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Curious? Typical days..
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oh, and Claire…many times when our day runs longer, it’s because we have gotten into an extended conversation over a reading selection. It’s rare we run over the 30 minute block, but if we do, it’s either in Science or History and I never cut it short if my son is very engaged in the topic of converstation
@Claire, No our days do not fit into a nice, organized box, LOL. We have a schedule/routine for each day, but something always throws us off, be it a good discussion/spontaneous nature study/cool science experiment that doesn’t fit into a 15 minute block/animal that gets sick/unexpected guest, the list goes on and on. We do try to complete what is scheduled but, more often than not, what was scheduled is not always completed by 1 or 2pm. We may still have some work that needs to be done in the evening…like reading/instrument practice. We are up early and don’t go to bed super early, but still can’t fit everything in without feeling like we’re rushing or just checking things off. Some subjects, sure, are done quickly and that’s okay, but some just require more time..or like you said, a good narration can take time and I just can’t rush it…and I mean that I can’t do that with my dc. I’m not suggesting that others are, simply saying that every family is different and that’s OK.
We start at 9, with family work and Bible study. Then we go to desk work until about 11:30. We break for lunch, and then have another hour of mostly reading work in the afternoon.
I should point out that we don’t include music practice, independent Bible study, independent artwork & handicrafts, PE, or individual reading in this ‘schedule’. Those are just things that occur as part of life and we don’t really schedule them :0).
Oh, and I do have a big old excel schedule that I use mostly at the beginning of the year to get our routine down pat. PM me if you would like to see it!
“I should point out that we don’t include music practice, independent Bible study, independent artwork & handicrafts, PE, or individual reading in this ‘schedule’. Those are just things that occur as part of life and we don’t really schedule them :0). “
(I don’t know how to do quotes – so that’s what I copy & pasted from ServingwithJoy’s post).
I wonder if that’s why I feel like the school day is never-ending….I have all those things written in my “rhythm/routine” (my schedule – but we don’t do anything at specific times). I include music practice so that one child can be doing something while I’m working with another child…..wondering how to change this. Just change how I’m thinking about it? or change it in the routine?
It seems like this year I’m having such trouble getting our routine to work. I’m ready to ditch it and just keep a checklist nearby! Maybe I ought to! *L*
I try to make a schedule for who is doing what and when (since both of my 7yo sons need me to be there for almost all of their learning but we don’t do it all together) but it never works out the way *I* planned it. I’ll write down that one is doing independent piano practice while the other is reading a chapter to me but that piano player has already done his independent practice before I was ready to read with the other. Or I’ll say we’re doing some LA at the table together first thing but one begs to read as soon as I’m awake. So I’m struggling, too, with knowing how to prioritize the schedule/love of learning spontaneity.
I don’t even know when to say we start and finish for the day. I aim to start by 8:30 or 9:00 but often we don’t. We’re often done around noon to 1-ish, but we almost always don’t get to everything I have on the list. Sometimes we take a long break after lunch and then try to do something else later in the afternoon. Or not. Just no steady routine at all, it feels. I crave having a steady routine but my kids don’t.
I know what you mean, Shannon. I have one ds (my youngest) who has a schedule/checklist, but there are times I have it planned for a certain reading “whatever” and he begs to do Delightful Reading but I may not have time for that right at that moment because that wasn’t my “plan”. How do you say, NO?? I do say no sometimes and he just has to deal with it but I do struggle when they are begging for “such and such” but that’s not until, say, Thursday, LOL. I do show them/him our schedule so he can see for himself but the do have minds of their own. I have told them that they can do “whatever” on their free time (afternoon) and that usually helps.
I add everything to our list as well, meaning, music practice, Bible, etc. If I didn’t, I feel it wouldn’t get done, maybe even forgotten about. If it’s on the list then I don’t have to remind them, but maybe that’s why our day seems so long as well. MAYBE my dc need 2 lists?? One that is strictly academic and one that is for personal development/interests, such as: music, handicraft, chores, etc. (the list that servingwithjoy mentioned)….HMMMM. Something to think about.
I do this massive planning once a year and use my SCM planning tools to do it. I love the process. It helps me visualize what and where we are going for the year as a whole. And then I plan to the term (not set in stone) level so that i’m prepared with materials/books/etc. I’m not big on taking it down to the week, day, hour, etc. It’s just not our style.
@Scoathy – I would cry trying to work your schedule but I love and respect that it works for you! 🙂
Maybe someone from SCM will comment on this post too. Specifically how one goes about finishing with afternoons free without squelching the love of learning, teachable moments, etc. Did Charlotte address this in her works?
I always wonder are their moms who simply assign work and then meet up again when it’s done at the end of said time? How fulfilling is that for everyone?
I think it is going to be different for everyone, but I will go ahead and post our schedule.
School starts at 8:30 here.
We start with:
Bible
Memory Work
ScienceThen each child starts on his own work. The girls have a list of the subjects they need to do in the given order. My oldest’s (11) list looks like this:
Math
R&S
IEW SICC A
Word Roots
ReadingMy 9 year old’s list looks like this:
Copywork
Reading
Math
R&S/Grammar-Land
WritingWhen I stagger their subjects like this it makes it so that they are working on their independant work while I am working with the other one. Especially on Mondays when they need me for Math, Writing, and R&S (this one is actually everyday).
My son’s (7) subject are:
ETC workbook
DWN (for copywork)
Math
Phonics
Read-Aloud & NarrationETC and DWN he can do on his own and sometimes math. Phonics & Read-Aloud we fit in wherever I can. I just make sure they get done. All this is usally completed before lunch. I do not put time limits on how long each subject should take them.
At the lunch table I read our History, & current Read Aloud. Then we do either Picture Study, or Spanish flash cards. We switch off each month or so between these. I also switch between our main focus being Science or History. Right now Science is our focus so that is done in the morning. We are simply reading for History right now, no extras, so it is done at the lunch table.
We are usally done by 1:30 with all this. My oldest ever-so-often still has something to work on. I let her choose when she wants to finish it as long as it gets done that day.
Thursdays are a little different in that the girls do LOF instead of MUS. We also do a spelling bee together in place of their Copywork and Word Roots. We are still done around 1:30.
coralloyd, do you feel giving them a list in order helps them work better? My 9yo struggles with obedience – so if I give her a list and say this MUST be done in this order, she’ll buck me all the way. If I give it to her and say to pick 5 things or to do them in any order she chooses, she’ll usually happily do the whole thing. She enjoys checking things off – but she likes to decide the order.
Is that a big deal? I know disobedience is a big deal, but is liking to change the order a big deal.
I know that for me, I like to have only one working on math at a time – too many “help”‘s at one time otherwise.
I have a daily schedule, but a weekly checklist (broken down by day but just ONE sheet of paper for the week). That gives me a do-the-next-thing schedule to follow most of the time, but it’s very easy to switch things out, too. If we do Art on Wednesday, then when we hit the regular Art time slot on Friday and see it’s already checked off for the week, we go back and finish whatever didn’t get done on Wednesday. Very easy, requires no remembering or planning on my part 😛 So far it’s working pretty well for us!
Also, my kiddos are responsible for checking off their own lists which seems to motivate them.
You know Karen I am flexible with their list, as long as one is working on something independently, while I am working with the other. Sometimes they want to switch off who I start with. Sometimes they do their independent work in a different order. Mondays are the days they need me the most. This is when I sometimes need to be more strict about it.
ETA: I typed the order of my 9 yr. old’s list wrong. It should go:
Copywork
Reading
Writing
Math
R&S/Grammar-Land
Vikingkirken, do you have a printout you can share for both the daily list for your children and the weekly list for you? I actually have a system that sounds very similar to yours but I love to see layouts/ideas from others to see if tweaking would make my system work better.
Karen, one of my 7yo sons also struggles with ‘being told what to do’. The other 7yo not so much but still, he gets excited to do some subject or another and it doesn’t feel right for me to say ‘no, math is first today’. I don’t know if by me sticking to ‘The Schedule’ would help them know what comes first, next, etc…or if doing what you feel inspired to work on is the better way to go as long as you get to the most important things first and everything eventually. My gut says the latter works for us…but I don’t know if that is a weakness on my part or ‘working with personality traits’. I do know that while we get to the most important things usually, we never get to ‘everything eventually’. That’s why this issue is important to me right now.
Thanks for the conversation!
@Claire – I may be mistaken, but it seems you’re referring to rabbit trails of curiosity that pop up in the midst of other lessons. I see rabbit trails in hype midst of lessons as a negative, personally. They distract from the task at hand and extend our lesson time unnecessarily. I want my children to form relations between subject matter and they do! I encourage them to go further, dig deeper on whatever is of supreme interest to them, but not at the expense of losing our focus, our attention, on the task at hand. We have short and varied lessons, so their attention is not overtaxed by doing the same type of thing for too long.
“Power of Will implies Power of Attention.––But you perceive that, though the will is all-powerful within certain limits, these are but narrow limits after all. Much must go before and along with a vigorous will if it is to be a power in the ruling of conduct. For instance, the man must have acquired the habit of attention, the great importance of which we have already considered. There are bird-witted people, who have no power of thinking connectedly for five minutes under any pressure, from within or from without. If they have never been trained to apply the whole of their mental faculties to a given subject, why, no energy of will, supposing they had it, which is impossible, could make them think steadily thoughts of their own choosing or of anyone else’s. Here is how the parts of the intellectual fabric dovetail: power of will implies power of attention; and before the parent can begin to train the will of the child, he must have begun to form in him the habit of attention.” Vol 1, p. 326
I would share more but the day is calling me to get started right now. If I’m off in what you’re asking, my apologies.
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