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When my DD was being homeschooled, "how many hours" wasn't a question that was asked. DW decided what subjects she wanted to cover on which days, and then provided materials and discussion to DD based on that. However long DD took to understand and practice, that was how long it took. Once DD demonstrated she was ready to move on, they moved on. More time might be used if DD asked for more.

The homeschool day typically lasted 3 hours. Because it was all at the appropriate pace and level of DD, those 3 hours were far more productive than the 7 hours she spends at a B&M school.

Thank you, Dude. I was thinking three hours might be reasonable. I guess I'm just struggling to wrap my brain around homeschooling. He's learning all day, and he certainly learns more at home than he does in his half-day K program. It will be a new "normal" for us and I'm just trying to picture it in my mind

Yeah. I don't really count how many hours we are homeschooling. If you have to provide documentation, there are alot of ways to do that. Luckily we don't have to.

There is so much to learn! My son is interested in alot of things. The limiting factors are my energy, time and resources, which are in much larger supply than what they offered him in school! Some days are amazing, and others feel quite unproductive. That's ok. On whole I believe that he is learning far more with us.

When he shows an interest in something or I feel he should learn something in particular, we bring resources from library, look for stuff online, watch documentaries etc. Wediscuss things alot! He is also learning HOW to find information and learn, notjust being presented it in a prescribed textbook -workbook combo.

Oh, and we just do these things when we have time and as they come up. I often work early mornings but whenI don't we like to start as soon as we get up. My son strts reading as soon as he gets to the kitchen and sits on the couch where we set out books from the library. He can't help himself! OR he starts in on the questions... he knows that I need my cup of coffee first though. He won't realize that he is hungry til later!

Thank you, LRS! I do see a huge discrepancy between his passion for learning at home and his public school experience. He often tries to fake sick to get out of school. He loves the extras (spanish, gym, music, art, library), but loathes the academics. He only gets pulled out 2x/week for about 45 minutes for reading, and even with that he's about 2 years ahead of the kids in his reading group.

I can't answer for the regulatory questions, but I can tell you on time spent on academics... We unschool here in South Africa.

My kids set quarterly interests and goals for learning and then we break that down into weekly and then daily goals. We write a daily list for them to monitor and tick off. ANYTHING can go on the list - I am quite confident that when they choose to do it, they will learn something and I can spin it into a subject if I ever need to do so.

So things like "LEGO", "rollerblading", "climb big tree", "make a cake" will be on the list as well as things like "do 3 pages/20 minutes of "x" maths book", "work on 3D model", "set up science experiment", "practice violin", "German language lesson" etc.

When they choose to do a course or class, then I explain that this comes with certain obligations like attending the classes, completing assignments etc. Music indicates daily practice per instrument. So does a particular maths program they are all currently involved in. So those are givens in their day.

If I have to add it all up together, the official "working" time takes us no more than 45 - 60 minutes a day on official learning stuff. (Aiden is 7 and is currently working around grades 3 - 5 level and reads at about grade 5-7 levels, Nathan is 5 and currently works around grade 3 level and reads around grades 4 - 6). I don't count the things they then add to their list later; this is additional science (snap circuits, experiments, basic kitchen chemistry, online videos), baking, gardening, projects, outings etc.

Often we do a bit of something then take a break then do a bit of something else and then another break. This works well for the younger ones (I also have a 3 year old) and for me to do my work (I run my own business). I find that the shorter intense work sessions work well for helping them be self-directed and to teach them to work on their own or together.

We spend two full days per week with a group of unschooled kids and on those days they work and play hard as a group - their lists are a lot shorter and they go with the flow of the kids they choose to hang with for the day.

For us, unschooling works - suddenly a 1 month road trip becomes learning and has fueled interest and passion for so many new learning adventures! It means that if none of us feel like it, we can rather pack a picnic and go to a museum, a park, the zoo - and we all still feel it was a productive day.

I love this model, and I love that it means we can go as slow, as fast, as long, as late as we need to. It means that an astronomy class at 8pm is okay, as is sleeping in the next morning and then relaxing with a book under a tree before a swim.

I get the feeling that this is how childhood is supposed to be the longer we do this (2 years now, including 9 months of deschooling first)

As others have pointed out, what you do for compliance is different from what you SHOULD (and perhaps "must") do for documentation that will open doors for your child in the future. I recommend over-documenting-- and using a portfolio is a good start. The other thing that you should probably keep an eye on is thinking about forms of documentation that gatekeepers of out-of-level (meaning chronological level) will find acceptable proof that your child should be given access to them.

Consider this:

what will it take to get a college to want to talk to a 13yo unschooler who is ready and eager to tackle undergraduate level material?

In the more immediate future, this will apply to things like summer workshops, book clubs, classes, etc.

We have found that it is best if we have a mixture of documentation-- some things that would go into a portfolio, yes, but also things that there is simply no WAY for a parent to have done on the child's behalf-- videos of the child, juried experiences, contests, or the personal observations of someone other than family.

If you can get just ONE person (librarian, camp counselor, etc.) to offer the stamp of approval for this child to be accelerated, then you can access those things more readily.

Just know this-- people who work with kids have a sense that parents exaggerate (and that some will out and out lie about) their homeschooled kids' level of proficiency and accomplishments. I have no idea why they think that, but they do.

That just means that you should probably bear it in mind as you choose ways to document your child's learning activities. The ages between 6 and 12 were very difficult this way, as our DD needed opportunities which were often +2-5 years past her chronological age, and we often found ourselves bargaining for entry to activities that the age cut-off had her 1-3 years "too young" for. We often had to do two things in light of that: 1. graciously grant permission for the person in charge to eject our daughter if it "didn't go well" (if she were under some age cutoff-- never happened, btw), and 2. allow them to meet our DD before deciding.

Thank you Madoosa and Howler!

HK makes valid points and I am definitely taking them on board!


I am a dumbass for not thinking of this! well, perhaps just not thinking far enough ahead to get there... although my oldest is planning on doing a school leaving cert before university, this would definitely hold more sway than just a collection of brilliant A levels.

Howler, how do you organize all of the info? Portfolio only? Other recs?