Homeschool World Forum

How long do your kids do "schoolwork?" a day. I want to homeschool and my husband doesn't really want me to. He thinks they need to be at a "real school". doing work form workbooks etc. So my compromise is that I have 2-3 workbooks that the kids do. Maybe not all three in the same day, but at least one. So my question is how long do you think a 7-8yr old (2nd grader) should be doing "book" work. And do you think it should be done at the kitchen table or another designated work area?
My kids go where they can concentrate. We also have a 5 yr oldl and a 22 month old. Some days they can concentrate amidst all of the choas and other days they go somewhere quieter.
We do a few pages in some of the books almost daily and do reading every day. Most of the time math facts everyday. The rest of the time I try and find what interests them an learn through projects, field trips and everyday living.

What do you all do?

I completely agree with the other moms. It sounds like you are right on track. I think 2-3 hours a day makes sense. So much learning is taking place outside of book learning. One of my favorite books is called -For the Children's Sake-. It might help you in feeling better about what you are doing with your children. I think the key is lots of reading.

We spent about 15 minutes each day per subject in the lower grades in addition to 1+ hours of free reading. If your kids are not already doing a lot of reading---then slowly work up to an hour. For us, nap times were slowly converted to reading time and now that my boys are teens, sometimes the napping has replaced the reading

My 4th and 6th grader spend about 2 hours a day with "bookwork". The rest is reading and projects.

Best wishes!