time spent in engaged learning

This link is to a great article about how much time really is needed to teach our children. It gives a realistic perspective on the time kids spend in actual "learning" in the public school. It is not true that, just because public schools kids are at school all day long, then they are getting more of an education than homeschool children. Often new home-educators try to mimic the public school day/schedule, when better time can be use to effectively train our kids to be investigative self-learners. Typically, well seasoned home-educators eventual come to terms with this. They, then, teach more freely and focus their efforts on short, quality academic lessons.

Studies show that short lessons results in better academic retention and retrieval than lengthy lessons. The recent research shows that for every 50 minute class period, only 28% of that time is spent in engaged learning. So for every subject in school, the students only spend about 14 minutes being taught or involved in learning activities. Also, in a typical school day, the students only have 84 minutes of actual learning time, that's less than an hour and a half each day. In a public school day, kids are gone seven hours only to receive less than an hour and a half of instruction and actual learning.

So if you ever wonder if you are doing better than public schools across the nation, then the answer is pobably, YES!

In her blog, Jeanie asks the same questions every home-educator should ask, "Do your children spend an hour and a half each day learning - either reading, writing or discussing school subjects with you? Are their minds engaged for an hour and a half throughout the entire day? "

She goes on the say that, "The fact is, as home educators, when we engage our children in any kind of learning, we are very aware of the moment they quit paying attention. The one-on-one instruction of homeschooling is far superior to a teacher lecturing to a class of 25 students. So many distractions to education are immediately eliminated in the homeschool environment. If our children only spend 14 minutes on each subject, they are still more engaged, more attentive and more focused than they would be at [public] school."

Other related sites:

Washington Post article by Jay Mathews