Im trying to figure out how many hours aday to homeschool my 2 girls ages 3&5 u have 2 have 600 hrs a yr?

Question

im trying to homeschool only on the weekdays and maybejust a hr for sat. & sun. i just really want to get them on aschedule now so we can be ready

Answer 1

I agree that you shouldn't worry about keeping hours until you need to.  If you want a sample schedule, this is what I did with my kids when in pre-k, K:

wake up

breakfast

get dressed

morning chores

bible reading

seatwork (30 minutes max)

activity (art, game, etc.)

freetime

lunch

quiet time

snack

afternoon chores

freetime

dinner

family time

read aloud

bedtime

We also worked in field trips, trips to the park, library, etc.

We still don't do much more than that.  Seatwork is now up to no more than an hour max for my 1st grader.  He's reading on a 3rd grade level and is on grade level (if not slightly above) in math.

Just enjoy your children.  At this age, they WILL learn.  Here are some ideas for activities, etc.

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

This is a standard math question. If you can't figure this out, what are you doing teaching them at home?

Just a thought.

How many hours are in a year of weekends?

Divide that into 600.

Divide that by 2

that's how many

Answer 3

I so agree with jsillywoman.  You do not have to have any reporting until your kids are 7.   Why push it when they are so young?

If you want to do a little bookwork that's okay but you definately don't need to spend 600 hours a year making those kids sit and do work.  

When you do have to do core subjects, remember that cooking is math and science rolled into one.  Yes it's fun but it can also be a great lesson in other things.   Just because it's a core subject doesn't mean it has to be bookwork.    

A field trip to a musuem is great for social studies - that's a core subject and can takes hours!  :)     When you live in a place that has these "hour" restrictions you just learn to be flexible.   I, for one, am thankful I don't have to worry about it but I have friends that have to deal with it.

Answer 4

A child normally goes to school from 9am to 3:30pm in our area.  The kids have 1/2 hr lunch, (2) 10 min recesses (morning & afternoon) with (1) 20 min recess after lunch.

Hope this gives you a little insight.  Good Luck, you have a big job ahead of you!

Answer 5

20 hours a week equal about 80 a month times 10 months equal about 800 a year. That would give you about 5 hours a day which is about what children who go to school deal with.  Make sure that you can do this with patience as being with your children 24/7 can put a real strain on any relationship when you are totally responsible for every thing they learn and every thing that they do.  Good luck it can be a really great experience if you can handle it, and have their father kick in on the week ends to give you guys a day off now and than.  It will also give them a different perspective on things.  At school they have different teachers to get different ideas about things.  What I was going to do before I found out that my kids had LD's was work with several other parents homeschooling to get another perspective.  Having another parent come in a couple of times a week to do a subject that I wasn't really great at like math would have been good.  Also it would have helped with expenses as books and things can be expensive and there are just some books that you have to have on hand in order to be able to teach effectively.  Also go on line and find a group of other parents who are homeschooling to get the support and ideas that you might need if something doesn't' work out for you.  And most of all don't be afraid to change your curriculum and style if some thing doesn't work.  You aren't locked into a certain way of doing things.

Answer 6

Wow that seems a lot of hours.

If you work out that there are approximately 260 weekdays in a year then 3 hours a day will give you 780 hours a year but this is giving no holidays.

If you take out the 180 excess hours then that is 60 days holiday at least this way you could fit the holidays around your schedule and not the standard 2 weeks at easter/christmas if that doesn't suit you.

By keeping it at 3 hours a day as a guide also allows you to to have a week where you have a 'day' off by working 6 hours on another day or some time to back up on saturdays but having the basis there stops you getting too confused when you need to mix and match because of other commitments or sickness that may arise.

I would suggest that you get a couple of calendars up on your screen and fiddle round till you find one you like the look of for your schedule print it off for a hard copy and use it to rearrange and fill time when you need to.

Answer 7

at 3&5 your children wont have a huge attention span.  we try to do 3 hours a day of educational activities - 5 days a week 40 weeks a year ...and that is absolutely stacks.  You dont HAVE to meet 600 hours a year its a guideline ....and far better to have 400 excellent hours than 600 rubbish wasted hours dont you think.

Answer 8

Where do you live? USA/Canada?  We, in Canada, don't have to have a certain number of hours per day or per year of education.

You homeschool your kids from the start, when you teach them their first language, they learn how to walk, eat mannerly, and such.  You have probably been teaching them letters, numbers, colours, shapes, opposites, etc.  You HAVE been homeschooling all along!  Congratulations.

You don't have to have a certain number of hours in everyday.  Homeschooling has flexiblity built in.  You can educate from 7 pm to midnight if you want.  You can educate 4 days a week (which a lot of parents with children your ages do, Monday to Thursday or something like that).

A schedule: yes is good.  A routine: yes is good.  Homeschooling is flexible though.  Sit down with your work schedule (if you have one that has to be factored in) and your regular home making schedule, and work with that for your homeschooling.  Your girls will need to learn things like dishes, laundry, floors, sorting, matching socks, etc.  Hey, these are all real life applications to things they do on paper.  Next time you do a load of laundry and need the socks matched, give them to the girls.  They will love the game...and it is educational!  (on paper, it is fun...but doesn't have the pay off of getting a household chore done at the same time!!)

Blessings on your homeschooling future.

From a homeschooling mom of almost 3 years!

Tracy

Answer 9

Neither of your children are mandatory school age yet, so why worry about hours. Just enjoy HSing and take it easy. Make learning fun.

Answer 10

Sun=  Free :)

Mon=2 hours

Tue=2.5 hours

Wen=2 hours

Thur=2 hours

Fri=2 hours

Sat=1 hours

11.5 hours per week  

X

52 weeks

598

and add in two hours somewhere :)

hope that helps

Answer 11

I looked at your state laws at http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?St... and you don't really have to report anything till they are 7 (which is your state's compulsory school age).  So right now just enjoy your kids being little.  Yes of course you will teach them their abc's and the sounds they make but it can be done with a lot of play.  Let them  play a lot at this age.  Get puzzles and stuff like that.  As your older one gets older you can add more to it and then by they are 7 years old you will have the hours you need in.  Just add a little at a time so as not to overwhelm them and make them hate doing school work.  Learning can happen any time of the day not necessarily sitting down and doing paper work and textbook work.  It can be reading a book on a subject.  Doing a hands on science work or as simple as studying ants in your backyard.  Right now I would even just watch how your children learn what they know now you'd be surprised what they learn and how simple it can be.  Good luck on you homeschool journey!  It was the best decision we ever made.

Answer 12

You do realize that field trips, reading, chores etc, can all be considered homeschooling? Children at the age of three should not be considered under the homeschooling laws anyway, most states have mandatory education after the age of six.

We looked at what our natural schedule was, and then put learning into it.

Answer 13

Until they are 7, they are not subject to education laws; you can keep right on playing with them without worrying.  

600 hours is really, really easy to reach - when we first started homeschooling (my son was 6.5) we reached that inside of about 6 months.  When you homeschool, a lot of different things can be counted as school.  600 hours of core doesn't mean 600 hours of bookwork - read alouds, lapbooking, practicing writing in shaving cream or pudding, running up and down the stairs while reciting math facts, baking cookies to practice measuring and counting...all of these can be counted.  You have to spend that much working on core subjects, but there are a lot of ways to do that without seat work.  

Right now, just enjoy learning with your girls!  At 3 and 5, they will naturally be drawn to whatever causes them to learn.

Answer 14

You can count each day, every day, if you want. I've known homeschoolers living in states that required tracking hours and they simply counted all learning time--so much of the day can count as learning! Creating music, playing with Lego, dress-up (counts as part of language arts in elementary school--dramatic component) and so much more. You can arbitrarily start your "school time" at 8:30 am, stop at noon for lunch and you've covered your necessary 600 hours over the course of 180 days. Then your afternoons would cover the other 400 hours and then some.

A 3yo should not be on a schedule that is designed for 6+ yo's. And there's no need for a child to be on a school schedule 3 years before they hit school age.

Here's my recommendation for you: get Homeschool Tracker. http://www.homeschooltracker.com/tracker...  It tracks attendance and you can even track the amount of time they spend on things.  You can start tracking the activities they do right now, including when they start something and when they stop something, and see how it works for you. You'll see how much gets covered and how easily.

ADDED: Btw, those 600 hours don't have to mean one-on-one nor face-to-face. Those 600 hours are for your core subjects. If your daughters spend 30 minutes looking at books, that counts as 30 minutes of reading, whether or not you are giving them a lesson. If they spend 30 minutes listen to you read a story and talking about it with you, that's 30 minutes of language arts. If your older child spends an hour in grade 1 counting and recounting the beans you've put in a pot, that counts as an hour of math. You don't have to be teaching them for 600 hours--they have to be engaged in learning activities related to the core subjects for 600 hours a year.