How many hours do you homeschool?

When we started homeschooling our 2nd and 1st graders, we pretty much spent two hours a day doing school work. This really worked well for us, we were able to get through our basic subjects in this time. My children’s attention spans would start to wear thin once we hit the two hour mark. After a break, we would do supplemental activities, read books together, go to gym class, do art projects, or just play.

As my children are getting older, their attention spans are getting longer. We now can spend three hours straight working on school. Some days, we take a break after three hours and return for an extra two. Some days, we go to the library or do an art project. I also assign independent computer work from education.com, khanacademy.org, code kingdoms, or Scratch for them to work on once we are done with “official” schooling. They also have time to read their books - normally at least a chapter a day, or watch an educational show like Popular Mechanics on Amazon Prime.

Making Slime as an After School Activity

I spend time with my two year old working on puzzles and songs. She loves painting, and will paint on any day. I normally spend about 15-20 minutes with her one on one. Again, after about 20 minutes of puzzles or me trying to teach her letters and numbers, she’s ready to do whatever she wants.

This is how many hours we homeschool. I set time as a goal only because of attention spans. I find it to be a waste of time and energy if my children aren’t present mentally for school. When their minds are fresh, they can learn and retain things so much easily than when they are tired and unfocused.

Feel free to write in the comments how many hours do you homeschool, and why!

T.E.A. 2018