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JSchaaf
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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I don't think it's Spring Fever...I think it's actual burnout and now that I've taken a few weeks to think and reflect I'm ready to change things up around here. We've been "doing school" as per the Well Trained Mind plus adding in CM stuff like picture study, nature study, and composer study. PLUS Latin, Spanish and ASL. It's just too much. My girls are 8, 7, and 5 (plus an 18 month old) and I'm frazzled and fried. We haven't had school since Ash Wednesday, as I wanted to step back and evaluate what we are doing. So, without further ado, here's the new plan:
Daily
Math
Latin
Music Practice
Language Arts (I haven't quite figured this out yet, we were doing separate subjects per WTM but I'd like to combine everything)
Outside Time
I still want to keep up with picture, composer, and nature study but I need to find a way to make it less burdensome.
Each month I would like to devote to a different topic-not really a rabbit trail I guess, since they are planned in advance. My girls help come up with the list:
April: Impressionists
May: Mary
June: Human Body
July: Fairies
August: Rocky Mountains
Sept: Solar System
Oct: American Revolution/Founding Fathers/Election Process
Nov: Pilgrims/Puritans/First Thanksgiving
Dec: Christmas Around the World
I'd like to start lapbooking, too. We read ALOT around here, both aloud and independently, so I'm not to worried about literature and history as separate subjects. We do need to do more science reading, though.
Well, what do you think? Am I cutting back too much and leaving lots of gaps? Will my life improve now that we won't be spending 6 hours in the learning room each day? 
Thanks!
Jennifer
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Sarah M
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 2:20pm | IP Logged
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JSchaaf wrote:
Well, what do you think? Am I cutting back too much and leaving lots of gaps? Will my life improve now that we won't be spending 6 hours in the learning room each day?
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Wow, Jennifer. This still seems like a lot to me! No wonder you're burnt out. I don't think you are cutting back too much at all. Gaps? Elizabeth says, "I guarantee gaps in their learning" and I try to remember that every time I fret about not getting it all in. Every child in every home or every school has gaps somewhere or other. Your curriculum looks quite complete to me. Just try not to overdo yourself. I find it helpful to remember that even though I want to *get it all in*, I don't have to get it all in *this year*.
Kudos to you for stepping back and seeing what's not working, and making changes to better fit your family. That's hard to do mid-year!
Blessings!
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mariB
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 2:26pm | IP Logged
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I like your new plan much better! I think that there is a lot I like about the WTM but it is very intimidating! I think I would go bonkers if I followed that book too much  . (Please nobody stone me!)
I think burn-out can happen easily with home schooling moms because we are around our children 24/7 and we have to wear so many hats!
We have an eight year old and it is the basics for her. We spend an hour and a half to two hours max together in the learning room.
She is really excited about the Little House series and she has been reading that on her own.
For science she reads field guides and sketches animals.
For history she reads historical fiction on her own and I use a catholic textbook as a spine and read that aloud to her a couple of times a week.
I think your life will be much improved and your children will still be learning A LOT!
__________________
marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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Sounds awesome!!!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Kristie 4
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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Sounds great!!! Your kiddos are still so little too (although this is easy for me to say as I have littles and teens!)
Maybe you could try to alternate one of those great CM things like Nature Study, Picture Study etc. each week- that way you can hit one each month!! Or pick one of them to focus on once a week for a month and then switch it up next month?? That's just something we sort of did for a while a couple years back!!
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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Joelle
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| Posted: March 28 2008 at 10:22pm | IP Logged
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I think this looks great, but if you get into it and it still feels like a lot, don't hesitate to cut back some more! My 8 year old spends two hours or less on "structured" learning. However, we do toss in a lot of activities & reading outside of that time, but since I do not have it "set in stone," I don't feel pressured if we don't get to all of the extras that I'd like to do.
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God Bless, Joelle
Mom to 7: Boy (96), Girls (00, 02, 04), Boy (05), Girl (07), Boy (09)
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pixilated_momma
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| Posted: March 29 2008 at 10:03am | IP Logged
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mariB wrote:
I like your new plan much better! I think that there is a lot I like about the WTM but it is very intimidating! I think I would go bonkers if I followed that book too much . (Please nobody stone me!)
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 No one is going to stone you. At least, I won't. LOL
I think WTM has very good ideas and I borrow from it. When I first read it, I tried to implement all of it, and, boy, howdy, it didn't work for my children's learning style. Or my sanity.
WTM is more like a reference book now.
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Veronica Maria
Paper Dali, my art blog
Sometimes Bailey, my creativity blog
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pixilated_momma
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| Posted: March 29 2008 at 10:06am | IP Logged
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JSchaaf wrote:
I Daily
My girls help come up with the list:
April: Impressionists
May: Mary
June: Human Body
July: Fairies
August: Rocky Mountains
Sept: Solar System
Oct: American Revolution/Founding Fathers/Election Process
Nov: Pilgrims/Puritans/First Thanksgiving
Dec: Christmas Around the World
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That's an impressive list. Wow! And I love the fact that your girls helped you come up with it. How wonderful to get their input. It's sure to get them all excited about contributing to their education.
Hm. Maybe I should start doing some planning, too. You've inspired me. But first ... I need to get a cup of coffee.
Coffee, and then the world!
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Veronica Maria
Paper Dali, my art blog
Sometimes Bailey, my creativity blog
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mommiepappa
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| Posted: March 29 2008 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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Thank you for posting this! I am on the road to Burn Out myself and am taking time to reevaluate how I am schooling my girls. I too went with TWTM for awhile. I like Maria's suggestion that the WTM be a reference book! Maybe we should treat all of the how-to books as reference.
I think I just had an "lightbulb" moment. Whenever I try and follow someone elses plan for my daughters education it seems to fail or should I say "I fail" at implementing it. Maybe that is because I am not suppose to follow a plan, but make my own plans on what I have learned from all these great "references". This means that I would have absolutely no one to compare our homeschool to because we would be unique as we should be! Wow, that works for me. Thanks for getting me thinking on this!
:) Kat
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EmilyC
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| Posted: March 29 2008 at 3:54pm | IP Logged
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mommiepappa wrote:
I think I just had an "lightbulb" moment. Whenever I try and follow someone elses plan for my daughters education it seems to fail or should I say "I fail" at implementing it. Maybe that is because I am not suppose to follow a plan, but make my own plans on what I have learned from all these great "references". This means that I would have absolutely no one to compare our homeschool to because we would be unique as we should be! Wow, that works for me. Thanks for getting me thinking on this!
:) Kat |
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I really like your lightbulb moment! I've been pondering this very thing myself lately. I've spent a LOT of time this year trying out different ideas and each and every one of them have failed. I've been very discouraged about that, but honestly, it's because I've been trying to make my homeschool into what I see other's doing. That's not how it works.
I like the idea of having a monthly "topic" to study. I'm in planning mode right now myself (I seem to do that when I'm hitting burnout), and I think I'll ask the kids if there's anything they'd particularly like to study.
__________________
Emily,
Wife to Rob since 8/98
Mom to 4:
Sarah (13) Robbie & Riley (10) Regina (nearly 3)
My secular lit-based curriculum:
Build Your Library curriculum
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: April 03 2008 at 1:36pm | IP Logged
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Well, we haven't started the "new plan" because we've all been sick.  But I have enjoyed the last few days of just reading aloud and watching old movies. It's sort of like we are deschooling from our old ways!
Jennifer
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JuliaT
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| Posted: April 05 2008 at 4:10pm | IP Logged
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Kat, I had the same lightbulb moment a few months ago. I have tried just about every homeschool method and philosophy known to man. They all failed. I realized that I'm not good at following others' plans. So now I take from each method what works for us and I squish it all together and make it work for our family. I have finally found our groove after four years. I am very happy with how we are learning now.
Jennifer, I just wanted to suggest that if you wanted to do lapbooks for some of your monthly topics, you might find some ideas at Homeschool Share. They have lapbook templates in some of their book units. You just print them out and you are ready to go. This cuts back on alot of prep time. I think, at least for me, that prep time is the major contributor to burn out.
Blesings,
Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Burnout and my new plan
