Ginny and Mary Ellen take up a common question among new homeschoolers. Perhaps most interesting is the variety of answers they received. See how your family compares.
Factors in the conversation include that some kids have their noses to the grindstone while others seem to zip through. But like homeschooling, the parent is best positioned to decide how long your family’s homeschool day should be.
Program Notes
- A typical public or private school day is about 6 hours. Added to the bus ride there and back, many kids are away from the house for 7 hours each day or more.
- You can knock off lunch, recess, and gym hours in the early grades. Classroom teachers spend lots of time getting kids to line up, get their stuff from lockers, and just be quiet and pay attention.
- But you can add back at least 30 minutes of homework in each grade.
- Middle and high school are more regimented, with kids typically spending 45 minutes or so on task for each class and often coming home with an hour or two of homework.
What can we expect in our homeschools?
Pre-K and K
Most kids love the attention, and many quickly pick up reading readiness, reading itself, and math.
These fun grades trick us into believing we can homeschool in 30 minutes to an hour. Add in some prayers and poems, and you’re done.
At this level, if kids, often little boys, rebel against any book learning, it is wise to wait several months before trying again. Some kids are just not ready, and red-shirting them is the prudent plan.
Primary Grades
- Most students can finish grades 1-3 in 2 hours or less per day, depending on the curriculum you are using. Generally, if it takes longer, that is a discipline problem – not an academic one. Kids are dawdling.
- This is the age to train kids how you want them to approach their education, for example, starting at the same time every day, only taking breaks at established times, and stowing their books and supplies when finished.
- 3rd grade is also the time to expect a little bit more. I suggest memorizing multiplication tables or writing paragraphs regularly.
- Time to get kids ready – 4th grade is coming!
Upper elementary
- Fourth grade is where many successful homeschoolers begin to get discouraged. Subjects like history and science, which used to be just fun extras, are now real subjects.
- Even if you do not use a curriculum, 4th grade is when students need to learn more than just history stories and the lives of famous people. Now they need real physical and life sciences.
- They need to begin writing book reports and full-paragraph answers to questions.
- Math becomes much more demanding.
- A focused 4th grader can finish in 4 hours.
- It is common for a 7th or 8th grader to spend 5 or 6 hours on task.
- Many kids require even more time. Each school year, the day may become longer.
High School
A good rule of thumb for high school is one hour per day per subject. A student taking six credits should spend about 6 hours on schoolwork. Some classes will take less time, but others more, so the average will be about 1 hour per credit.
Why this Matters
- We don’t question that kids need to practice piano to progress. We encourage our children to practice shooting hoops, catching a baseball, or dribbling a soccer ball. We understand that focused practice is how we all get better at everything.
- But somehow, when children require more time to master an academic skill, we go on social media and look for new curriculum.
- A new program may be more engaging, but ultimately, our kids must work hard to memorize math facts, learn a foreign language, or understand the Constitution.
- There is no substitute for hours of concentrated practice.
BONUS
I knew a master. My MIL was the foremost woman trumpet player in the world. I met her in her fifties while working at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. She still practiced every day.
