It's show and tell time. Here are my favorite books for homeschooling. You could actually have these books and need little else (through grade 6).
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How long to study for each class?
We may have a problem with the online classes. Already.
As homeschoolers my kids have spent 1 hour a day 4 or 5 days per week on most classes. They have spent 90 minutes a day without fail on math and foreign language. So that is no more than 4 to 7.5 hours per class weekly. This is true whether they are studying someone at home, or in a local class.
The online classes they are taking through the county is recommending 12-20 hours a week per online class. (I am pretty sure that's what they said during the orientation chat) That's just crazy. Weekly, this would be almost 2 1/2 hours a day to 4 hours a day per class. Multiply that by 5 classes (which my kids are not taking) and that could take 12 1/2 to 20 hours a day. So much for having a life or sleeping.
I think they are seriously over stating the time it takes to study the material and pass the tests. I am hoping that this is a loose recommendation, and not a requirement. I will find out.
Fortunately with my son taking only 2 classes per semester and my daughter taking 1 class per semester, they will still have time for other endeavors. I am recommending they are signed in to their accounts for the minimum amount of recommended hours per week. As they are only available to do online school 4 days during the week, I will probably get them to so a weekend session. My kids have already resisted homeschooling on the weekend.... but college is coming up fast. They are going to have to get used to studying daily.
update: Did some quick research. On the college level "Generally, the rule of thumb is that you should study approximately 2 hours for every one hour of classroom time. For example, if you spend 4 hours a week in a particular class, then you should spend 8 hours studying and doing homework." http://news.everest.edu/post/2008/03/study-hours The low-end recommendation for these high school courses are pretty close to what is recommended to pass a college course. So if a public school would spend 5 hours a week in class and then do 10 hours a week in homework for that class, they can expect to do very well. Since my kids are in highschool, I am going to recommend to them that they spend the minimum 12 hours per class (especially since they are hard classes I cannot teach at home) and re-evaluate it as we go along.
Bottom line, I wouldn't recommend any homeschooler take a full load of 4 - 5 classes. There would truly be not time for sleep.
So my question is, how much time do you spend studying each day... at the high school level? I'd like to hear from public school families too.
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As homeschoolers my kids have spent 1 hour a day 4 or 5 days per week on most classes. They have spent 90 minutes a day without fail on math and foreign language. So that is no more than 4 to 7.5 hours per class weekly. This is true whether they are studying someone at home, or in a local class.
The online classes they are taking through the county is recommending 12-20 hours a week per online class. (I am pretty sure that's what they said during the orientation chat) That's just crazy. Weekly, this would be almost 2 1/2 hours a day to 4 hours a day per class. Multiply that by 5 classes (which my kids are not taking) and that could take 12 1/2 to 20 hours a day. So much for having a life or sleeping.
I think they are seriously over stating the time it takes to study the material and pass the tests. I am hoping that this is a loose recommendation, and not a requirement. I will find out.
Fortunately with my son taking only 2 classes per semester and my daughter taking 1 class per semester, they will still have time for other endeavors. I am recommending they are signed in to their accounts for the minimum amount of recommended hours per week. As they are only available to do online school 4 days during the week, I will probably get them to so a weekend session. My kids have already resisted homeschooling on the weekend.... but college is coming up fast. They are going to have to get used to studying daily.
update: Did some quick research. On the college level "Generally, the rule of thumb is that you should study approximately 2 hours for every one hour of classroom time. For example, if you spend 4 hours a week in a particular class, then you should spend 8 hours studying and doing homework." http://news.everest.edu/post/2008/03/study-hours The low-end recommendation for these high school courses are pretty close to what is recommended to pass a college course. So if a public school would spend 5 hours a week in class and then do 10 hours a week in homework for that class, they can expect to do very well. Since my kids are in highschool, I am going to recommend to them that they spend the minimum 12 hours per class (especially since they are hard classes I cannot teach at home) and re-evaluate it as we go along.
Bottom line, I wouldn't recommend any homeschooler take a full load of 4 - 5 classes. There would truly be not time for sleep.
So my question is, how much time do you spend studying each day... at the high school level? I'd like to hear from public school families too.
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Getting used to online classes
My son can finally access his online classes. It looks like his teachers are a TON more organized than my daughters teacher. My sons Physics and Financial Math teachers dropped his assignments into a calendar, so it is clear what has to be done what day. If he needs to get ahead, due to another obligation, he can still do that, but it is clear how they should pace themselves.
My daughter's Spanish teacher just inserted weekly dates into her syllabus. Pacing will need to be done ourselves. Also it is not very easy to determine what she should do. We had to compare her syllabus to what was online and interpret what needed to be done. I think we will get the hang of it though.
I feel like being organized and meeting deadlines will be the key to doing well in these classes. I gave the kids a one subject composition notebook for each class. We glued the syllabuses in the first few pages, so they can refer back to them and check off what they have done. As they deduct 10% for each day an assignment is late, it is important to check and re-check deadlines as they progress through the courses.
This in not my ideal way to homeschool, but for older kids about to go out in the world, I feel like they need to get used to dealing with different kind of students while I can still assist them.
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My daughter's Spanish teacher just inserted weekly dates into her syllabus. Pacing will need to be done ourselves. Also it is not very easy to determine what she should do. We had to compare her syllabus to what was online and interpret what needed to be done. I think we will get the hang of it though.
I feel like being organized and meeting deadlines will be the key to doing well in these classes. I gave the kids a one subject composition notebook for each class. We glued the syllabuses in the first few pages, so they can refer back to them and check off what they have done. As they deduct 10% for each day an assignment is late, it is important to check and re-check deadlines as they progress through the courses.
This in not my ideal way to homeschool, but for older kids about to go out in the world, I feel like they need to get used to dealing with different kind of students while I can still assist them.
FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE
MY BUSINESS WEBSITE
WalletPop Contributor
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Public school parents, remember you are your child's guidance counselor
I am finding that in my area, several families are being hit up for money because their students needed to take extra classes to be able to graduate. I thought it was an isolated incident until I started asking the question "is your senior ready to graduate?". I keep hearing no.
The good news, is that there are ways to make sure your child graduates on time. There are local online and private schools from which the public school MUST accept credit.
If you find yourself in this position, check out
http://highschool.unl.edu/ and
http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/courses/highschool.cfm
If you can't get anywhere with the school's guidance counselors, then go to the board of education.
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12 grade year of homeschooling, Finishing Strong
We are almost done with my college prep series. There will still be a video on completing the transcript. Stay tuned... meanwhile, ...
