1 hour 10 minutes total daily walk to school

[Itsneversimpleisit]

Is it a lot?

Twenty minutes there in the morning, twenty minutes home.
Twenty minutes there in the afternoon, twenty minutes walk back

With a 5 year old

Is it a lot or average?

We’re just under 15 mins each way. 20 sounds fine 👍

Not sure what the question is here - whether it is "a lot" really depends on you, your level of fitness, what other commitments you have in the day, if it's a reasonably easy walk, and so on.

And, what are your alternatives? Car? Bike? Scooter? Bus?

Also, the title has been bugging me ..... 20 mins x 4 sectors = 80 mins.

80 mins is One hour (60 mins) plus 20. Not 10 :)

20 min walk is fine for a child.
Just make sure you have an alternative if they are not feeling well/appalling weather. e.g. Walk to school was fine, it then snowed and was an issue getting home.
I used to check the weather report and would risk assess if it was worth attending depending on the severity of the weather. I think DC only missed a couple of days in entirety.

I walk to school with 2 kids. They if hurried along can walk it in 10 minutes but really it’s 15minutes. So I spend an hour of my day doing the school run. Some days it’s actually more of one of them has an after school club and the other doesn’t. It’s pretty normal.

It’s good for you!

I think that's quite a lot.

Totally fine. We do that walk. Get the child scooting or cycling to make it quick and fun. We don't have a particularly pleasant cycle route but we do it anyway.

My walk there was 35/40 mins then similar back (it was slightly faster one way as I didn’t have the kids).

20 mins would have been lovely!

@bridgetreilly I think OP means pickup in the afternoon, not lunchtime.

It look us 30 mins to walk to our primary school (one way). I don't feel 20 mins is that unreasonable to be fair. Good exercise for the little one.

The mum has to walk back home twice

hahahhahaha! I’m with you, I’d find it quite a lot (even though it’s probably not… )

That's really sad no-one walks with their kids, could you cycle?

We started this when we moved house 6 yrs ago, and when my youngest was 3 she also did it 3 days per week for nursery. It's our favourite time of day! We learn our spellings, count red cars/daffodils/birds. It all totally enhances their learning. And on top of that I get my 10k steps, child has a lot of exercise and sleeps better but is more alert in class. She'll be 8 in June.
If the weather is bad in the morning I'll drive otherwise she'd have to sit all day with wet feet, trousers etc but coming home it's fine. Quick bath and hot chocolate.

Sounds healthy and laying the ground work for a healthy lifestyle.

Personally I think all children should run a mile, every single day. That's c.15min running.

You'll know if it gets too much for your child - but it sounds healthy, normal and what you'd expect.

I used to walk with mine ,pushing my bike then ride on to work.Leave work,cycle to school, walk back home with them.Or if they were tired I'd stick them on the bike and push them home. Happy days!

4 times 20 minutes is NOT 1 hour 10 minutes ...

4 x 20 minutes = 80 minutes = I hour 20 minutes.

That is very healthy exercise and great bonding time for parent and child. I wory a lot when I see so many kids driven to school.

Congratulations to you and your decision. Healthy aerobic exercise, fresh air, lower risk of eventual health and fitness problems PLUS the chance to observe and discuss what you see each day.

Used to do similar as the 20 minutes worked out quicker and less stressful than loading child, baby and pram into car. Likewise other end. And as for dealing with driving down narrow road, parking etc.

Sounds about average. My DD has been walking a similar distance since she started at the preschool when she was 2. She's 5 now and she tends to ride her bike and I either run after her on the pavement or ride my bike next to her on the road, school starts at 8:45 and I've often got meetings at 9 so I have to haul ass to get home but it's nice to walk with her and the exercise is good.

We do this. It takes longer to walk home cos they're tired and we have a bus option in the rain but we do this time with two four year olds, an 8 yo and a fat me.

My 4yo goes on his bike with me walking then I walk back on my own quicker. 20 min walk twice a day would be too much for him but he is only 4. On the bike he’s fine

I recently visited a town in Florida and was surprised to discover that the roads had no pavements. Every outing is done by car, even going to the nearby park (very walkable). Shops either had parking lots or were drive-through.

No, its really not.

I'm quite shocked anyone even has to ask this question.

Mine is 40 mins each way with a 5 year old & a baby in the pushchair. Only do it on non working days though so 2-3 rather than 5 days a week.

If I walked my 7yr old to school it would take 4.5hrs. (I've walked it before on a weekend).