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Is this enough for fourth grade?
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I am new to this forum and just came across Simply Charlotte Mason, but I have loved the idea of a Charlotte Mason education since my oldest daughter was beginning school! I haven’t always been able to implement a CM education as I would have liked due to life circumstances, but I hope to add more of her style into our day. I have been reading this forum like a crazy woman, and have used lots of the good ideas already. So I would love to have some advise on whether there is anything I should add.
It seems like our school isn’t taking very long to finish each day, and I feel like I might be leaving something out. Here’s what we usually do. I have three kids, DD13 (7th grade), DD10 (4th grade), and DS7 (1st grade).
Morning Basket, which includes scripture memory, devotional, and a loop schedule of Composer, Picture, or Hymn Study, and Poetry. Usually takes 30-45 minutes depending on what our study is for the day. Then I dismiss my DD13 to go do her independent work (she is doing Notgrass History, so is not with us for history. Next year she will stay and do her history with us. I am planning to use SCM Module 6 next year.)
Then I do our history/geography read-aloud with the youngers, and science read-aloud 2 days a week. We are using the Storybook of Science for that. History takes 15-20 minutes to read and narrate, and Science maybe 10-20 to read and narrate.
Then the youngers go do their math, language arts, copywork, and DD10 has a independent reading for history. That might take about an hour if they don’t dawdle. DD comes to me after reading and narrates her independent reading. I hope to add in a bit more written narration next year, but for now it’s mostly oral.
They then go outside and play after lunch. All day long. The younger two would live outside if I would let them. And I’m glad about that… really, I am.
I do also read a literature book aloud at bedtime. Right now we are going through the Book of Virtues.
Some days they will get interested in something we read, and go a little longer while we look up something online or in our encyclopedias, but otherwise we can be done with the book part of school in a little over two hours, and sometimes less.
It just doesn’t seem like very much time to spend on school work. Not that I want to overload them or anything, but is that all it takes, really??? Is there anything I should add into our day? Of course, my DD13’s school takes longer, as she is doing harder math and science than we do in grade school.
I plan to add handiwork to the afternoon soon, but haven’t been too worried about it, because my kids love to craft, and make things. Just today, my DD sat down at the sewing machine and was sewing a pillow for her doll!
Should I add an independent literature book for DD10? She is really just now beginning to take off with her reading, so is probably still a little below grade level on that, so I don’t want to overwhelm her, but… I just don’t know where the balance is for too much and not enough.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I think your children are doing wonderfully! That’s great that they enjoy playing outdoors so much and are already doing handicrafts for their own enjoyment.
You might add a just for fun read aloud to your morning time and you might do poetry every day instead of just once a week. I would also assign some extra reading to your fourth grader. If she is just now becoming a proficient reader, I would have her reading aloud to me every day as well as reading silently. Also, is she doing dictation yet? Dictation is so wonderful for helping our children to really pay attention to words. You might also add in 1 written narration a week for her.
They are already doing P.E. and art (handicrafts) on their own so those can be counted as school time along with your evening read alouds.
I think you are doing plenty! Sounds like your children love school and life and are thriving. I have five children, and we are always done before lunch. Like yours, my kids play outside all afternoon! We are outdoorsy people.
Sounds like a great homeschool for them to enjoy learning! We school year-round (relaxed schedule though) so we can have short days and get to be outside whenever they want to as soon as they finish their work. Mine are all done by lunch for sure, the younger ones more around 10:30-11.
You could also add a bit more structured nature study if they want to sketch something outside, or bring in a nature collection and look up leaves, bugs, etc. Seems like mine bring something in every day that we look up!
So I’m definitely feeling discouraged after reading this. My oldest is in fourth grade, then second, K, 2 1/2 years…& one on the way. Our biggest time loss is attitudes, disobedience, just not coming to table, not staying put, leaving independent work. Sometimes it makes our school days last until dinnertime! It’s mainly my DS, grade 2. All good kids, but somehow I just don’t seem to be controlling well. Never feels good to constantly be leaving the others when I’m engaged to always discipline one. He is the only boy…he is great academically. One day when he was getting reprimanded for wasting so much time all day he said that he knew he could get it done in time…he basically goofed off all day and buckled down in just enough time to be done when dad gets home. I was thinking he would pay consequences by missing out on what we did fun that night. He is too smart for that. Incidentally he has been punished repeatedly and lost almost every privelege I can think of. Dad is very involved–he often sees “the principal” at the end of the day. Just not sure what to do. I’m so tired of wasting so much time!!! The 2 yo obviously provides some distraction and the other two are far from perfect but as expected, just occasional issues. I need to try to improve before next school year bc baby is due in September. We aren’t running like the well oiled machine I would hope for. Baby isn’t going to help!:-). Any advice appreciated! (I’m mostly following the SCM recommendations on almost everything)
3fallingleaves-Your son sounds perfectly normal to me! Boys are just so much more active than girls, for the most part, and they need lots of physical activity. It’s harder for them to sit still. I always had my son take lots of breaks to run around a bit or do something physical. I have been known to make him run around the house 3 times between subjects. 🙂
We haven’t participated in too many outside of the home activities through the years. We live in a small town so there isn’t much to choose from. We had a weekly park day when the kids were little and an occasional field trip.
Now that my son is grown and it’s just my 14 year old daughter and myself, we go to a monthly homeschool meeting along with weekly piano lessons and (still) the occasional field trip. We may be attending our first coop next school year as some moms are toying with the idea of starting one in the next town over.
Thanks for the encouragement. I always feel like we should be done by noon…it just never happens!? We also live in Alaska and while they play outside year round, when it’s super cold (-40–20) they don’t last that long and are so bundled up they are not really running enough to burn off enough steam. Thanks though!!
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