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Doing almost all subjects with the children?
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I was wondering if I am doing too much “hand holding” with my students. It seems that I am directly involved with almost every aspect of their 5th grade education. I have 10-year-old triplets. I think if I had to do many grades simultaneously, there is no way I could be so involved with everything. I remember reading something somewhere about “independant work” vs. “mother directed subjects”. However, I feel as though all I do is help with everything except MathUSee, Apologia Ocean Science, typing practice. Here is what I am doing generally (not all in one day):
Pray together, scripture memory, Bible, poetry (me reading), SCM Gen-Deut. History/Geo./Bible (I read to them, they narrate to me, except for the additional reading which I assign and then they narrate to me), Spelling Wisdom (here, I am dictating to all three individually), Literature (me reading aloud…again), Latin (using Getting Started With Latin; we do each lesson all together), and any poet/composer/artist study (I am reading about that person to them).
They just started reading Grammarland independantly and doing the worksheets, but since I am not reading it and there are no answer keys, I don’t know if their answers are right, so I think I’m looking at doing that with them too.
I think it would be great if I didn’t have to be SO involved. Maybe I don’t? Maybe you can suggest a better way to still have a CM education? Thank you in advance!
Angie, perhaps it’s time to have them read more of their literature and history for themselves. You don’t have to give up reading to them entirely, but I usually begin a transition to doing most of their reading on their own by 7th grade, with only one family read-aloud left by then, plus Shakespeare and Plutarch. Since you’ll have 3 using the same books, you’ll need to adjust a schedule so that they are doing different things when one of them is on a particular book.
Additionally, they can read the poetry aloud instead of you. For my two, ds reads aloud on Mon. and dd reads aloud on Wed. while I just listen in, and they to each other, to make sure it’s being done well.
Also, the Scripture memory verses can be done themselves.
Rachel
I agree with the above. My kids are 9 and 12 and read most of their literature and history on their own. They also do individual devotions. In our together time, I do read a bit of history spine/guide material, a character book, do scripture memory, and read Apologia Science (though I’m much looking forward to separating them for science next year, each reading their own!) I purposely gave them more independent work this year…the only thing I regret is we’re not reading a lit. book as a family as much as I’d like, so plan to do that more. I was trying to decrease my reading time, but reading a good story together is a highlight of our day….and will probably be a highlight of my homeschol memories when they’re done schooling. HTH some:) Gina
My kids are the same age as Gina’s (+ one more) and we do things pretty much the same way. We always have a lit. book going and I do read the Millers books to my kids every other day, they love it.
My older boys are at a stage now where I could be sick or they could be cared for by someone else (not my dh) for the day and could get through most subjects on their own. It’s pretty nice.
That doesn’t mean we don’t do alot together, but since most of our “programs”/subjects are written to them I don’t have to do much. Hope that made sense.
For kids who are more auto-pilot, do you give them a daily or weekly checklist so they know what they need to accomplish w/o having to check with you? I should add that this is our first year to CM, so I wanted to get the feel for everything new along with them. I now can tell that I’m working too hard, and that they are capable of doing more on their own. You’ve all reinforced that thought- thank you! Now, if I can just put this plan into ACTION! 🙂
I highly recommend SCM’s “Planning Your CM Education.” I use their downloadable schedules. Each kid has a daily sheet and they check off as they go. Their chores are on here, too. It’s really nice..they clean up their breakfast and work about 1 1/2-2 hrs. before they need me (except for maybe a little help here and there). I’m slow going in the morning, so it works great for us:) If we have a co-op day or day we need to shorten for some reason, they can pretty much get their core subjects done without much help from me…just some guidance on new math concepts, etc.
For ease of planning for me, I keep the schedule generalized and they do the same thing every M/W/T/R/F. Meaning, every M is the same, every T is the same, etc. Some subjects are daily, some are maybe 2-3x/per week. So for math, I simply write 2 pages, not exact pages, etc.They keep it in a folder with a sheet cover over it and just use a dry erase marker every day to check off subjects/chores. Thus, I’m not re-writing schedules all the time. If I need to change something, I just make a correction on my computer and print a new sheet…easy peasy. HTH some….please let me know if you have any more qu.:) Gina
Okay, I think Gina and I were separated a birth. I do almost the same thing. I need to make some revisions but I have to do something else right now….dishes.
You ladies are great, I really appreciate it so much! I am going to check out the Planning your CM education right now…
Simply Charlotte Mason’s Online Organizer is a wonderful way to print off the Daily lessons and keep track of everything that you need scheduled and recorded. This is our fifth year using it.
This is a very helpful thread! I have a question to add on…my oldest is 4th grade and I’ve not transitioned into her reading science or history on her own yet – I have 2 youngers as well, so I read aloud these subjects to all. Do I need to read what my oldest is reading first…so I know what she knows?? I mean to say that since I’m not a history expert – how do I know if she’s narrating her history correctly if I’ve not read what she’s reading? Same goes with Science…Does that make sense?
In a non-CM education parents get to look at worksheet answers and check them off in their teacher’s manual. This being our second year of a CM education…I’ve not wrapped my head around this part yet.
I, too, have used Planning Your CM Education and it gave me insight on how to schedule school. Remember though to do what works for you. After tweaking a bit, I finally discovered what is best for me.
My day is separated into time boxes, and the kids are “independent” in one of those times. They later have “guided” time with me to check their work and do anything that needs my attention.
Heather, you don’t have to read every word of what you give your kids, but it’s good to have a general idea. Many times I will be looking through their chapter as they narrate so that I can see for sure if they are getting some idea from what the author said.
My3boys, you’re too funny:)
I agree with simple home…do what works for you. In the “Planning Your CM Education” guide they give many examples of different ways to set up schedules, which is helpful. And yes, Heather, I don’t think you don’t have to read all your kids are reading. I’m starting to feel conviction that I need to be reading more of these literature classics I expect my kids to, so plan to find the time for that, maybe over the summer. I’ve also heard of moms using Wikipedia or Sparkle Notes for story summaries on those they don’t have time to pre-read (but this may be for books for older kids). For history so far (my kids are 9 and 12), I haven’t worried about reading their readings because we also read TQ guide/spine material together. :)Gina
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