When I first started, I had intentions of a strict schedule and keeping up with the pace and doing everything we were "supposed" to do. Now I figure if he is finished with the math lesson in 15 minutes then thats it. If we are progressing at a steady pace that is OK. I am fortunate to live in Texas where there is few rules. There are no hour/day requirements. You only have to teach reading,writing, math, spelling and good citizenship (if I am correct). I do more than that, but I don't have to. But one good thing-you can count things that maybe a public school teacher can't. If your child helps you measure ingredients, that is math, etc. A video of field trip can count as school time. So I believe that it is possible to have fun and learn and still fulfill requirements.
My state requires the equivalence of 4.5 hours a day for 180 days (without excused sick days), which makes for interesting interpretations among homeschooling families. Now if I was literal about the time, my daughter could eat up two hours on math alone--and she has done that a few times. However, outside of the law, here's how I believe it really works in my home: My daughter receives an education every waking moment she has. Each book she sets her eyes upon is a subject, even if she is reading for fun. Every trip out of the house is a field trip. We just have no defining lines of how many hours nor are we limited to subjects that we consider to be devoted to education and learning in my home. Yesterday, she practiced piano for well over an hour and then she read a nearly a hundred pages of a fiction book, because she convinced me that she really wanted to read through that book, and she did so aloud quite eloquently with emphasis and flow--perhaps not the most "educational" day in some people's minds, but she rarely likes to read like that so if I took all the minutes I wanted her to read for the last week and put them into one day...it really all works out in the end. Today she will spend time doing math, spelling, Latin, etc. and all that stuff that is more traditional, but yesterday was a great memory for both of us!
Thank you, Seeking, I was starting to feel inadequate, LOL. We usually start around 9 and wrap up around 12 for the "seat" work, but then after lunch everyone has rest time. Then she has a book or an assignment to do while everyone is napping/resting, and afterwards she gets to do free reading. But much of what she does after "school" counts - we watched Spartacus last week - oh my gosh, that movie is THREE HOURS LONG - and we broke it up and watched part of it during lunch and part of it after dinner over two days. Or she did a speech last week and worked on that after rest time because she really wanted to give it. Or her free reading. So technically 3 hours, little of which is seat work, although some days it flexes, but with more "real life" on the outside.
YES, YES, YES!!! Seeking, that's why I would go crazy having to justify every minute I "taught"!!! How can you say that THIS is "school" and "this" is NOT? IT'S ALL LEARNING!!!
We have a relaxed schedule, I believe like others that the whole day is learning. But because my state requires it to be specific on the hours I break it down in a journal. I take what we have done that day and apply it to practical hours, with notations on how it applies. Since starting to teach this way my DS is excited about each day and doesn't whine nearly as much when he has to sit down for a specific lesson. He knows that what will come next will be "freestyle" as he calls it, and more fun, lol.
