How much time do you spend HSing?

We had our first day today! I have a 5th, 3rd and K’er. We were pretty much done by lunch minus science. I love it! But I wonder if I’m not spending enough time on things??

About three hours of actual “school”. We also run errands, go to doctor appointments, do housework… But anything can be a learning experience. Public schools have longer days, but the beauty of home schooling is that you can focus on the child and avoid all the discipline, class changes, assemblies, etc.

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It’s awesome that you had a good first day!

This year, mine are 4th, 3rd, and 1st grades (plus a toddler). We usually get everything done in about 5 hours (minus an hour for lunch/recess). However, we are frequently interrupted by the toddler and that can really slow us down.

Try not to focus too much on how long you spend on the schoolwork. The main focus is, are they learning the material? Some days it might take 45 mins to do a math lesson, other days it might take 15. Just go at their pace and you can’t go wrong.

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I have a third grader and an almost two yr old. It usually takes us about 4 hours to do school. Sometimes shorter if we have a light day and sometimes longer if the little one is being a handful.

I think that as long as they are learning the material, time should be flexible. Like Julie said, sometimes a lesson takes 15 mintues because it clicks and they get it right away. Other times, it doesn’t click and it takes 45 minutes - 1 hour.

I would double check your state requirements just as a precaution. I know here in Colorado, a school day has to be 4 hours to count towards the mandatory attendance days. If your student whizzed through lessons before the end of the 4 hours (or whatever your state says), reward him/her with an educational movie, games, or PE at the park to fulfill that time requirement. :slight_smile:

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We are in OK and we have no regulations! Thanks goodness :slight_smile:

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I only have a K here. And we did school for a total of 90 minutes today. But I don’t have any other children interrupting, and we didn’t do art or science. We did go for a walk and feed the ducks, so maybe it was closer to 120 minutes?

Us too! It’s nice not to have to worry about hours :smile:

I have four kids ranging in age from 3 to 9 and we are usually done by lunch as well. About three hours total each day for schoolwork is normal for us. Sometimes we carry things to after lunch, but that usually means we either started late or took a break to meet up with friends before lunch. From everyone I talk to this seems the normal amount of time to spend on work.

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It usually takes my 6th grader 5 hours to complete everything. Some days quicker. I don’t let him work longer than 45 minutes on a single subject because I start losing him :wink: if he doesn’t complete his work I might assign it as homework (especially if it’s because he was daydreaming) or just finish up next day. My kindergartener is done in about 2 hours and our preschooler only sits still for about 15 min but comes and goes all day :grinning: