Weekly Schedule – Please Review

Hi Christy,

 I’m new at implementing C.M. but not to the method. But I just wanted to let you know I am not seasoned so take what you will and toss the rest! But from what I do with my 8.4 y.o. your sched. sounds like a lot, especially as you have two wee ones to incorporate into the mix at points throughout the day. And, unless your 4th grader is really a self starter, you’re going to be dividing time between the two, with lots of …ahem….interruptions from the babes. But, with all that said, here are some things I see:

You’ve got 9 separate subjects for family time. If you only did them for 20 min. each that would be 3 hours. But it’s good to realistically add in transition time (5-15 min. 15 if they are whinny, not excited or sleepy) for every subject so that’s another 45 min. (only figuring 5 min. between each, not the generous 15 min.).

What we also add is a literal 5-10 min. break between hours. That might add on another 30 min. So now, for 9 family subjects you’re spending about 4 hours. That doesn’t include the 8-9 other subjects on most days you have scheduled. That’s another 4 hours. Around 8 total. Wow!, IMO. Our state’s requirement is 4 instructional hours. (I take into consideration the other instructing that goes on aside from academic so we can actually do less).

I’m going to take each subject, or kind of, apart so bear with me. I see some areas that could be combined for a lighter schedule. I’ll just take the 4th grade schedule:

Science: I see it only once with the fam and on Friday at the co-op. Is that enough for you? We do 4-5 days of science so that’s why I ask. i realize the coop can be quite a lot so maybe it’s covered that way.

Bible/devos: I think both is a lot to ask a 4th grader so IMO i would go with Bible and talk about it during the day if you want more ‘pondering time’ of it and that could suffice for the devo. Unless your 4th grader has a good grasp of the bible as a whole and the message/story God is imparting to us, a good book for all is Catherine Vos’ ‘The child’s story bible’. 

P.E. If your kids are riding bikes, scooters, or other such movement, there’s the P.E. Really. And with the horseback riding, there’s another day. If they tend to stay indoors, change that by easing into it with hb.r. and one other day of p.e. Then, add another day in a couple of weeks. But I wouldn’t schedule it at all. they’re moving! And if they aren’t, get them moving but don’t make it apart of the sched. they’re kids and they should move!!

Poety: we do this once a week, along with hymn study, music and art appreciation each once a week. she is getting a lot out of it with just the one time a week so bear that in mind.

Lit: we just couldn’t fit it in but instead of leaving it out, we read our Lit books for bedtime books and it has gone well. First has been Pollyana and soon will be Black Beauty. It works for us.

Scripture memory/copywork: combine these two and it works great!

Spelling/grammar/homophone: these could all be in one subject and rotate them. for 3 or so weeks, do one, then go onto another. Or weekly, as they will get tired of one for so long. but i wouldn’t have a separate time for each. I have a book by Scholastic that gives me simple but good ideas so I implement them as i see fit.

Narration: if your child hasn’t done it before, it’s going to take some getting used to. I would suggest blend it with some other reading (you could do it a couple of times a day or just once. if you don’t say ‘now narrarate for me’ they won’t think it’s one more thing to do) and just do oral for a while or this first year. let them get used to it. The way i do it is to include it with her reading and with just a few minutes left, I ask her some questions about it, what did it say? (get the list you can print from here as to other options beyond ‘what did it say?’)So you can take out that subject.

History: on Mon. (your 4th grader has it twice.) I think 4 times a week is good but you decide.

Piano: (on tue. you have it twice). If it’s just them practicing at home and not paying a teacher to come in, I’d reconsider to 3 x’s a week.

Horse study: you could make that your science. Incorporate them both.

Catch up: take out

QT: take out. unnecessary IMO. I think you may have it so you can concentrate on your 1st grader but it’s just one more slot.

Handicraft: we do this once a week and it’s usally cooking (making breakfast for all, washing dishes, vacuuming etc) and once a week works well. Soon we’ll go into embroidery and 3rd term will be calligraphy. She has a computer slot 2 x’s a week and that’s where she gets typing time.

Coops: if you do two on Friday (above it the column says thurs.)plus horse riding, that’s all I’d do for Friday. you are going to be exhausted, IMO, with all the other structured subjects plus juggling the littles. give yourself a rest by making it a lighter day. Don’t add anything to ‘catch up’ if they didn’t finish something. I made our schedule like this so I wouldn’t get to burn out point. so far so goo. for us though, that’s our nature day so if we want to go to the park or nature center and spend lots of time there, her study is included so it all works out.

http://simplycharlottemason.com/series/planning/

I printed these steps out and it was so so good! I highly recommend taking the time, and it does take time, to think through it all. Don’t skip the steps. In the end I found that for us, 4 hours of scheduled time was all I was going to require. on a big piece of paper i made columns for the days of the week; I sched. 3 subs. per hour in the column and then listed a break. 3 more subs. and so on until I had 12 subjects for the day I could use. I did that for all the days except Friday. our day has about 3 subs. and no more. However, our Friday can come on Wed. if we need it to. I.E. she went to the zoo with some friends so that was our Friday so she still had 4 days of 12 subs.  Sometimes we need a break in the middle of the week so our Friday is Wed. We make the sched. work for us instead of being a slave to the sched.

Keep in mind the sched. is to help you, don’t be a slave to it. And lift it up in prayer how much the Lord would sched. for you.

I’ll say a prayer for you!

Yolanda

Looks good, Christie. One thing we’ve done just to keep things mixed up a bit is lay off Spelling Wisdom during the term that we’re doing grammar. I can’t recall which grammar course you’re using. With Analytical Grammar it takes only one term per year, so we lay off dictation for that term then bring it back in for the other terms. Not a huge deal; just thought I’d share the idea.

It looks like you’ve come up with lots of good options for DD to keep interested in her independent work. Hope she enjoys her trip!

Wow, Christie, that really looks great!  I don’t think I could ever get myself to come off the beach if I lived where you live 🙂 

I’ve been thinking about the Epistles (we’ll be in Mod. 4 when my youngest is eight) and wonder if you might give the Parent’s Review articles a search with the term ‘epistles.’  Some of the suggestions include making a list of the simpler passages for your reading and also not expecting narration at this time as the children will go more in depth as they get older (for us, that could be the second rotation).  

Best,

Richele

Wow, you definitely have a good thing going! Kudos to you!

 Yolanda