heartofdakota.com

I was wanting to know TRULY how long does your school day take??? Don't be afraid to be honest!! It can take awhile teaching multiple children!! I am just wanting to have realistic expectations come January when I begin CTC, Bigger Hearts along with more LHTH!!! I know many of you do this. HOD makes it possible to seperate my kids and give them what they need. But how long does it take in your home?? Looking forward to hearing the various responses. Then, when it takes us 6 hours a day (mainly from children who drag their feet ), I won't feel so bad:):)

Thanks,
Liz

Well, I can give you our time when I was doing Beyond, LHFHG, and LHTH... it took us no more than 3 hours on a very very bad day.... generally 1.5 - 2. But I stopped because keeping it streamlined was testing me and my patience and the kids were not having a good time.

Starting in February I will have Bigger, LHFHG, and LHTH, but Bigger will be half speed. I still expect it to be about the same length of time... ie no more than 3 hours. Doing LHFHG and LHTH and our unit studies for DD1 takes about an hour total right now.

We are doing RTR, Bigger Hearts half-speed, and LHTH right now. I planned for my RTR ds to do his Independent Bible Study box before everyone else gets up from 7:00 to 7:15 AM. I also put his Independent Science as his last thing in the school day and told him he could get up earlier and do it before everyone got up if he wanted to. He didn't do this at first, but he is naturally an early riser, and so he now gets up and does his science early about 90% of the time.

So, before, when he was just doing his Bible time early, we did school from about 8:15 AM to 12:30 PM. This is including a 30-45 minute playtime my oldest ds has with my youngest ds.

Now, since he is doing his science early too, we do school from about 8:15 AM to 12:00 PM.

We finish by lunch time 100% of the time, which I know is not every mom's goal, but it is one of mine. In case this may be a goal of yours as well, a few things have made this possible for me...
*we all officially get up at 7:15 AM which gives one hour for getting ready, doing chores, and eating breakfast
*we start school on time each day by 8:15 AM (at least within 15 minutes either way )
*we don't add anything to the guide and I don't substitute anything (if I did sub in something, I'd make sure it fit the suggested time allotments)
*I make myself stay off the computer, not answer the phone, and not do anything except homeschool until after lunch
*we clip along, I don't stretch out discussions or extend activities
*we have a school schedule that turns more into a routine as the year progresses, but it has plans for the toddler too
*teaching blocks when I'm with individual dc
*separate work areas for the dc right near me
*separate supplies that are mobile for each child
*routine chores for each child that make the house, etc. ready to go by 8:15 AM
*dc each appropriately placed in guides so no tweaking is necessary
*set the timer for dc at first so they know about how long each box should take
*copy of schedule for each child so they know their routine
*each child uses the guide as their own, is taught to gather supplies, follow each box's directions, hand things in a routine place, and clean up after themselves (we have this as a goal by the end of Bigger Hearts)
*we don't have outside activities or obligations that interfere with doing school each day from 8 to noon - we keep this time set aside for school always

These are things I've figured out bit by bit, year by year, but in the hopes that they may help someone else be able to meet a goal they may have to finish school in by lunch, I have shared them here. Just ignore them if you don't have this goal, or if they don't fit with the way you want to homeschool please! But yes, it is very possible to do 3 HOD guides and easily finish by lunch - I need that right now, so I am so happy it works for us. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Well I'm only doing 2 right now BLHFHG, and LHFHG! We school for about 3-4 hrs a day. Not all of that time is HOD, because we do some other stuff, and that isn't all straight school either. I plan to add in LHTH next year, and I think it will be very doable.

We also take 2 - 3 hours. 3 hours max.

Thanks for all of the feedback!! I just love getting a glimpse of what goes on in other's homes!!

It is nice to see a variety of answers!! I really see how you must do what meets your family's goals AND needs. It is great to see that it can be done in different ways.

Keep the responses coming everyone!

Thanks,

Liz

We start at 9 am and finish anywhere from 1 to 2 pm. This includes about a half hour lunch break most of the time. We are doing CTC and Beyond this year.
Brenda

We moved from 3 programs to 4 this year. My goals for this year include:
1.) everyone making progress in their academic sklls
2.) enjoying the journey
3.) teaching my 11 yo to work independently
4.) having time daily to walk and play outside
5.) moving everyone to the next level in their chore abilities and greater independence
6.) having a daily consistent schedule
7.) raising the bar academically

I am thrilled with the progress each of the children are making - academically. My oldest begins his day at 6:30, everyone else begins at 7. We have a large chunk of time from 7:30 to 9 devoted to breakfast, family time and chores. Breakfast is our guaranteed meal together as a family each day. I have found that the child in LIttle Hearts can easily get her work done each day. The child in Bigger drags a bit, because he doesn't like to write, so we are able to usually do almost all of his work daily, but sometimes notebooking doesn't get done. Both of these children finish by noon, however, they are not as far along in their guides because I invested so much time initially with the older two to get them going independently with their guides.The child in CTC who is very independent does a good job of getting his work completed, but it takes him til about 3 each day. And the child in Preparing is growing in independence each day and is very diligent, but it takes him a long time to complete his assignments, because he wants his work to be VERY NEAT. He works until about 2 each day now, but for the first couple of months it took him to 4 p.m. each day. We've not been able to get our daily walks in like I would like, because everyone is so busy with their school work. I'm still hoping to resolve this. Our walks are precious to me. Math with the 11, 9 and 6 year old take a lot of my time, but we set a timer each day so the children will work and move on. The math issue continues to be a frustrating one. My challenge is not the 4 guides, but the 4 maths. All of this is to say I think time spent depends so much on who your children are. Are they motivated? Placed in the right guide? How are their skills? Can they work independently? And it does take a great deal more time in the beginning when everyone is getting into the routine.