How do you increase the hours of homeschooling?

[GracieJane]

I would like to increase the time spent on individual subjects with my 7 year old. Until now, he has done short sequences with breaks, multiple times per day (e.g. math for 20 minutes in the morning, repeat in the afternoon). He reads on his own for 1 focused hour daily. I would like to switch to more block scheduling, but because he is accustomed to short bursts of concentration, he is resistant. How can I get to longer stretches of school?

[Slache]

Increase by 10 minute incriminates until it's close enough to a block that he thinks blocks are a good idea.

[2_girls_mommy]

For me, it is kind of easy to start a new schedule after a break, so a perfect time would be to write up your ideal schedule for the start of your new school year or after a winter break if you do kind of typical school years like I do or after any extended break if you break up the year differently. 

When we are coming in fresh and now you are a 3rd grader when last time you were a 2nd grader, they seem to adapt well than if I switch things up too much once we have established a routine.  I start pretty strict, maybe even a bit rigid with a new "perfect" schedule, but see how it works in reality and kind of adjust a bit on the fly as we go from there.  It gives us a starting point that is acceptable to everyone, even if in the end it is too much and I find I had too much planned for reality and have to take a bit off. 

[freesia]

19 minutes ago, GracieJane said:

I would like to increase the time spent on individual subjects with my 7 year old. Until now, he has done short sequences with breaks, multiple times per day (e.g. math for 20 minutes in the morning, repeat in the afternoon). He reads on his own for 1 focused hour daily. I would like to switch to more block scheduling, but because he is accustomed to short bursts of concentration, he is resistant. How can I get to longer stretches of school?

 20 minutes of sustained concentration is really what I think a 7 year old is capable of.  One hour is actually on the high end of focused reading for a seven year old boy.

Why is it a problem that  he is splitting up his math? That's what a school child of that age would do--lesson with teacher, practice problems and then homework. 

What worked for me with kids that age (I had multiple kids) was:

1. Group--bible, talk about the day, CNN news (20 minutes tops)

2. 9:00 Work individually with each child on math lesson, grammar lesson, go over writing, make sure independent work is clear (30 minutes each for children.  The other child worked on literature reading for 30 minutes)

3. Around 10:00--group again--history or science together, read aloud maybe followed by an activity. (20-30 minutes)

4. Independent work--finishing math, any independent science, writing or history reading, etc.  At that age, we were mostly done by 12--everyone had quiet time 1-2 so that was another time they could do things.

Again, if you are working with him, 20 minutes is really age appropriate.  If during his independent work he wants to switch off subjects, that's fine, too.  At 7 I wouldn't think much of what he was doing in a subject would take longer than that. 

[wendyroo]

My 7th grader can now do 45 minutes of sustained independent work...as long as it isn't a particularly difficult or daunting subject. For early elementary kiddos, 20 minutes was about all the focus I could expect.

[HomeAgain]

At 7, we divided subject time:

Subjects involving writing, sustained concentration, or presentation lessons: 15-20 minutes max.

Subjects involving open-ended work, creativity, discussion, physical activity: as long or as short as he wished.

This meant that no subject time stayed the same, but also encouraged me to work in more age-appropriate motor skill development and keep the day from being only at the table.

 

DS is 12 now.  Lessons are still about 30 minutes for many things he finds taxing, and as long as he wants for things he enjoys more.

[GracieJane]

Thanks for the responses! It gives me a better sense of how others do things.

Maybe I am overestimating my child, but it seems like 20 minutes isn’t sufficient to cover much ground in math or German (the subjects we concentrate on at the moment); I feel rushed in work and discussion. Maybe I can try extending it by ten minutes and see how things go.

[HomeAgain]

4 minutes ago, GracieJane said:

Thanks for the responses! It gives me a better sense of how others do things.

Maybe I am overestimating my child, but it seems like 20 minutes isn’t sufficient to cover much ground in math or German (the subjects we concentrate on at the moment); I feel rushed in work and discussion. Maybe I can try extending it by ten minutes and see how things go.

You know, we have spent an hour or so on math for several years now, so I know how you feel.  What really helps here is to still split it up.  When he was younger, ds's math was half game/activity time, half review on paper time.  It varied based on our main curriculum, but even MEP, which schedules about 4-8 activities each day, I would rework some of them to be in a manipulative-only activity instead of writing it in the book. It's a format that works well for the kids I tutor as well 30 minutes learning/practicing new stuff in a hands on way (or a game), and then they work more independently writing math using concepts they already know how to visualize and understand. 

We do alternating lessons for French: sometimes reading, sometimes writing, sometimes audio/visual.  It's always different, but they have different lengths of time for each one, too.  Like, we're watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse right now.  That's 24 minutes of audio/visual French, longer if we play around with it.  Reading is with a book and then computer based quizzes (Fluency Matters material).  So he might read one chapter a week, but refer to the chapter over and over as he takes the quizzes.  I've also started texting him only in French, lol, so now he has to work out what each one says for added time.

[lmrich]

Also you can switch up where you work. You want more math - do some at the table with you, do some on the white board standing, do some sitting on the floor or writing with chalk outside or play a game. Twenty minutes at a time is a long time for a kid that age. Same with the German lessons - break it into three short segments; they can be back to back if it helps you, but you want to incorporate movement and different activities. 

When I taught second grade, the kids were never at one task, in one spot for more than twenty minutes. We spent two hours everyday on language arts - but we had whole group circle time, back at their desks, small group time, center time, read anywhere in the room time...No child under the age of 12 should be required to sit at a desk for more than 30 minutes, in my opinion. (unless it is an open-ended, creative endeavor - but most kids like to stand or wiggle more  even when they are in deep concentration mood)

Be flexible and have fun while he is still little 

[kirstenhill]

I generally increased things gradually, but also found that I had a much easier time doing this with a subject my student likes than one my student doesn't like! 🤪 That being said, a break or a change of activity within the same subject does wonders.  So, if I want to do 40-45 minutes of math, I make sure part of that is reading or videos, and part of it is working problems. Or if the lessons is at a point where it is all problems to solve, do 20 minutes, then set a five minute timer to run around, then back to work for 20-25 minutes.  It's also not uncommon for us to take a short snack break mid-morning, and even then if we go back to the same subject it feels fresh and new.    I'd also say it's best to make changes at a start of the new school year or some other milestone point.  I have often made a point to say things like, "Now that you are in X grade, you are so mature that you are capable of ____!"   

[goldenecho]

I would wait until after a break.   It's hard to do that mid-year.