Talking too much ( ME ) and need to understand the flow of a CM school day

Shannon,

It is good that you recognize this weakness in yourself, and I think most of us have probably been where you are.

The best advice I can give you is to trust in the books and trust that your children will learn whatever they need at the right time. Explain when they ask questions, but try to give them room to ruminate over the ideas and thoughts in the books themselves. Maybe pray, and ask God to show you when to speak and when to be silent. If you already have had the experience of limited learning because of others’ lecturing, then just do your best to get out of the way and choose to be different for your own children. 

I think you already know what you need to do; it’s just a matter of putting every effort into doing it!

ETA: For flow, it’s easy to feel like a CM day doesn’t “flow” the way a typical school day might. That’s because it doesn’t! And it shouldn’t! Because CM isn’t typical. The flow of our school day will look different from everyone else’s and that’s ok. Generally, just follow Charlotte’s methods of keeping lessons short, varying the order of your subjects, and reading good, living books. 

At first, you might feel like the shorter lessons w/ varying subjects makes the day feel choppy, but you’ll quickly see how much more you’ll all enjoy school time because there won’t be a chance for boredom to set in. If you know going into it that this choppiness isn’t really a problem, just unfamiliar maybe, it might help you to move past that feeling and settle into a rhythm that works for all of you.

We use MUS for math, so I don’t have to do much.  They watch the DVD, I give them a worksheet, and they just go for it. If there are problems they can’t figure out on their own, they are to circle them, then come to me at the end for help w/ those problems. This could work for you 9yo, but your 6yo may need a little more of your time right now. 

I have one history read aloud going, so I read that to them, then they narrate orally. I don’t interrupt their narrations, and I let them tag-team it. They end up correcting each other, so I don’t really have to do anything. Whatever they narrate is what they remember; I don’t strive to have them remember everything, and I don’t focus on their mistakes. Once they narrate, we move on to the next thing.

Picture study is mother-guided, in a way. Basically, I put the new picture in our frame, set it on the table, and they look at it. Then I take it away, and they tell me what they remember about the picture. I might ask questions like, “How is this painting similar to other paintings by this artist?” or “Can you tell how this person in the painting feels by the expression on their face?” But, there’s no right or wrong answer, so there’s nothing for me to say really. 

I read our literature aloud everyday, but I don’t require a narration of it. They have their own literature that they read and narrate during our school time. Family literature is just something we enjoy. 

I review their map studies w/ them once per week. They do map drills on their own from a list of countries I have typed up.

I see my role as being the person who keeps them on track, should they get distracted or confused, and to ask questions that make them think. I don’t stand in front of them and lecture about anything, because there is no reason for me to. Each year, I work towards getting them a little more independent. Right now, they do most of their work on their own while I’m nearby to keep an eye and ear on things. I answer questions as they come up, I choose good books for us to read together and for them to have independently, I provide them with a feast of ideas through books, maps, art, music, and poetry, and believe it or not, they do the rest. They are responsible for their own learning.

I’m sorry I’m not familiar w/ JUMP Math. We’ve only ever used MUS. I think the way you speak, your tone, etc. can determine whether you are teaching or lecturing. Don’t say more than you need to and don’t repeat yourself all the time. Those are my only suggestions since I am unfamiliar w/ your program. Maybe others will know how to better help you in this specific area.

Glad I can help at all! 

I hope this doesn’t detract too much from the OP … but to offer a slightly different perspective I’ll chime in here. I think this speaks to the post regarding “are you a CM purist” too.

I would have quickly answered that I was a CM purist.  Then thinking about it more and now reading this post, I guess I can’t make that claim.  But I’m not sure.  I know I meet a lot of people who say they are using a CM philosophy for their homeschooling only to find that they are not, but really think/believe that they are!  LOL.

I would say we have lectures here for our Science and our History and we don’t just read a book and then narrate.  I found that I could not have them read enough books in order for me to feel that the whole topic or period was being covered in enough detail.  I also use spines for these two subjects.  Not the typical schoolish spines but they are spines none the less.  A typical lesson for us would look like this – I read from a source (internet, book, my notes, video, etc.) and then the kids narrate or ask questions or do an experiment or we just begin a conversation about what we’ve heard/seen.  They might take notes.  I might have things printed for them to add to their notebooks.  They do a written narration for the lesson. 

The kids both read independently in living books that are based in our History time period and our Science subject matter.  Those they do true CM style – slow reading, narration.

We’ve kept Math notebooks for the past few years and they’re fabulous for notes, for narrations, for their daily work.  Keeping it all in one notebook and showing progress over time seem the biggest bonuses.

On the topic of notebooks, I’d like to hear what you’re using,too!

I have my girls (9yo, 8yo, 6yo, 4yo) keep notebooks – 3ring binder divided into the many “subjects” we cover (history, geography, science, LA, etc.).  But my oldest has NO desire to keep the binder up to date – or even organized! For a while, I did it.  And then I realized what i was doing and now I have to TELL her (and tell her, and tell her!) to put things in her binder.  She rarely refers to her binder on her own.  When I go looking for something in it, she enjoys seeing what’s in there.  But she doesn’t usually go in it on her own.

We do some (SOME — when I remember to!) notebooking pages.  Or the occasional written narration.  Mostly the 3-ring binder is to collect things for me to pull out and put in her (my oldest’s) portfolio.

My oldest struggles with math, sometimes, and I wonder if putting some problems in a math journal might help her. (And then again, given her dislike of the 3-ring binder, maybe not!!! Or maybe I need to buy another type of “notebook”.  Won’t my husband be pleased! Another thing to buy for school! *L*)

By the way, the binders for my younger three are simply to make them feel included – I do not keep them up like I do my oldest’s.

So, Claire, I’d love to hear about your notebooks!