MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I suppose this has been hashed and rehashed but really; I have one child who is 8.5. I honestly don't know how anyone can get school done in 2-2.5 hours including breaks. I see that that seems to be the norm. We never get to Science and if we have extra time I do grammar. We do some worksheets, maybe one per subject, but we discuss, color, and do projects. But I can't imagine spending 15 min on any subject (except Spelling), because we discuss the story the subject. We go from 11-3 w/a lunch break (about 45 min), but we never get to science and that may not include any "cool" project. Is this too long? Am I doing something wrong? This is the time alotted, but we usually get into discussions that takes us longer or coloring or whatever. This is what we use: MFW Adventures' Bible only ( I go back and forth between BJU Bible Truths and Adventure's Bible portion) 30 min Saxon Math 45 min-1 hour BJU Reading which includes some word work/comprehension (one sheet)...I alternate this w/her book choice and a scholastic comprehension-type sheet. Only one or the other. We'll do one for a week then switch to her book choice for a week. 30 min AAS Spelling (ETC worksheet on the days we do not do BJU Reading) 20-30 min WP's AS1 30 min, not including projects BJU English if we have a short day No time for Science as it's time to go to our karate class. How do you fit this stuff in and not make a day last as long as a regular school day? Curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) Are you still having fun? Can you do Science on Saturday? You could, also, save any really fun, engaging projects from WP (I'm assuming this is Winter Promise) for Saturday. I think you should nix the BJU Reading. You should be getting plenty with WP. You could then move one of your readings to a bedtime reading. Is she reading any of her work herself? I'm not a morning person, but perhaps you could start earlier in your day? Edited February 6, 2009 by Hausunterricht Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 so we have an even longer day than that, if that's any consolation! I have no idea how people get things done in such short time segments. I have often wondered the same thing you're wondering, but then I just let it go and do what works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 The length of your days looks about right to me. Here's how I would schedule: MORNINGS-- 8:30am-9:30am: Math 9:30am-10:00am: Spelling/ETC 10:00-10:30am: BJU Reading 10:30-11:00am: WP's AS1 11:00-11:30am: continue w/WP projects or BJU English AFTERNOONS-- 12:30pm-1:00pm: MFW 1:00pm-1:30pm: Science Many people alternate science and history: two days of science, three days of history each week. At this age, you could probably even do only 1 day of science and 4 days of history. I would just plan slightly longer sessions. I add incentives for completing work early; if a child doesn't finish work in the allotted time, then they must finish during play time in the afternoon. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shasta Mom Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 This sound so familiar - don't beat yoursef up over it. I hs one almost 10 yo ds, and we do about 3.5 hrs academics a day - and science doesn't fit into that time period either. So, we do science on fridays when I have him do just a few core things like math and latin. In reality, we only do science about 3 times/month - and that's ok! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 This sound so familiar - don't beat yoursef up over it. I hs one almost 10 yo ds, and we do about 3.5 hrs academics a day - and science doesn't fit into that time period either. So, we do science on fridays when I have him do just a few core things like math and latin. In reality, we only do science about 3 times/month - and that's ok! Yeah, I'm thinking of doing Science on Fridays along w/Grammar and music (yeah right). The thing is we always have one day out of the week that we usually not home at all. I could master this every other Friday I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Are you still having fun? I think you should nix the BJU Reading. You should be getting plenty with WP. You could then move one of your readings to a bedtime reading. Is she reading any of her work herself? I'm not a morning person, but perhaps you could start earlier in your day? Ha...earlier....I'm not a morning person either. WP we only do the History portion and not the LA/readers portion. So she's not ready to read the main spines yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 The length of your days looks about right to me. Here's how I would schedule: MORNINGS-- 8:30am-9:30am: Math 9:30am-10:00am: Spelling/ETC 10:00-10:30am: BJU Reading 10:30-11:00am: WP's AS1 11:00-11:30am: continue w/WP projects or BJU English AFTERNOONS-- 12:30pm-1:00pm: MFW 1:00pm-1:30pm: Science Thanks...I like the schedule! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 So I'm getting that I'm not really burning her out with this schedule? That's my worry that I'm going too long. I just don't see making it shorter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I find that people who tell me they spend less than two hours of school a day are either not doing Saxon math, have kids younger than mine, school year round or don't have the same definitions of school as I have. My 9 yo DD takes almost 4 hours to get everything done, although that includes extra reading, etc. Hope this helps some! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 I find that people who tell me they spend less than two hours of school a day are either not doing Saxon math, have kids younger than mine, school year round or don't have the same definitions of school as I have. My 9 yo DD takes almost 4 hours to get everything done, although that includes extra reading, etc. Hope this helps some! Saxon Math LOL!!!:lol: Good, I'm starting to feel better, because it was a question on another forum and most said 2-2.5 Hours! WHAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shasta Mom Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Gosh, what is it with science? I have been agonizing over why we can't seem to get science done. Apparently I'm not the only one! .........and to make it stranger - I'm a science type and it's the last thing I want to teach!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Not sure where you got the impression people are spending 2 hours around here, haha... The usual recommendation is grade + 1 to get the number of hours per day. So a 3rd grader would typically spend 4 hours a day in academics (possibly including assigned reading). In our house we've definitely always spent that amount of time, though in the younger years it included quite a bit of read alouds. People have pondered the "are we recreating school" issue here in the past, especially after some thought-provoking posts by Ria (whose kids are now in school?). Long and short is it takes TIME to do the stuff you're trying to do, so don't be ashamed to spend it. You want the results, so put in the time. Some kids happen to be fast, but that's not the norm. Everyone's standards vary, so you have to live to your own standards and meet the needs of YOUR dc. If they're squirming and uncomfortable, by all means cut back. But if you're doing longer days (or starting late and running till supper, haha), don't think you're out of the norm. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) My oldest son is 9.5 and doing mostly 4th grade level work (some 3rd, some 5th) and it takes him usually 3.5-4 hours to finish his day. It really depends on how much writing is involved. If he has to write a draft of something, it takes a bit longer. I can't imagine finishing with him in 2.5 hours though. I schedule certain subjects on certain days. For instance, we do Geography 2 times a week and History 3 times a week. We do Science 4 times a week, English (he has two programs) everyday, Bible everyday, handwriting everyday, GWG 3 days a week, vocabulary 1 day a week, Drawing/Art one day a week (one more day if you include co-op), and spelling 4 days a week. He usually works from 9:00 ish until 12:30-1 ish. He doesn't eat lunch until his work is finished. He works usually those 3.5-4 solid hours with few breaks other than bathroom. Edited February 6, 2009 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 People have pondered the "are we recreating school" issue here in the past, especially after some thought-provoking posts by Ria (whose kids are now in school?). Long and short is it takes TIME to do the stuff you're trying to do, so don't be ashamed to spend it. You want the results, so put in the time. Some kids happen to be fast, but that's not the norm. Everyone's standards vary, so you have to live to your own standards and meet the needs of YOUR dc. If they're squirming and uncomfortable, by all means cut back. But if you're doing longer days (or starting late and running till supper, haha), don't think you're out of the norm. ;) :iagree: My kids are very quick and we don't cover every subject some do here so we have a shorter day than many. But those are my kids and the decisions I made. Your kids and decisions on subjects/curriculum are yours and will affect the length of day. If you are enjoying (for the most part) school and not feeling/getting burned out, then your day length is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDeeMarie0 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 We could never fit science in either. In the early years, we would pick a topic of interest (ants, penguins, snakes, etc.) and read books at bedtime or watch videos in the car that related to the topic. They have such fond memories of these simple studies. I still have a hard time, so I send them to a science class this year, but we still do the video learning whenever I can find videos that go along with the topic they are studying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I schedule a literature and a history reading for bedtime and always forget to mentally count those into my school day. The reading generally takes up an hour. I also don't count reading into the day. Dd reads about 45 minutes to an hour or more daily. So if I ever tell you that I get done in two hours, its half true. :D My dd goes to a cottage school once a week for a full 9-3:330 day and gets science, art, music, Spanish, PE and some other "enriching" things. We only do school 4 days a week - except that always forgotten hour of history and literature plus the 45 minutes + of reading. Daily we do Math - ~30 minutes Poetry copywork and memorization ~ 20 minutes IEW writing ~30 minutes GWG ~20 minutes This set of work usually lasts about 1 1/2 hours and we don't take a break until its all done. I rotate through art, science, geography, literature or history once a week. This is generally about an hour block. I squeeze the first block of school in after breakfast and then hit chores, get free play lunch, then any errands for the day. We do the next block after lunch. It is the fun stuff so it is easy to get the kids back for it. I try to do afternoon chores and cleanup then outside time before I start dinner. The kids play or read after dinner. The older dd goes to bed at the same time as the younger which gives her plenty of time to read in bed and still get a reasonable lights out time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in SouthGa Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) If it works for you all, then go with it. My 8.5ds would just die if I made him do school longer than a couple of hours. But he is a boy;)...he would much rather be on the golf course with his dad, so he starts around 7:30 and is done about 11:00 (usually), with several short breaks. We alternate history and science. Daily he does FLL 3, Explode the Code, Handwriting w/o Tears, Vocabulary (he has finished Wordly Wise, now doing Vocab. cartoons) Horizons Math, Daily Math Practice, Rod & Staff Bible Reader, Truth & Grace Memory Book, plus working on poems and a script for a play he is in. He also reads a couple of chapters a day in a book, usually related to history. Twice a week he does geography workbook, history, and science. We try to throw in some spanish, but he lost his DS My Spanish Coach game, so we are trying to find something else. One day a week he does Master's Academy of Fine Arts for history, art, music, theatre, and Drama Club. He plays a lot of golf!!! But it is time with Dad, and that is extremely important. Edited February 9, 2009 by Kim in SouthGa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Not sure where you got the impression people are spending 2 hours around here, haha... The usual recommendation is grade + 1 to get the number of hours per day. So a 3rd grader would typically spend 4 hours a day in academics (possibly including assigned reading). In our house we've definitely always spent that amount of time, though in the younger years it included quite a bit of read alouds. People have pondered the "are we recreating school" issue here in the past, especially after some thought-provoking posts by Ria (whose kids are now in school?). Long and short is it takes TIME to do the stuff you're trying to do, so don't be ashamed to spend it. You want the results, so put in the time. Some kids happen to be fast, but that's not the norm. Everyone's standards vary, so you have to live to your own standards and meet the needs of YOUR dc. If they're squirming and uncomfortable, by all means cut back. But if you're doing longer days (or starting late and running till supper, haha), don't think you're out of the norm. ;) Mine are a slightly older than the OP, and to get in all that I want for them, it takes us from about 8:30-4 with two "recesses" and a relaxed lunch. My goal each week is to get in at least three full days with that schedule, then one day of co-op, and one lighter day to allow for appointments/errands that much be done during school hours. And I get a lot of "eggs" from more relaxed homeschoolers, believe me. We've been at this though from the beginning and my children are not weird or unhappy.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCoppock Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have scheduled school from 8-2:30, but we rarely finish on time. The problem in my house is my son likes to spend countless hours trying to avoid actually doing the work. Education is very important in our house. So my thought is, if it requires all day to complete the assignments then that's what we'll do. DS is more than capable of completing all the assignments in even less time then I schedule for school so I feel it is his own fault if he doesn't have time to play on certain days. When he wants to he can usually have everything complete no later than noon. Personally, if school only took 2-2.5 hours I would feel I wasn't challenging DS enough. I know there are others who find 2 hours sufficient for their child but I know mine well enough to know this would not work for us. Do not feel like you have to finish in a set time frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 My kids are 8, 8, and 6, so we focus more on skills than content areas right now. However, I've found an incredibly easy way to get some science content in & the kids have been enjoying it. The last three weeks we've been talking and reading about amphibians. I went to the library, checked out about 40 books on a range of reading levels, and added a science book a day to my 8 year olds' daily checklist. They pick one & read it (or, if it's a long one, part of it) on their own and, more often than not, come across some tidbit of interesting information to tell me about. Each child keeps a list of books he's read. They have picked up a lot of interesting information this way. It's been painless for me and fun for them. (I do not make them narrate it.) They get science content and I have time to work with my 6 yo dd on skills. I look at different science scope & sequence charts to see what information they're supposed to be picking up & make sure that I cover it with them through informal conversations about the information they've read. Not hands-on, which I'm sure they'd love, but right now, it's more important to me to spend time on laying a solid math & reading foundation with my 6 yo dd than it is to do hands-on science with my 8 yos. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Mine are a slightly older than the OP, and to get in all that I want for them, it takes us from about 8:30-4 with two "recesses" and a relaxed lunch. My goal each week is to get in at least three full days with that schedule, then one day of co-op, and one lighter day to allow for appointments/errands that much be done during school hours. And I get a lot of "eggs" from more relaxed homeschoolers, believe me. We've been at this though from the beginning and my children are not weird or unhappy.:tongue_smilie: :lol: We do only 4 days as well. And we have a somewhat relaxed and sometimes hefty lunch break. Today was an hour. But then I never got to history :glare:but we did learn the "America" song instead. But about recreating school, how can you when they never went? :001_huh:So they're getting good one on one attention, projects and no homework. So I never understand recreating school unless they've been there, done that in the real ps system. I guess I'm okay with all this. But when somebody says 2 hours I have to wonder if I did something wrong. So far, doesn't seem so and she doesn't seem to care. Its less time she's bored on the days we stay home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julieofsardis Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 For my 9 yo ds, it would take us about 3.5 to 4 hours to do everything I'd like to get done. Some days we have this much time and some days we don't. However, I have a loop schedule that I use, so when we don't get everything done, we just pick up where we left off the day before. If you consistently school a few hours every day, you will have plenty of academics in each day. I figured out a perfect week for us based on 4 school days. I decided how many times per week I wanted to do each subject and spread them out in a way that we would not be too intensive on writing, reading or hands-on stuff for any one day. Now, in practice we don't always go in exact order. Sometimes we'll skip down to some hand-on activities when I know I've got a larger block of time and then go back up and pick up the others later. Or, it might just be a perfect snuggle on the couch and read day, so we might skip down to that. But, overall I try to follow my list in order. That way, I'm not putting off those subjects that I don't really want to do. This has freed me up so much. Before, when I had everything set up for a week at a time, if we didn't begin the week well, I just gave up until we had time to do a whole week. We would get weeks behind this way. Now, no matter what happens we just keep chugging along and we've gotten a lot more done this way. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Julie, this sounds really good, can you send me a concrete example of how this works? (Tell me what all you did last week or something to that effect.) I would really appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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