Queserasera Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 What subjects do you do every day? Approx how long do each take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 For my current 1st grader: 20 min - Singapore Math 20 min - Journal writing or spelling instruction (on alternate days) 20 min - Writing 20 min - Skoldo French 20 min - Read aloud Literature 20 min - Read aloud history or science books (on alternate days) She winds up spending about 2 hrs or less each day. On Fridays she does only math and art (Artistic Pursuits), and she only works for about 45 min. I don't assign her reading, but she does have an hour of independent free reading each evening. She is a very strong reader, so she doesn't read aloud to me anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsRobinson Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 We are doing first grade here. I try really hard not to watch the clock, for my own sanity, so I really don't know how long each subject takes. Within 20 mins or so of the listed times, here are how our days are structured. 9:00ish- circle time (includes calendar, weather, songs, a bible verse, a bible character card, tally up days of school, some memory work) 9:15ish- math, reading, spelling 10:15ish- 30 min snack break 10:45ish- grammar, writing, science or history 11:45ish- free reading, access to geography basket filled with children's atlases, maps, books about cultures around the world, games, etc. Or access to the science basket... You get the idea. 12:15ish- lunch, free play, outdoor play, art, craft projects, whatever they want to do 1:30- 30 min piano lesson 2ish- 30 min tablet time for educational apps if her behavior has earned it 2:30ish- read aloud time with mommy while brother naps. Lots of snuggles and good conversations too. Tuesdays we have a tea party and pull out the poetry books to read and discuss in a very low key way. Eta: she also has a basket of quiet independent activities to do while brother naps. Or if its nice out, she'll head outside with her nature study supplies. 4ish- brother is up and I consider the school day done as far as I'm no longer logging her learning at this point. We often do a "cooking class" but she's the one to label it as such and work hard to learn the measurements, equivalents, reading a recipe, etc. She loves it! If the 2 time blocks of formal curriculum lessons didn't get finished, there will be some overflow after lunch. Mostly due to her dawdling. She knows her day will really be suffering if she's not done by 1:00 at the latest. Those days are getting much less frequent though. Eta: after reading this, it actually sounds like a lot and heavily structured. This fits dd's personality very well though. This set up allows for a pleasant day for us both. She is a box checker and likes to know "the plan" and what to expect. She is very literal and has never been great with pretend or make believe play. She often criticises kid movies and shows that involve fantasy plots. I would love a less formal day (and the majority of first graders I know thrive with less structure) but we were spinning our wheels with that method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneezyone Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 DS has a list of subjects everyday but I don't time anything but the reading block. If I were to guesstimate... Logic 10 minutes Phonics 15 minutes Grammar 10 minutes Spelling 10 minutes Writing 10 minutes (sentence correction/dictation) ...once a week he writes a friendly letter and that takes about 20 minutes Reading 45 minutes Math 20 minutes Geography/library skills 10 minutes ...alternates with history Art 45 minutes (twice a week) ...alternates with hands-on science About 2.5 hrs total/day of school work with a 20 minute break and 1-1.5 hour lunch period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queserasera Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Mrs Robinson - can you elaborate on your geography and science baskets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I divide school into table time (daily memory work, phonics, math, and handwriting; weekly art, logic) and couch time (daily history and reading; religious education and science anywhere from daily to weekly; Spanish a few times a week). I don't time it. I'm pretty sure that we're usually done in one to two hours, depending on what we're doing and how many questions he has, and whether we have fresh library books of interest. We usually do table time first, but when he's not thrilled about having to do school, we'll start on the couch with a pile of books. Piano practice is before school, and there's one weekly lesson (away from home). PE is currently a swimming lesson on Saturdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAM Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I would guess that mine does... 20 min math 5-10 min grammar 10-15 min copywork or handwriting 10 min spelling 45 min-read-alouds for history, lit., science 15 min phonics art on Fridays, usually 1 hr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsRobinson Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Mrs Robinson - can you elaborate on your geography and science baskets? Sure! It started with 1st trimester morning sickness. Some days, the most I could muster was to listen to dd read easy readers with my eyes closed and let her run with whatever science, history, geography and math books dh grabbed at the library. It worked amazingly well and turned into a basket for each subject. I picked up some cool atlases that incorporate culture and have fold out maps, stickers, etc. from the Books a Million Bargain bin. There are a couple books from library book sales that focus on world landmarks, cuisine in other countries, etc. I got the Melissa & Doug states puzzle and downloaded Stack the States and Stack the Countries on the homeschool tablet. Oh and I bought a globe beach ball. The science one has books like I Wonder Why I Blink, I Wonder Why the Wind Blows, etc. ( $.25 each at library book sale) some DK Encyclopedias. One is Animals one is the Human Body. It is heavily stocked with library books on our current science topic. The history one is all library books on our current topic. The math basket sometimes has library math books, sometimes not. A ruler, spirograph set, math and logic games. Like Lab Mice, 7 Ate 9, Sleeping Queens, etc. Unifix cubes, mini Judy clocks, do a dot markers, a number line, multiplication table, free worksheets on a clipboard that I printed from pinterest. All baskets have a composition book, pencils and colored pencils to encourage her to run with whatever. She has been known to write the names of our family members in hieroglyphs, trace the outline of the U.S. and states she has been to, etc. She asked a question about a scorpion, which lead to us finding out it was an arachnid. So she wanted to know all the arachnids. I found a list, gave it to her and she copied it down in the comp. book all on her own. That is a rare example of me helping a bit. Mostly, she explores the baskets on her own. I am usually making lunch or doing laundry or bills. She (and ds) have taught themselves soooo much with this. I love using real books to add to what we are learning in science and history but I just don't have time to read them all with her. She is ahead in reading so this helps. Some of the library books we come home with are above her reading level but she looks at the pictures and reads what she can. Captions and little side blurbs are generally pretty easy to read. She will yell out a series of letters to me, expecting me to respond with the word. I do. That might drive a lot of parents batty but I don't mind. Hth! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 This is what my 6yr olds does: Math:20-30 minutes Grammar: 10 minutes Writing: 5 minutes Vocab 3x/wk: 10 minutes Science 2-3x/wk: 10 minutes History/SS 2-3x/wk: 10 minutes Phonics: 20 minutes Spelling: 10 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 30-60 minutes of Morning Time: memory work (a few minutes) reading aloud from picture books, chapter books, the bible, a bit of poetry, ect (30-40 min) and talking about our plans for the day (a few minutes) followed directly by...30-60 minutes of mom-lesson-time: math facts review (5 min) math lesson (15-25 min) phonics/spelling or handwriting/grammar (15-25 min) and a checklist to be completed on his own time of... 30-60 minutes of independent work: it ALWAYS includes 20 minutes of his-choice reading, some kind of writing (copywork, journal prompt, spelling words, ect), and some kind of extra-job to help me out that day (fold laundry, walk the dogs, empty the dishwasher), and sometimes includes math (finishing the math lesson, or further facts practice), a content-subject book to read and be ready to discuss, a Latin video to watch, a nature journal entry of his choice, a science experiment to check on, ect. It varies a lot. the later, during nap time we do... 30-60 minutes of rotating content subjects (history, science, nature study, arts, geography). So in the end he is spending anywhere between 2 and 4 hours on "school". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I rotate between my 1st grader and my pre-K'er. (And have a 1 year old.) Our time can very greatly. Tue - Thursday Song Time: Rotate patriotic songs, folk songs, hymns/bible songs. Approx 10 minutes. History: read aloud/ buddy read, map work (T), lit worksheet (W), picture narration (Th). approx 30- 40 minutes. Listen to younger brother's stories, play with baby sister or do Legos, snap circuits, etc. approx 15 minutes. Snack Time: I read our Literature book (ELTL) during this time. (Approx 15 min.) Phonics/Spelling/reading/Grammar: 30- 40 minutes Copy Work : approx 5 minutes Lego's etc. while I finish his brother's phonics: approx 15 minutes. Song School Latin : 15 minutes Lunch/Play/quiet Time approx 2 1/2 - 3 hrs Math: 20-30 minutes Lego's etc - 15 min. Science: 15-30 minutes Friday: Song Time Board Games /puzzles (his brother and him each pick one). 30 min History project : 30- 90 minutes Snack Phonics/spelling games - about 15-30minutes ( he usually chooses to join in on brother's games). Math Games - about 30 min Latin game: 15 min Saturday: Music and Art Appreciation -15 min Art Project 15 min to ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 One day is shot due to speech/OT appointments, so this is 4 days per week. Math: 15-20 min Buddy Reading: 10 min Phonics/Dictation: 5-10 min Copywork (1-2 sentences): 5-10 min Read Aloud/Memory Work: 20 min Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Let's see if I can remember this (all times are very approximate, but it always took about 2 hours total)... 20 minutes of math 20 minutes of writing (grammar, spelling, handwriting/composition) 20 minutes of reading practice 20 minutes of history 20 minutes of science 20 minutes of literature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaderbee Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 We use ELTL for writing, poetry, grammar, picture study, etc. It takes 20-30 minutes to complete 3x a week. Math takes about an hour but my 1st grader is a dawdler. ;) She also spends 5-10min learning cursive. In the afternoons we cover catechism, history, bio/Shakespeare/geo and have a fun read aloud as a family which takes about 45 minutes. Then we have Mommy's sanity break aka silent reading for an hour (we worked up to that). My first grader does not read for that whole hour. But she spends the whole time looking through books of her choice. Once a week we go on a science field trip (1-4 hours), take a nature walk (30-60min), have tea and poetry (30 min), and library science (20 min). She participates in all those too though she needs help researching books at the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 We alternate days. Day 1 is math and narration. Math is two pages of MM so however long that takes; probably about 20 minutes. Narration takes about 5 minutes. Day 2 is reading out loud to me, copywork and phonics. Each day his seatwork probably takes about 30-45 minutes. I don't require him to join us for history or science yet. He also practices piano later in the day and I read to him almost every day, but apart from actual school time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 For my current first grader, Ds 7.5 yo Piano - 20 minutes, 6x a week (lesson on the other day) Independent reading - 20-40 minutes. 5-6x week. Sometimes he reads aloud to me. Math - 30 minutes, including facts drill of some kind. 5x a week. Grammar - 10 minutes, 3x a week. Spelling - 10-15 minutes, 4x a week. Penmanship - 10 minutes 5x a week. Cursive. Copywork or narration - 15 minutes, 3x a week. Memory work - poetry mostly - 15 minutes, 4x a week. History - online this year, 2-3 hrs a week, times of his choosing. Science - 2 hrs a week, in the afternoons. Read alouds - 30 minutes to an hour a day, often at lunch. We have a short day on Wednesday and all morning without Dd on Fridays, so our days aren't all the same. He spends about 1.5 hours on focused schoolwork each day, plus piano (very consistent) and content subjects (less consistent). I don't count Bible and catechism because we would do those anyway, even if we did not homeschool. Usually about 20 minutes 4-6x a week. Extras: swimming 2x a week, choir 1x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyMom5 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Mine really varies by the day, and what I have to do. One day we may do a LOE lesson for 30+ minutes, another day we may just write words on the white board and go over phonograms for our LA that day. I don't split LA time into subjects- copywork, phonics, ect., instead we just do some until I can tell they are ready to go play. We do 2-3 sessions in the morning, about 30 minutes each, and they get breaks inbetween them. I'd say we spend about 1.5 hours on stuff in the morning (alternating, not all at once), and that would include a read aloud, math and LA. In the afternoon we will do history or science, and we often spend an hour+ on those, since they are much more interesting ;) I also have them read to me at some point in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Daily: LOE (20-40 min), reading (10-20 min), writing (10 min), beast academy (30-45 min) We alternate history and science. History M and W, science T and Th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sreautwyh Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 We usually do table time first, but when he's not thrilled about having to do school, we'll start on the couch with a pile of books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernal Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I have essentially 2 first graders. Ds6 and DD5. Our "official" schedule is: With DS Phonics/reading with 30-45 minutes Math - 20 minutes or so Handwriting 10-15 minutes Breakfast Morning time together with DD - 45 minutes or as long as DD's attention holds out This includes: Hymns, Catechism, memory verse, Bible story, MP K recitations, read aloud. This is also where we do history. Read a chapter of SOTW 1, do an activity, do the map work. Etc. Break. 15-20 minutes. My DD calls it recess lol. I don't even know how she knows about recess. With DD I do essentially the same lessons again with her. I use the same resources for both of them for now. DD would be better served with another, more conceptual, math curriculum. But we are using what we have now. Which is CLE 100. She is a few lessons behind DS with LA and a few ahead of him in handwriting. Break for lunch and outside time. In the afternoons, we read science books aloud. I don't use a curriculum. I started out with the WTM way, but it's evolved into to more interest led choices. So this takes about 4 hours a day with the breaks. I want to add art, music, and poetry in morning time But DD's attention span is already maxed with what we are doing now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 We have more of a routine than a schedule and don't set certain times for each subject, but it probably looks something like this. LA (FLL, spelling, and handwriting) twenty minutes a day, plus dd usually reads independently for an hour or two Math ten to twenty minutes a day, and she usually begs for half an hour of Reflex Math History varies widely, anywhere from five minutes to half an hour depending on what we have planned Science varies widely too; dd has been watching KA videos for science recently because we've been busy moving, and she'd watch them for hours a day if I let her. :P Read Aloud anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour She's going through an obsession with Chess right now, so most days have an hour or so of the ChessKids curriculum and us playing chess And we moved to a place with a huge yard and a lot of kids around, so for most of the rest of the day she's outside playing. Like I said, it varies a lot, but we're almost always done with the seatwork in under an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy to monkeys Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Morning chunk of about an hour: Pentime Phonics Pathways Read from Abeka Reader CLE math Bible time and memory work and lunch (about 30 minutes?) After lunch combined with younger sister for about 30 minutes: read alouds geared just for them rotating science/history/literature etc Right now it's Dragons of Blueland and some Magic School Bus books (all from the library) Quiet Reading time for 1 hour Family read aloud time at bedtime for about another hour Yes, its pretty relaxed. Mandatory pencil to paper time is definitely less than an hour, but education is more than that. ;) Afternoons are free here to play outside, get craft supplies out, play legos, make forts, or whatever thrills his little soul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Monday - Thursdays: 9am - Morning meeting & History We all sing a song, then read from a devotional, then listen to our history lesson together and she colors while she listens. I ask her a few simple questions about the history lesson afterwards, then she's off to play for a while while I work on math with the olders. 10:30ish - I call her back and we "do her school" Calendar - she figures out the date and we write it a few different ways on a white board Math - a couple of pages of MM Reading - a lesson in AAR4 - she's flying through this and can read pretty well, but I don't want to "miss" anything Spelling - AAS She used to do a couple pages of HWOT but now is done with that book She's usually done with all this by 11:30 unless she really dawdles with math. I read aloud at lunchtime to all of them for about 20 minutes, then she's off the hook til about 2 when the toddler gets down for a nap. 2:00ish - She reads to herself for about a half an hour, then reads aloud to me from whatever book we happen to be interested in at the time. Then we do a quick science lesson - right now we're in the middle of the Magic School Bus experiment kit about germs Fridays: 9am Morning meeting song & devotional. Then she works on math flash cards and/or a math computer game and types her spelling words/sentences. After that she's free to play til we do art (usually around 11ish). After that we all head to the local private school where we do PE once a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marisolstice Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 This is how I did it with my first (she was 6.5 starting first grade): http://charlottemasonmodern.com/year-1/ We spent about 1 hour a day together , 4-5 days a week. Most of her work was oral (math) or read-alouds (and narrations), so it was teacher-intensive for me, but she worked much faster than if she was writing everything (like math sheets or workbooks). Plus she had a tiny bit of independent work, about 30 minutes a day: Handwriting: about 5-10 minutes Miquon or I Love Math books: 20+ minutes twice a week An art project: 30+ minutes once a week So it worked out to less than 2 hours a day, max. It worked well. My second will be starting first grade in a couple months, and I anticipate it being about the same for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 We are NOT strictly scheduled here, or I get too high-strung about dawdling and interruptions. But I can give a general timetable for how long things usually take. Math: about 30 minutes Science: about15 minutes, more if we do an activity LA: 10-30 minutes (10 if we are just reviewing a grammar/writing skill, 30 if we are reading a story & filling out an organizer or doing a writing activity) History: 15-30 minutes (15 if we are just reading from Adv. in America, 30 if we are reading a biography or visiting a website) Paired reading (switching off pages): 30 minutes Independent reading: however long he wants, usually a half hour or so Of course the time in between subjects if what takes up the most time. We don't sit down and just work down our list. Often school is done in little mini-sessions. Sometimes my 1st grader spends 4 hours listening to audiobooks in the morning before we even start his schoolwork. Sometimes it's a struggle to get through the work, and other times he works independently. And then he has swim lessons and Lego class in the mornings 3 days a week which squeezes our days, and we wait for his brother to do his activities 2-3 days a week so we do some work in the library then, and he plays with a friend every afternoon lately... Altogether we spend about 3-4 hours, including rabbit trails and interruptions, on formal schoolwork. He loves learning and this works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Deskwork takes an hour or less per day (barring dawdling), six days a week: Math: Math U See, daily, 10-20 minutes Writing: Writing With Ease 1, daily, 10-20 minutes Spelling and Vocabulary are daily, alternate weeks, Spelling workout B alternates with Wordly Wise 3000 level 2, 10 minutes. Grammar: FLL one to three days per week, 5-10 minutes. He is a strong reader and reads good books 1 - 2 hours per day without any prompting from me. Read alouds aren't on a schedule. Probably about an hour a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, often audiobooks. We follow an unschooling inspired approach for content subjects. History, geography and science are woven into our daily life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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