Scheduling Q

[briansmama]

Hi,

 

This is the first time I've posted in this forum. My 5 yo ds is reading, writing, and loves math. We're slowly adding in more first grade work, but he soaks it all up and is doing very well.

 

He learns very quickly, but is also an intense child and requires a lot of physical activity. I'm noticing that I'm needing more of a break during the day to stay balanced (I also have a 2 yo ds).

 

How do you schedule your homeschooling time? Do you homeschool 5 days, do you follow a regular ps schedule (I'm guessing most of you do not)? I'm asking here because it seems like my ds needs less practice and repitition than I thought, and I'm hoping that you will tell me that I can spend less time actually homeschooling and more time getting outside for more fun activities ;)

 

Do you find that your gifted and bright children accomplish their goals (and yours) by only doing lessons 3 days per week? Any suggestions?

 

TIA!

Edited July 21, 2009 by briansmama

[KAR120C]

Do you find that your gifted and bright children accomplish their goals (and yours) by only doing lessons 3 days per week? Any suggestions?

What I noticed when DS was that age was that more progress was made between lessons than during -- not that the lessons didn't matter but that the "digesting time" was when he solidified everything.

[kmacnchs]

I guess it's personal preference but with mine, they love consistency. So we do school 6 days a week (if there is nothing else planned, I try to be laid back) but only for 1 hr or 1.25hrs each day. I think that helps with the squirmers. That way, they still get the schooling in and repetition everyday.

 

Also, if we only did school 3 days a week, there would be "discussions" about whether or not they wanted to do school. This way, we do school everyday (if we aren't going somewhere specific) so there is no "discussion", it is just what comes after we eat breakfast and get dressed for the day.

[skaterbabs]

We do school 5 days a week, math & grammer are non-negotiable, but (at least until fall, during summer we do "school lite") everything else I'll occasionally let slide a bit. Once fall gets here we'll have a more exact schedule and things will have to be done daily.

[EKS]

We do school 5 days per week but at age 5 we could have easily fitted it into 3 days. That said, my kids do better with a consistent schedule, so school in the morning on weekdays works best for us.

[Truscifi]

We also do school 5-6 days a week, but only 3 hours or so each day. And we have 'wiggle worm' breaks in between subjects. I agree that only having school 3 days a week would create to much opportunity for argument, but there is no reason you should have to follow a ps schedule. They teach 15 or more kids at a time, while you only have 1, so it should take you less time!;)

[Donna]

Our family works the opposite of most of the others here. We school 4 days a week...the days depend on the extras crammed into the week and the time varies. Sometimes things we didn't get done are fit into weekends. I tend to refer to myself as a classical unschooler...meaning, the kids do all the subjects in a classical education but they do them on their own schedules. They have a certain amount of work that I expect accomplished during the week but their own time to do it in. So, if my night owl youngest child decides at 9:30pm that she wants to do her schoolwork...because that is the time when we make her put down the violin so we can have some quiet time, then that is when she does it. She does tend to do her best work late at night and remembers it best that way.

 

My boys have made their own "routines" and tend not to deviate unless something else interferes like medical appointments or whatever. They usually get their work done in the mornings so they have the rest of the day to themselves. My dd is less of a routine kind of girl so her work is completed whenever but she is highly motivated and always does more than what I expected of her during the week.

[Jen in PA]

Last year, when my dd was 5, we schooled 3 -4 days a week (and by days I mean 1.5 - 2 hours). We live a good distance from all of our extracurriculars, so I pack them into 2 days, and we had school on the other weekdays with anything left finished up on the weekend. This year we will be taking an hour of schoolwork with us on activity days, so DD will have 2 days of light school and lots of activities, and 3 days of more schoolwork (about 2.5 - 3 hours). We actually started our school year just over two weeks ago, and I am already finding that we are moving through material much faster than I had anticipated -- it was as if she actually gained some skills during our month off. I think for a 5 year old who is absorbing things pretty easily, less is definitely more.

[briansmama]

Thanks for the responses- you all brought up some great points. Ds does best with a schedule and consistency, and we do short lessons, so our actual school time is only 1 to 1.5 hours (including me reading literature aloud to him). I can see the value in keeping up 5 days a week just for the routine of it.

 

I like the idea of having "lite" days when we have more activities going on. Maybe we can try that. It helps to hear what you all are doing with dc who don't need much practice and repitition.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

The plan is to do school 5 days a week but each day will be a little different. We'll hopefully have a co-op class and ballet on two different days. We will also miss a little when we have doctor appointments. We'll do short hands-on lessons with snacks, outside time, or activities geared toward youngest dd (1.5yo) as breaks in-between.

[SunshineMom]

Last year during Sept-June we held school 5 days a week however I also counted field trips as school. There were weeks through out the year to take breaks for holidays, family & friend visits, and vacations (trips to Mexico and Arizona which I counted as school). We also took many nature walks, attended chess club, ballet, and piano lessons. A home school day consisted of piano practice 15min in the morning, memorization, prayers, kids reading outloud for 20min, writing 10 min, spelling 15min, math 20 min, science 1x a week or more for an 1hr, history 1xa week or more for an 1hr, geography 1x a week for 20min so about 2hrs a day. What is hard to count was all the learning time (discussions)that came from my children's questions/interests. I did seperate my kids for reading and math since they are needing individual attention and are at different levels. As for the summer, we are schooling light with science activities, writing, reading, and math. Both girls have been attending science, art, and pony camps so schooling time has been near impossible but we have done some. Next week they will be in a Girl Scout camp 9-3pm for the week. It has been very difficult for me to not be doing school with them but the break is needed. We start school again in August. Now that both the girls are of "school age" most of their extra curricular activities will occur after 3pm which will give us more time for school projects. Last year, I also began to keep a log of the books I have read to the girls. I read between 1hr to 1 1/2hrs a night to them on a regular basis.

 

I would encourage you to enjoy the field trips, dive into children's literature, and take advantage of extra curricular classes so as to not get bogged down with workbooks or traditional school activities.