Right, Dottie, I do always specify academics only. DS7 is in soccer for his gym class, but frankly, he'd probably be in soccer whether he were homeschooled or not. He's the only HSed kid on his team. A one-hour art lesson here, a one-hour music class there...it still doesn't take us all day! And more importantly, it doesn't take all of MOM'S day!
We do take more than the 15 minutes (!!!) to eat lunch that he had at the elementary school! And he spends a lot more time playing then he did in school, since he got one recess for 20 minutes each day. (Which he spent in "time out" more often than not...) Those are, indeed, places where we add time to the day, and I'm okay with that!
My point was that if Tiz thought that homeschooling is 7 hours of sitting at a table with her child talking about multiplication and state capitals, she had the wrong idea.
As for high school, most high school homeschoolers that I know get done with everything about the same time of day as their Brick&Mortar counterparts who get off the bus, only they're *totally* done with everything--homework, extracurriculars, etc., while the B&M kids still have all that to do.
If the HSers have some lesson, sport, or group meeting during those afterschool hours, they usually start later in the day or take off early on Friday. (At least the ones I know.)
Some of it depends upon the kid, though. I know some homeschooled kids get really passionate about music or dance or public service or writing, and they work on their passion A LOT after their academics are done. It's hard to know whether to count all that as "school" or not, since it may be literally HOURS AND HOURS of effort. That's why I usually specify "academics only." That's usually relatively standard for most kids, at least from what I've seen and read.
