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HELP HELP! Are we doing too much?
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I have a 13, 10, 9, and 7 year old. Currently, we are using ELTL, Spelling Wisdom, Spelling Workout and Queen’s Language Lessons. My 10, 9, and 7 year old also do Explode the Code, which they love! I worry that they will miss something and that is why I have them do so much. My 10 year old has auditory processing disorder and also does Right Brain Phonics. I would love to hear what others are currently doing with their children! Thank You!
That is a lot 🙂
What do you feel they will miss if you drop some of the subjects? Maybe narrow the focus and drop some of the extras that are “doubling up” on skills.
My oldest is in 3rd and we are doing ELTL Level 3 and Spelling Wisdom (review phonics with the new words). She also does copy work two times/week. I feel it is plenty, and can not imagine trying to add more, time for it all.
It seems we are getting done too soon, especially my middle school son. So I added those extras. There aren’t many CMer’s near me so I fall into that “thinking” we aren’t really “schooling” if we don’t finish until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. All of my friends are HSer’s and of course we talk about our days. Their days are much longer than mine and then in my mind I say to myself “should we be doing more?” Does that make any sense?
We are usually done by noon, about 3.5 hours which leaves the afternoon to pursue interests, play, be outside…
I grew up being homeschooled, and even through highschool, rarely was a day longer than 4 hours of school work. It was great, free time to see friends and also get a part time job.
Long day does not always mean “better”. Yes sometimes days get long, but CM methods are about shorter, but very focused lessons. Not just “filling time” 🙂
This topic has a great link concerning scheduling
https://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/secrets-from-charlotte-mason-on-scheduling-for-peace-fabulous-blog-post/It’s not about how much time we spend but about how much our children are learning. Busywork does not equal learning.
I learned less in 8 hours a day of schooling (plus homework) than I do in homeschooling my children for just a few hours every day. We are done by 1:30 for the most part and my daughter is in 7th grade. The education she is receiving is far superior to anything I ever received in all my wasted hours of public school. CM methods really do WORK!
Thank you for your encouragement!!!
Melanie 32, would you mind walking me thru a typical day with your 7th grader? I have a 7th grade son and he is the one whom I am struggling the most with regarding “is he getting enough.”
Sarah2106 thank you for the blog post! I have never seen that one!
Sure! I can share what’s working for us right now. I started by taking the schedules that CM used in her schools and tweaking them a bit to fit our family.
My daughter does her bible as part of her morning routine. She is using Penny Gardner’s bible reading plan and is reading one Old Testament selection and one New Testament selection each day. She also uses SCM’s Bible Doctrine study at this time. We walk a mile every morning before starting school as well.
Mondays-Thursdays
9:00-Math (Math U See Zeta)
9:30-History (AO Year 6)
9:50-Mon:copwork, Tues:Dictation, Wed:Science, Thurs:Dictation,
10:20-Science (AO Year 6 combined with God’s Design for Chemistry) On Wednesdays, she does composition at this time.
10:40-Mon:grammar, Tues:Root Word Study, Wed:Map Drill, Thurs:-Grammar
11:00-Mon:French, Tues:Bible Study, Wed:French, Thurs:Bible Study
11:20-Lunch.
12:00-Piano
12:20-We do scripture memory at this time every day. Also-Mon:poetry and hymn study, Tues: Composer study, Wed:Picture Study, Thurs:Book of Centuries. When we finish our picture studies for the term, we do Shakespeare on Wednesdays for the remainder of that term.
12:40-Read alouds. We usually read a portion of a historical fiction or biography and also from a classic at this time.
1:10-Literature for 20 minutes-has to be a classic
On Fridays, we switch things up a bit to make time for nature study.
9:00-Nature study
9:30-Nature notebook entry
9:50-Math
10:20-History
10:40-Composition
11:00-Grammar
11:20-Lunch
12:00-French
12:20-Piano
12:40-read alouds
1:10-Literature
Some of the things we use to study our different subjects are:
Step by Step Grammar
SCM Picture Portfolios
French for Beginners (free on youtube)
Rummy Roots (a card game that teaches root words)
SCM’s Hebrews bible study
Compositions are simply written narrations. We implement Sonya Shafer’s instructions (in the All Day Charlotte Mason Seminar series) for scripture memory, poetry study, hymn study and map drill, copywork and dictation.
Phew! I think I covered it all. 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions.
Wow!! That is awesome!! I am going to restructure our day! I love your details and thank you so much for taking the time to do that! One more question, What did you when your daughter was in 2nd and 3rd grade?
You are so welcome! What I did with my daughter when she was in 2nd and 3rd grade is a little different than what I would do were I teaching those grades today. I’ve learned a lot since then.
We read living books for history and science, did math u see and a lot of read alouds. We always used narration. We did copywork, picture study, nature study and composer study rather sporadically. We did scripture memory work and bible each day.
If I had to do it over, I would make a schedule like our current one and put all of these things on the schedule so that they would get done regularly. Maybe something like this:
9:00-Bible and scripture memory
9:20-Math
9:40-History
10:00-Science
10:20-Copy work
10:40-Alternate nature study, composer study, picture study, poetry and hymn study
11:00-Geography
11:20-reading practice
11:40-Read alouds
12:00-School’s out! Time for lunch, handicrafts and free time. 🙂
I am beginning to incorporate the CM method in homeschooling my third grader. I just joined this discussion group. Melanie32, thank you so much for the schedule examples. I have trouble feeling that we’ve done “enough” by 12:00 and I know that I need to back off a little. I have an eleven year old who is a totally different being than her younger sister and loves to spend more time actively studying. She is thriving using a more classical method but my younger one needs more time to do other things like sew, help me around the house, cook, paint…
Melanie, thanks so much for sharing your schedule. Do you have any tips on how I can implement something like this? Do you watch the clock, set timers, have times listed on a daily schedule your daughter follows, etc. ? We have a schedule for each child, but no times listed. What about subjects where you do not finish the chapter/lesson, or something more creative like art? What f a subject is taking longer than you planned on? Thanks.
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