Oh, my. Tell me if my 8th grader's days are too long

[LanaTron]

We only have Monday mornings, then Tues, Wed, Thurs. for schooling. Monday, starting at 11 a.m., we have scouts all day (four different troops, one per child :)), with tennis squeezed in there. Friday, we have music co-op in the morning, then will go to P.E. or home school park days in the afternoon.

 

Those three middle days (T, W, Th) there is school from 7:30-4:00 (with an hour lunch). We have never had days that long! I ususally keep it to 6 hours or less total.

 

Here is what I'm planning:

 

7:30-8:00 Geography (Trail Guide to World, questions and mapwork)

8:00-9:00 Math (Discovering Maths. and/or LoF Beg Alg)

9:00-9:30 Spelling alternating with Logic (Megawords, Art of Argument)

9:30-10:00 Literature (Lightning Lit 7)

10:00-11:00 Reading time

11:00-11:30 French (Learnables Level 3)

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Drill (IEW's poetry program, math drill, Latin drill)

1:00-2:00 Science (Interactive Science, Milestones in Science kit)

2:00-2:30 Latin (Latin Prep 2)

2:30-3:00 Grammar

3:00-3:30 Writing

3:30-4:00 Instrument practice

 

Monday will have the same schedule until 10:30, when we leave for Girl Scouts.

 

I don't schedule breaks/snacks, we take them as we need them, and we really don't follow a schedule exactly. I just write one out to see how realistic my plans are.

 

Should I cut something out? Or does it look okay for an 8th grader? (my 7th grader's schedule will be similar, but she'll have band on Tuesday morning, and I'm letting her drop Latin since she's participating in two home school bands and will have twice the amount of practicing.

 

Any thoughts?

[Ellie]

We only have Monday mornings, then Tues, Wed, Thurs. for schooling. Monday, starting at 11 a.m., we have scouts all day (four different troops, one per child :)), with tennis squeezed in there. Friday, we have music co-op in the morning, then will go to P.E. or home school park days in the afternoon.

 

Those three middle days (T, W, Th) there is school from 7:30-4:00 (with an hour lunch). We have never had days that long! I ususally keep it to 6 hours or less total.

 

Here is what I'm planning:

 

7:30-8:00 Geography (Trail Guide to World, questions and mapwork)

8:00-9:00 Math (Discovering Maths. and/or LoF Beg Alg)

9:00-9:30 Spelling alternating with Logic (Megawords, Art of Argument)

9:30-10:00 Literature (Lightning Lit 7)

10:00-11:00 Reading time

11:00-11:30 French (Learnables Level 3)

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Drill (IEW's poetry program, math drill, Latin drill)

1:00-2:00 Science (Interactive Science, Milestones in Science kit)

2:00-2:30 Latin (Latin Prep 2)

2:30-3:00 Grammar

3:00-3:30 Writing

3:30-4:00 Instrument practice

 

Monday will have the same schedule until 10:30, when we leave for Girl Scouts.

 

I don't schedule breaks/snacks, we take them as we need them, and we really don't follow a schedule exactly. I just write one out to see how realistic my plans are.

 

Should I cut something out? Or does it look okay for an 8th grader? (my 7th grader's schedule will be similar, but she'll have band on Tuesday morning, and I'm letting her drop Latin since she's participating in two home school bands and will have twice the amount of practicing.

 

Any thoughts?

Oh. It makes my head hurt just looking at that. :-o

 

I would probably not do spelling or grammar. Not sure I would do two languages, either.

[Erica in PA]

We only have Monday mornings, then Tues, Wed, Thurs. for schooling. Monday, starting at 11 a.m., we have scouts all day (four different troops, one per child :)), with tennis squeezed in there. Friday, we have music co-op in the morning, then will go to P.E. or home school park days in the afternoon.

 

Those three middle days (T, W, Th) there is school from 7:30-4:00 (with an hour lunch). We have never had days that long! I ususally keep it to 6 hours or less total.

 

Here is what I'm planning:

 

7:30-8:00 Geography (Trail Guide to World, questions and mapwork)

8:00-9:00 Math (Discovering Maths. and/or LoF Beg Alg)

9:00-9:30 Spelling alternating with Logic (Megawords, Art of Argument)

9:30-10:00 Literature (Lightning Lit 7)

10:00-11:00 Reading time

11:00-11:30 French (Learnables Level 3)

11:30-12:30 Lunch

12:30-1:00 Drill (IEW's poetry program, math drill, Latin drill)

1:00-2:00 Science (Interactive Science, Milestones in Science kit)

2:00-2:30 Latin (Latin Prep 2)

2:30-3:00 Grammar

3:00-3:30 Writing

3:30-4:00 Instrument practice

 

Monday will have the same schedule until 10:30, when we leave for Girl Scouts.

 

I don't schedule breaks/snacks, we take them as we need them, and we really don't follow a schedule exactly. I just write one out to see how realistic my plans are.

 

Should I cut something out? Or does it look okay for an 8th grader? (my 7th grader's schedule will be similar, but she'll have band on Tuesday morning, and I'm letting her drop Latin since she's participating in two home school bands and will have twice the amount of practicing.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I agree with you, it does look like you have an awful lot of schoolwork crammed into just three days. I don't think the amount of work itself is too much for an 8th grader, but it's the fact that it needs to get done in only three school days per week. To be honest with you, I personally wouldn't give up Mondays and Fridays, for an 8th grader, for the activities you described (scouts and PE/park day). The only activity that we replace schoolwork with on weekdays is our co-op once a week, but academics are covered there, and it doesn't increase our workload on other days.

 

Could you look into finding other activities that are scheduled after school hours? Even if they were at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it would allow you to get a full day's worth of school in, especially if you start early.

[Beth in Central TX]

Hi Lana,

 

This looks very similar to my 8th grader's schedule. He starts at 8:30 A.M. and ends at 3:30 P.M. This is our schedule M-Th. Friday is a little lighter. We also have an hour scheduled for lunch. He will study 2 languages (Latin & Greek) as well. He doesn't have a separate geography course (I include that in our history work), and he doesn't have a half hour of drill each day. It looks like that's the only difference.

 

 

HTH!

~Beth

[Sunshine State Sue]

My 8th grader would not be able to handle this schedule. We no longer do foreign language :crying: and we do grammar first semester and writing and spelling second semester.

[Elm in NJ]

M 8th grader has a similar schedule. He starts at 7.30 and finishes at 4pm with an hour lunch break. This is for Mon , Tues, Wed, Fri. Thurs, he will be at a co-op from 11am till 2pm, so his day is shorter.

[Haiku]

I have a 15 year old who just finished 8th grade in public school. Her day started at 7:55 and ended at 2:00. Six hours and five minutes, and of course not all of that was focused study. Not that we should lower our expectations to that of the public school standard, but ... I think your kid's day is too intense. I don't think that expecting 7.5 hours of sustained study and concentration is realistic. Were it me, I would rework the family schedule so that the 8th grader's academic needs could be more realistically met. Why does your child need to spend 3 hours attending other kids' scout troops? Can he work on schoolwork during that time? Does he need tennis and a PE group? When does he get unscheduled downtime? It sounds like you have him scheduled all day all week.

 

Tara

[TCoppock]

Is it possible to do a subject or two on the weekends and a couple on Monday and Friday in the evenings? Or maybe have your children bring independent work with them on scouting days to be do when it isn't their turn. It might be a little more manageable to spread it out a little each day rather than cram in on 3 days. We school a little each weekend and DS really doesn't seem to mind as it is generally only an hour in the AM and MAYBE an hour in the PM. The rest of the day he can do as he pleases.

[Karenciavo]

When you only have 3.5 days to school it shouldn't be surprising that the full days are long. Also I find our very full day is a lot fuller on paper, I schedule 30 minutes for this and it takes 25, I schedule 60 minutes for that and it takes 50, by the end of the day it's almost always at least 30 minutes shorter than I plan on it taking. I don't count instrument practice as part of the school day. The only problem your schedule would be for my ds14 is scheduling writing and Latin in the afternoon.

[babysparkler]

Monday, starting at 11 a.m., we have scouts all day (four different troops, one per child :)),

 

Can any of the 3 hours siblings are in scouts be used for school work? I used to pack a bag of schoolwork for my older son to work on while my younger son was in gymnastics.

[amsunshine]

Can any of the 3 hours siblings are in scouts be used for school work? I used to pack a bag of schoolwork for my older son to work on while my younger son was in gymnastics.

 

This is what I was going to suggest. Each of my dds brings some schoolwork with her to do while her sister is in her ballet class. This works well for us.

[JoyfulMama]

This is what I was going to suggest. Each of my dds brings some schoolwork with her to do while her sister is in her ballet class. This works well for us.

 

:iagree:

I also agree with some other pp in that I would not limit my "week" to Monday to Friday, and I would also take advantage of evening time.

 

We traditionally use Saturday as a school day, and we also usually do history or science or whatever is needed in the evenings if needed to balance.

 

I learned a long time ago not to be a slave to the traditional school schedule if it didn't work for us.

[TxMama]

Hiya Lana!

 

I tried to do a schedule like that once....didn't work out too well.:lol:

 

I'd drop the reading/intrument practice/drill from the schedule. Let them figure out when to read and practice on their own. Drill can be done in the car.

 

I'd also drop some of the outside stuff. We have had very positive experience with a regular scout troop and if I had several boys in scouts I would find a troop where they all meet at one time so that will be only 1 hour per week commitment and not compete with school. The boys can then do something school related while sis in in the Monday girl scouts.

 

Fridays. I'd pick one. Either Music co-op OR pe OR parkday. OR possible let the pe/parkday be the reward if all the schoolwork of the week is done.

 

Best of luck, mama!

[8filltheheart]

I wouldn't follow that type of schedule for an 8th grader. I agree with everyone else......I would have him doing work during the other kids' scout meetings.

 

Park days would be eliminated from our schedule. I learned quickly that the luxury of those types of days were gone as my kids got older. Academics had to take precedence.

 

We do have a lot of outside activities. For example, on Mondays we are out of the house from 12-115 and have to leave again at 3. The older kids don't get home until 830-9 on Monday nights. So, they do a little bit of school work on Sat or Sun, go to bed early Sun night, get up at 5 and start their day extra early. I do not attempt to double up on other days b/c the reality is that they typically don't "learn double." There is only so much they can retain.

 

I would consider either dropping a foreign language or alternating days. My non-high school kids are doing French MWF and Latin TTH and it is working very well.

 

Hope you figure it out.

[Sahamamama]

My first thought was, "Wow, that's a lot of subjects each day. Why so many transitions, and why so scattered?" For example, you have Spelling, Literature, Writing, and Grammar in separate time slots, but these are all components of learning about and using the English language. Put them together in one, daily, 2-2.5 hour "English" chunk, and your student will begin to see connections in the language. Also, I think that by 8th grade students benefit from studying fewer subjects daily, but for longer study periods. Could you schedule content subjects for weekly "study blocks?" Finally, I would put Math/Logic, Latin, and English in the morning, and everything else (including "block subjects," drill work, independent reading, and music practice) after a lunch/break time. Mornings can be devoted to intense seat work, but maybe afternoons could be a bit more relaxed. (??) Here's my go at it: ;)

 

7:30-8:30 am -- Math (T, W, Th); Logic (M)

8:30-9:15 am -- Latin (M, T, W, Th) [45 minutes, instead of only 30 minutes; for me, Latin just takes longer]

9:15-11:30 am -- English (M -- until 10:30; T, W, Th -- 2.25 hour slot) Spelling, Grammar, Writing, Literature

11:30-12:30 pm -- Lunch

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option A: (2-2.5 hours)

 

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- Geography/History

Wednesday -- Science

Thursday -- French

Friday -- Exercise :001_smile:

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option B: (2-2.5 hours)

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- French (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Wednesday -- Science (2 hours)

Thursday -- French (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Friday -- Exercise

 

Late afternoons and evenings could be free for independent reading, instrument practice, chores, family interaction, and unstructured time. Do your drill in the car, while you wait at tennis/scouts/co-op, or just before bedtime (works great for memorizing). HTH.

[katilac]

I don't think it's too much work in one day for an 8th-grader; it's a bit long for a 'school day' but he does have an hour for lunch and music practice is something most students do after school (plus homework).

 

I would certainly take advantage of time on the road and sibling scout meetings to get some schoolwork done. What would they be doing while waiting otherwise? With 7th and 8th grade students, cutting an entire day and a half out of the school week is problematic at best.

 

I probably wouldn't cut anything out - - the load itself seems reasonable to me for the grade level. But I would definitely have him doing school work on scout and co-op days! And I would let him play around with the schedule a bit, and see if it's more effective to do the work at a stretch, or if stuff like music practice and reading might better be shifted to the evening.

 

If the schedule is truly unworkable, and I had to look at cutting something out, I would be looking at our outside activities first.

[Starr]

Many children are in school all day and have homework in the evening. It has to get done sometime. We have this problem as well because the kids did so well in elementary grades we could be involved in more things. I don't have youngers and am trying to reschedule. You can give it a try and see how it goes. It might be worth it to him to work hard and have the time off.

[LanaTron]

To answer some of the things brought up more than once...

 

First, it's good to know that what I'm considering is a lot. It sure seems like it to me.

 

I did not say, also, that this will only be nine weeks at a stretch. It's still a bit crazy, though. ;)

 

I am considering having him bring school work to complete while the girls have their meetings. We did some of that this past year, as a matter of fact, and it is very doable.

 

I am not willing to drop any of the outside stuff, and believe me, I have thought long and hard about it. The pros outweigh the cons.

 

I'm only considering P.E. class or park day on Friday afternoon because they love doing this, and I get to talk with other home school moms. Besides, after music co-op all morning, there is no way we'll come home and do school work. PE is pay-as-you-go so it and park day are optional, we won't do them every week, just as we can.

 

I am willing to cut back on or rearrange the academics. I am considering Saturday school, but that's a lot harder for me to commit to.

 

Now, I want to answer some of your posts specifically.

[LanaTron]

We no longer do foreign language :crying: and we do grammar first semester and writing and spelling second semester.

 

I don't think he should stop French. His ability to understand spoken French amazes me. I think he's pretty good at latin, too, and he has worked hard at it, but he doesn't really enjoy it.

 

I'll think about what you said re: grammar/writing/spelling. That is usually what I do--alternate subjects by week or by term. I don't know why I am not planning it that way this time.:confused:

 

thanks for your help

[LanaTron]

Okay, thanks, Elm. That is very helpful to know that there are some at this age with long days.

[LanaTron]

When you only have 3.5 days to school it shouldn't be surprising that the full days are long. Also I find our very full day is a lot fuller on paper, I schedule 30 minutes for this and it takes 25, I schedule 60 minutes for that and it takes 50, by the end of the day it's almost always at least 30 minutes shorter than I plan on it taking. I don't count instrument practice as part of the school day. The only problem your schedule would be for my ds14 is scheduling writing and Latin in the afternoon.

 

The time alloted for each subject is a maximum time ususally spent, including getting the books out, talking to siblings, getting a drink/snack, etc. It is not necessarily concentrated attention the entire time...actually, I don't think there is any such thing as concentrated attention in this family. :D Anyway, the time spent is for each subject, but I plan with the maximum so that I don't over plan (which I feel I have, hence this whole thread).

 

yes, I also think I will need to move writing and Latin to mornings.

 

Thanks!

[LanaTron]

Hiya Lana!

 

I tried to do a schedule like that once....didn't work out too well.:lol:

 

I do know what you mean. I don't really use a schedule like this on a daily or weekly basis, but I like to write one up, just so I can see if I'm planning too much...like how many hours worth of school am I actually trying to get done. Usually, we have a list of what to get done in the week, and I try to let them decide when they do what.

 

I'd drop the reading/intrument practice/drill from the schedule. Let them figure out when to read and practice on their own. Drill can be done in the car.

 

Drill will be done in the car on the days we are traveling. That really only takes half an hour, BTW, because of all the chatter.

 

I put reading and instrument practice in there, again, to see how much "assigned" stuff they'll have each day. Also, if I don't put it on the list, it won't get done because we will forget...well, they read, but not off their literature lists.

 

I'd also drop some of the outside stuff. We have had very positive experience with a regular scout troop and if I had several boys in scouts I would find a troop where they all meet at one time so that will be only 1 hour per week commitment and not compete with school. The boys can then do something school related while sis in in the Monday girl scouts.

 

In 18 months both boys will be in the same troop. Right now they are at completely different levels...ds9 is in Cub Scouts, ds13 is in Boy Scouts. Their troops do meet at 6:30 and 7:00, respectively, at the same church this year, though, so that will help a lot. It is the GS troops that throw a wrench into things. My dd12 has been with this troop and leader since she was 5 years old, I'd hate to pull her from it. Also, there is not a Cadette troop near us that has her level of Cadettes. It's complicated. The only one I could see moving to another troop would be dd6, and I have thought about it, since hers is the one that is at 11 a.m. on Monday.

 

Fridays. I'd pick one. Either Music co-op OR pe OR parkday. OR possible let the pe/parkday be the reward if all the schoolwork of the week is done.

 

Well, it will be P.E. or Park day in the afternoons (or it may be that some go to PE, some go to park). And we won't do those all the time, just if we have time, or I need some time with the mamas. Music co-op...well, I have this thing about wanting my dc to at least get the chance to play an instrument, and it is the only thing affordable to us right now.

 

Best of luck, mama!

 

Thanks. I'm sure I'll be able to work something out.;)

[LanaTron]

Thank you so much. I like the way you put "English" into one subject, so to speak, because that was really bothering me.

 

I'm going to take this and play with it a bit, and see what I think.

[LanaTron]

Thank you. I will definitely let him look at the schedule and see how he wants to do things. When I have done that in the past, I have been pleasantly surprised at what he is willing to do to get the work done.

[LanaTron]

yes, I will consider alternating the foreign languages. I go to park day as much or maybe more for me as for them. But, it will only happen as time allows...this past year we only went a handful of times, and although I am hoping to make it more often this year, I may have to settle for once/month.

[Laura Corin]

Can any of the 3 hours siblings are in scouts be used for school work? I used to pack a bag of schoolwork for my older son to work on while my younger son was in gymnastics.

 

I did a solid half hour of logic with Hobbes yesterday during Calvin's swimming lesson.

 

Laura

[Laura Corin]

Would it be possible for your 8th grader to stay home and work during park days?

 

Laura

[Sahamamama]

7:30-8:30 am -- Math (T, W, Th); Logic (M)

8:30-9:15 am -- Latin (M, T, W, Th) [45 minutes, instead of only 30 minutes; for me, Latin just takes longer]

9:15-11:30 am -- English (M -- until 10:30; T, W, Th -- 2.25 hour slot) Spelling, Grammar, Writing, Literature

11:30-12:30 pm -- Lunch

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option A: (2-2.5 hours)

 

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- Geography/History

Wednesday -- Science

Thursday -- French

Friday -- Exercise :001_smile:

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option B: (2-2.5 hours)

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- French (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Wednesday -- Science (2 hours)

Thursday -- French (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Friday -- Exercise

 

That's what I get for responding to your post right before going to bed. I spent part of the night dreaming about your son's schedule -- where to put what! :lol: Here's what I came up with in my sleep, see if it's any better than the awake versions (above). While sleeping, I realized that French is really more of a skill subject than a content subject, and consequently should be studied more frequently than 1-2x/week. On the other hand, Literature, which I had slated for daily work, could be scheduled for a weekly/bi-weekly afternoon study block. So....

 

7:30-8:30 am -- Math (T, W, Th); Logic (M)

8:30-9:15 am -- Latin (M, T, W, Th) [45 minutes, instead of only 30 minutes; for me, Latin just takes longer]

9:15-11:30 am -- English, except Literature (M -- until 10:30; T, W, Th -- 2.25 hour slot) Spelling, Grammar, Writing

11:30-12:30 pm -- Lunch

12:30-1:00 pm -- French

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option A: (2-2.5 hours)

 

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- Geography

Wednesday -- Science

Thursday -- Literature

Friday -- Exercise

 

Afternoon Block Subjects, Option B: (2-2.5 hours)

Monday -- Scouts & Tennis

Tuesday -- Literature (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Wednesday -- Science (2 hours)

Thursday -- Literature (1 hour); Geography (1 hour)

Friday -- Exercise

 

HTH! Tonight I am not getting on the board before bedtime. :D

[8filltheheart]

 

I am not willing to drop any of the outside stuff, and believe me, I have thought long and hard about it. The pros outweigh the cons.

 

I'm only considering P.E. class or park day on Friday afternoon because they love doing this, and I get to talk with other home school moms. Besides, after music co-op all morning, there is no way we'll come home and do school work. PE is pay-as-you-go so it and park day are optional, we won't do them every week, just as we can.

 

 

Hi Lana,

 

As someone who has BTDT many times, this is an issue you are not going to be able to get away from. I just looked at the ages of your kids and you are entering the yrs where the kids HAVE to accept responsibility for how your days function.

 

My 8th graders' days are typically 6-8 hrs 5 days per week. My high schoolers' days are typically 7-9 hr/day 5 days per week. The outside activities we engage in are for them except for going to daily Mass 2x per week (we are Catholic, this is non-negotiable, and it is for everyone. When they were younger we went every day. I had to reduce the number of days to be realistic).

 

Our current "out of the house during school hrs" schedule looks something like this:

 

Mon: 1150-115, 300-830/9

Tues: 1045-230

Wed: 1150-115

Thurs: 1130-230

 

Friday is the only day we are home all day long. The kids are all actively engaged while we are gone, so there is no opportunity to do school work while out.

 

B/c 2 of them are high schoolers and 1 is in 8th grade, I had a serious meeting with them to discuss what their school yr was going to look like and what they were going to have to commit to doing daily in order to keep up the activities. (I would be more than thrilled if they quit a couple......but they are determined!)

 

They have to be committed to returning to school work when we return home after being gone. It is completely realistic for older kids. I think back to the days when I was in high school and was active in sports. We would travel to out of town games and get home late and I would still have homework to complete when I got back.

 

They start before I get out of bed. We work on the priority subjects in the morning (though on Tuesdays I have to be committed to working with them into the evenings as well b/c we simply can't get that much done before leaving), etc. I do try to have my 2nd grader finished before we leave the house every day and with the exception of Tuesday, my 5th grader's direct instruction/discussion time with me.

 

I want them to be able to pursue these outside interests, but I am not willing to sacrifice any academic work either. It is not "my" commitment......it has to be everyone's or it will fall apart.

 

I would talk to your 2 older kids and see how they react. oh, and as far as the weekend......that completely falls on my kid's shoulders. I do NOT do school on the weekend, but they can definitely do work where they do not need my assistance to complete.

[LanaTron]

LOL--that is too funny. Thank you so much again for the time/thought/sleep you put into this. Even though it doesn't cut anything out, it just looks so much simpler to do the afternoon blocks like that.

[LanaTron]

I guess that's kind of what I was thinking, but hadn't really gotten it fully formulated in my mind. I have really noticed more willingness this past 6 months on the part of my ds13 to be challenged both in content and amount of work/activities.

 

I will certainly have that talk with my older kids.

 

We have been somewhat relaxed up until this point, but I don't want him to get to high school, then college, and be overwhelmed because I didn't do my part. And he does love the outside activities...so I'll bet he'll be willing to do what it takes.

 

Thank you again!

[LanaTron]

Oh, and it's time to get dh more involved in this, too. Not teaching wise, but with managing the schedule. Looks like we need a family meeting. :-)

[Mom2boys]

I would certainly take advantage of time on the road and sibling scout meetings to get some schoolwork done. What would they be doing while waiting otherwise? With 7th and 8th grade students, cutting an entire day and a half out of the school week is problematic at best.

 

 

 

:iagree: I would cut out the Friday activities for the oldest two.

[Jane]

I've been considering your post since yesterday. I agree with what a few others have stated: I don't think the workload you have your child is unreasonable; I just wouldn't try to push all of of it into a three day schedule. That said, here is another thought that crossed my mind. I too scheduled 1/2 hour blocks one year that we dedicated to memory work. That schedule worked great. However, would it be easier on our schedule if we set aside five minutes at the start of each subject for memory work? I do this with timed math drills. We begin math each day with a five minute drill. If our children have their memory boxes on hand, we could just as easily have them recite their memory work for those other subjects in five minutes.

 

Just a thought...

[LanaTron]

Thank you, Jane, for spending that mental energy on me and my kids! As I looked at it today, using the suggetions here, that is exactly what I decided to do (attach the drill work to the subject). Great minds think alike, right?

[phathui5]

Is the reading time from 10-11 assigned reading or down time/recreational reading? I think that being an hour of reading that the child gets to pick would be a good idea.

 

Could you do a couple hours on Monday morning to knock a half hour off of the other days?

 

You may want to do a half day on Saturday, since you're cramming a lot into three weekdays.

[phathui5]

Would it be possible for your 8th grader to stay home and work during park days?

 

Laura

 

See, this is one of the things I would keep. I think older kids need time outdoors to run around just as much as the younger ones do.

[LanaTron]

Is the reading time from 10-11 assigned reading or down time/recreational reading? I think that being an hour of reading that the child gets to pick would be a good idea.

 

Could you do a couple hours on Monday morning to knock a half hour off of the other days?

 

You may want to do a half day on Saturday, since you're cramming a lot into three weekdays.

 

Usually, the reading that I schedule is their choice from the SOTW book lists, so it is assigned, but they get to choose which books they read.

 

We are taking a history break next year, and doing a literature program. I haven't decided if there will be extra time for them to read off of a reading list on top of the lit program, or if the lit program is it.

 

They do lots of free/recreational reading on their own.

 

Anyway, I'm going to post my revised schedule here in a minute...I did end up taking reading and instrument practice off the "schedule," with plans for it to happen in the evenings. Dh will be able to help make that happen. and i did put some things on monday morning, and I'll have ds bring math to work on while his sister is in girl scouts.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

[LanaTron]

This is highly based on the suggested schedule from Sahamamama. ;)

 

Monday:

7:30-8:30--Logic

8:30-9:00--Latin, including < 5 min. drill

9:00-9:30--French (usually takes ~ 20 minutes, in case Latin runs over)

9:30-10:30--English, including poetry memorization

10:30--leave for Girl Scouts, bringing math to work on

(the rest of this day is taken up with scouts and tennis class)

 

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday:

7:30-8:30--Math, including 5 min. drill

8:30-9:00--Latin, including < 5 min. drill

9:00-9:30--French (usually takes ~ 20 minutes, in case Latin runs over)

9:30-11:30--English, including poetry memorization

11:30-12:30--Lunch

12:30-1:30--Geography (Science on Wednesday)

1:30-2:30--Literature (Science on Wednesday)

 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we may even shift half an hour to work 8-3. We will do Latin drill in the car on Monday and Friday, along with poetry memorization. :auto:

 

Instrument practice and reading time can be done later in the day/evening. Dh can help make sure it happens.

 

I'm sure that this schedule will be tweaked as the year progresses, but I feel like I am starting with something that is not so overwhelming.

 

Thanks to you all (and if you have any further suggestions, fire away).

 

Lana

[Melissa in Australia]

just a suggestion.

my oldest 2 do their assigned reading in the evenings. one reads in bed, the other reads in the living room. they prefer to read after the younger ones are in bed, so they can concentrate better. This frees up time during the day for other things.

[Laura Corin]

See, this is one of the things I would keep. I think older kids need time outdoors to run around just as much as the younger ones do.

 

I'm very much an advocate of exercise for kids: Calvin runs for half an hour ever day in school time, then does three hours of Taekwondo and half an hour of swimming each week in the evenings. I just feel that 'park days' tend to be a lot of down time for the actual amount of exercise involved.

 

Laura

[abbeyej]

Honestly, it doesn't seem that bad to me. You're including 1.5 hours that are just reading and music practice -- if those were considered "homework", then the school day is only 7:30-2:30, including a full hour for lunch. Assuming that you've given the maximum amount of time for each thing and, as Karen pointed out, you'd likely get everything done in at least half an hour less, you're only talking about 6.5 hours a day (including an hour for lunch). Three days a week!!!

 

There are things you could change certainly (in terms of arrangement, or a cut here or there, or perhaps getting workbook things like spelling or grammar done during the siblings' scout meetings), but I don't think 5.5 hours of study three days a week, plus some reading and music practice is really all that oppressive for a middle schooler. I'd probably move "reading" to bedtime, and simply require that music practice be done "after school", whenever that is.

[LanaTron]

For a long time, there were other boys his age coming to park day, and they did play, and play hard. He still plays with his younger brother and his friends, but not as much or as hard.

 

And he is overweight, so any physical activity I can get him to do willingly, I don't want to stop. This PE class is a hard class...if it's been a while, they come out of the class sore, and can hardly move the next day. ;) After a week or two, they aren't sore, but they still get very sweaty and red-faced. Despite that, he loves it! If I could take him every day, I would.

 

PE and park day are actually at the same time. So, the weeks when we don't need to just go home, I'll probably drop the olders at PE, then take the youngers to park day. Or take all to PE and drop in late at park day if we have time before we need to get home.

[LanaTron]

Thanks, abbeyej. I am moving music practice and reading to the evenings...I had that "scheduled" so it would get done. But by moving it to evenings, I can enlist dh's help in making it happen, which just somehow is very freeing for me. Luckily, he's all for everything I'm doing, and wants to help where ever he can.

[Susan in TN]

I haven't read the other responses, so I'm sorry if I'm just repeating things.

 

It does sound long, but for only 3 full days, it's not unreasonable. Is there anything that you can schedule to bring along to work on in the car or when others are in their scout groups? Workbook-type lessons? or reading time? Sometimes that works well, sometimes it doesn't depending on the child and car atmosphere.

[LanaTron]

Oh, they do read in the car, but that is "free" reading. I'll have to consider having them read their guided reading then. Thanks for the suggestion!

[melis108]

It looks like way to much to me, but I think each child is different.

[8filltheheart]

Honestly, it doesn't seem that bad to me. You're including 1.5 hours that are just reading and music practice -- if those were considered "homework", then the school day is only 7:30-2:30, including a full hour for lunch. Assuming that you've given the maximum amount of time for each thing and, as Karen pointed out, you'd likely get everything done in at least half an hour less, you're only talking about 6.5 hours a day (including an hour for lunch). Three days a week!!!

 

There are things you could change certainly (in terms of arrangement, or a cut here or there, or perhaps getting workbook things like spelling or grammar done during the siblings' scout meetings), but I don't think 5.5 hours of study three days a week, plus some reading and music practice is really all that oppressive for a middle schooler. I'd probably move "reading" to bedtime, and simply require that music practice be done "after school", whenever that is.

 

I agree with this. I didn't necessarily view the days as "too long" as much as not really being an appropriate approach for 7th and 8th grade level work. It takes us 5 hrs/week to cover most subjects.....some longer, some shorter. But on average, my 8th grader is spending anywhere from 30-40 hrs/week on academics. Jumping around too much and chopping things up isn't very conducive to high levels of learning.

Edited July 17, 2009 by 8FillTheHeart
Thanks to Lynn for pointing out my math mistake :)

[Heather in VA]

I agree with this. I didn't necessarily view the days as "too long" as much as not really being an appropriate approach for 7th and 8th grade level work. It takes us 5 hrs/week to cover most subjects.....some longer, some shorter. But on average, my 8th grader is spending anywhere from 48-64 hrs/week on academics. Jumping around too much and chopping things up isn't very conducive to high levels of learning.

 

 

I was trying to think of the best way to express this but momof7 did it for me. There is no way we could have effectively done 7th and 8th grade in this manner. A choppy, just try to get it done, schedule just doesn't work well at these levels.

 

Heather

[Jane]

But on average, my 8th grader is spending anywhere from 48-64 hrs/week on academics.

 

Really? 48-64 hours a week? My middle schoolers spend 6-8 hours per day which breaks down to 30-40 hours per week. This is not including their free reading time in the evenings which is about an hour per day.

 

Momof7, would you be willing to post a typical schedule for your middle schoolers (or more specifically for your 8th graders)? I may have to post our fall line up and see what others think.

 

TIA.