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No matter how long we've been homeschooling, we are curious about how other homeschoolers do things. And homeschoolers who are newer to the game obviously have lots of questions! This series will try to answers some of the questions homeschoolers ask each other. Questions about how we handle some of the little details and about our opinions on different aspects of homeschooling. Questions that we all might answer differently because what works great in one family might not work at all in another.
How much time do you spend on schoolwork?
This is a tough question for me to answer these days, because my student does most of her work on her own! I really don't know exactly how much time she is spending on it. I think the best way to answer this is to walk through a typical week and sort of total up the average.
Several years ago, when at least two kids were working together on a couple of subjects, I had a more structured schoolday. What we usually did was start the day at 9AM with the subjects we were working on together. Then the kids could branch off and work on their other subjects individually. At that point our schoolday normally ended sometime around 3PM, but that varied. They worked on schoolwork in the evening occasionally, but it wasn't a regular thing.
So in general, that's the pattern we still follow three days a week. On the two days I work, Kennady starts school around nine in the morning, and finishes for the day sometime between three and four in the afternoon. With various breaks throughout the day. On the days I'm at work, I don't know how much time she actually puts in. I have to go by the results alone, and she is meeting deadlines.
She does spend one morning a week at a part-time job, but that is also school time, because she is learning a trade skill and is getting school credit for it. And her chorus rehearsals count as school, as do any worship team rehearsals.
On co-op days, her classes start at 8AM, and end at 2:30PM, with a one hour lunch break.
Homework in the evening or on weekends? Yes, but that's up to her. She often stays up late on Wednesday evenings to finish something up for co-op the next day. And she often kills time at hockey or before chorus by working on writing assignments on her phone. Hooray for Google documents!
So I would say she spends between thirty and thirty-five hours a week on schoolwork. We're actually working on a review product right now that focuses on studying well and efficiently (The Victus Study Skills Program - look for the Homeschool Crew reviews at the beginning of March!) so by the end of this month, perhaps she'll have decided to make some changes to her schedule to use her time better. Maybe using that beautiful Student Planner.
And how much time do I spend on school related stuff? I think that's what a lot of homeschool mamas want to know. How much time will MOM need to put in once the kids are in high school? Well, it does depend on whether you outsource all or some of the study, for one thing. We outsource History, Writing, French, Speech/Business, Tech, and Music coursework, and Consumer Math is really the only thing she is doing solely on her own at home. However, I am the History instructor and Writing instructor at the co-op, so I do put in time preparing lessons and grading papers. I spend more time grading papers because there are other students in my classes, so it's a trade-off. I would say my hands-on time spent working with students, planning, or grading totals about ten hours a week on average. That's really not much! Kennady does the vast majority of her work independently, so all I need to do is check her work and keep records, and make myself available to help her as needed. Some weeks that's a lot of hands-on help, and some weeks she's off to the races and doesn't need help.
You can compare what our typical school week was like back in 2014, when my blog hop theme was 5 Ordinary Homeschool Days.
This is a tough question for me to answer these days, because my student does most of her work on her own! I really don't know exactly how much time she is spending on it. I think the best way to answer this is to walk through a typical week and sort of total up the average.
Several years ago, when at least two kids were working together on a couple of subjects, I had a more structured schoolday. What we usually did was start the day at 9AM with the subjects we were working on together. Then the kids could branch off and work on their other subjects individually. At that point our schoolday normally ended sometime around 3PM, but that varied. They worked on schoolwork in the evening occasionally, but it wasn't a regular thing.
So in general, that's the pattern we still follow three days a week. On the two days I work, Kennady starts school around nine in the morning, and finishes for the day sometime between three and four in the afternoon. With various breaks throughout the day. On the days I'm at work, I don't know how much time she actually puts in. I have to go by the results alone, and she is meeting deadlines.
She does spend one morning a week at a part-time job, but that is also school time, because she is learning a trade skill and is getting school credit for it. And her chorus rehearsals count as school, as do any worship team rehearsals.
On co-op days, her classes start at 8AM, and end at 2:30PM, with a one hour lunch break.
Homework in the evening or on weekends? Yes, but that's up to her. She often stays up late on Wednesday evenings to finish something up for co-op the next day. And she often kills time at hockey or before chorus by working on writing assignments on her phone. Hooray for Google documents!
So I would say she spends between thirty and thirty-five hours a week on schoolwork. We're actually working on a review product right now that focuses on studying well and efficiently (The Victus Study Skills Program - look for the Homeschool Crew reviews at the beginning of March!) so by the end of this month, perhaps she'll have decided to make some changes to her schedule to use her time better. Maybe using that beautiful Student Planner.
And how much time do I spend on school related stuff? I think that's what a lot of homeschool mamas want to know. How much time will MOM need to put in once the kids are in high school? Well, it does depend on whether you outsource all or some of the study, for one thing. We outsource History, Writing, French, Speech/Business, Tech, and Music coursework, and Consumer Math is really the only thing she is doing solely on her own at home. However, I am the History instructor and Writing instructor at the co-op, so I do put in time preparing lessons and grading papers. I spend more time grading papers because there are other students in my classes, so it's a trade-off. I would say my hands-on time spent working with students, planning, or grading totals about ten hours a week on average. That's really not much! Kennady does the vast majority of her work independently, so all I need to do is check her work and keep records, and make myself available to help her as needed. Some weeks that's a lot of hands-on help, and some weeks she's off to the races and doesn't need help.
You can compare what our typical school week was like back in 2014, when my blog hop theme was 5 Ordinary Homeschool Days.
Are my time estimates higher or lower than you would have expected? How much time do you spend doing school? Leave a comment and let me know what works for you - or leave a homeschool question you're curious about.
This post is part of the February 2019 Homeschool Collection on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email!This post is part of the February 2019 Homeschool Collection on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.
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3 comments:
I am finding, now that I have one high school student, a middle school student, and an elementary student, that my time is spent quite differently than even just a year ago. My high schooler, like yours, is mostly independent. I do check answers on classes and read through writing and such for her and I instruct her when she is needing help. With my middle schooler, well, that is completely different as she has a couple of online courses. So, even with her, I have almost no hands-on time or prep time. I am here when she needs me. With my elementary students, it is all hands-on, all the time. :)
my lad does his own work, he tells me what he's gotten done, and where he is at with things. I help him with his WW1 studies beyond that... probably 4 hours daily? Maybe 5/
It is always good to hear these type of days from other experienced mamas!
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