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How Much is Too Much or Not Enough?


nitascool
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We just started our next school year after finishing up "our" 2nd grade in November (Except for SOTW). We went both deeper and faster then I'd originally intended. We pulled books from the Jr. High section of the library after exhausting the Elementary books on the Middle Ages, space and earth science. Though he hasn't finished writing his narrations or answering the questions. Ds completed his grammar book without very many things being "new" to him even though we'd never covered any of it.

 

For this next school year I am struggling to decide how much time I should be spending on each academic subject with him and how I should go about it. His attention span for things he enjoys is very long, but he does have processing problem and ADD.

 

For instance ds's grammar book has 239 pages. How would you divide up your year's work over 36 weeks? Do you have a set time each day to do grammar, divide the pages by weeks or days? If I go at ds's pace he would do only grammar and literature. He can finish correctly 4 pages in less then 10 minutes. He has complete recall, but is still struggling in the Mechanics of it out side grammar (ex. In writing he forgets to capitalize or use spaces).

 

SO Do you go by time (Say 30 min. for Math), by page or chapter/unit?

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My kids both whiz through grammar (and spelling) like it is nothing. It all comes easily and I think it is because they are big readers. However, they will often (especially ds) forget capitals or misspell words. I have toyed with ditching formal grammar (I did ditch spelling) and just included it in context of writing the narrations. However, I really like the diagramming in R&S so we keep plugging away. My ds is now 9 and I am noticing an improvement in these things that I have had to remind him of. Of thing I do is have him read over his work looking ONLY for spacing. Then he reads it again looking ONLY for capitals or periods. This seems to help.

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This question asks for the answer in the art of tutoring!!

 

All things being unequal, I give greater weight to different things at different times considering the time it takes and the challenge it gives. I don't think of any curriculum in the context of a school year or to be done in so many weeks. I do break down lessons by the day in a sequential order using Homeschool Tracker for planning, but I don't have set dates to complete each--I don't even plan by the week, just one day at a time. In other words, I have a detailed plan of what we will be covering and in what order, but only a rough plan of when we will get to it and I do toss out redundant lessons when she has a firm grasp of a concept. By planning just one day at a time I don't get stressed out when life happens and I find that I am not teaching to the book.

 

Probably does not help you much, but it really is an art.

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Do you have to divide it up into 36 weeks, or would you consider going year round and taking your breaks in shorter chunks? We do this, and we never go by time, but by how much I say they need to do per day. As for page or chapter/unit, that depends on age and subject. My 12 yo and 9 yo are doing the same American History course (for middle schoolers). My eldest does an entire chapter in one day, whereas my 9 yo gets it divided up. They're not in the same part of the book.

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For instance, if his grammar book has 239 pages, than that would work out to be about 7 pages a week. It sounds like he could do that in about 20 minutes. You then need to decide if you consider that adequate grammar. Personally, I'd call it enough, but try to reinforce in other ways.

 

Math, on the other hand, I would probably require more than 5 minutes per day, even if that means he would finish the book before the end of the school year.

 

I'm thinking about changing the way I do things for next year, and trying Erica's "menu" method.

 

Jean

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Well, with grammar, I don't really require a lot of time, either, when they're at that stage, but we do work on speaking properly, so they're getting the practical side of it a lot more often. As for math, my ds is doing 2 programs, so it gives 2 approaches and more math to the day. He usually does both.

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