Homeschooling question

[dressage]

Maybe this is a hard question to answer. For those who homeschool, how many hours a day is dedicated to actual schoolwork? I am most interested in an online based program. thanks

[Victoria Leigh]

Dressage, I'm not a parent who has dealt with this, so, I don't know. But, since no one has answered yet, I will give you my thoughts anyway. I think that has to be very individual, since every student is able to work at a different pace. Some students can get the same amount of work done in two hours that others might need twice that long to do. So, I think, once people respond, you will probably get a lot of different answers. Just my guess, though.

[Clara 76]

I homeschool both of my DSs'!

 

The older one was public schooled until 8th grade. Then we enrolled him in an online charter school for several years. Recently, I have begun to 'Unschool', but that's not for everyone. The best thing to do is find what works for you & your child.

 

What I can tell you though is the daily work from a computer-based curriculum will take approximately 2-4 hours, depending upon the child.

 

If you have any other questions, don't be afraid to ask!!

 

Clara 76

[BelaNina]

I concur - with both responses! My kids take from 2 - 4 hous a day to get everything done (including P.E.), but sometimes they (or we) spend longer than that because they're engrossed in interesting projects, or are reading a book they can't put down, etc.

 

Of the homeschoolers I know who've gone on to universities, they spent about 2 - 3 hours per day through 8th grade, and about 4 - 5 hours per day in high school.

[dance1soccer1]

I homeschooled mine just up to fourth grade/8 years old, but at that age, it took about 4 hours a day. Friends who homeschool tend to spend about that in elementary/middle, and up to six hours a day for high school (if you're doing a college prep program, for example, one that includes foreign language, science, etc.)

[cheetah]

We're homeschooling 9th grade this year. DS is doing 5 classes, including foreign language. Three are computer based and 2 are correspondence. At most, he spends 2 hours a day, though he claims it's much longer. Spanish we do in the car or shopping or wherever we have a few minutes to review - he hasn't adapted to self-study for that subject but he's actually learning the material. Using this schedule since the beginning of September, he's finishing one class this week, is half way through another, and on track to finish the other three easily by May, but only if he devotes probably 3-4 hours a day. If he finishes all of his classes early, we'll make him pick up more classes. It's important to note, however, that my DS is basically lazy when it comes to schoolwork and I wonder how much material he actually absorbs. Since I'm not there with him during the day, it's hard to tell. We do checks on material to make sure he reads everything and monitor his quiz and test scores. He gets decent grades, though I wonder if he'll have the work ethic he needs to succeed in college.

[Clara 76]

Cheetah,

 

I do understand your concern because your son sounds exactly like my oldest!

 

I just stay on top of him and check everything. Somewhere, I know he's absorbing what he needs because every now & again, I'll hear him admonish his younger brother with my words, thus reinforcing that yes, things must be seeping into his brain, even if it may take years to see any result!!

 

I guess what I am saying is that unless he's bucking for Harvard, I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are plenty of community colleges out there if he eventually wants a piece of paper. Not to put down higher ed., but for a serious dancing child, he/she probably isn't going to go Ivy anyway.

 

Clara 76

[cheetah]

Thanks Clara 76! Good to know my DS isn't alone. We've pretty much resigned ourselves to community college for him, whether he continues to dance or not. Not that it is bad - ours is actually an excellent institution! I know that by his mid-20s he'll stabilize and mature and might be ready to actually learn. In the meantime, he is actually learning some things, although reluctantly. He's pursuing dance as a profession, and even if that changes, at least he's in great physical shape and is too busy to get into the trouble that his friends - especially the ones at the local high school - seem to be getting into!

 

Dressage - In reference to your question, our experience is that home schooling does take oversight, even the clear cut on-line versions! While my DS spends about 2 hours a day, I probably spend another 2 hours (total throughout the day) harping, reviewing work, making him redo things, calling him, and quizzing him to make sure he reads the material rather than skims it. Even in that limited time, he's making faster progress than we're seeing in his local high school. And they're even using the same text books!

[dufay]

My daughter, a soph in HS, is cyberschooling thru a PA charter school. I am more on top of what she's doing than I ever was when she was in a regular public school. I can easily access her submissions and grades. They use the block system, which has its advantages and disadvantages (particularly for AP), but she spends about 4 hrs/day, and time on weekends. This includes 2 languages. My aim is for the ivies (or equivalent) if ballet doesn't work out- she doesn't yet know about the whole college hysteria, so doesn't care at this point.

[Guest vegerina]

i am on independant studies and i am required to do 25 hours a week of school work. this dosent include PE though. but i get to use ballet as my PE so i love independant studies!!

[calamitous]

My DD does only algebra by corespondence . We spend approximately 2 hours/week. She does the assigned assignments two days a week each taking about half an hour. On weekends I have her do "extra" work for an hour. This typically includes extra word problems, maybe just some additional practice from the assignments if she seemed shakey, or "mixed review" assignments found in the textbook. I was leary about doing one subject at home with her after making her go to school all day, but it was one of the best decision we ever made. She spends so much less time on a subject that she struggled with at school and is learning it and feels successful.

[vicarious]

I homeschooled my kids until last year. DD started 7th grade last year. Sons were 4th and 1st grade. When homeschooling was working they spent 2 hours on "school at home" and the rest of the day unschooled. The unschooled time included educational videos and tv, expiriments, art, pe, music, dance, reading, field trips, playing pretend ect. I had to stop because of my health problems and one child was very oppositional about the "school at home" work. I just burnt out. At some point one or all may be homeschooled again. If school and ballet conflict dd knows we'll homeschool her, but she's learning a lot about time management and prioritizing right now.

[Guest jballet]

Knock, knock! I know I'm not a parent, but my mom has been homeschooling for 12 years. I have 3 siblings but only one is still homeschooled (3 of us are attending a charter school that fits our dance schedule). One year, we would start our schoolwork at 8:30 every morning, and would be finished around 11:00. We did math, science, English, literature, Spanish, and history everyday. As I got into high-school, I began taking classes at our community college in the morning. My mom counted them for high-school credit too. I was in college for about 3 hours two days a week and then I would do my other high-school subjects in about 2 hours on the days I didn't go to college. Basically, you have to find a schedule that works for you and be disciplined enough to stick with it. Homeschooling is great for dancers especially because (at my studio at least) teachers are often willing to give private lessons or even the use of a room in the early afternoon before regular classes start. Now, because of my mom's dedication to my education, I know that even if I do not become a professional ballerina, I will have the skills I need to suceed in many other careers.

Sorry I'm not a parent.

[Memo]

My DK starting Independant Study this year and I would agree that it takes about 4-5 hours per day. But actually that leaves an extra day to "float" if all the work did not get done because of an appt or committment then there is time on the last day to make up any work. My DK checks in with a teacher once per week who tutors the math (the difficult subject) and goes over everything and there is access to the teacher. We just started this in Sept and so far it seems to really fit his personality. He is really happy, seems more motivated to do the work than regular school. If I had known it would go so well I may have allowed him to start sooner.

Also a teenager that gets 8-10 hours sleep is healthier, nicer, and more motivated than one who is sleep deprived from long days of school and late nights at ballet.

[Guest appjuli]

We've always homeschooled - actually, primarily "unschooled" - and our youngest is in 8th grade (she's the dancer). On a good day she does 3 hours, but our philosophy is very much that other things in life are important, too! We're required to test annually with a nationally standardized exam, and she's consistently in the 90s so we're pretty relaxed about schoolwork. She also reads voraciously - and some meaty stuff. We're doing some Shakespeare with her lit course (Smarr) and she just read all of the Farley Mowats the library has in a week and a half.

 

Yes, it's absolutely individualized - and depends on the kid. A self-motivated teen can get the schoolwork done in 2 hours, plus reading.