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TryingMyBest
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 8:28am | IP Logged
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Hi everyone, I'm new and my little one is only 3 and I'm still working full time so I'm way ahead of myself here but I can't stop thinking about homeschooling. I've never been around a homeschooling family so the mechanics of it are confusing.
For a homeschooling family using either Charlotte Mason or a classical Catholic curriculum, e.g. Kolbe or MODG, what does your average day look like? In particular if the kids are early elementary school age. Do you spend most of the day doing school? How do you get your housework done?
How much time do spend nagging to get the kids motivated to do their schoolwork? I know that idea is that if the child likes what they're learning they will do it without nagging but I'm a little skeptical about that. I'm not sure I have the patience to spend her every day trying to get DD to open her books.
TIA and you ladies are awesome. I've been reading some of your blogs for months and they've been so helpful to me in learning how to make our home more Catholic. 
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SallyT
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 10:18am | IP Logged
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My children are older now -- 18/college, 15/9th grade, 10/4th grade, 8/3rd grade -- but our preschool and earlier-elementary days tended to look something like this:
1. Daily Mass (not every day, but we try! It was harder when they were younger)
2. Home, breakfast, some regrouping and chore time: beds and rooms straightened, a load of laundry into the washer, etc.
3. School time with younger children; usually not more than an hour in the beginning (and for us, the beginning of real, planned school time, beyond just reading aloud, counting, playing, being together, was kindergarten at 5 or 6). It would look like this:
*Prayers, esp. if we hadn't been to Mass, followed by at least one read-aloud. We've often liked to start our day with some singing, too. My aim has always been for my children to love stories, art, music, history . . . so we've always started our days by enjoying those things together via good literature.
*At some point, reading instruction/practice. My children have not all been very receptive to formal reading lessons, but once they are at all willing, we spend five minutes here, five minutes there, on reading: comfortable chair or couch, child sitting on my lap, often the two of us taking turns reading words/sentences. Some of my children have needed very little formal instruction before just taking off into independent reading; my youngest, in 3rd grade, still reads aloud to me for practice, and this is a scheduled part of her day.
*Writing practice. I have used copywork extensively with all my children from an early age, though I really, really like those CHC Catholic handwriting worktexts. For very young children, "writing" practice is more like coloring, playdoh, beading, and other informal activities to encourage fine-motor development.
*A short math lesson: 5-10 minutes for a very young child, which becomes 20-30 minutes by about 4th grade, and a good solid hour by middle school. Depending on a young child's motor skills and eagerness to write things, I would often opt to do math orally and/or with manipulatives, rather than writing in a workbook (though some children LOVE doing that from an early age). We've often used our tile-top kitchen table as a dry-erase surface, which young children also enjoy. In the early years we work on basic concepts: counting, skip-counting, basic addition and subtraction facts. We do other "mathy" things like telling time, measurements, money, etc, through our daily life together -- cooking, shopping, and so forth.
This pretty much describes the core of what I've done with my young children. We have tended to be kind of unschooly to varying extents in the early years, mostly because in the time I've been homeschooling, I've always had at least one older child needing to do more formal work which demanded my attention, so a lot of my approach, when I've had toddlers, preschoolers, and very young elementary children, has been to create a learning environment in our home, with minimal screens and lots of strewing of books, art supplies, and the kinds of toys that encourage imaginative play. And we have read aloud a LOT -- that's really the heart of our family life.
I would describe us, incidentally, as an eclectic Charlotte-Mason-inspired homeschooling family. Literature/living books are the center of our homeschool, and I do use aspects of the CM method, such as shorter lessons, narration, multiple tracks in history, and many books going at once. I also loosely follow the classical practice of doing history in cycles (though in the elementary years I have two cycles going at once) and of memorization -- we memorize a poem pretty much weekly, just by reading it aloud and then learning it a bit at a time. This year I have one child who drags his feet quite a lot, so that school time lasts longer than I would like, but in general I plan for my elementary-aged children to be finished by lunchtime, so that they have the afternoon for open-ended play, reading, and extracurricular activities.
Re housework: what I find is that while little children need far more constant mom-attention for schoolwork, their schoolwork is relatively minimal, and most of their day is more open, which does allow you time to get your work done while they play or help you. As they get older, and their schoolwork becomes more intensive and longer, they also become more independent. I've taught my kids to work independently on their math, reading, writing, or whatever, by being in the next room folding laundry -- it's like the first step away from being RIGHT THERE while they do their work. (if I don't get my chores done, honestly the culprit is more likely to be . . . um . . . getting sucked into the internet . . . than homeschooling!). I'm actually sitting here writing this with one child at my elbow doing her handwriting and math, and the other reading in the other room, but I could, and should, be folding clothes!
I don't typically spend much time nagging. By this time, the kids understand pretty clearly that schoolwork gets done. Much of it is fun and enjoyable, especially the read-aloud part (and everyone has favorite independent things), but even the parts that aren't just do get done before they go out to play or anything else purely pleasurable. I'm kind of Victorian when it come to resistance -- people who want to argue with me get sent to bed for an hour, at the end of which time they're generally pretty happy to do whatever it was. But mostly everyone's clued in to the routine, and we just do it. I do try to choose materials and books that people will like, and I don't schedule an overwhelming amount of work for any given lesson, which does go a long way towards defusing resistance. By high school my kids have typically, so far, been very self-motivated, both because they've developed strong academic interests and because the idea of going to college lights a fire under them to power them through the subjects they love less.
I hope this helps. Homeschooling has been a great adventure for us for sure, and I'll pray for your discernment as you envision your child's paths to learning.
Sally
eta: having read Becky's post: yeah, this is the on-paper version for sure! But it is fairly typical, even with intervening chaos. And it has worked so far . . .
Re nagging again (in case I haven't said enough already!): really, what circumvents a lot of resistance in the earliest years, and even later on, is that you're learning together. It doesn't even feel like school. It feels like reading a story on the couch, cuddling. It feels like playing games (my now-9th-grade son learned his addition facts to 12 by playing Monopoly with his older sister). It feels like being close to Mom and doing things with Mom, rather than sitting at the table with books spread out, being told to turn to page 47 and get going. Later you may be doing more formal, independent, "schoolish" work -- or you may not. Either way, the dynamic just *is* different from what I remember of my own school days, having to be nagged to do my homework and not wanting to do it. Even my most resistant child really likes that I'm *doing something with her.* Does that make sense?
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 12:39pm | IP Logged
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Well, do you want the version that looks nice and neat on paper, or the real life, chaotic version?  
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Becky
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 1:06pm | IP Logged
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My thought Becky.. what's our day like?
CHAOS.. with a list
Generally the plan is to do chores first thing (duringi breakfast prep and after breakfast, then school, then lunch, then chores, then any other school then free time then chores before dad gets home.. then free time then dinner then chores (notice chores almost always follow a meal since the dishes have to be done then anyway).. then free time then bed... I may still be doing laundry in the evenings.. but then I'm always doing laundry when I can manage to have the space
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 1:31pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
CHAOS.. with a list
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Love this! Mind if I steal it!?
A typical day will largely depend on your personality as well. If you thrive on structure, then you will structure your day. If you are more of the go-with-the-flow kinda gal, you'll let the day come and go as it pleases.
My oldest is only 3rd grade, so we wake-up (without an alarm), make beds/dress, breakfast, read (schoolwork), play, laundry, quick pick up before lunch, make lunch and cleanup, read some more or do a project (my oldest is doing plastic canvas work), play, snack, dinner, TV, bed. Mostly they play, sometimes we do outside activities, go to the library, or have friends over.
My kid's chores revolve around waking up, lunch and dinner clean ups (before and after), and dirty clothes.
Have fun as you learn about HS and discern your child's future!
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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jawgee
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
CHAOS.. with a list |
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Sounds familiar!
Ideally....
Chores done in AM before breakfast
Breakfast
8:30-9:00 - oldest works on math while I tend to younger ones
9:00-10:00 - morning readings, devotions, memory work
10:00-11:00 - core subjects
11:00-12:00 - rest of schoolwork
12:00 - lunch
afternoon - activities or free time.
My kids get 10-15 minutes each hour to have a snack, take a break, or go outside, depending on how quickly they get through their work.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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mamaslearning wrote:
JodieLyn wrote:
CHAOS.. with a list
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Love this! Mind if I steal it!?
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certainly 
Also remember especially when you're working one on one that things will take a good bit less time, you're not likely to be doing seat work all day like in schools. And you can do many things that schools have to find a way to do just by living life with your child with you.
Schools need maniputlatives to count.. you can count washclothes and towels as you fold them
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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kristinannie
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| Posted: Oct 29 2012 at 9:30pm | IP Logged
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9am Mass 2-3 times a week (we don't have daily Mass daily here since we share a priest)
10-12 School
We usually do about 30-45 mintes of morning basket time which includes memorization, religion, US history, science reading, hymn study, picture study, composer study, fairy tales, picture books. (We don't do all of these every day!!!)
After lunch we will sometimes do history or science for about 30 minutes. I also do a read aloud during lunch and at bedtime. We do family rosary and a read aloud after dinner.
That about sums it up. Oh, and we have a fair share of chaos as well!!!
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Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
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JuliaT
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| Posted: Oct 31 2012 at 1:57pm | IP Logged
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Every year looks different as far as our daily schedule goes. The variations have to do with number of children that I teach, the grades that I teach and the personalities that I teach.
This year's schedule is far different than we have ever carried out before but it is working quite well. I have 3 kids- Gr.3,6 & 8--how we school will look very different from how you will school in the beginning but I will post how we do it anyway. 
I wake the kids up at 7:30. We have breakfast, do chores and clean up the kitchen.
8:30--morning time--Bible reading, memorization, reading of Shakespeare, nature study, Greek mythology,(we don't read these every day.)
9:30--is for what I call a humanities time. We do history, art history, literature and worlview during this time. This has turned out to be the best part of our day.
11:00--my oldest does her own thing for the rest of the day. My middle one reads and does his copywork. This is the time for me to work with my youngest. We do reading, math and grammar during this hour (sometimes it's longer.)
12:00--lunch
1:00-- work with my middle child (math, grammar, writing,) my youngest does copywork and is then done for the day. My oldest works on her own for science and grammar. Once I am done with my ds then if there is anything I need to do with my oldest, I do it at the end of our school day.
3:00--take a break. After our learning time is over then we use the rest of our afternoon for cleaning, baking, nature walks, playing games, whatever suits our fancy.
I don't nag my kids to do school work. They do it with little resistance. They know that if there is any grief given to me then they will go to their rooms and will have to continue on with their work when they come out. Whining or complaining results in longer days.
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Julia
mom of 3(14,13 & 11 yrs.old)
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SallyT
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| Posted: Nov 01 2012 at 10:58pm | IP Logged
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Yes! Every year is different, with its unique challenges and graces. I might say that about every *day*, really. But it's certainly true that our default MO evolves from year to year!
Today was, in its own way, a "typical" day, in that we didn't "do school" at all. We always take All Saints and All Souls off (All Souls is also my older son's birthday), which is wonderful to be able to do. Today we went hiking in the mountains near our home, taking along with us a sweet girl from another family who'd been at the noon Mass, but the rest of her family didn't want to hike. As we walked up the trail, my 8-year-old was chatting away on subjects inspired by the nature reading we've been doing weekly -- noticing places on trees where deer might have been rubbing their antlers, that kind of thing. I . . . hadn't actually been sure that all that was soaking in, but apparently it had been. And we had a conversation on the way down the mountain about Mark Antony and Octavian's dividing the Roman world between themselves after the battle of Philippi, and how Octavian had seemed to get a raw deal at first but ultimately came out on top -- again, from reading we've been doing. Sometimes the days when you don't seem to "do" anything at all are the days when you see how the seeds you've been planting are growing. I had been feeling kind of homeschool-weary, but this was one of those days when I thought, yes, what we're doing is absolutely right and exciting.
It wasn't a typical day, but it was the kind of day you have sometimes when you homeschool. And I thought it was worth remarking that when you homeschool, you do have these days sometimes. No day we ever had when our kids went to school was quite like this. Every day isn't like this. It's not typical. But you do get these days when you glimpse the bigness and richness of what you've been plodding along doing all this time, and that is a treasure.
Sally
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Nov 02 2012 at 5:49am | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
Sometimes the days when you don't seem to "do" anything at all are the days when you see how the seeds you've been planting are growing. I had been feeling kind of homeschool-weary, but this was one of those days when I thought, yes, what we're doing is absolutely right and exciting.
It wasn't a typical day, but it was the kind of day you have sometimes when you homeschool. And I thought it was worth remarking that when you homeschool, you do have these days sometimes. No day we ever had when our kids went to school was quite like this. Every day isn't like this. It's not typical. But you do get these days when you glimpse the bigness and richness of what you've been plodding along doing all this time, and that is a treasure.
Sally |
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Beautifully said, Sally! Yes, it's usually the days when I actually drop everything and head for the woods with my kids that I see the beauty of homeschooling and all that we actually are accomplishing. I need to do that more often, because we aren't getting there much and in my household, that leads to the blues. Thanks for the reminder.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: What is a normal day like for you?
