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mlandisfamily
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 10:58am | IP Logged
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We are new to home schooling. We are going to be starting our 8th grader at home this year instead of the public school. He has ADHD and Tourettes and just wasn't doing well in the public school. We felt like it was just a continual process of setting him up to fail instead of helping him reach his potential. It was incredible difficult to constantly keep up with all of his work from six different classes. In the public school he spent six hours a day learning. It stands to reason that here at home he should be able to greatly minimize that time as he'll have one on one attention and fewer trivialities as in the public school. My question is: how much time is sufficient to learn a subject without being too overwhelming. Given that he has a short attention span, is 15 to 20 minutes per day enough time in a subject to sufficiently learn or does he need more time in each subject? Is it possible to work on school work in the morning and get it all done by lunch?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 11:08am | IP Logged
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Most people I know don't finish by lunch except with the younger kids. But certainly by early afternoon like 1-2pm. And of course that would depend on what time in the morning you start.. if you start at 6am you'd have a lot more time before noon than if you started at 9am. 
But do be sure you check your state regulations, some states specify the amount of time you need to school, times of day and/or days of the week. So be sure you know what you're required to do.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Claire F
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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I can't speak to an 8th grader, because my kids are younger. But you are definitely on the right track in your thinking. You'll certainly be able to accomplish much more in less time at home. Just think of all the time saved - no waiting for the rest of the class to settle, moving from class to class, dealing with discipline issues and interruptions, etc. So while I can't tell you for sure how much time is enough, you will probably be able to get through more material in less time at home.
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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Chris V
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 12:42pm | IP Logged
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Another thing to consider is that you don't have to do it all at once. There are times when the most my girls can give is 10 minutes, tops; distractions because of this that or whatever (or just plain grumpy). So ten minutes here, ten minutes there, ten minutes while I make dinner , it all adds up. 30 minutes divided up is sometimes richer than a 30 minute block that proves to be just too much at once. ... When my children eyes glaze over, I know to I'll the plug.
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Chris
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Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11) 
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 1:13pm | IP Logged
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Oh and remember that you shouldn't just be comparing classtime to homeschool time.. but classtime plus homework time to homeschool time.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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SallyT
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| Posted: Aug 22 2012 at 2:07pm | IP Logged
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The rule of thumb for high school (and I know your son's not in high school yet, but you will be there soon!) is that 120-150 hours of work in a given subject equals one course credit. My son who was in eighth grade last year spent approximately an hour daily on each subject in his schedule, except for algebra, on which he spent more like 2 hours a day, from watching the DVD lesson to completing the problem set (so, more like class + homework).
This is without the challenges of ADHD and Tourettes in the mix. You might opt to break up your son's coursework into little half-segments, maybe alternating kinds of work (so, say, 20 minutes of math, followed by a subject with reading, followed by something written, followed by another 20 minutes of math, and so on), so that what he's doing is relatively fresh, and he's not overwhelmed by a whole hour of one thing.
It is true that homeschooling is far more efficient in many ways -- you may find that he does finish a day's lesson fairly quickly, mastering the material. I think what's more likely to happen -- what I've seen in my own children -- is that while lessons aren't necessarily shorter, far more learning happens in that time, because of the one-on-one dynamic. You don't have somebody checked out in the back row, with the lesson drifting over his head. You also have control over what happens when his attention wanes -- instead of that lesson just going on without him, you can stop, turn to something else, then come back to the first subject later.
You may need to experiment to find what works, and you don't have to do a full complement of lessons right out of the starting gate, either. You might start small and simple, with a little core of subjects (math, reading, writing) that he can work on for no more than 2 hours to begin with, with the rest of the day devoted to less formal things: listening to audiobooks, if reading is difficult for him, for example, watching a Teaching Company course on DVD, taking some field trips, generally getting acclimated to being at home. Kids who've been in school typically need some time to transition into a different mode -- even if school hasn't been a good experience, they aren't always champing to sit right down to a new learning experience at home. So you can take this starting-out time to work gently on some core things, but mostly to get used to your new life together.
Sally
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JuliaT
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| Posted: Aug 24 2012 at 7:40am | IP Logged
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My 8th grader is working from 8:30 to anywhere from 3:00 to 4:00. This time also includes read alouds and projects. It isn't all sit down work. I think, though, that if I was just working with her, I could get that time down a bit.
I also think that it depends on the curriclum you are using. If you are using a CM method compared to a boxed curriculum, your time might be a tad shorter. Not sure about this because I have never used a boxed curriculum.
You will probably have to go through a time of trial and error to see what works for you and our ds. You could always divide up the work to fit into shorter time frames. He could do 20 min. of math in the morning and then revisit that subject again later in the day to get more work done.
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Julia
mom of 3(14,13 & 11 yrs.old)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: New to homeschooling: scheduling question
