RosieCotton Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Once I wrote this out and did what I thought was fine tuning it, this may be too long of a day for us. Scheduling 3 has us really loaded up. I'm not sure I can keep up this pace. Honestly I'm not sure how this will go over here. We've always been done at 2:30- 3:00 in the past. Even if I push the start to 8:30am we are not done until 3:35. Are we just lazy getting up at 8 and starting at 9? We eat, do am chores, have 15 min open time and then start. We don't sit around. 1st girlie, 4th and 5th boys. Where would you trim/combine? Or is this my new reality? Should I add 2 hours to a weekend or evening? I can't cut out the am recess. We all need to get out and walk/jump on the trampoline. I like to walk too after our first session. Can't really cut the after lunch quiet time either. Maybe afternoon recess should just be jumping jacks or a quick sprint and a snack. I've left some open time in each slot to teach from rest and not be rushed. Here it is: Monday, Wed, Thurs, Friday are full days; Tuesdays we break at 1:15 for piano lessons and are done for day because of drive time. (1 hour roundtrip so back home at 4-4:15pm). I want to utilize the car time, but can't really do individual history narrations on the way. Probably only literature read alouds, or French or Latin might work somewhat.) First session: 2 hours -- 9am-11am Latin 30 min Art study 10-15 minutes Math 50 minutes boys/30 min girlie * Teach boys 10 min lesson; then work independently on workbook and/or math facts 30 min * Girlie 10 min handwriting/alternate copywork from lit and other choices * 20-30 minutes work math with girlie * 5-10 minute mental math drill - all; insert Spelling here on Tuesdays; add Spelling here M-F if time *Clear desks and put away all subjects 20 min recess kids; Mom walk Water break Second session: 11:25am - 12:00pm 30 minute read aloud History alternating days with Literature study here 12pm - 12:30 lunch prep and eat 12:30 - 12:40 lunch cleanup - kids and 10 minute chores 12:45 - 1:15pm kids quiet read time - prep dinner 1:15 - 2:15 Circle time - 50 min planned enrichment -- **I think I can trim this to 30 min M-Th and do a full hour on Fridays with an art lesson 2:15 - 2:45 girlie phonics, WWE, and spelling 2:15 - 2:45 boys independent work: spelling, daily mapwork, study memory work, R/S grammar 3 x a week Clear desks, put away all 2:50 girlie practice piano then done for day - 2:45 - 3:05 WWE3 boys (alternate sections) 3:05 recess 3:25 snack 3:30 - 4:00 Boys 2nd half Treasured Conversations, adding Kilgallon on Fridays, and then IEW or CAP later in year 4:05 Boy1 piano 4:35 Boy2 piano Music, math and Latin should be done in the a.m. truly IMO, but how can I fit that all in with 3 kids and only one piano? I don't think that is going to fly. Oh - they are also on different lit study paths. How can I do that here? I am not sacrificing my 1st graders rich literature year. I always feel she gets pushed aside. I don't have time to really read aloud to my 1st grader alone on this schedule so that needs to be fixed.I have so many books picked out for this year, but that's not on here. 3 is hard . . . . I've worked loop scheduling into my circle time which is really slick, just not sure it's going to be enough. This feels close but need more eyes. . . Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 That seems about right. I have 4, and while school is not an all day thing for the younger ones, it is for me and for my high schooler. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 My fifth grader’s schedule is 8:30-3:15/3:30, so your 9-4/4:30 doesn’t seem so bad. Especially since the last hour of the day is instrument practice. We also include instrument practice as part of our school day, but many families consider that an extra. My question is four writing programs? You have your sons doing WWE, Treasured Conversations, Kilgallon, and IEW or CAP. Picking just one would knock 30 minutes off your schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razzles Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 My question would be, how are your kids feeling about this? If by the end of this length of day they are completely depleted, then regardless of what others may do, it's too much for your family. Cranky kids and mum by the end of every school day isn't going to create a love of learning. If however you all feel like you can manage this load of work without breaking down by the end of the day then go for it. That would be my starting point for deciding if it's too much. It depends on your reasons for homeschooling and your expectations of your kids at their current ages. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I've got 9th, 6th, and 2nd, plus the Ker, and even though they aren't all working all day, it takes ME pretty much all day, once you include time to discuss literature and any sort of projects. I just don't see how I can possibly cut it back any more and still get in a decent amount of stuff. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I can't tell how old your kids are - other than the 1st grader. So, that would really influence my answer. If your kids are elementary-aged, I would say it's too much (unless they are wanting to do so much). I try to finish by noon-1 with anyone 6th grade-ish or below. However, I am seeing a TON of breaks in your schedule. Without breaks, you probably could be finished by 1 and then just have piano in the afternoon. But, you said they need the breaks... I am seeing some multiple programs for the same subject in your schedule, though. Treasured Conversations, WWE, and Killgallon - are those all for the same kid? I would put read-alouds with the 1st grader to the TOP of my list! Don't drop art if they are enjoying it! For the first time in years, I actually added art and PE to our schedule. I'm willing to sacrifice something like grammar to art and PE (LOL). One way you could trim is not do everything every day. Map work - eh - you could do that a couple of times a week. 1 hour of math is really long for a 1st grader (not sure how old your other kids are). My 8th grader starts losing it after about 45 minutes... We continue schooling during lunch. That's an hour we would lose if we didn't. They just do something independently while I cook. Yeah, when you're teaching multiple grade levels, homeschooling starts taking much longer than advertised. :tongue_smilie: I have 5 kids and we stopped at 5 pm yesterday. We weren't even finished, but my 6th grader was just checking out. She was upside down in the chair at the dinner table mumbling incoherently...so I just grabbed our school books, sighed and put them away. I know (in the back of my mind) that about 2pm, we need to just *stop*. Wherever we are. The longer mine work, the less productive they are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Thanks everywhere who chimed in. The grades are 1st, 4th, and 5th listed near the top. We have outside activities in the evenings 3 days a week until Oct 15th, then I can think about moving something -- a simple 30 minute block -- to after dinner. I still have some room to move a few things, now that I've stepped away from it again and have come back to it. :) And I think once we get in the swing, we will move faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 I can't tell how old your kids are - other than the 1st grader. I am seeing some multiple programs for the same subject in your schedule, though. Treasured Conversations, WWE, and Killgallon - are those all for the same kid? We are 1st, 4th, and 5th. WWE will only take 10 or maybe 15 minutes per boy. Not enough of to check writing off our list for the day really. We are not using all these writing programs at once, sorry if it looked that way! TC until December when we finish it, adding 5 min Kilgallon on Fridays, then we move over to CAP lessons the second half of the year once we are done with TC. The first grader only has 30 min of math in her schedule. I could move some of the independent work to lunch, I'm thinking about that. Just with 3 there is always time I need them working on something else when I'm teaching another one, so if I take some of that away they will not have it when I need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 I think another thing is I can give them the option after lunch to work thru, or break. We'll just take this as a start point see how it goes. There is always room to tighten once we get going, it will be better to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Actually, I don't think it looks too bad. You've planned in "cushion" time so you're not rushed. You don't start til 9. You've got 3 nice breaks planned in. It includes music practice. And you're still done before suppertime and have all evening ahead of you. :) We do a similar schedule and it takes me from 9am-12pm and 2pm-5/6pm every day to get all 5 kids done and still feel like I've had quality time with them all. And that doesn't include piano or meal prep. Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I have three kids, similar ages. my oldest is 6th, second is 3rd, and youngest is a K/1st combo. Plus a newborn. We are always done by 1, because my girls have gym 4 nights a week. This is what a typical day looks like- 8:30-9:30 Sixth grader and I meet for 15 minutes to do math instruction. She works on her own for an additional 30 minutes, making 45 minutes total. Then she works on Phonetic Zoo spelling for 15 minutes on her own. Middle dd is reading on the couch to the younger dd from a stack of preselected books. She does this for 15 minutes, then meets with me for 15 minutes for math, while the littlest does a phonics worksheet. Middle keeps working on math for an additional 15 minutes, making it 30 minutes total. She then does cursive independently. After the first half hour of teaching math to the bigger two, I work on reading and math (15 minutes each) with my littlest. We use CLE math M-Th, and Challenge Math/Problem Solving Genius on Fridays. Miquon for the youngest. 9:30-10:30 Oldest does IEW writing and grammar. These are fairly independent for her. Middle does IEW writing with me for 20 minutes, then works on grammar independently. Littlest is either off playing or working on Logic type puzzles, cutting/glueing, copy work and/or a CM inspired language arts. 10:30-10:45 snack break. I read aloud to them. 10:45-11 Oldest reads history to herself, middle and little girls play. 11-12 Rotating subjects- Monday is coop, Tuesday/Thursday is history, Wednesday is science, Friday is geography. We also do an hour of experiments/labs on Wednesday and history/science task cards and projects on Friday. 12-12:30 Logic puzzles, root words, drill, memory work, ect. Each day its different. Yesterday I had them all riding on scooters inside the house. Each time they passed me, they had to do some sort of drill-for my youngest it was sight words and phonograms, for my middle it was multiplication facts, and for my oldest it was spelling. The day before they did logic puzzles the entire time. 12:30-1 lunch They have lists of chores I am willing to pay for up on the mantle. Any time they have a few minutes, they are welcome to do a chore, or not. We have a great coop where they have writing, engineering, math games, and art classes. Another coop we will be starting will cover all our science using Elemental Science. I could then stop doing the science we do now, but they like it, so we will probably continue. Gym is M/W 2:30-8, Th 5:30-7:30, and F 4-7. They don't all go all that time-Littlest goes six hours, middle goes 10, and oldest goes 8. As much as I'd love to use multiple curriculums, it just won't get done. So we stick with the best one for US, and do only ONE per subject. Here are our curriculum choices in case they help you. Math-CLE for the bigger two, Math games class at coop. and Zaccaro's books once a week. Miquon for the youngest. Spelling-phonetic zoo, corrections from writing assignments. Grammar-Critical thinking company Writing-IEW, task card assignments, and visual journaling class through coop. History-Task cards, encyclopedia, SOTW, History Pockets, and about 30 reader books. Some i read aloud, some my dd will read to herself. Science-task cards, Mystery Science, and Elemental science through coop, engineering and science inquiry through coop. Logic-Critical Thinking Co. and coop Art-coop Literature-just books lists I have found. Audio books, read aloud, or independently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia7278 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Once I wrote this out and did what I thought was fine tuning it, this may be too long of a day for us. Scheduling 3 has us really loaded up. I'm not sure I can keep up this pace. Honestly I'm not sure how this will go over here. We've always been done at 2:30- 3:00 in the past. Even if I push the start to 8:30am we are not done until 3:35. Are we just lazy getting up at 8 and starting at 9? We eat, do am chores, have 15 min open time and then start. We don't sit around. 1st girlie, 4th and 5th boys. Where would you trim/combine? Or is this my new reality? Should I add 2 hours to a weekend or evening? I can't cut out the am recess. We all need to get out and walk/jump on the trampoline. I like to walk too after our first session. Can't really cut the after lunch quiet time either. Maybe afternoon recess should just be jumping jacks or a quick sprint and a snack. I've left some open time in each slot to teach from rest and not be rushed. Here it is: Monday, Wed, Thurs, Friday are full days; Tuesdays we break at 1:15 for piano lessons and are done for day because of drive time. (1 hour roundtrip so back home at 4-4:15pm). I want to utilize the car time, but can't really do individual history narrations on the way. Probably only literature read alouds, or French or Latin might work somewhat.) First session: 2 hours -- 9am-11am Latin 30 min Art study 10-15 minutes Math 50 minutes boys/30 min girlie * Teach boys 10 min lesson; then work independently on workbook and/or math facts 30 min * Girlie 10 min handwriting/alternate copywork from lit and other choices * 20-30 minutes work math with girlie * 5-10 minute mental math drill - all; insert Spelling here on Tuesdays; add Spelling here M-F if time *Clear desks and put away all subjects 20 min recess kids; Mom walk Water break Second session: 11:25am - 12:00pm 30 minute read aloud History alternating days with Literature study here 12pm - 12:30 lunch prep and eat 12:30 - 12:40 lunch cleanup - kids and 10 minute chores 12:45 - 1:15pm kids quiet read time - prep dinner 1:15 - 2:15 Circle time - 50 min planned enrichment -- **I think I can trim this to 30 min M-Th and do a full hour on Fridays with an art lesson 2:15 - 2:45 girlie phonics, WWE, and spelling 2:15 - 2:45 boys independent work: spelling, daily mapwork, study memory work, R/S grammar 3 x a week Clear desks, put away all 2:50 girlie practice piano then done for day - 2:45 - 3:05 WWE3 boys (alternate sections) 3:05 recess 3:25 snack 3:30 - 4:00 Boys 2nd half Treasured Conversations, adding Kilgallon on Fridays, and then IEW or CAP later in year 4:05 Boy1 piano 4:35 Boy2 piano Music, math and Latin should be done in the a.m. truly IMO, but how can I fit that all in with 3 kids and only one piano? I don't think that is going to fly. Oh - they are also on different lit study paths. How can I do that here? I am not sacrificing my 1st graders rich literature year. I always feel she gets pushed aside. I don't have time to really read aloud to my 1st grader alone on this schedule so that needs to be fixed.I have so many books picked out for this year, but that's not on here. 3 is hard . . . . I've worked loop scheduling into my circle time which is really slick, just not sure it's going to be enough. This feels close but need more eyes. . . Thoughts? I have not done latin, but I know that I only spend about 15 minutes going over Koine Greek with my kids. They may be working on it at other times, but my Greek time is 15 min. Art? Does it have to be done every day? Otherwise, it is what it is. You have several breaks built in, so it isn't like everyone is chained to the desk all day. We run from 9-12 with 1 ten min break. Lunch from 12-1. Group work from 1-2. Then I am done teaching (I do have corrections to do) and they can finish their work up. Usually they are all done by 3 at the latest. My 4 kids are in 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th. We do not have instrument practice, but if we did, I imagine I would schedule it after our regular work day and into the evenings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimk3 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I have a 10 year old boy (5th), and two 8 year old girls (both 3rd). My girls are working at similar levels so maybe you could say I have closer to "two" children. But they stil do need one on one attention for some things. I combined for most things. Even LA most of the time. I know that lots of piece think that's not possible with multiple age kids, but it's been working really well for us. Here is a time break down. We start 8:30ish. Morning time together - 60 min LA - 20min Work with mom rotations/independent work - 45min (3rd) and 60 min (5th) Lunch with lit read aloud (30 min) Outside (60min) Afternoon interest led projects (60min). But they are free to keep working if they want. If they have no project they want to work on, they can read or rest. So it's also a quiet time if they choose. This is helpful on days that minds are tired or bodies are spent. We are done by 2:30. They practice instruments after dinner. 8:30ish we eat breakfast and during breakfast, we start our morning time and then move to the living room and continue our morning time. During morning time we read from history or science (alternating days), then go through a loop. This is also where we do artist/picture study, music, mapping, living math books, etc, and memory work. I alternate input/output things. We don't do all of it everyday and I'm not worried if we only get to most of those things in the loop only once a week. We also have discussion or narration during this time. I also block terms for certain subjects. For example, art study is term 1 and 3. Music study is term 2. Then we all do LA together. (20min) I also loop this and they do each thing at their own level. For example everyone does copywork or dictation or freewrite. Just the approperiate length for their skill level. Tea time is included in the loop and we read poetry or Shakespeare(those days last longer than 20min). We do this loop together for three weeks and on the fourth week I do a LA focus with either my son or my daughters. My son will be doing WR narrative II and killgallon this year. My girls will be doing the first part of TC or BW projects. Then I work with my girls for 45 min. Handwriting (5min) they read aloud to me to practice fluency and so I can keep a pulse on their reading skills (5 min each) Math (30) When they were still learning how to read last year, they did 20 min math and 15 min reading lesson. During this time, my son does independent reading and one other independent thing. Like logic workbook or drawing exercise or book of century entry or goodreads update (doubles as typing exercise). I work with my son for about 60 min Narration or discussion of his independent reading 5-15min Math - 40-50min We listen to an audiobook for lit during lunch. We take a walk or bike ride. we go to the same park several times a week and are able to incorporate nature study on our walks. A couple times a week we may go to a homeschool park day instead of our walk. Project time or quiet time or outside the home activities. Once a week we do an art project during this time. Two years ago when I had a third grader and two first graders, I had them doing so many things separately and I burnt out from it. So last year I combined whoever I could and started letting certain practices do double or triple duty for me. I also decided that not only do I not need to do everything everyday, I dont need to do everything every term either. I'm also okay with doing only one level of WR in a year or only the first part of TC in one year. I'm comfortable with just copywork, dictation, freewrites, and narration the rest of the year. I also like to use copywork and dictation for spelling and grammar and not have a separate program. Once they know the phonograms and how to analyze a word (first grade as per of reading lessons), I don't do "spelling" anymore. So if you and your kids are happy and no one is burnt out then it works. But if you start to fizzle out? There are ways to streamline as long as you are comfortable with letting certain ideas go. That's what worked for me. I typed all this on my phone so sorry if it's unreadable. 😕 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaOz Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 (edited) I'm a bit different. I'm really working on the idea that we do bookwork/academics in the morning then family read over lunch plus another activity in the afternoon. I don't want my kids doing school all day - I want then to have time to follow their interests too. So, we have breakfast and read aloud to start our day - I like that connection time all together to begin with. For us that is Bible and prayer, a bit of memory, maybe singing (we like to sing) and a literature read. Then morning chores Kids start school. I start with dd's 6 and 4. Reading with them works well first, then I do maths, spelling, phonics and writing with 6yo while 4yo either plays, watches preschool tv/dvd, or does preschool workbook. Older kids do maths, spelling and English in this time. English can be grammar or writing depending on the day. They come to me if they need help, but mostly I'm working with my little girls here. If they finish those subjects in that time they work on their individual science. After morning tea the little girls play and I work with my 6th and 8th graders. We sometimes do some more LA together like a writing activity, some editing, dictation etc. We also work on our Sonlight core work which involves history and literature. If there is still time and they haven't done science then they slot that in there. Otherwise science gets priority the next day. LUNCH After lunch we have family read aloud time. I have one or two read alouds on the go plus something else. Our 'something else' at the moment is poetry. After that the afternoon is for quiet reading and other activities. I may have a practical project for them to do for eg: Ds has been building a model island to go along with our Pacific Islands topic, gardening, music, an art lesson or activity. Music prac get done here. I have 6 that use the piano so basically it's get there when you can....ðŸ˜. One daughter loves to sew so she does this in the afternoons too. Anyway, that's it, I think. I am finding it so good to focus academics in the morning and have more activities in the afternoon. I'm working on the theory that homeschool is more intense and therefore doesn't take as long as 'school'. So I target those three main areas first everyday (maths, spelling, English) and let the rest fit in after that until lunch. Most day it works and we are actually doing more than we were when we were working nearly all day. HTH Edited August 25, 2016 by LindaOz 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 It sounds about right. We start at 8/9 ish and my girls aren't done until around 2. I don't include any walks or breaks but a lunch break. The kids do chores and showers after dinner. The quiet reading time is done at night in their beds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plagefille Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Wow, I guess we do a lot less time than everyone else. I have a 2nd, 4th, and 6th. The younger two are always done before 12. We start at 8:30ish. My older one usually has 20-60 min after lunch. We don't do every subject every day. In fact only Math is done every day. We still get to everything and finish our curriculum usually. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Mine are younger by a little but I would probably die if school had to take the whole day. I like half a day for school and half a day for outside activities and chores and free play time. But we are all different with education and life and aiming for different stuff so I'm sure this could be OK. I guess I'm only chiming in to say it would be OK if it doesn't come off. Things like art study for example could be part of a loop not an every day event. However I get that different people have different kids aims and priorities. Mine tend to learn better when we do a little less but some kids definitely thrive on a very scheduled day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 I agree with what these last two have said as well. Other than math, some of the other things will go quicker than I've listed. Especially once we get into the groove. For Art study will be 15 minutes the first day, but then just 5 minutes in studying paintings the next 4 days. So there is wiggle room. I can also assign piano practice after dinner, then we would be done much earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieCotton Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 I will be the first one to drop things out and do them just once a week on a loop if it gets to be too much. They are just all so good at languages I doubt I'll be dropping that back. (My Latin time slot is actually for Latin and French too). With the interests the older 2 are developing (robotics, programming, and others) there will need to be time for them to pursue those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 We go from about 9.30 til 3 ish. We do hour blocks - morning time, maths, la, reading/violin, history or science and a language which is about 20min. We don't schedule every minute, we take natural breaks. It really helps to have a consistent start time. But yes, commiserations, most of the day day for 3 elementary/middle students sounds right to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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