 minutes, logic 30 minutes, spelling 15 minutes, grammar 15 minutes, geography 30 minutes (will sometimes have writing component as well for a longer lesson). We do lessons 4 days a week; we attend a co-op 1 day a week. She also volunteers at a local science museum 1 - 2 afternoons a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cakes Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Last semester we kept a weekly log of what needed to be done and DD was responsible to complete it all before the end of the week. Some things were left hanging more often that I would like to admit. This semester we are time blocking and starting with the stuff she likes to put off first. Math - 1 lesson (typically 45-60 mins) Big History- 45 mins (also supplementing with Documentaries and The Cosmos) Physical Therapy- 30 mins ( not academic but necessary) Lightning Lit- 45 mins Writing- 45 mins Logic - 30 mins Vocab- 15 mins Free Reading - 30 mins First day worked like a charm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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