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Ruth
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I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but it's really late, and I haven't been able to find it in a search.
I would love some help with scheduling school work with all the different grades.
We have 8th, 6th, 4th, 2nd, and K this year.
Here are my plans for this year
I will be doing Prima Latina with as many kids as possible. I don't know when to schedule Math, Religion, Science, Grammar and History since they all will be doing different levels. They can all do Catholic Mosaic, Handwriting, Latin and Spelling at the same time. I haven't even figured out when to fit in nature study.
How do I find the time to teach these subjects to 5 different children every day? I usually get them up at 7:00, they eat breakfast, do chores, and we pray the Rosary at 8:00 and read the saint of the day before school starts. We usually start school by 8:30, if all goes well with the Rosary.
I would love any help with the starting time for the kids' lessons. We usually have a quick snack around 10 and lunch by 12:30. Is this unrealistic, especially with the baby coming in mid November? Which subjects should be done in the morning, and after lunch?
Is this even close to a Charlotte Mason education?
Well, I'm off to bed. Have a great night.
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Ruth
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Cheryl
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Ruth,
I think this is a great question because I've been wondering the same thing. I will have only three school aged children, but none of them are reading independently yet, so they all need lots of help. I'd love to hear what others do.
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cathhomeschool
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Well, this is why we teach as much together as possible over here. We all cover the same history, science and religion at the same time. Grammar is done independently for the older kids and not at all for the younger set. Math is done independently unless a lesson is needed. I make sure to stagger their lessons, though, so that they don't all need a math lesson every day. In math and other subjects, I often have the older ones "teach" the younger ones, so that frees up some time for me. I would suggest that you try that too. This year we will have table time at which everyone sits together and works quietly (ha!) on math/grammar/logic/etc. I hope to rotate through and help each as needed.
My only suggestions if everyone is going to work on different things is to let the older ones work as independently as possible and also to assign them work with the younger ones. And then to figure out how long each lesson for each subject needs to be and then plug everything into a grid. You may not physically have enough hours in the day to individually teach all you'd like to teach and still cook, etc. (which would lead back to point A -- independence and older teaching younger OR combine so that they aren't all studying different things).
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mary
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ruth, i have your last 4 kids: mine are 4th, 2nd, and preK. we are doing the same subjects. i would love to start the day with a rosary, but i'm thinking it may be too much for my littles. so, we start with the oldest reading from the saint of the day reader. my plan is to get math, language arts, and history done in the morning. while they do math and language arts, i rotate to each child and set them up to doing something without me for 5 min while i talk to the next child or occupy the baby. i'll read history and nurse the baby while the 3 color. then, i'll send them outside while i put lunch together. i'm not sure how to fit in latin because i think only my 4th grader can do it.
after lunch - religion. they can all listen or work on catholic mosaic together. my 2nd grader will be working on his first communion notebook.
afternoons:
monday we will go to the nature center and have tea time and nature journal work when we get back.
tuesday - free reading, piano lessons and a stop at the library.
wednesday - games/puzzles and then tennis lessons and art class for my oldest. (i get groceries while he is in art class.)
thursday - science and then art class for my 2nd grader. (i run any small errands while he is in art class.)
friday - daily mass; 2nd and 4th fridays are fieldtrips, 3rd friday our first communion notebook group meets. 1st friday we will do crafts together and/or appointments.
we do soccer in the fall, baseball in the spring and read alouds before bed.
i would love to see other's pple plans.
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saintanneshs
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I really like threads like this because it so helps to see how the experienced moms fit it all in.
As far as scheduling goes, I'm still trying to figure out how to make time for everyone. Like Janette, I believe in doing as much together as possible, which is easy since mine are all so little. I imagine it will become more of a challenge when skill levels and abilities are more spread out and the kids progress on their own. Right now my older two can work independently in some areas, but they lack the motivation and confidence to do much without mom right there beside them. And that's fine with me. I'm sure they'll move into more independent work as they grow. So doing many of our lessons (art, religion, music) together seems key for now. I do unit studies to cover some science and history with living books. And I'm trying to get organized to better facilitate things.
In the past it seems like around here there's always someone who gets overlooked in the course of each day. My plan for fixing that this year is to actually make time for my litte ones in our morning schedule. They are usually the ones I don't spend as much time with and because they're just left to play, well, you can imagine the chaos we sometimes deal with. They just need my attention as much as the older two, I know. So this year we're adding a time slot just for them. I plan to group the two older ones together for language and math lessons and the two littler ones for preschool time.
We do handwriting over the summer (something constructive to do in the early mornings) and we do our nature study on dh's day off (Sundays) so he can take charge of some aspect of our homeschooling.
You have much more experience than me, but I wouldn't worry so much about what will happen when your sweet new baby arrives...so much depends on how Mom and baby are doing, right? Maybe just do your best until the baby arrives and then re-evaluate how to move along through the year when you're ready to get back to homeschooling. (It was good advice that the wonderful moms here gave me back in January and as far as resuming our homeschooling year goes, I had my best postpartum experience yet!)
God Bless You, Ruth!
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stefoodie
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I suggest writing out a schedule -- including minutes -- just to see what can actually fit in. A spreadsheet or Google calendar is helpful for me. Then I can see who's doing what when, where I need to be physically present, what time can olders be left to do work on their own so I can be with the little one, or when olders can be asked to do stuff for the littles. This really helped me simplify our lesson plans, and made learning more fun for everyone.
Then if the schedule is followed, great. If not, you can see where you need to make adjustments in terms of expectations, actual mom time needed, etc.
Like others have suggested, we try to do as many lessons together as possible. Latin, History, Religion and Liturgical Year/Saints especially. Other things like Math, Copywork, Narration are done singly but at the same time so I can keep an eye on them (we're using Math-U-See and only doing individual lessons/additional teaching as we see fit). I've staggered certain things too, so on MW I give the 8-yo piano lessons, on TTh the 10-yo. They narrate daily, but some days I have them blog on their own, some days it's just an oral narration at the dinner table, and then other days I type or handwrite it for them.
I also tried to figure out what subjects can be combined so that things are simpler for me. For instance, I've put together Saints-Religion-History-Copywork-Narration-Vocabulary-Spelli ng into one lesson, using one book. We are using Saint Paul the Apostle right now. The religion and history element just comes in naturally -- we discuss as we read or right after. Then they use the same book for Copywork, narration, vocabulary and spelling. Latin, Grammar, History can also go together; on Friday copywork is taken from the Latin lesson.
For free reading I just have a bunch of books, grouped by subject, so when we're done with the "together" lessons I tell them to get a book from the Science pile, one from History, one from English, etc. I've got a pile for almost every subject so it's my "emergency lesson". If anything doesn't get done or looks like it won't get done, I say, go to the pile, pick something, and read it.
We start at 9:15 after Mass, or a bit earlier if we didn't go to Mass. We do Latin, Math, Music in the morning -- History if we can fit it in. Copywork and narration while Mom's preparing lunch. Everything else after lunch.
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teachingmyown
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Not to hijack the thread, because I am interested in the replies as well (scheduling is NOT my thing!), but I have a more specific question that Irene addressed.
I plan to do history and science as a family. Irene, you mentioned Religion as well. Can you tell me what you do/use for Religion with all the kids? Faith and Life is not a favorite around here anyway, I like it, kids don't. So I am open to a different approach.
Thanks!
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ElizLeone
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Molly, we use Seton religion which I like very much. Although I don't use Seton's other materials, I like the "meatiness" of the Seton religion materials. It seemed to me, when I compared Seton and Faith & Life years ago, that Seton had more detailed content (others may beg to differ), which I really appreciate when it comes to catechism. However, I believe the Seton format is substantially similar to the Faith & Life format.
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Ruth
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| Posted: July 15 2007 at 8:14am | IP Logged
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Thank you for all your responses. This has really helped a lot. I have a few more questions, though. I'll try to qoute some of you.
cathhomeschool wrote:
| Well, this is why we teach as much together as possible over here. We all cover the same history, science and religion at the same time. |
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That's what I thought most people do, but how do you teach them together when you have a 2nd grader and an 8th grader at the same time. I fnd history, science and religion difficult to do together. I thought about keeping them in pairs; 2nd and 4th together and 6th and 8th together. Is that what you do? Maybe I'm missing something. I really feel like I'm not doing something right. 
cathhomeschool wrote:
My only suggestions if everyone is going to work on different things is to let the older ones work as independently as possible and also to assign them work with the younger ones. And then to figure out how long each lesson for each subject needs to be and then plug everything into a grid. You may not physically have enough hours in the day to individually teach all you'd like to teach and still cook, etc. (which would lead back to point A -- independence and older teaching younger OR combine so that they aren't all studying different things). |
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That's pretty much how I've been doing it for the past few years, but we just din't seem to be getting everything done. So like you said, back to point A. 
stefoodie wrote:
I suggest writing out a schedule -- including minutes -- just to see what can actually fit in. A spreadsheet or Google calendar is helpful for me. Then I can see who's doing what when, where I need to be physically present, what time can olders be left to do work on their own so I can be with the little one, or when olders can be asked to do stuff for the littles. This really helped me simplify our lesson plans, and made learning more fun for everyone.
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OK, let me hijack my own thread for a minute. Stef, this is what I want to do this year, but I have no idea how to use a spreadsheet. Is this the same as Excel? I was actually hoping to have someone look at my first week's plans and help me put it into an Excel page. Feel free to pm me if you can teach me how.  I really think this would help make things easier.
saintanneshs wrote:
In the past it seems like around here there's always someone who gets overlooked in the course of each day. My plan for fixing that this year is to actually make time for my litte ones in our morning schedule. They are usually the ones I don't spend as much time with and because they're just left to play, well, you can imagine the chaos we sometimes deal with. They just need my attention as much as the older two, I know. So this year we're adding a time slot just for them. I plan to group the two older ones together for language and math lessons and the two littler ones for preschool time.
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This is great advice. I will teach the little ones first, while the older ones do their Math lessons in a separate room at the same time. I tend to put off the little ones off until later, but it's not working out.
mary wrote:
ruth, i have your last 4 kids: mine are 4th, 2nd, and preK. we are doing the same subjects. i would love to start the day with a rosary, but i'm thinking it may be too much for my littles. so, we start with the oldest reading from the saint of the day reader. my plan is to get math, language arts, and history done in the morning. while they do math and language arts, i rotate to each child and set them up to doing something without me for 5 min while i talk to the next child or occupy the baby. i'll read history and nurse the baby while the 3 color. then, i'll send them outside while i put lunch together. i'm not sure how to fit in latin because i think only my 4th grader can do it.
after lunch - religion. they can all listen or work on catholic mosaic together. my 2nd grader will be working on his first communion notebook.
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I think your plans look great, Mary. Thank you for replying. I like doing most of the work in the morning.
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Ruth
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stefoodie
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I'm happy to help, Ruth! I don't have Excel though, but once you've got the basics you should be able to use it on your Excel. We can set up something on Google spreadsheets so I can walk you through it and we can even change things live. Do you have a google/gmail account? PM me with your info and we can start there.
An easier option is to try Google Calendar, because you've already got the times set up. You can see it on my sidebar. What I love about it is I can set it up to, let's say, schedule Latin every day of the week from 9:30-9:45, from now 'til December 4 or whatever date I want.
PM me or email stefoodie AT gmail DOT com; I'll be home after lunch...
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Willa
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ElizLeone wrote:
| It seemed to me, when I compared Seton and Faith & Life years ago, that Seton had more detailed content (others may beg to differ), which I really appreciate when it comes to catechism. However, I believe the Seton format is substantially similar to the Faith & Life format. |
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I think this is because Faith and Life is designed for a weekly CCD-type format, while Seton is probably specifically designed for the homeschool.
I use Faith and Life and supplement with saints' books and the Baltimore Catechism, etc.
Ruth, I have a 12th grader, 9th grader, 6th grader, special needs 1st grader and preschooler this year.
Because my kids tend to come spaced 3 years apart, I haven't been able to group them very much. I usually plan their work to overlap in history and science and sometimes in religion. That saves me time and effort in planning.
The way I schedule the day is usually to work with each kid or group of kids separately. For example, when the 9th and 6th grader were 1st and 4th grade, I would alternate between them -- working on math with one and sending the other off to do handwriting solo. I had a checklist to work from so I didn't get too lost in the day. Basically I would divide subjects into "do alone" "do with Mom" "do with Mom and sibling".
Then I would work with the older ones independently just before lunch (the "do with Mom" subjects and some inspiration and study-skills type things). The littlies would have some time with me just before formal lessons started for the day, and they also got time with me right after lunch.
Sometimes I would group several of them for a lesson -- for example, one year we did Latin together and many times I will read aloud to a group. The reading is usually targeted to the older set and the little ones can color or just play.
I hope this makes sense -- typing in a hurry since I'm away from home.
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Willa
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ElizLeone
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WJFR wrote:
I think this is because Faith and Life is designed for a weekly CCD-type format, while Seton is probably specifically designed for the homeschool.
I use Faith and Life and supplement with saints' books and the Baltimore Catechism, etc. |
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Yes, I agree. And it's hard to beat the Faith & Life artwork. With Baltimore Catechism and saints' books, I think Seton and F&L are very much comparable.
And now, I apologize, for focusing on this small aspect of one of the posts. I feel like I've hijacked this thread a bit.
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Elizabeth in Wisconsin
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Ruth
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ElizLeone wrote:
And now, I apologize, for focusing on this small aspect of one of the posts. I feel like I've hijacked this thread a bit. |
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No, I'm glad you asked that question. I feel better about my choice for F&L, instead of Seton this year. thank you.
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Ruth
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Kristen in TN
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This last year, for the first time, I made a master schedule for me. My children this year are 6th, 4th, 2nd, & pre-k/K. My pre-K/K gets squeezed into my free slots or if I happen to have a free moment. I am not much for computer organizing either, so I made myself a sheet on paper using a pen and ruler. I labeled the top with the days of the week and down the left side is 20 minute time slots (9 - 9:20; 9:20 - 9:40; etc.) Then I made copies of this sheet. We use primarily Mater Amabilis, so I took each level and started to fill in the blanks (IN PENCIL, very important!). Like others here we combine history, science, art for the older two, Latin and Spanish. I try and schedule the same subjects at the same time. We also use Consecration in Truth along with our other Religion studies and that requires me sitting with each one. On my schedule, I write who I need to be working with on what. This has been the biggest help of all. I can sit down for the school day and know exactly what I am doing with whom. Weekly I write the work that they are scheduled for in their planners for them with specific lessons, and I use their master schedules for this in order to know what day and what time things are suppose to be done.
This year my 6th grader will be working on science on his own. We'll see how that goes. So far, so good, but it has only been one week.
I hope this helps more than confuses.
God bless,
Kristen in TN
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Erin
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Ruth
I have children the same ages/grades as yours plus a 3 and I yr old so I thought I'd share what we do (first day back today so my timetable is hot off the printer oh by the way as suggested above I do mine up in Excel)
First a disclaimer though, what works for one family isn't necessarily for another and then again it changes by seasons too like when your new babe arrives. Having said that I have pretty much stuck with this routine now for the last few years just changing our topic focus.
Like yourself I find that we have had breakfast and start the morning at 8am with family prayers ready to start our seatwork by 8.30am. We also have our food breaks at the same time (must be great minds  )
7.00am- Breakfast/Jobs
8.00am- Family Prayers
8.30am- Maths, Language Arts
LA is Spelling, Dictation (3xwk)
Copywork and Grammar (2xwk)
Creative Writing (5xwk)
And for the 8th Grader Lingua Mater and the K and 2nd Phonics and reading practice.
10am- Morining Tea
10.30am- Religion
Geography and Nature Study
12pm- Angelus
12.30pm- Lunch
1.30pm- Literature Read Alouds
2.30pm- Monday-Tea Time, Poetry, Art Apprec and Waldorf Art
Tuesday-Craft
Wednesday- Nature Walk
Thursday and Friday- Soccer Practices
7.30pm- Read Aloud again after prayers.
Now did we do all this today, our first day back? Nope, we managed most of the seatwork before morning tea and then the children played in their new sandpit that ds12 built and didn't want to come back  I did manage to get them to start our new nature study which they thoroughly enjoyed  So many days it won't all happen but on a good day it will 
How I manage to do it all is that we don't use text books so we use similar books just at a different level. And we all sit at the table together so I'm there if they need me, the noise level can be very distracting at times, I have had to crack down on that. Dd13 can work in her own room but she chooses to work with us as she gets lonely.
I'll list what I use below in the hope that you can see how I manage to juggle my dc.
Maths- We use Singapore Maths so they have their own books.
Spelling- Schonell's Spelling, an old English book that has different lists, they write out three words a day and are then tested at the end of the week. Quick, easy and effective.
Dictation-Dd13 is using a Redwall book, I dictate a paragraph at a time, ds12 has a paragraph from the Hobbit, ds10 has about three sentences from a reader and so does ds8. This can be a hairy time when I have many wanting me all at once. I can run about three dictations at once. (a truely remarkable feat)
Copywork- At present I write an answer from the Catehchism and they write below.(It works best if I have done this prior to seatwork starting)
Grammar- We use the Emma Serl books so I can use it with them all together. They all love this program so much they listen into wach other's exercises.
Creative Writing- I am placing a big focus on writing this term which is why our LA is split, last term they did all the above every day. I'm freelancing here, using ideas from Brave Writer or just what the children want to write about. I find that they need a reasonable amount of time to write some days are more productive than others. Oh and to take some of the pressure off those moments when they all want me to spell something I have purchased them their own individual 'index books' from the newsagent. I am writing their words in their own 'dictionaries'.
After morning tea, religion at present is reading St Patrick's Summer by Marigold Hunter. It doesn't really interest dd5 so I read Catholic Treasure Box to her and dd3 later. Over the years we have always done religion together mainly reading saints or bible stories and occasionally discussing the Baltimore Catechsim together. (hope that helps you a little Molly) dd13 is needing something a little more now and has requested to read more about the history of the liturgy. I've found an old book on the shelf I'm hoping will fit the bill.
This term our focus is Geography and nature study. In order to cover all areas we tend to focus on a couple of areas at a time. Last term we focused on Greek history for example. We will do these together more of a unit study approach. Got to bath my sandy baby I don't know if this is relevant to your situation or not.
All the best working it out.
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cathhomeschool
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Ruth wrote:
| That's what I thought most people do, but how do you teach them together when you have a 2nd grader and an 8th grader at the same time. I fnd history, science and religion difficult to do together. I thought about keeping them in pairs; 2nd and 4th together and 6th and 8th together. Is that what you do? Maybe I'm missing something. |
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I group my 7th & 8th grader together for almost everything. They do math (curriculum) and sometimes Spanish separately. I do require more reading from the 8th grader and I try to tailor their work to their interests (more crafts and art for 7th grader and more writing assignments for 8th grader). The subject matter and books (chapter, science, etc) and lessons, though, are the same.
The younger two do have separate lessons from the older two (math, letters/reading, Catholic Treasure box), but that stuff takes only a few minutes a day. In addition, I try to include the littles with the older ones as often as possible. So I teach all 4 religion at the same time (Baltimore Catechism or Faith & Life during breakfast or lunch, and then saint book read alouds). The younger two absorb what they can, and often a question that my very inquisitive (and vocal) 6yo asks will lead to a lesson that is great reinforcement or even new material for the older two. For history and science, we work on the same subject matter together and listen to read alouds together. The older two supplement on their own (during read alone time) from books that I have in their reading piles. If we lapbook a unit, then all 4 boys include some of the same material in their lapbooks and we are all working on them at the same time. The older two just have to add more material than the younger ones. They do nature study at the same time and each draw what they've discovered. ...I guess that part of the reason that we are able to do this is that I rarely "teach." I explain and check over their work and read their narrations, but most of our history and unit study stuff consists of read alouds, books on tape, and independent work. The read alouds and tapes are done as a family. Most "workbooky" things (grammar, math, logic) are done independently and checked. When a lesson is necessary or someone gets stuck, we stop and work through it. Science is a combo of hands-on and book stuff that is sometimes together, sometimes just older, sometimes independent. ...Is this helping or am I just rambling and saying the same things over and over again?
Ruth wrote:
| I really feel like I'm not doing something right. |
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Don't say that or think that! Every family works differently and each season within each family works differently too. We regularly tweak and that's just what you're doing too. Look at the positive side -- this is an adventure! Tweak and learn as you go. Throw out what doesn't work and keep the rest.
Ruth wrote:
cathhomeschool wrote:
My only suggestions if everyone is going to work on different things is to let the older ones work as independently as possible and also to assign them work with the younger ones. And then to figure out how long each lesson for each subject needs to be and then plug everything into a grid. You may not physically have enough hours in the day to individually teach all you'd like to teach and still cook, etc. (which would lead back to point A -- independence and older teaching younger OR combine so that they aren't all studying different things). |
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That's pretty much how I've been doing it for the past few years, but we just din't seem to be getting everything done. So like you said, back to point A. |
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We don't get everything done either. At the end of every day and week, there is always a list of things that I wish I could have done but didn't. And that's ok. I tweak, tweak, tweak. I keep a checklist of what we do each week. If we didn't squeeze something in this week that I think is important, we get to it early the next week or the week after that. Something else will fall off the list, but that's ok. We'll add that back in next month. This is just the way it is when there are so many subject areas that I'd love to cover. We leave plenty of room for free time, so I have to accept that some of what I'd love to do just won't happen. Looking at the big picture, they are getting a good education in a wide variety of subject areas.
Did that help? I love everyone else's ideas on this thread!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Ruth
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Joined: Nov 04 2006
Location: Virginia
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Posts: 5007
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| Posted: July 17 2007 at 11:59am | IP Logged
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This really has been very helpful. Thank you, everyone, for all you advice. I'm going to read this over and over again this week and try to come up with something by the weekend. I'm going to keep it simple- one week at a time. I'll try to post something on my lesson plans blog soon.
God bless you all.
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Ruth
mom to 7 miracles
My family blog
Loreto Rosaries
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Help with scheduling our school days
