Those who have logic stage kids - when do you get errands done?

[Laura Corin]

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

Laura

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

Laura

 

I did my shopping on weekends and in the evening. :-) I held school time absolutely "sacred" and didn't interrupt it for anything less than a medical appointment.

 

Is there something specific about doing these things in China that is problematic?

[Mrs. H.]

I know when you're making out those schedules it looks like you're going to be chained to your house forever, but I find that often my kids get things done in less time than I allot for them, and they always manage to find free time no matter how much work there is.

 

We run errands on either Tuesdays or Fridays, and do a half day of school on those days, just doing the basics (math, latin, grammar, greek). I schedule heavy school days with all subjects (math, latin, grammar, greek, history, science) for the other four days. Art and music get tossed in about once a week.

 

That was easy...now, ask me how I teach a logic stage, a grammar stage, two kindergartners, chase a baby, AND manage to grocery shop, do the laundry, and get dinner on the table! :D

[Laura Corin]

Is there something specific about doing these things in China that is problematic?

 

Veg markets are shut in the evening, but they are open at weekends - I'm just lazy and used to having evenings and weekends to myself. Ah well.

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

That was easy...now, ask me how I teach a logic stage, a grammar stage, two kindergartners, chase a baby, AND manage to grocery shop, do the laundry, and get dinner on the table! :D

 

I have absolutely no idea how people with more than two children, and no help, ever manage to teach.

 

Laura

[melissel]

I have absolutely no idea how people with more than two children, and no help, ever manage to teach.

 

Laura

 

Amen to that!

[momofkhm]

I have a lower grammar, upper grammar and logic this year. It will go up to 2 logic kids next year. I let them work at their own pace and in the order that they want to work. This year, they are usually all finished by 1 pm.

[Colleen]

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

How I manage it is that I do my errands when I'm not working at my job, like most people.:)

[Jodi-FL]

and involve them in the process. Friday has always been our errand day, and I gave my kids an incentive to "double" their work one day throughout the week so we could have Fun Fridays. I have 2 in high school this year, 2 in middle, 1 in grammar, and 2 pre-schoolers, and this still works for us. If everyone but one child isn't done by Friday, they do "weekend school" on Saturday.

 

Your kids are old enough to contribute significantly to what needs to get done around the house (and I"m sure they do, I'm not trying to scold or reprimand, just encourage). At the point I felt housebound by kids/school/housework, I felt it necessary to look over everything and see what needed to be cut out or down. We strive to have basic school done by lunch (at 1) with reading and projects saved for the afternoon. It has helped to prevent burn out for us, and I hope you can be encouraged

 

jodi

[Guest Lorna]

We have three 'periods' of work, elevenses and then two periods. This means we can pop out for messages before or after lunch (about half past one). Just now this is simple because we are just round the corner from the shops. I think it is important for the children to have a walk and get some sunshine (if there is any in the sky!) and meet a few people. The children help carry the groceries back and like to carry lots. They are very competitive about who is developing the greater muscles.:rolleyes:

We then have the afternoon to either concentrate fully on science or to do a light science and go swimming. Our swimming trips take us three and a half hours to walk there, swim and walk back.

Dd manages to read a novel a day in the spaces in her day and play with her brother so I am quite happy she is getting enough time to herself.

My husband is an angel and buys some heavier things like juice and cans of tomatoes once a week from a cheaper food store on his way home from work. Ds loves to cook and has now reached the point where he can make a meal from start to finish. This certainly helps me a lot and he loves doing it.:)

Evenings are totally my own after reading the children a bedtime story. They go to bed between eight and nine and read. They switch their light off at around ten.

We don't really do school at the weekend but dd loves to read and ds likes to write. We visit the library, swim, skate and visit museums. I do encourage them to write to friends and I write at the same time. But it is really their choice at the weekend. Sometimes on a Saturday we go, as a family, and buy clothes, food and necessities at the same time as our library/skating trip.

[Harriet Vane]

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

Laura

 

Honestly, the errands just often don't get done, or get done on the fly. We manage to get groceries, more or less, but other errands get postponed ad infinitum. With my son in first grade and needing a LOT of my attention to get his schoolwork done, and my dd in 5th and having a much heavier schedule, we have had to really scale back on errands and such.

[Elm in NJ]

I hate grocery shopping, but when I have to do it, it is on the weekends. Apart from dr's appointments, I don't really run a lot of other errands though and these get factored in somewhere in my planning.

 

 

Elmeryl

[Hoggirl]

I think your older son is about the same age as mine, Laura. My ds will be 11 in June. He is just not quite old enough to be left at home alone. I think I will feel comfortable doing so during the day when he is 12, but until then, I go on weekends or in the evenings. He does have church on Tuesday afternoons for an hour and 45 minutes, and I usually go to the store then. I would really *like* to have that time to do something *I* enjoy (going to Wal-mart is not high on this list, kwim), but every time I do so I "pay" for it b/c I wish I would have just gone on and gone to the store. Earlier this year my dh was sick and stayed home from work one day. Ds does piano practice from 8:00 - 9:00. Though hubby was laid up in the bed, he was home, so I went to Wal-mart at 7:30 in the a.m. I tell you what, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It was soooo easy. I try not to wish my son't life away, but I just keep telling myself that it won't be this way forever. I do not like going out during "true" school hours even though there are lots of home schoolers where I am. I guess I am just paranoid, but I always feel uncomfortable. Sorry to ramble. I just know how you feel.

[karne]

do errands on Thursday morning. My husband is off work that day, so we combine the grocery shopping and all errands that morning. Daughter gets the morning off of school, and schools during the afternoon. Since the gas has gotten so high, he's been taking my car to work instead of his truck, so we are without wheels during the day. This has turned out to be a good thing, because we get a lot more done if we're not running here and there most days.

[Kari C in SC]

I have always found that we need a day out to run errands just because we would feel very stuck if we didn't. I also feel that running errands for things like groceries, bank, etc is part of my "job" that I need to get done during the week. My dh would not love for me to be gone at the grocery store on the weekend. We both see that as family time, not errand time. We do run some more fun like errands together on the weekend, but I would never want to spend several hours out doing the typical grocery shopping. I just basically see what I can fit into 4 or 4.5 days of school and that is what we get done. Some weeks it is more and some weeks it is less. I think it all works out in the end. If you think about kids in public school, they have a teacher institute day at least once a month. Then you add in all the other non-essential stuff and you find you can really have a day or half day for errands. You are still on track or ahead of a traditional school setting.

[Hikin' Mama]

before my son's once-a-week guitar lesson, Sat. morning (my favorite time because not many other people are out and about), or Sunday after church. None are optimal, but Saturday a.m. is the most leisurely. However, I would rather spend my Sat. a.m. leisurely at home. :rolleyes:

 

HTH,

 

Kim

[Laura Corin]

I also feel that running errands for things like groceries, bank, etc is part of my "job" that I need to get done during the week.

 

I really don't want to be using family time at the weekend to grocery shop.

 

Thanks

 

Laura

[8filltheheart]

I responded to your post on the K8 board that we have similar length days, but we start a lot earlier. ;) You may find that you are simply going to have to rearrange your school days. You may need to start school early one day per week to free up that afternoon for errands. Or perhaps you could split a day with strong academics in the morning, errands in the afternoon, and art/music in the evening.

 

Disruptions in our schedule are the main reason why I plan for 6 weeks on followed by 1 week off. The week off is for huge errands/dr appts/service on vehicles, etc. in addition to lesson planning. I do not shop on the weekends or lesson plan. Weekends are for time family and my dh, so I definitely understand your reluctance to interrupt that time.

[Amy in Orlando]

My kids are mostly rhetoric, but I found once they hit the logic stage, I was able to leave the older one home for 1-2 hours while I ran errands. I would usually take the younger ones with me, but it was/is great to be able to hit the shops I needed to when they were less busy (during the week) and without giving up our family time.

 

Obviously, you figure it out one way or another, but this has been a good thing for us. My oldest loved the responsibility of being home alone so much that he would sweep the floors and/or do the dishes. He was so proud to be home alone and NOT to have burned the house down lol.

 

Is leaving Calvin for an hour or so an option?

[Karenciavo]

...I found once they hit the logic stage, I was able to leave the older one home for 1-2 hours while I ran errands. I

 

Is leaving Calvin for an hour or so an option?

 

Same here.

[Laura Corin]

I have recently started leaving him while I take Hobbes to Karate - he's extremely responsible. Now I have to get used to leaving him with work to do - up to now he's just read or watched a documentary.

 

Thanks - that was helpful.

 

Laura

[Mama Lynx]

I have always found that we need a day out to run errands just because we would feel very stuck if we didn't. I also feel that running errands for things like groceries, bank, etc is part of my "job" that I need to get done during the week. My dh would not love for me to be gone at the grocery store on the weekend. We both see that as family time, not errand time. .

 

Same here. One of the reasons I quit work to raise the kids is because I didn't want a "job," and although I work hard at homeschooling and prioritize it, I will not turn it into a job.

 

If I need to run an errand, I do so. I generally save long errands for weekends, but for a short one, I will pop out in the afternoon when the heavy school time has wound down. My oldest is 12, and I have no problem leaving him and his 10 year old brother at home. I take my 6 and 7 year olds with me.

 

Alternatively, sometimes I save errands for when we're going to be out at an activity anyway. If we have karate, we'll swing by the store on the way home.

[gardenschooler]

Mainly just on the weekends. It's just too much to try to do anything else on a full school day, and there isn't enough time between school and dinner without feeling rushed. I don't really do the errands, though. I only go to the library, the grocery, and maybe some other shopping. Dh does all the errands (bank, post office, picking up medicine, etc.) He's out and about all day anywayand he doesn't mind at all. Good thing, too, because I'd sooner stick an ice pick in my eye.

 

Sorry, I know this doesn't help you, Laura! Could you try going early, first thing in the morning? That way your day wouldn't be interrupted, and you wouldn't have to go late in the day.

[Jenny in Atl]

Only one of mine is at the Logic stage, but my Grammar kid does a lot of school as well (her choice).

 

We have no set days for errands. Usually, if I do need to run out, I try to go in the morning which then leaves the rest of the day to finish school, or fit it in around outside classes. I have found flexibility is the only way I can juggle outside classes, life's surprises, and the need to hunt for food while supporting my two in their schoolwork. This means sometimes doing school nights and weekends.

[Holly IN]

I do the errands on co-op days. If I am not able to do that then it is on the weekends (I work in the evenings ).

 

Holly

[Kelli in TN]

I do both. I do the bulk of it on weekends, I already have to be out as the milk truck only comes to town on Saturdays anyway. Then I do quick pick-ups as I am running kids to lessons and such.

 

Also, I can leave all my kids in my teenager's care, or if my teenager is unavailable I can leave my 12 year old home alone. I don't leave youngers in his care because it would just be a bad idea with this particular kid.:rolleyes:

If I leave him home alone I often leave an assignment for him to complete.

[Holly IN]

I do the same as Kelli.

 

I leave my oldest at home to do his work. I keep my cell phone with me. We have a code we go by if I call home to talk to him. I take the rest with me. I do occasionly leave my middle son home with the oldest but that is only if I am going to be 15 min away from home. If I am going to the big city then I take the two younger ones with me.

 

HOlly

[Mrs. Readsalot]

at certain times of the day I can run errands and leave him at home to work. This is usually when he is writing a paper or doing a reading assignment. We live very close to shopping, library etc. Doctor appointment are a big snag, but we make up the work during the summer. We do math, science and reading during the summer. Amazingly ds does not complain about this. He hates to be boared so interesting school work is better than being board.

[RoughCollie]

I always put all errands into our schedule and took the kids with me. I'd rather do that than go shopping at night or on the weekends. If necessary, we would do schoolwork in the evening or make it up on Saturday. Now that the kids are older, I take the troublemaker(s) & my cell phone with me, and leave the rest of the kids with the dog.

 

DH does the banking, goes to the post office every day as part of his job, goes to the dry cleaner, and will pick up medicines or a few items (usually milk and bread) from the store on his way home. All these places are between home and the office, which are 1.5 miles apart -- so it is convenient for him to do that.

 

 

 

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

You may find that you are simply going to have to rearrange your school days. You may need to start school early one day per week to free up that afternoon for errands.

 

Calvin might go for starting early one day in order to free up the afternoon. I'll see how it looks once we know what classes they'll be taking. I can cope without my walk one morning.

 

Thanks - I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

We don't have a car and the supermarket is half an hour away by taxi (when we are in China) or by underground (when we are in Hong Kong). So the minimum time for a trip to the supermarket is two hours. It's those big blocks of time that will be hard to find on weekdays. Calvin's pretty independent though - I just need to get into the habit of leaving him to get on with things.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Laura

[Tammyla]

Lessons come first here every single day. The time just has to set in stone for us. My errands are run on the weekend. Most days we are done by 2 pm. I can squeeze in an errand there if I need too.

[Joanne]

OK, I found your post on the other board so that I could reply with as much info as possible.

 

I completely understand not wanting errands to interfere with family time. I like my weekends "free" from errands. Indeed, I actually like avoiding errand type destinations on weekends.

 

I have 2 children who fit into Calvin's age range. We could not happily "do" the schedule you have outlined. While I am not a proponent of deliberate delayed academics, I also didn't find the need to have copious amounts of formal academics much before 10. Teach them to read and basic math facts. Read to them.

 

Anyway.....my 7th grader does a total of 3 hours a day, broken up with breaks. He does Saxon math with a Singapore kicker LOL. LLATL tan book, we are slowly using Minimus and Latina Christiana, SOTW I with additional assignments for him, Spelling Power (he's a natural speller), The Grammar Key on the computer, Science (from a 6th grade public school text), IEW and Write with the Best writing. We'll be starting an American History unit that we'll do only on Tuesdays. I don't offer "X" number of hours in each, but a generalized approach.

 

If your situation, if you hold fast to your rigorous schedule, I'd carve out 2 hours a week in the am one weekday for errands. And maybe a lunch for everyone as a "mid week" break from school.

[Jenny in Florida]

For example, he has multiple dance classes each week that are 90 minutes long. Once I see him safely into class, I can make a quick run to the library or grocery store or pet supply store or bank and get back before he's out of class. On Thursdays, he has a two-hour choir rehearsal, and twice a month he has four-hour science classes, which provide me even more usable time.

 

Anything I can't get done during those periods tends to happen evenings and weekends when I can go by myself. If absolutely necessary, I can tack a quick errand or two onto another outing with him along for the ride, but I usually find I move more quickly and get more done if I can go alone.

 

--Jenny

[Elinor Everywhere]

Looking at the schedule I am considering for Calvin next year, I can see that I'm going to have to do any shopping/other errand running at weekends or in the evenings. How do you all manage this?

 

Laura

 

Hi there, my friend! We are back safe & sound and finally all wired for internet/phone/cable. Back in touch with the world! :)

 

I often had Wellcome deliver groceries when we were in HK, and also had organic veggies delivered from the place in New Territories (I think it was there; I have a website if you want it). Would that work for you? I normally had the standard items delivered and just grabbed extra stuff at CS when we were on the way home from somewhere.

[Laura Corin]

How is it going? Are the children happy to be back?

 

I'd love the name of your veggie delivery place. We used to do this in HK, but I don't have the details any longer....

 

Laura