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rm4mrfrus
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We started school this Monday and I feel as if I am not able to get in all that I want to get done! Would you mind taking a look at our tentative schedule and offer suggestions for improvement? We are starting at the crack of dawn and still not fitting in science or history! I am trying to combine CHC and FIAR for 3 dc....I don't have to be stuck to to this schedule, but can't find a better way yet!
6:30-7:30 Free reading for ds10 and dd8 (this is at ds10's request...even when I tell him to sleep in, he gets up anyway..he likes this quiet time with dad who is up working)
7:30-8:00- ds10 and dd8 copywork, spelling, grammar
8:00-8:30 ds 6 awakes and all 3 do Latin
8:30-9:00 younger ones awake and all eat breakfast, do teeth, hair, beds
9:00-9:30 Rosary
9:30-10:00 Math
10:00-10:30-Catechism
10:30-11:00-Snack/break
11:00-11:40-Reading comp (CHC)for older kids and FIAR-ds6
11:40-1:30/2:00 Mass and Lunch
2:00-2:30-Science
2:30-3:00 History
3:00-3:30 free time
3:30-4:00 Tea/snack/read aloud
4:00-4:30-Chores
And then I don't really have anything after this except dinner at 6 and we hope to walk every night after dinner. Dh goes to bed very early as he awakes at 3 usually.
Somehow we get off track early on and have not gotten to any afternoon work....I have all these great books picked out for our War of 1812 Unit and have only read a few pages tonight from one! I did not get to FIAR today for ds6 and did not do any science. Am I doing too much? Or just not getting it all together? I was hoping to have the kids do narrations already which we have not gotten to either. We have had interruptions yesterday and today (people over for lunch and horseback riding lessons) but I figure I need to find a way to work through those as it will always be "something".
Do I just need to give it a few weeks and see what works and what doesn't or do I need to scale back?
I am trying to be flexible about the schedule but I do need a schedule so that I can get all the things done that I want to in the course of the day.
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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lapazfarm
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Ok, here are a few suggestions.
Can you do catechism in the car to or from mass?
Or perhaps rosary in car or during evening walks?
Can you have dc do copywork during tea time or lunch?
Can copywork be done within the history or science timeframe if you choose passages that relate to those subjects?
Can you alternate days with history and science?
I don't know, just throwing out ideas.
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Cay Gibson
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Hollee,
Don't feel bad.
My household is only 3 days into our new school year and I'm already re-reading "HSing with Gentleness"---a book on the Catholic-unschooling approach by Suzie Andres. 
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Donna Marie
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This sounds like our schedual too...and I am NOT looking forward to being "MOM THE ENFORCER" My boys will rebel for the first few days until they get used to a new schedual...and I haven't had coffee in a long time (cafinated)...but I am seriously thinking of it to become a wild super mom type to get things kicked off...but isn't that too extreme? Any ideas for work-resistant young males??
God love you!!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc 
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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Leonie
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I am wondering if you need to do catechism and history and science every day? Can you rotate through those subjects, over the course of a week - or over a two week period?
Just my thought on reading the schedule. For me, simple is better - and less is more. Must be my personality.
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Living Without School
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lapazfarm
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I just finished making up our potential schedule for this year and I am having second (and third...) thoughts, too. I think it is too much and I agree with Leonie that less is more. I am really thinking of alternating weeks with some things just so there will be fewer subjects per day. But truly until you try it our for awhile you never know.
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shartlesville
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I think you may be trying to fit too much into one day.
Most people do science one day and history another, typically history 3 days per week and science two or something to that effect. Latin is also typically studied 2 or 3 days per week rather than every day.
I also see a lot of "breaks" in the schedule and I know for us too many breaks means we don't get back to work. We try to get the "teaching" done in the morning before lunch, then they can finish up on their own during the day.
Our schedule is something like this:
Mon: Music Appreciation (during breakfast) 20 minutes
Religion - Living My Religion, Appologetics, and a chapter from a saint biography 30 minutes
Math 40 minutes
Comp/Grammar - writing strands 30 minutes
Copywork 10 minutes
Literature 30 minutes
Picture study/Art 30 minutes
Spanish 20 minutes
Science 30 minutes
Dictation/Poetry 20 minutes
Tue: Music App
Religion - Old Testament Bible History
Math
Composition/Grammar
Copywork
Literature
Picture Study/Art
Latin
History
Dictation/Poetry
Wed: Music App
Religion - Old Testament Bible History
Math
Comp/Grammar
Copywork
Literature
Picture Study/Art
Spanish
Nature Study
Dictation/Poetry
Thur:Music App
Religion - New Testament - Luke
Math
Comp/Grammar
Copywork
Literature
Picture Study/Art
Latin
History
Dictation/Poetry
Fri: Music App
Religion - catch up as needed
Math - catch up as needed
Comp/Grammar - catch up as needed
Copywork
Literature
Picture Study/Art
Languages - catch up as needed
Geography
Dictation/Poetry
That is about 4 hours and 20 minutes per day. If we start at 8 AM we are done by lunch. This is teaching time, if they don't finish they have "homework". A lot of the reading gets done on thier own time or as read alouds.
Friday is a light day, mostly so we have time to catch up on anything we didn't finish due to unexpected errands or whatever.
I see you go to Mass at "lunch time". I would suggest, if possible to go to an early Mass or an evening Mass so that the school time is not interrupted by having to leave the house. It can really make a big difference.
I hope that helps!
Blessings,
Krisann
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My Blog: Isla del Esperanza
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Erin
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Hollee
You certainly do have a full time-table. I would consider making sure that the things you really want to get done happen in the morning. I have never managed to achieve much in the afternoon.
Last year after realising that our afternoon activites never happened, and they were the fun things like craft. I took one day off from the regular morning activities and that was the day we did all the previous activites that I had scheduled for the afternoon. So in your case you could do history and science one day a week or perhaps two, in the mornings.
rm4mrfrus wrote:
| Do I just need to give it a few weeks and see what works and what doesn't or do I need to scale back? |
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I always over-reach at the beginning of term, and I do leave it a few weeks before re-writing it. I didn't realise the dc knew this until I overheard them discussing it.  They informed me that I'm never happy until after the third week. It's true.
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Becky Parker
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I read a book once (I believe it was the book by the Clarksons?) in which they divided the subjects into discipline subjects and delight subjects. (Someone jump in and help me here - it was a long time ago - before we actually started homeschooling.) Anyway, the book was about many other things but the discipline/delight subjects point stuck with me the most. I make sure the kids and I do all the "discipline studies" - math, grammar, copywork, etc. in the morning before lunch. I have the "delight studies" planned for afternoon. These are things like history reading, science experiments, craft projects etc. The thing is, I try to create an atmosphere so that the delight subjects can be done mostly independently. That way, if I need to do something other than the planned activity or work with one child on something, I know the other kids can go ahead with their work. Since these are things my children enjoy doing, they look forward to this time during the day. Montessori activities come in for us during this "delight studies" time. It requires more planning time on my part, (setting up folders for science experiments takes the most time) but it helps the week to run more smoothly. Which reminds me I need to get planning - school starts in a couple of weeks!
One other thought that might help a little. I used to have a special snack break time in the morning but everything would just fall apart after we stopped work for our break. I couldn't cut it out completely because my kids seem to need that snack. Instead, I set out a tray with a snack for each of them and they just get it when they are hungry. I can't set out the tray first thing though, or my 5yo would eat his snack right away! I actually had planned to incorporate a special morning tea time into our schedule for this year, but memories of my attempts to do this in the past has caused me to place our tea time at the end of the day again. I'm disappointed because I thought morning tea time sounded great, but I have to do what works for us.
Becky
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Erin
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Becky Parker wrote:
I read a book once (I believe it was the book by the Clarksons?) in which they divided the subjects into discipline subjects and delight subjects. [/Becky Parker]
Becky
I really like the discipline/delight I'm going to think of that now.
[QUOTE=Becky Parker] One other thought that might help a little. I used to have a special snack break time in the morning but everything would just fall apart after we stopped work for our break. I couldn't cut it out completely because my kids seem to need that snack. Instead, I set out a tray with a snack for each of them and they just get it when they are hungry. |
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Becky,
What a great idea, I also find it hard to get the children back after the break. They get involved in a game and are reluctant to return to their work. Truthfully I'm also to blame at times, I'll check emails or return a phone call and then all is lost Some of it is my own lack of self-discipline.
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rm4mrfrus
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Thank you for all these great suggestions. I quickly read through them this a.m. and will read more intently this afternoon. I think there are some ideas here that I can really use to help us.
One suggestion that I REALLY *wish* we could follow is going to Mass at a different time of day, but it is impossible since we are in an area with few Catholic churches and that noon Mass is the only one offered! But maybe this is something that Fr. would be open to trying out!?
I also think I could scale back and only do some subjects a couple times a week instead of each day.
I am hoping that next week will have fewer distractions. We have been able to reschedule riding lessons to the afternoon (we were doing them at 9 a.m.). Plus twice this week we had visitors for lunch right after Mass which turned into visitors until 3:30! But then again, who knows what next week will bring? Thank you so much for all this wonderful brainstorming and help in getting me to a working schedule that will not cause me to throw it all in!
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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marihalojen
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Great ideas!
The only thing I can think of to add is in regards to the lesson length of 30minutes. Can you shorten your lessons? CM recommends short lessons. Might help get all the discipline subjects done before Mass leaving the cool, fun stuff for your return in the afternoon!
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The Mari Hal-O-Jen
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stefoodie
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I agree about the shorter lessons, especially for youngers. My 10 year old only spends more than 15 minutes per lesson when he's totally engrossed in a book or project that he doesn't want to stop. What I'd do since you've already got your schedule beautifully planned like this is to plan on keeping it, except work in flexibility and adjust as you go along. For instance you may find that Latin only actually takes 15 minutes instead of 30. You can either take a break at that point before you go the next lesson (sometimes we do this, though it's generally not a good idea at our house, 'cause it's so hard to call them back for the next lesson when they've become engrossed in play), or go to the next one. And for Science and History you've already got great answers here -- if you still want to do it daily, you can do 3 days "relaxed" and 2 days intense, e.g., MWF read Science books leisurely but you can still offer books that are on topic, then the other 2 days are spent exploring/expanding/experimenting.... just thinking aloud, I too am currently paring down the humongous schedule I'm planning for the entire year.... it's sooo hard, when there's so much good stuff available -- just to sift out what's great and doable... sigh. I feel like I want to do EVERYTHING -- which is impossible of course.
We can certainly pray for each other for more simplicity in our homeschooling:D
okay, that's my break. gotta go back to packing....
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lapazfarm
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Erin wrote:
Becky Parker wrote:
I read a book once (I believe it was the book by the Clarksons?) in which they divided the subjects into discipline subjects and delight subjects. [/Becky Parker]
Becky
I really like the discipline/delight I'm going to think of that now.
[QUOTE=Becky Parker] One other thought that might help a little. I used to have a special snack break time in the morning but everything would just fall apart after we stopped work for our break. I couldn't cut it out completely because my kids seem to need that snack. Instead, I set out a tray with a snack for each of them and they just get it when they are hungry. |
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Becky,
What a great idea, I also find it hard to get the children back after the break. They get involved in a game and are reluctant to return to their work. Truthfully I'm also to blame at times, I'll check emails or return a phone call and then all is lost Some of it is my own lack of self-discipline. |
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Yes. What she said!
I am so easily sidetracked. I am sure my ds comes by his ADD honestly! I need discipline!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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lapazfarm
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One thing I am considering in changing up our schedule to make it more workable is instead of doing shorter lessons (I know...CM says keep it short...) doing longer blocks so that we can remained focused on one topic for the whole afternoon. After our morning meeting and then nature study, I *may* decide that the best route would be to spend all afternoon on monday on math. All tuesday on language arts, all wednesday on science, thursday on geography, and all friday on art.
Maybe. We'll see. Just another of those thoughts rolling around in my head.
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katilac
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I think that is quite a long day; I would be looking for ways to scale back. This schedule is lengthy, yet bare-bones in some respects: there is no mention of art or music, for example.
I would consider alternating some subjects, or even using block scheduling. Try some subjects less often, but for a longer period of time; this lets you have meaningful discussions and projects. My 8 yr old did some light grammar over the summer, but will *not* be doing much grammar during the school year (remember, they will get lots of grammar via latin). I would think about history 3x a week and science twice a week, or possibly science once a week for a longer time. for your oldest son, especially, those half-hour blocks are going to be less and less useful for science and history. We are choosing to alternate weeks (or multi-weeks) of history and science; music and art; etc.
I would probably keep latin daily, but aim for 15 minutes on most days. I am not sure what you mean by "reading comp" (reading and composition?)but my kids do not spend a lot of time on "reading" as a subject. Their reading and composition skills are practiced across the curriculum, in history and science. Saves time.
Give your children as much freedom as possible; don't make them do assignments at set times unless absolutely necessary. My 8 yr old gets a list every day, and works at her own pace - - her sister and she only have to wait for me for 'lessons,' that is, new concepts that must be taught, science experiments, read alouds. If math is not a new concept, they don't need me!
Also, and please know this is said very gently and knowing that you seem very devout, I would look again at your catechism, rosary and mass requirements. That's two full hours a day for some pretty young children. The Catholic schools here do catechism either twice a week for a half hour, or daily for fifteen minutes. The PSR is once a week for an hour and fifteen minutes.
Could catechism and saying the rosary be alternated? Or shortened, completing the rosary over a number of days? Can you evaluate your committment to daily mass? It's a wonderful thing to do, but less so if it interferes with the positive aspects of home life. How would you feel about going once during the week, and having home worship the other days? This is a very personal part of your schedule, and I'm just trying to offer food for thought. I can't imagine the logistics of getting that many kids off to daily mass!
good luck, keep us posted
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rm4mrfrus
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These suggestions are certainly helping me figure out what I want to focus on and what I can change! Thank you for helping me work through this-I definitely see room for change and improvement!
I guess to give a clearer picture of what our schedule is like, I should give more info. I am blessed right now to have dh working from home so I am not by myself trying to accomplish this. Dh is actually the one who is doing Latin with them and I don't have to maneuver everyone to Mass by myself...he comes too! 
I do think that we can alternate science and history in some way. And Catechism is going to be mostly about reading about the saints and doing the projects in the CHC lesson plans. I hope to also get Cay's Catholic Mosaic too when funds allow! I am talking to dh about doing shorter lessons for Latin but that is really not his style, plus ds10 is on a Latin kick and pushing for more Latin! The Rosary is one of our "things"- I know it is not something that clicks for some families, but our kids enjoy it. (All 3 of the older ones have their "parts") Of course it is not often the picture of reverence while we are praying it....with the 3 younger ones playing/wrestling/fighting among us....but it is a favorite part.
I was doing reading comprehension. We really like the CHC stories but we could just read them for fun and not make much more out of it. That would free up time also.
Jennifer, I do think we could do even shorter lessons. That would certainly help a lot. I am going to jiggle it around and I am sure I will be able to get rid of the "twaddley" parts of my schedule. (although I am going to have to keep snacks in there, just do a grab and go type thing...maybe they could just be munching on fruit as I am reading aloud or something. That way it is not too much of a break and I won't "lose" them. We are just too acclimated to eating about every 2.5 hours!)
Thank you for all these thoughtful responses!
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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stacykay
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Regarding short lessons, how do you all work math? Is the 15 minutes aimed at the younger crowd, or is it suggested for all?
Would you do math twice? I don't think it takes 11yods a whole half hour for his math, but it is longer than 15 minutes (we use Saxon for him.) Maybe if we read the lesson, and did practice problems and reviewed any prolem areas from previous day problem set, first? Then later do the following problem set?
The same for say, history. If I read first, for 15 minutes, and then come back to narrations, another 15 minutes, and then another 15 if we do a project? Or maybe do the project while I read? Do I sound really confused?
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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rm4mrfrus
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Stacy,
We use math u see and most times it does not take 30 minutes. We used Saxon years ago. Maybe you could cut out some of the problems...like do 5 instead of 10 or something like that?
I was thinking the same thing about history...well actually I was thinking that any time I read aloud it takes more than 15 minutes. I try to read a chapter at a time and it always takes a while. I seem to have a lot of starts and stops...change someone's diaper, read, clean up a spilled drink, read, look at a Lego castle, read.....
I haven't read a lot about CM's actual techniques but I do know that we go over 15 minutes with some things...especially read alouds.
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Hollee married to dh in 94,
ds(96), dd(97), ds(00), ds(02), ds(03) and dd(05)
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Erin
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Lapazfarm wrote:
| One thing I am considering in changing up our schedule to make it more workable is instead of doing shorter lessons (I know...CM says keep it short...) doing longer blocks so that we can remained focused on one topic for the whole afternoon. |
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Theresa,
This works very well for some children. I know mine do better with longer time blocks for some subjects.
Handwriting etc is best short but as our history consists of reading living books they prefer to spend an hour block there. Sometimes my dc will go through long periods where they spend intense times more on one area rather than swapping and changing. For example they may have an intense focus on maths so we leave the writing and may do hardly any thing else but maths for some weeks.
katilac wrote:
| I would think about history 3x a week and science twice a week, or possibly science once a week for a longer time. for your oldest son, especially, those half-hour blocks are going to be less and less useful for science and history. We are choosing to alternate weeks (or multi-weeks) of history and science; music and art; etc. |
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This is another good idea, or perhaps rather than swapping from subject to subject would it help to just do history for one term and science for the next. YOu are still doing the same amount but it enables you to just focus on one area. Would that work well with your dc's learning styles?
rm4mrfrus wrote:
| I am talking to dh about doing shorter lessons for Latin but that is really not his style, plus ds10 is on a Latin kick and pushing for more Latin! |
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Hollee,
If your son is happy doing a longer lesson I'd do it. 'Srike while the iron is hot' is my motto While he's on a Latin kick stick with longer. Particularly as dh is working with him, it could well be part of the attraction for you son.
Everyone here has great ideas.
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Erin
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Is it too much schoolwork or me?
