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jawgee
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Location: New Hampshire
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| Posted: Aug 30 2011 at 6:04pm | IP Logged
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We are generally following a CM-style education for our boys (4th and 1st). We are doing shorter lessons and lots of read-aloud, and we are covering the many subjects (including picture study, poetry, nature study, etc.).
I knew my 1st grader wouldn't be spending very long on school work, but my 4th grader is done with school in about 2 hours?! That seems SO short. What's the average length? I had thought maybe four hours. This morning we covered the following:
-morning devotion
-poetry
-grammar
-history (individual reading and a read-aloud)
-literature (read-aloud)
-Saxon Math
-geography (we're doing Paddle to the Sea with the map)
-a few minutes working on a project for Cub Scouts
Am I missing something? We also do Science, character development, nature studies, and picture studies - although not on Tuesdays.
This afternoon we went blueberry/apple/peach/plum picking. People keep commenting on how short our school day is. What do you think is appropriate for a child of that age?
Edited to add: My 4th grader did do a little research for our geography this afternoon - maybe 10 minutes worth; and my DH will do a family read-aloud at bedtime - maybe another 20 minutes. So I guess the total for today was maybe 2 1/2 hours. Opinions??
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
The Catholic Cup on Facebook
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Aug 30 2011 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
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I think 2-3 hours a day (including PE, music, art, etc.) is fine at that age. Most of 4th grade in a traditional school is spent on the subjects you're doing, plus lining up, waiting in line, walking in line, waiting to be dismissed, putting on/taking off coats...
Plus, if you go on any kind of outing/field trip, you can make it a learning experience. Fruit picking could be PE (it is hard work) or you could talk tomorrow about the different types of fruit and their seeds, or you could paint/draw fruit for art time...or learn their names in Spanish or Latin...
I think your day sounds lovely.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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AmandaV
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| Posted: Aug 30 2011 at 6:54pm | IP Logged
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Have you read When Children Love to Learn? I checked it out this summer and the sample schedules include a 3rd grade and maybe a 5th or 6th grade class? That might give you an idea, although the schedules are from a CM type school, not home school.
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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jawgee
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| Posted: Aug 30 2011 at 7:32pm | IP Logged
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AmandaV wrote:
| Have you read When Children Love to Learn? |
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No, thank you, though. I'll see if I can get it through inter-library loan.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
The Catholic Cup on Facebook
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Aug 30 2011 at 7:40pm | IP Logged
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Monica,
Your 2 hour day sounds just about right to me for a 4th grader. We do a little more nature study/science type reading (daily instead of weekly) just because that's something we enjoy doing. My ballpark guess would be 2 - 3 hours of work for a 4th grader.
Just for a perspective type reference, my 6th grader completes his lesson work by noon each day leaving the afternoon free for masterly inactivity. He follows passions, rabbit trails, researches interests, and does projects during this time. His total time spent working on lesson work is about 3 1/2 - 4 hours a day.
I see that you came back and edited your post to add some geography research time. I bet if you really sat down and kept a daily journal of all of the reading aloud, research, independently motivated work (masterly inactivity), time exploring, project time and time spent pursuing a passion or rabbit trail throughout the day...you'd find way more than 2 hours spent learning. It's just that we see that bit of work which we keep a record of on paper, and consider that as it. It's NOT! And that's the beauty of a living education - it extends off the page well into the margins of the day.
When someone asks me how long a child of mine spends doing "schoolwork", I answer with a distinction between sit down work that is directed by me, and delight-directed exploration and project pursuits, which is very much a part of the everyday here. Between the two of those, it's hard not to give HUGE numbers in terms of hours spent learning!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: How much time?!
