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Extracurricular vs Academics, are we too relaxed?
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Just feeling a little worried and wanted some reassurance or constructive criticism; either way. We have become very active in the 4-H this fall; we have done alot of shows and this last week missed alot of school. I had also just recently found a co-op that meets one day a week that is an “enrichment day” of sorts; the kids love it. So, my husband voiced his concerns today that we are losing a day of academics by going to this, not to mention the lost days due to other extracurricular (4-H, unexpected errands, etc.) activities. I do admit I have felt a twang of anxiety as well; I already feel they are “behind” academically (both have tested behind by public school standards due to learning disabilities). At the same time, these activities have filled a sort of “void” I think for them. We have found a place for great christian fellowship with other like-minded folks and opportunities for Godly friends that I feel they need. I know we could do “make-up” work on weekends, but we are usually so busy with the cows, church, and housework; the thought of hitting the books at night or on weekends is dreadful! Do I need to just “chill out ” and not stress about a lighter school load, or tighten up somehow?
Your children’s ages?
If your husband is concerned, so should you be in order to make sure what he considers most important is completed.
That said, if the co-op is an enrichment day, might those subjects be deleted from your other days?
Errands…make a rule that they are only run on co-op day, or 4-H day and plan accordingly.
Make sure your days at home are taken seriously to get the necessary studies done to allow for the other time away from home.
How old are your kids?
We have a general rule that until 1:00 every day is school. We are free after that for any social activities/enrichment/appointments. Things occasionally come up, of course, but generally we don’t like to interrupt our school day.
The co-op sounds fun. Is it all day? Can you fill in some of the margin of your day with a little school work? Can you listen to an audio book (history, literature, composer study) on the way there?
It’s a tough balance sometimes!
kids are 14 and 12; both need guided help with most subjects. We were not doing the extras (enrichment) before trying the co-op becasue the other subjects take so much time ( as they need axtra help). The c0-op has added an art class, PE, a “book review” class, and choir to their week. It also looks like there are many field trips planned on the schedule (museums, different workplaces, etc).
I don’t know if it would work for you, but we do a four-day school week; three of those days are at home, and one is math+field trips/nature walks/etc. We do a summer term as well to get in enough days in the year. It has been a HUGE help having that fifth “flex day” every week, to fit in missed schoolwork, housework, sick days, errands, extra activities, etc without constantly feeling like I’m falling behind.
That”s kind of what I thought too. I have been looking at posts that talk about schedules and ‘what do you do every day” questions to see if we are in the mix somehow. I used to stagger some subjects out just twice or 3 times per week, but maybe if we are adding this enrichment day, should I try to cover most all subjects everday? This is a tentative revision of our schedule I have beeen working on (dad took kids to co-op to observe and see what he thinks…); how does this look? Family devotion time (30min. 4 days), Book of Mottos (15min 4 days), Math U See (30-45min days), Spelling word practice/Vocabulary (30min. days), Geography/map practice (15-30min 4days), Easy Grammar (15min. 3 days; starting one written narrations 1 day per week), Story of the Greeks + Black Ships Before Troy (30-45min 4 days), Science (30 min 3 days week), Spelling Wisdom/Dictation (15 min 3 days week), Literature 30-45 min. 4-5 evenings. Friday co-op 8:30-1:00 includes choir, art, book club, PE and field trips. Does this look ok? My K-5er is more flexible; she is fine doing school on weekends, and since her material is so short I work with her at least 3-4 days per week (total set work time no more than 1-2 hours per day). Does this look fair, too light, too much? My kids are slower learners, so sometimes my best plans are completely blown away if we have a “bad math day” or if it takes my son a whole morning to complete just 2-3 subjects. On these days, I have been known to skip some classes to avoid a burned out kid. Hope this also is not being too lenient; it is hard to get anything out of him if he is pushed to breaking point (like it was back in his private school days). Do these daily plans look ok?
We do 4 days school, year round. There are a couple of breaks for vacations, etc…but for the most part year round school has helped my kids to excel in their academics and participate in the enrichment activities as well.
Also, we don’t leave the house during school hours, or schedule play dates at those times. It really just takes a commitment to stay home and get the work done in the morning to early afternoon.
Looking at your schedule – looks good, but geography up to 30 minutes daily seems a bit heavy to me. Also, do your kids do much of their work/reading independently? At 12 and 14 they should be transitioning to that. Your kindergartner could probably get by with a lot less than 1-2 hours per day (unless you are counting things like story books and nature walks in that time?).
In general, I would say the most important thing – especially if your kids are behind somehow – is that they learn to love reading. They are reaching the ages of independence and will soon need to be able to enjoy reading for information themselves.
I understand the desire to do it all, but sometimes it takes a period of getting back to basics before adding in all the extras that can take up energy and time. If your husband feels it is too much, maybe you should consider cutting back on the 4-H activities for a while? Our club allows as much (or as little) participation as you would like to do, as long as you attend 3 meetings per year.
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