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Barb.b
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 9:02am | IP Logged
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So give me examples of your day - I have 2 kids I am homeschooling and am thinking I need to have a more formal time schedule of times I meet with them- like dd meet for history 9:00 - 9:15 (then she goes does independent work in ti) ds history 9:15-9:30 and so on. DS is 3rd grade; dd 8th. How do you plan/schedule so you meet with each child as you want. . .
Barb
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 9:32am | IP Logged
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Barb,
We tend to meet together for:
** Morning Basket/Afternoon Tea Time Basket
** Narrations
** Weekly meetings
Morning Basket/Afternoon Tea Time Basket
These are the times that punctuate our day, and in many ways anchor our days. I keep common books that I read aloud from in baskets and read to all the children during Morning Basket time, and the afternoon tea times are usually just for the older children so we might tackle more difficult books with deeper ideas at this time.
Narrations
This is how I keep up with what and how my children are learning. When I have down time (usually in the afternoon after working with littles in the morning), I ask for narrations from the older kids.
Weekly Meetings
We do meet together once a week in a formal way to discuss what they're reading, concerns, scheduling issues, challenges with assignments, etc. Weekly meetings are a combination cheering/brainstorming challenges session for us.
*******************************************
Beyond those, my older children (6th and 10th) are self-educators, working independently. They check in with me on an as needed basis during the day. I'm with my littler people (2nd and preschool) much more. We spend our mornings together working.
Could you work with your 3rd grader in the morning, meeting with him during that time, and then save some afternoon time for meeting with/checking in with your 8th grader, Barb? Your option of starting the day off with your 8th grader and then moving to work with the 3rd grader would also work.
I just realized that I tend to think in more general, macro terms when the children and I meet, and you might be thinking of meeting with your kids daily for each subject which is something I don't do so this advice might not mesh with your goals. (??)
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 12:26pm | IP Logged
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We do not have set times that we meet, but just have an attitude of "do the next thing" and it all gets done.
What I mean is that (for dd10)I take my perch on the couch and start pulling from the week's basket of books, one at a time, which either I read aloud to dd, or she reads to me, or we do whatever it is that needs to be done such as map work or a notebook page. And we just keep working that way (with breaks for lunch, outside time, art projects etc) until we've done all we set out to do for the day.
As for my highschooler, he is a pretty independent unschooler. On Mondays we discuss his plans for the week, and he checks in with me throughout the day (and I with him) so I can admire his progress or offer suggestions, and keep him on track with his goals. He loves to show me his work,and I love an excuse to get off the couch for a bit!LOL! We also read novels together and discuss them casually over lunch or whenever, and we are watching a calculus course together as well, so we slip that into the week a couple of times also.
Anyway, that pretty much sums up our day. It is very casual and loose, but we do seem to get a lot done that way in a very low-stress way.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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SallyT
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 1:16pm | IP Logged
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I've roughed out basic schedules, which are more like orders-of-business, for my 8th-grader and my 2nd- and 3rd graders here and here.
We don't follow these religiously, and my 8th-grader works almost entirely independently, just coming to discuss with me what he's been doing. The bulk of my homeschooling time is spent with my youngers together -- aside from their independent (or, in the 2nd-grader's case, buddy-) reading and their copywork, they're working together on the same things. I deal with the various discrete subjects through a rota of read-alouds, with supplemental books available in the book rack and around the house, which they take up in their free time.
Note that the 8th-grader's range of subjects are also covered in his reading (I think his whole list is in the sidebar on that page), though he does a lot of independent reading/research, exploration. So I don't have discrete subject areas scheduled. Currently he's spending far more time on algebra than anything else -- probably more like 2-3 hours/day -- but he also reads quickly and well. Again, he's kind of working in my peripheral vision, but he's also very good about coming to talk to me about what he's doing, as well as self-grading and correcting on his math problem sets and tests.
I also don't schedule specific times -- it works better for me just to have a broad daily agenda and to move through it than to say, "At ten o'clock we will do X." I just make myself frustrated that way. A basic order of business can be carried out any time; it doesn't matter so much whether we start at 9 or at 10 or at 1 p.m. (though we're usually more consistent than that -- generally the youngers start school around 10 and go until lunchtime, while the 8th grader works into the afternoon), as long as we do that day's devotions, reading, writing, math, and Spanish according to our routine.
I don't know whether this speaks to your needs and your style at all, but it's how we do things.
Sally
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SallyT
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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PS: I had visions of lapbooking, but we haven't done any yet. Our day goes:
devotions/Mass
catechism/religion reading
daily read-aloud
copywork
math
Spanish using various apps and Coffee Break Spanish
independent or buddy-reading
lunch
I allow some online time, usually in the afternoon, for playing CoolMath games or visiting Starfall.com or the Wild Kratts site at PBSKids.org. We have used Head of the Class some, but the kids have gotten a little bored with it, so we don't visit that often.
So that's how our original plan is playing out currently.
Sally
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jawgee
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| Posted: Oct 19 2011 at 1:33pm | IP Logged
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I have a rough schedule in an Excel spreadsheet for each of my boys (only two schooling right now!). We just work through the lists. They are laminated so the boys check things off and add notes using a dry-erase marker.
We do start our day with the subjects we are working on together. Then they break off to do their individual things. I bounce back and forth between them if someone needs my help or if I am working one-on-one with one of them.
I like the *idea* of having specific times for things, but it just doesn't seem to work out that way right now. The kids like to choose the order in which they work on things (right now my oldest loves history), so I need to be more flexible.
If I need to meet with them individually, I usually grab some time in the afternoon when schooling and lessons are over with.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: Oct 25 2011 at 5:57pm | IP Logged
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My homeschoolers are grade 3 and 7.
I encourage independent work. One day I won't be there, so they do need to learn that skill.
For dd12, she gets her weekly assignments Monday morning. i have it broken down into days as well(thank you homeschool Tracker). She works independently unless otherwise indicated. Some things we discuss, other times it's a lesson I go over. I'm available for questions.
I have dd7 lessons in HST as well, but I just look daily, and pull out what she needs. I put sticky notes on the books with assignments, and notes what NEEDS to be with mom, what is for her to do. I take a few minutes at each transition, to explain the lesson. We also do work together. AAS, writing with Ease. We do both once or twice a week. I like how they build on her actual core curricula. Plus they give me a good feel on how she is doing.
I don't do a formal lesson. I am supposed to be doing spelling tests with dd12, but she doesn't come to me for them.. need to get on her for that. I have little ones in the home as well, so it's easy for me to forget.
Until this year, I've had a hard time getting a rhythm. This is only our 2n full year of schooling. But I think we all fell into a pattern of working. Assignments are being done and being corrected. So it's moving forward well. See when your kids work best. Some are simply not 8am workers. If I get dd7 started at 8am, or at 10 am, we still have the same end time. So I just aim for a 10 am start. It's more pleasant, she is more focused then too.
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JuliaT
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| Posted: Oct 27 2011 at 7:35am | IP Logged
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We also don't have a timed schedule. We have an easy rhythm to our days that has worked well for the last few years.
We start our days with Morning Time, where we read the Bible, Shakespeare, poetry and our read aloud. It takes us about an hour for that and then we move into individual work. I work with my youngest first and do all of her subjects while the olders do their own work. Then I move on to my ds (10) and do math, writing and grammar (if needed) with him. This usually takes us to lunch time. After lunch, I spend time with dd (12) helping her with her writing and reading and reading and discussing any books that we have going on together. Then the two youngers and I do our content subject together. We do history, science and literature in block scheduling. We do each of these subjects for a month at a time. Right now we are doing science, so I do that with the two youngers and the my oldest does hers on her own.
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Blessings,
Julia
mom of 3(14,13 & 11 yrs.old)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: rethinking my daily schedule. . .
