4Real Forums: 'Mum' Practising Self- Discipline

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

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Topic: 'Mum' Practising Self- Discipline

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Erin
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 5:07am \| IP Logged

I'd love to bat around an idea.

Our new school year has started and already I am falling back into the same habits/self-discipline issues we had last year.

We start the morning out with our daily work; maths and language arts. We achieve that regularly, we break for morning tea and never make it back. Not really, patchy at least. We make it to Faith and that's it.

I've been contemplating spending Mondays and Tuesdays achieving a week's worth of maths and language arts. Freeing up the rest of the week to devote a whole day to each topic. ie, Wednesday we'd do Science, Thursday Geography, Friday History. Faith would continue to be daily.

Has anyone organised their weeks like this? Did you find it worked or not?

Or do you have any tips on how 'Mum' can discipline herself?

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Erin
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mary
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 6:54am \| IP Logged

Erin,
I'm struggling myself with this issue, especially because we've had lots of dr appointments and snow fun. I find that I have lots of days that are sloppy and then a huge catch up day that is painful for us all. I keep re-organizing my day, but I'm thinking that it isn't my organization that's the problem, it's my lack of discipline. Cheryl's post really spoke to me. I guess I don't have any tips other than passing along her advice: Just do it!

Paula in MN
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 8:56am \| IP Logged

I tried that two years ago, and it really didn't work for us. We lost some of our flexibility. For instance, if we did Science on Wednesdays, invariably something would come up and we'd be gone for the majority of the day. Science didn't get done that week. Now we schedule outside-the-home activities for afternoons, and if something comes up in the morning, we've got our flexibility back.

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 9:17am \| IP Logged

Erin wrote:

Or do you have any tips on how 'Mum' can discipline herself?

Well, now THAT'S the million dollar question, isn't it? And if there were a pill, I'd take it. As it is, I'm currently on the floor of the room I'm supposed to be cleaning typing this. I'm not sure why I originally opened the computer (to turn on Pandora maybe? while I cleaned), but I'm such a goon that I ended up here.

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ekbell
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 12:46pm \| IP Logged

I can't see myself doing that with maths but I could see doing that with history or science.

Holdover from my university days where 'practice subjects' such as math would have three one hour lectures over the week and 'knowledge subjects' such as history would have one three hour lecture during a week.

My method of making sure that I get to more then the 4R's (Reading, wRiting, aRithmatic and Religion) is to have the meat of the other subjects be done as part of our 'couch time' or read-aloud time right after our daily work. This works because the children enjoy it and will remind me of it. I also put time limits on the daily work as necessary (ie work on math for 20mins rather then do a page of math- this helps with dwaddling and ensures time for other subjects).

mom3aut1not
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 2:45pm \| IP Logged

Erin,

I have never tried to organize my hsing along those lines. My hsing is the most organized part of my life; now I need to organize my housekeeping.

However, I have heard some people on one of the workboxes groups mention that preparing the boxes made it easier to do all those "other" subjects they hadn't gotten around to before. The discipline of setting it all up was very beneficial for Mom.

Just a thought.....

In Christ,

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Deborah

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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 3:29pm \| IP Logged

I suppose you *could* have a Math Day and a Language Day and a Science Day, if your kids would cooperate. We do math every day because I have it on good authority that more than 30 minutes of math will turn a person's brain to oatmeal.

While I (often) disagree with such dire prognostications, I do have to admit that skill knowledge *does* seem to stick more when done in small sessions daily over the course of the week instead of one mega-session 1 day/week. I'm thinking of math here, but also foreign languages. Unless you're in an immersion environment in which you're doing a subject 5 or 6 or 7 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week for a longish period (say, 3 weeks) -- which is good for foreign languages -- it does seem better to do it a little bit every day.

On the other hand -- thinking of that immersion experience -- you might look at Cornell College's Block Plan. Students at Cornell College only take one course at a time.

I have found that once I realize that something is not working and that the best solution is to break one of my own habits -- say, getting the kids up earlier, or doing math and Latin in the afternoon when it's quiet, when what I really want to do is read a book or get online... I just have to start doing it. Sometimes it takes me a little while to get my courage up, because I generally have all sorts of objections ("But that's my only time off", "But I need that time to myself in the morning because I'm doing math and Latin in the afternoon", "But I'm tired..."), but once I finally get going (usually because I realize it really *is* the best solution), things work out, the new routine becomes the new normal, and I wonder what I was so afraid of before I started doing x. I think it's just a matter of inertia on my part.

Sometimes, though, the problem is that I see the kids involved in something -- playing an involved game of knights, for instance -- and I wonder, should I stop it? Should I let it go on? In that case I usually do let things go on, and we adjust the schedule accordingly. If I keep track of what's accomplished over the course of the week, I usually see that it's pretty well-balanced... although many days my oldest is adding in more independent work through watching documentaries and reading (etc.) late at night.

I will say, however, that hasty changes don't really work for me. I have to sit down with a sheet of paper and a pencil and work out several alternatives. And I generally start with a list of problems that I need to work out. Writing this by hand seems to jumpstart my brain for some reason.

And also, getting online is just the kiss of death.

Half the time I can't even remember what my purpose was in opening my laptop in the first place.

I've been trying to avoid it between first thing in the morning and late afternoon, and I rarely get online at night because my dh is home. Of course some days are better than others...

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Natalia
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 4:15pm \| IP Logged

Maybe you should not break for morning tea. I know that is a simplistic answer but maybe eliminating the interruption will solve the problem. We do have a mid morning snack but we don't interrupt the work. While the kids work on something that is independent like Math or Explode the Code or whatever, I go and prepare the snack. I put in on a tray and bring it to them. We don't take a real break until lunch. And yes, sometimes it IS hard to rally again and finish the school day. It is like we loose momentum or something.

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MaryMary
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Posted: Feb 10 2010 at 8:06pm \| IP Logged

I have a good friend, a homeschooling mom of 6 who does this very thing. She uses Seton's curriculum and her children seem to be thriving.

She schedules Math everyday along with one other subject. So her schedule goes something like this:

Mon. Math and Lang Art
Tues. Math and Lang Art
Wed. Math and Science
Thurs. Math and History/Geography
Fri. Math and Art (and catch up work, if I remember correctly)

This is what I remember anyway. I'll be seeing her tomorrow and I'll ask her if I got this right!

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Erin
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Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 1:14am \| IP Logged

Angel wrote:

I have found that once I realize that something is not working and that the best solution is to break one of my own habits -- say, getting the kids up earlier, or doing math and Latin in the afternoon when it's quiet, when what I really want to do is read a book or get online... I just have to start doing it. Sometimes it takes me a little while to get my courage up, because I generally have all sorts of objections ("But that's my only time off", "But I need that time to myself in the morning because I'm doing math and Latin in the afternoon", "But I'm tired..."), but once I finally get going (usually because I realize it really *is* the best solution), things work out, the new routine becomes the new normal, and I wonder what I was so afraid of before I started doing x. I think it's just a matter of inertia on my part.

Ouch

I know I need to break habits.

Natalia wrote:

I don't think it a simplistic answer at all Natalia. I think it brilliant!! Why didn't I think of it

I announced to the children that we are going to trial this, they are not happy.

I was also contemplating another idea, starting the topics before morning tea and the 'dailies' after MT.

Thanks for listening and helping me bat it all around.

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Erin
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mum2five
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Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 10:06am \| IP Logged

A timely post for me! We've just begun a homeschooling journey and in between managing the home, chronic sickness and an inquisitive toddler, I have been musing a daily/weekly rythmn.
I've kind of settled on 1/2 hour daily math, reading practice, writing practice and some form of catechesis which should cover our mornings. Afternoons will be craft, physical activities, board games and field trips - one subject per day and interchangeable depending on the weather! Here in the UK we have a lot of rain so the first sign of sunshine we'll be outside!!
Like all things though, the best laid plans of mice and men... will keep watching these posts for suggestions and tips.
San

KC in TX
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Posted: Feb 11 2010 at 11:18am \| IP Logged

I've been struggling with this for a LONG time. Our day is always interrupted with therapy appointments for my son. It's so hard after being in the therapy waiting room (which is for some reason extremely exhausting) to come home and jump right into school. I know I can get my daughters to do school in the waiting room, but they're not the problem. My son takes the longest to finish school.

I find that if I wake up early enough to get all my wiggles out (exercise, prayer, email check) the day goes much better. But, with dh deployed, early to bed has been difficult. It's always been that way when he's away but this is getting to me.

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Erin
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Posted: Feb 18 2010 at 9:31pm \| IP Logged

Just wanted to post back at the end of the school week and let you know that our week went MUCH better.

Rather than start with the 'dailies' we started with topic areas. So this week we did science, history, faith and geography!!! We still haven't managed to miss morning tea, at least the children haven't, I keep working.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Keep them coming though [:)]

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Erin
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Erin
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Posted: March 09 2010 at 1:56pm \| IP Logged

Thought another update would be useful for anyone else struggling with this issue. We have just had our best week and I think I have hit the key for our family.

Because we struggle with coming back after morning tea (always turns into an hour break) and the suggestion of not having MT was not received as an option

I stumbled across the best solution. We start earlier We've been starting at 8am (big effort for some of my children to be up and ready) and it is amazing how much work is done by MT time. I've also been inching the MT break time back bit by bit, so often they aren't breaking till 10.30am and they have really engaged deeply. With my older boys I took a good look at their subjects and cut several so they only have the ones I really want them to do, this is working well too. So more work is being achieved all round. Discipline is happening

San and KC how are you going in your search for finding your rhythm?

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Erin
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KC in TX
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Posted: March 09 2010 at 9:59pm \| IP Logged

I'm still struggling with this. But, there are days when I do get up early and take some quiet time before the children wake up. Those days flow better. I also need to work on being prepared for the coming day. But, it's so hard to get motivated to get things done after the children go to bed. Most days, it's all I can do to collapse on the couch and vegetate. I'm working on being more diligent.

Basically, I need my dh to be home but he won't be until at least August so I'm just going to have to use more discipline.

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At_His_Feet
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 3:31am \| IP Logged

Great topic, Erin!

I've found that my expectations were too high in terms of the number of topics I expected to achieve. This year I've cut out a number of subjects so that we cover maths and language arts before MT, which tends to be quite late. The rest of our day is mostly silent reading and read-alouds followed by independent copy work.

I also find that by week 5 or 6 of term I loose my momentum. So this year I've decided to take a week off in week 6 of term. I figure if a 36 week year is good enough for our American friends, then it's good enough for us too!

I'm also trying to make any appointments fall on a Wed. which is a slower day for us. We end up achieving nothing when we have to go anywhere.

Tricia

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Erin
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 2:10pm \| IP Logged

Tricia

How lovely to hear from you

I know families who don't worry about our school terms, they work on a basis of six weeks on, one week off. In the off week they may do housecleaning issues, crafts, etc

I so know what you mean about nothing achieved if we are out. When mine were your boys ages I also found if we were out for a whole day they needed a day to unwind so we lost two days.

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Erin
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Posted: March 16 2010 at 11:22am \| IP Logged

Natalia wrote:

Maybe you should not break for morning tea.

But... But...! You couldn't contemplate doing this! It's... it's... positively unAustralian!

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Natalia
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Posted: March 16 2010 at 1:28pm \| IP Logged

Fe2h2o wrote:

Natalia wrote:

Maybe you should not break for morning tea.

But... But...! You couldn't contemplate doing this! It's... it's... positively unAustralian!

Sorry to offend national sensitivities!

I thought the normal thing was afternoon tea like I read about on British books.

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Erin
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Posted: March 17 2010 at 12:51am \| IP Logged

Fiona

In a local school here they are now doing 'fruit breaks'. School starts a little earlier, I think 8.45am, then around about 9.30am they have a fruit break. The children are to bring a piece of fruit to eat at their desk, obviously not oranges. The children continue working till around 11.30am and break for an early lunch. This way students are not out in the sun at the hottest part of the day too. I believe another break is around 2pm. So no morning teas at this school.

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