without attacking me, please offer constructive feedback :)

[greenmamato3]

i want to say thanks to all of you, again, who have offered your perspective and have given me practical tips of ways i can achieve the goals DH and i feel are important for our family and their education. :) additionally, i've received some really helpful PM's that agreed wholeheartedly with (and done things identically to) the way i've prioritized things here at home for our kids and who have offered some "tweaks" to, again, facilitate what DH and i feel is the right fit for our kids, based on their experience and what it's been like as they've tweaked.

incidentally, i want to mention for the sake of other moms who may not know that there is a section of the board for gifted/accelerated type of learners. this i didn't know until a PM alerted me . . . and i will be needing to check b/c i'm realizing that (esp) DS is in that category, but i didn't realize it until i made my OP. :) so, thanks!

 

i feel really excited to continue the way i've set out with a few changes here and there AND with the overall goals in mind whilst not getting bogged down in the details. forest over trees. my kids and i have so much fun together, and they love learning time here at home. as long as i'm getting that kind of feedback from them, i'm not going to majorly overhaul or scrap the approach .... it's obviously working. as a result of the myriad reactions there were to my OP, i really did some "soul-searching" {with and without DH} about everything and actually emerged to realize that we're right where we need to be generally speaking and that every family is going to go about things in a different way, even if we're all "following" the WTM approach. it's neat to know there are thousands of ways to get from point A to point B, each as wonderful as the next but completely different.

 

the diversity here is amazing. i want to embrace it and not let it overwhelm me. i've learned in the last 24 hours that i'm doing what many of you are doing; i've learned that i'm not doing what many of you are doing. we are all united under one common goal, though: training and educating little minds into great thinkers! wahooo!!! :) what a privilege!

 

:grouphug:

[greenmamato3]

I think the amount of work you are doing sounds fine. You are also adding in what is important to YOUR family! Some families may add in extra Bible study or reading. Music is important to your family, so I see no problem with reading and studying about a great composer or taking piano lessons.

 

It sounds like your trouble lies where mine does, in actually getting it DONE! I've found if I can get MOST of what I need ready to go for the day at one time, then I am better prepared. I also started by putting a week's worth of work into a binder.

 

I also made a binder for each child. I had a divider for each day. I listed the assignments on the front page for each day.

 

Just starting out is hard. It will take a little time to get used to, and it will slowly get better.

great ideas here! :) good job, mama! i too have found that an hour of prep time on the weekend is essential for my being ready for the week .... and another mom (in a PM) echo'ed that she absolutely has to do this in order to feel like she can accomplish anything. i guess our minds are wired similarly in this way. "at your fingertips" is SOOOOO key for me! :)

[InHisGrip]

You are a classy lady. You handled criticism (some constructive with the right heart and other things that could've definitely been left out) with much grace.

 

I was really worried about how you must be feeling prior to reading your last posts.

 

Blessings to you -

[FlutterbyMommy]

As a new homeschooler seeking all the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding I possibly can as I face this daunting year, I am so grateful for the pearls of wisdom strung throughout this thread. WOW!!! I will be copying some of these pearls to post as reminder notes to myself!

 

Thank you ladies!

[Tree House Academy]

Definitely not attacking...but you are way too structured. My son will be 6 in Sept and is about half-way through 1st grade academically. We do Heart of Dakota and CLE mostly. His day starts around 10 or 10:30 and is always done by 12:30 or 1. that is all his little mind can handle. We got a LOT done in that short time. I can't imagine how worn out and frazzled we would all be if we were doing school from 8:30am until 5pm. Ack. My 10 year old does school from around 9am until about 1:30 or 2pm and he is in 5th grade! He has 2 fifteen minute breaks through the day and lunch comes after school. Once we finish school and have lunch, the kids do some chores for me (clean up lunch and laundry - and older son walks the dog). Then they go to their rooms and "rest" for an hour. That is just downtime for all of us. Older tends to play his DSi or read, younger plays DS or with his toys. the key is "quiet and alone." When they get up from this, they have free time until about 5pm and then they do a few more chores. Older son helps me make supper. Once supper is eaten and cleaned up, the rest of the night belongs to daddy. :) this is our schedule through the week and I would say it actually happens that way about 3 times a week. LOL

 

The big points I want to make is that you are doing way too much with a 6 and 4 year old. It seems like you are attempting to micromanage every second of the day. Dawdling is irritating...but they are also just little. Maybe you could try a reward or incentive for NOT dawdling (we do a school store), but scheduling every minute and doing school until 5pm seems pretty extreme. If I were you, I would cut back on subjects. Maybe work with your older first and then your younger. Find a balance.

 

Finding your *groove* takes time...but you will get there. *hugs*

[Tree House Academy]

Those that only do 2 hours of school for a first grader ... I have NO clue how they do it. We do a ton of readings so that may be why it takes us longer. I don't know.

 

Our day takes from 2-2.5 hours. We are doing Heart of Dakota. Our schedule is as follows:

 

CLE Bible Lesson/Memory verse lesson in HOD (BLHFHG)

CLE Math (1 lesson)

Phonics (we alternate - PP one day, ETC the next)

CLE Language Arts (1 Lesson)

 

15 Minute Break

 

Read Aloud (Squanto right now) and discussion

Handwriting (Abeka Cursive - 1 lesson)

History (Reading and discussion)

Rotating HOD box (Geog, History activity, Timeline, Art)

 

15 minute break

 

Spelling/Poetry study (Spelling - write words on a white board to practice or use words in a sentence. No testing at this age. I "test" by watching him write the words. Poetry is a reading and discussion of the poem, its meaning, etc)

"Emerging Reader" reading and discussion (he reads to me)

 

 

Our day ends here unless he is doing Explode the Code online. If so, he does the ETC online until he gets 3 blue coins, then he may stop.

 

Some days, he begs to do more Art and I use the CLE artpacs to give him assignments. This is done on Friday as part of his coursework (Rotating HOD time), but often he asks for extra.

[Julie in CA]

i want to say thanks to all of you, again, who have offered your perspective and have given me practical tips of ways i can achieve the goals DH and i feel are important for our family and their education. :) additionally, i've received some really helpful PM's that agreed wholeheartedly with (and done things identically to) the way i've prioritized things here at home for our kids and who have offered some "tweaks" to, again, facilitate what DH and i feel is the right fit for our kids, based on their experience and what it's been like as they've tweaked.

incidentally, i want to mention for the sake of other moms who may not know that there is a section of the board for gifted/accelerated type of learners. this i didn't know until a PM alerted me . . . and i will be needing to check b/c i'm realizing that (esp) DS is in that category, but i didn't realize it until i made my OP. :) so, thanks!

 

i feel really excited to continue the way i've set out with a few changes here and there AND with the overall goals in mind whilst not getting bogged down in the details. forest over trees. my kids and i have so much fun together, and they love learning time here at home. as long as i'm getting that kind of feedback from them, i'm not going to majorly overhaul or scrap the approach .... it's obviously working. as a result of the myriad reactions there were to my OP, i really did some "soul-searching" {with and without DH} about everything and actually emerged to realize that we're right where we need to be generally speaking and that every family is going to go about things in a different way, even if we're all "following" the WTM approach. it's neat to know there are thousands of ways to get from point A to point B, each as wonderful as the next but completely different.

 

the diversity here is amazing. i want to embrace it and not let it overwhelm me. i've learned in the last 24 hours that i'm doing what many of you are doing; i've learned that i'm not doing what many of you are doing. we are all united under one common goal, though: training and educating little minds into great thinkers! wahooo!!! :) what a privilege!

 

:grouphug:

I'm sorry to hear such defensiveness in the tone of your responses. Even if you've received a few supportive private messages, the overwhelming response is clear. Lean on your own understanding if you must, but ignoring the advice of so many with so much more experience is....I don't know what to say...unwise?

 

The expectations that you have placed upon your very young children are perhaps due to a lack of knowledge of basic child development. It's fairly easy to educate yourself about that, and that might be the best first step on the road to educating your children.

 

I'm really, really not trying to be harsh, but I am trying to break through where you've clearly decided that, come what may, you're *right*. I've seen the other end of what you're choosing to do with your children, and it's not pretty. Do you think that at age 13 (when boys typically go through "stuff"), that you will be the person your son comes to when he's troubled? The constant push that you are planning may for fine--for now... but it *will* push your children away later on, when they need all of the patience, love, understanding, sympathy, wisdom, and grace that you can muster. You will not likely be the person your children come to for those things. You will simply be another person who's expectations they can't ever *quite* meet.

 

I know you've made up your mind, but please *please* reconsider. Open yourself up to the idea that even though you feel that you and your dh "know what's best for your family," that others with decades more experience have gently tried to steer you in another direction. None of us have anything to gain by disagreeing with you. I think a fair amount of folks are simply distressed that in spite of all the great advice you've been given, you're clearly planning to follow through by "leaning on your own understanding", even though you have very little experience. Sometimes it's a bitter pill, but trusting the advice of people who've already been where you are, and following their advice even though it contradicts your own feelings, can result in wondrous benefits you didn't even know existed, and may help avert some disasters you didn't know existed either.

 

This is said with every ounce of good will that I have, and I hope you'll think it over.

Blessings on you as you begin your homeschooling journey,

Julie

[Tree House Academy]

i want to say thanks to all of you, again, who have offered your perspective and have given me practical tips of ways i can achieve the goals DH and i feel are important for our family and their education. :) additionally, i've received some really helpful PM's that agreed wholeheartedly with (and done things identically to) the way i've prioritized things here at home for our kids and who have offered some "tweaks" to, again, facilitate what DH and i feel is the right fit for our kids, based on their experience and what it's been like as they've tweaked.

incidentally, i want to mention for the sake of other moms who may not know that there is a section of the board for gifted/accelerated type of learners. this i didn't know until a PM alerted me . . . and i will be needing to check b/c i'm realizing that (esp) DS is in that category, but i didn't realize it until i made my OP. :) so, thanks!

 

i feel really excited to continue the way i've set out with a few changes here and there AND with the overall goals in mind whilst not getting bogged down in the details. forest over trees. my kids and i have so much fun together, and they love learning time here at home. as long as i'm getting that kind of feedback from them, i'm not going to majorly overhaul or scrap the approach .... it's obviously working. as a result of the myriad reactions there were to my OP, i really did some "soul-searching" {with and without DH} about everything and actually emerged to realize that we're right where we need to be generally speaking and that every family is going to go about things in a different way, even if we're all "following" the WTM approach. it's neat to know there are thousands of ways to get from point A to point B, each as wonderful as the next but completely different.

 

the diversity here is amazing. i want to embrace it and not let it overwhelm me. i've learned in the last 24 hours that i'm doing what many of you are doing; i've learned that i'm not doing what many of you are doing. we are all united under one common goal, though: training and educating little minds into great thinkers! wahooo!!! :) what a privilege!

 

:grouphug:

 

Gifted children do seem to follow a different set of rules...but that doesn't mean they need to be overworked and not allowed to have that time ot be just a kid.

 

Your first post did not display your son as gifted considering you mentioned that he was taking an hour to do 1/2 to 1 lesson in math because it wasn't processing. ???:confused: Perhaps that detail was a bit confusing. My yongest child is smart - he is 5.5 and reading at a mid 2nd or above grade level. He is great in math and is halfway through 1st grade and will not be 6 until the END of September. However, I don't see him as accelerated - he has just had a lot of on on one attention and never too much pressure. My cue is that when he cries in frustration, I am expecting a bit too much. That has been a good indicator to back off...and most of the time, when I do, he quickly comes back around on his own. :)

Edited August 6, 2009 by Tree House Academy

[Tree House Academy]

thanks gals. lots to think about. i can see the value in lightening certain areas of my expectations. [i think DH and i use dawdling differently than WTM/CM does .... our kids have PLENTY of headspace! :) i don't mean that they are little robots or expected to not get sidetracked.]

 

PLEASE know ....

the timer for lunch thing has NOTHING to do with school. that developed over the summertime when DH and i realized that our kid will sit and just get wild and crazy during a meal if we don't tell them they need to eat. i got tired of telling them to eat. eat. eat. and then after 45 min they STILL had over half the food left on their plates and if we asked them to get up from the table b/c lunch or dinner was over, they pitched fits at us for taking their food away b/c they were still hungry. truly. the 20 min thing isn't a crazy heavyhanded thing. it just helps them understand that they don't need to be spending 45 min eating a pb sandwich and some carrots. that's absurd. and they were just acting silly and goofy the entire time. what we want for them is that they eat, and then GO OUTSIDE or upstairs to be silly and goofy where it's appropriate. the table is NOT a place to be silly and goofy IMHO. and it drives DH nuts. the development of that system was out of necessity, not some strange thing i dreamed up one night while watching TV. and if we don't give them 2 snacks and very predictable intervals, they get into crisis mode about 45 min before the next meal and it's just not worth it to have them asking for dinner before i've had a chance to make it. so, again, that system developed over a period of about a year. and it really is a perfect fit for our family. having a time limit and a snack schedule has ENDED our food battles and the complaining about meals that were engulfing us a year ago. i have LOTS of friends who do similar things.

 

 

the piano thing isn't optional. :) it's done in 5-15 min (depending on what my mom assigns, as she's their piano teacher ... we both have our performance degrees) ... and the kids LOVE it!.

 

 

there seem to be a lot of different definitions about what is schooltime and what's not schooltime. i'm cuddling with my kids for an hour or so on the couch SMACK in the middle of their school time .... we're reading .... they're fascinated .... and then we do it again in the afternoon if we want to. i'm not giving them ASSIGNMENTS for the hours of 8:30-3. :) and CERTAINLY my 4yo is NOT sitting there doing the FLL,WWE, the narrations, or anything .... she does about 10 min of phonics pathways or bob books with me, and she does some math. everything else is creative play time, coloring, a little workbook that she WANTS to do to mimic big brother, or listening to our books.

i don't need to back up DS in his righstart book .... he did level A, he's halfway through level B, and he's not struggling. he just processes slowly on the problems. i "teach" him the lesson for about 10 min, then the rest of the 30-45 min his him doing his worksheet or us playing a game .... isn't that what i'm supposed to do? DD 4 plays next to us during that time.

 

 

instead of taking a bunch of breaks, we just switch subjects and move around the bonus room between their kid table, our homechool/game table, the couch, and the floor.

we take unscheduled nature walks. we are sporadic... and spontaneous. what i've learned about myself during the first year of homeschooling is that if i have a grid from which to work, i am FREED UP to be spontaneous. whereas if i have no general idea of how i want the day to go, i feel completely concerned about whether i'm getting it all doen and i become a slave driver for fear that we're getting behind (and then we wind up weeks ahed of where we really need to be ... or we spend way longer than is necessary ....). surely someone else can relate to that?

 

i will continue to mull all of this over. i do value even the ones of you who've point blank told me my approach is all wrong. :) i asked for it. i am going to work on shortening it and probably won't do latin this year at all. they've both been learning spanish at preschool anyway .... i was just going to let them do the rosetta stone thing ...

 

i REALLY do want to make sure that you've not misunderstood me completely! :) ON PAPER it does look very intense, but its really not that big of a deal in reality b/c they love the morning school times and the afternoons are meant for extra fun things they love to do, including playing with legos, doing board games, etc etc etc. and wednesdays are our homeschool fun day, and on thursdays DS is at a tutorial. so it's really just MTF ...

 

tae kwon do is their favorite thing in the world [they go 2-3 times/wk] , and dance is something DD has begged to do for two years so we're letting her transition from TKD when she finishes tiger cubs this month ... that doesn't seem crazy to me ... does it really seem crazy to you to let your daughter take dance lessons before she's 9 or 10? a weekly piano lesson is done with their grandmother ... :) what could be more wonderful?!

 

our kids LOVE books and we could literally spend the day reading books and getting up to play blocks/ take a walk, then going back to books. is that really school time? hmmm. i didn't really think so. to me, that's just the way we spend our day.

 

 

This all makes more sense to me. We have the meal time issue too...and my kids are 10 and 6! Out of curiousity, what was it you wanted help with then? It sounds like you are doing each part of your day with purpose and that you maybe mis-stated in your first post exactly what goes on in a day.

[Geo]

:001_unsure:

Edited August 6, 2009 by Geo

[greenmamato3]

i know some of you continue to want to offer feedback. thanks for your enthusiasm, but at this point, i'm asking you to please stop and spend your time reading another thread. i have taken note of everyone's responses (yes, that includes the ones with decades more experience than my 15 months of homeschooling) and i am NOT leaning on my own understanding {please refrain from low-blows such as those}. i didn't write the OP so that my entire day could be overhauled by a completely different approach. i was not wholly dissatisfied and in need of that. i asked for some CONSTRUCTIVE feedback about how i can tweak things and make it shorter ... and how to get what i've set out to do done more efficiently or with a bit more creativity. i was fully prepared for the responses to run the gamut. they did :) and that's ok. i have benefitted from the process of reading and considering the posts.

 

i'm concerned that there seem to STILL be some misreadings and misunderstandings from my OP,despite my efforts to clarify, which is why i would respectfully request that even if you have insight to add at this point that you'd refrain. a PM might be more appropriate, if you really must.

i.e. i AM NOT SCHOOLING my children til 5 pm. it's untrue. if you've carefully read my responses when questions have been asked, i've made it more than clear that we do school in the mornings, which includes a lot of cuddling on the couch and cherishing these precious young years {b/c we'd be doing that EVEN IF we weren't officially homeschooling}, and not pushing them to the point of tears, while still making best use of my youngest child's naptimes when everyone's focusing can be best accomplished. in the afternoons i have another chunk of no-baby-on-the-hip while he naps that i take advantage of for more reading or projects with less brain-intensive learning that is more experiential {which again, i'd be doing even if we weren't homeschooling b/c my kids like that and ask to do it}. [as an aside, the "safety lessons" aren't formal lessons they sit down for ... it's part of the fabric of our day but it's something i'm intentional about so that i don't leae gaping holes in their little lives; the composer study happens in the car sometimes, etc .... again .... misunderstanding]

 

in a PP, i was accused of being defensive in my tone, and not taking the advice that's been offered. it's sad to me that you would assume that. i wrote my response last night with *zero* defensiveness, and i mentioned that i AM tweaking things. tweaking. not overhauling, b/c that's not what was necessary or right and good for our family. DH and i have PRAYERFULLY considered every curriculum we've chosen and the way we parent. {and we've read STACKS of books on personality types, learning styles, developmental concerns, etc ... again, assumptions were made that i hadn't done any of those things.} following what God is leading us to do NECESSARILY means that there will be times others won't understand us. {and no we're not some weird cult or derivation of Jesus-followers. we believe the BIble so don't go off on a tangent about THAT either. :tongue_smilie: if you choose to worship differently then keep that to yourself}. we have chosen homeschooling for X set of reasons. your family's X set of reasons could (and should!) be different ... there might be overlap, and that's fun to discover on a board such as this.

i am not going to spend my time listing for your the litany of what i'm keeping or changing. suffice it to say, i'm changing a few things. it's not a good use of my time to type all that out to you in summary, and it's not really any of your business. i've resisted the "throwing mud" that so often times happens on boards when things get heated; as well, i haven't just thrown up my arms and said "forget it." instead, i've really tried to honestly say thanks, swallow hard, and do some pondering, whilst taking ALL suggestions into consideration and seeing if they are a good fit for MY kids (whom none of you have ever met ....). saying that YOU know better for MY kids than i do is really quite preposterous, and is as ludicrous as me saying to a seasoned homeschooling mom that i know better than her about how things should be done. i haven't said that i know better, and indeed i have informed everyone that i am tweaking things. PLEASE HEAR ME: i am not interested in pushing my kids to the brink of their destruction and i am really glad to hear the advice to be careful how far you push them even if they seem to be loving it b/c it may all hit a wall later down the road. some of you have basically said that i'm destroying my kids and not loving them and not letting them just be kids. :confused: why make such assumptions? is it productive? our entire society would be benefited if EVERYONE would start learning to TRY to believe the best about someone.

 

despite my efforts to clarify and peacefully subdue any more discussion, there are still posts being added that seem to be aimed at TRYING to invoke an argumentative response. please just stop. it proves that no matter how hard one might try, one can't please everybody when there are thousands of people reading one's words. i'm not trying to please people. i'm called to be pleasing to my Father. that's more than enough of a job for me everyday, and you will not see any more posts from me in here :) :grouphug: now let's all take a :chillpill: and focus on parenting our own brood.

 

some of you are fuming no doubt as you read this. some of you are cheering. emotions run deep when it comes to homeschooling and parenting issues. but let's let it lie.

[H.S. Burrow]

thanks gals. lots to think about. i can see the value in lightening certain areas of my expectations. [i think DH and i use dawdling differently than WTM/CM does .... our kids have PLENTY of headspace! :) i don't mean that they are little robots or expected to not get sidetracked.]

 

PLEASE know ....

the timer for lunch thing has NOTHING to do with school. that developed over the summertime when DH and i realized that our kid will sit and just get wild and crazy during a meal if we don't tell them they need to eat. i got tired of telling them to eat. eat. eat. and then after 45 min they STILL had over half the food left on their plates and if we asked them to get up from the table b/c lunch or dinner was over, they pitched fits at us for taking their food away b/c they were still hungry. truly. the 20 min thing isn't a crazy heavyhanded thing. it just helps them understand that they don't need to be spending 45 min eating a pb sandwich and some carrots. that's absurd. and they were just acting silly and goofy the entire time. what we want for them is that they eat, and then GO OUTSIDE or upstairs to be silly and goofy where it's appropriate. the table is NOT a place to be silly and goofy IMHO. and it drives DH nuts. the development of that system was out of necessity, not some strange thing i dreamed up one night while watching TV. and if we don't give them 2 snacks and very predictable intervals, they get into crisis mode about 45 min before the next meal and it's just not worth it to have them asking for dinner before i've had a chance to make it. so, again, that system developed over a period of about a year. and it really is a perfect fit for our family. having a time limit and a snack schedule has ENDED our food battles and the complaining about meals that were engulfing us a year ago. i have LOTS of friends who do similar things.

 

 

the piano thing isn't optional. :) it's done in 5-15 min (depending on what my mom assigns, as she's their piano teacher ... we both have our performance degrees) ... and the kids LOVE it!.

 

 

there seem to be a lot of different definitions about what is schooltime and what's not schooltime. i'm cuddling with my kids for an hour or so on the couch SMACK in the middle of their school time .... we're reading .... they're fascinated .... and then we do it again in the afternoon if we want to. i'm not giving them ASSIGNMENTS for the hours of 8:30-3. :) and CERTAINLY my 4yo is NOT sitting there doing the FLL,WWE, the narrations, or anything .... she does about 10 min of phonics pathways or bob books with me, and she does some math. everything else is creative play time, coloring, a little workbook that she WANTS to do to mimic big brother, or listening to our books.

i don't need to back up DS in his righstart book .... he did level A, he's halfway through level B, and he's not struggling. he just processes slowly on the problems. i "teach" him the lesson for about 10 min, then the rest of the 30-45 min his him doing his worksheet or us playing a game .... isn't that what i'm supposed to do? DD 4 plays next to us during that time.

 

 

instead of taking a bunch of breaks, we just switch subjects and move around the bonus room between their kid table, our homechool/game table, the couch, and the floor.

we take unscheduled nature walks. we are sporadic... and spontaneous. what i've learned about myself during the first year of homeschooling is that if i have a grid from which to work, i am FREED UP to be spontaneous. whereas if i have no general idea of how i want the day to go, i feel completely concerned about whether i'm getting it all doen and i become a slave driver for fear that we're getting behind (and then we wind up weeks ahed of where we really need to be ... or we spend way longer than is necessary ....). surely someone else can relate to that?

 

i will continue to mull all of this over. i do value even the ones of you who've point blank told me my approach is all wrong. :) i asked for it. i am going to work on shortening it and probably won't do latin this year at all. they've both been learning spanish at preschool anyway .... i was just going to let them do the rosetta stone thing ...

 

i REALLY do want to make sure that you've not misunderstood me completely! :) ON PAPER it does look very intense, but its really not that big of a deal in reality b/c they love the morning school times and the afternoons are meant for extra fun things they love to do, including playing with legos, doing board games, etc etc etc. and wednesdays are our homeschool fun day, and on thursdays DS is at a tutorial. so it's really just MTF ...

 

tae kwon do is their favorite thing in the world [they go 2-3 times/wk] , and dance is something DD has begged to do for two years so we're letting her transition from TKD when she finishes tiger cubs this month ... that doesn't seem crazy to me ... does it really seem crazy to you to let your daughter take dance lessons before she's 9 or 10? a weekly piano lesson is done with their grandmother ... :) what could be more wonderful?!

 

our kids LOVE books and we could literally spend the day reading books and getting up to play blocks/ take a walk, then going back to books. is that really school time? hmmm. i didn't really think so. to me, that's just the way we spend our day.

 

I just wanted to comment on timers.

 

My kids are 11 and almost 15 and we use timers for breaks/lunch AND math.

 

The reason? My kids are dawdlers. Yep, I admit it. No matter what else I have tried, the timer works like a charm.

 

I have the little digital ones (everyone has one) that give a "warning" beep at 10 minutes and 5 minutes so they know they are running out of time. After DS & I go over his math lesson, I set his timer for 30 minutes. Period. Any problems not completed within 30 minutes becomes "homework" and must be completed when the rest of school is finished for the day. After DD & I go over her math, I set her timer for 45 minutes (she starts Algebra 2 this year). Neither of them like math, therefore, they would just sit and stare at their math books....daydreaming of what they can do when it's finished instead of actually finishing it.

 

For breaks and lunch, I set my timer. If I allowed it, my kids would drag lunch out for 2 HOURS. :001_huh:

 

I think that timers can be a very useful tool and applaud you for recognizing that your kids need to know just how long they have to finish a task.

 

**I also want to second the poster (can't remember which one) that said the WTM times/days per week, etc are GUIDELINES that the publisher insisted be included. I cannot remember where I read that (here, I think), but please don't stress about how long you spend per subject.

[greenmamato3]

thanks, HSBURROW, for both of these tips :) our visual timer was recommended to us for our son when he was 2 and in OT for his sensory things. it's great b/c it doesn't ring at the end, thus not jarring him from his world, but rather it is a VERY tangible way for him to see the intangible concept that time is going away ...

we use it for everything .... fun stuff, work stuff, chore stuff, quiet time, time to the next fun thing, etc. best $25 i've spent ... :) i would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who wants a way to non-punitively but very effectively show their child the concept of time.

 

and, yes, lunch could last all day at our house, no matter hooooow much time outside they've had before :)

 

the WTM guidelines were really freeing to me b/c i wouldn't have known where to start for elementary level education. and now i'm seeing that there's NOTHING hard and fast about them b/c they have to be living, breathing, flexible guidelines :) love that. there's freedom in having structure for MY personality :) after all it gives you something to deviate from when it's best for everyone! :) toodles!

[lovemykids]

Oh my goodness, my younger kids can sit and get like five problems done in half an hour. Then as soon as the timer goes on for ten minutes the whole rest of the page gets magically done. Presto!

I also put a timer on to finish the rest of dinner, or the ultimatum of no dessert looms over their little heads. This also produces extremely fast reactions. I never knew they could accomplish such great feats in so little time.

;)

[Tree House Academy]

Well, there were only posts by myself and another person, so I assume some of that was directed at me. To be honest, I didn't read the ENTIRE 6 pages before posting my reply. I did try to offer some tidbits and later found a post (as I looked through the thread) where you did try to explain some things that had left me thinking, "what??" If I were you, I would ask admin to delete this thread if it so bothers you that others will respond further. Likely, most people will see the title, read the post, and post a reply WITHOUT reading the 7 pages of posts.

 

Good luck with your kids and your homeschooling adventure.

[Colleen in NS]

greenmamato3,

 

I've read this whole thread and it sounds to me like you are enthusiastic about your kids and that you are all having fun together. It sounds like you've already considered a lot of things before posting, and I just want to offer some support to a fellow homeschooling Mama. I didn't see your OP, and it sounds like it would have tired *me* out to look at it, but it doesn't really matter - you asked for opinions, you got them, you considered them, and now you get to decide what you feel is best. I support you in that endeavor.

 

I was very enthusiastic about planning in the beginning, and still am (somewhat :lol:). I think there is something to be said about considering more experienced people's advice, BUT, *you* are the one living your life. Different bits of advice click with us at different times in our lives, too. I might have discarded experienced advice five years ago, but use it now. Or I might have taken experienced advice five years ago and REGRET it now (and this *is* true for me). Way to go with your kids!!

 

:grouphug::D

[The Governess]

I know I'm late chiming in here but I wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one here doing more than what is considered "normal" on these boards for a young child. Especially with math I have to cut dd off because otherwise she would spend well over an hour on it and we have a fun, busy schedule that just doesn't have time in it for an hour or more of math every day!

 

It helps me to remember that not everyone on these boards is a classical homeschooler or following WTM, and not everyone is schooling a bright (possibly gifted), highly motivated child who thrives on accomplishing things in her day. Our school time fulfills a huge need for her and she is so much happier and relaxed when we have had a productive week. Obviously, there are many people on these boards that have a lot of wisdom to offer (which is the reason I visit) and I am extremely grateful for their advice, but they have never met my dd or me, or sat in my dining room and watched us work. The advice of strangers, even experienced ones, can only take you so far; you know your child best and have to weigh it appropriately.

 

One suggestion for the math and any other subjects that are taking a long time due to dawdling is to schedule a set amount of time rather than number of lessons to attempt to get through in a week. If you end up falling behind, turn those 1 or 2 subjects into year-round subjects. Nothing wrong with doing 30 minutes of math over the summer. Maybe if he knows that it will only be x number of minutes it will help with his dawdling: he will always know when it will be over and it won't seem like such a big hill to climb.

 

:grouphug: I hope you have a wonderful year!!!

[zaichiki]

It helps me to remember that not everyone on these boards is a classical homeschooler or following WTM, and not everyone is schooling a bright (possibly gifted), highly motivated child who thrives on accomplishing things in her day.

 

Obviously, there are many people on these boards that have a lot of wisdom to offer (which is the reason I visit) and I am extremely grateful for their advice, but they have never met my dd or me, or sat in my dining room and watched us work. The advice of strangers, even experienced ones, can only take you so far; you know your child best and have to weigh it appropriately.

 

Wise words. Thank you for writing so clearly. :)

[NicA]

:iagree:

[Guest Jesse the Red]

I have always schooled for the whole day. No matter what I do, what curriculum I change to, how I schedule, etc. I simply cannot fit all of what my children WANT and what my children NEED into the morning. And, you know what? That is what works for us. My sister's children are always done by lunch time. This flabbergasts me. But, you know what? That's what works for her. I personally believe that it is my job as their mother and teacher to make certain that they do not leave my house without all the knowledge, experience, growth, culture, and morality I can help them attain. Whatever that takes, we do it. It's been working for us for 8 years now. Don't let others talk you out of who you are. Afterall, God made you that way. Let Him guide your homeschool, and it will all be fine.

 

I'm sorry that your humble request for help ended up causing you so much stress and difficulty. Sometimes it is just too easy for others to judge.

 

 

---------------------------

Mother and homeschooler of four amazing kiddos ds 11 ds 10 dd 4 dd 1

[Jumping In Puddles]

I'm sorry that your humble request for help ended up causing you so much stress and difficulty. Sometimes it is just too easy for others to judge.

 

 

 

In all fairness, her humble request for help was asking for others if her schedule seemed reasonable. Then she wanted advice based on experiences so she could learn from it. She got that and didn't like that most (but not all!) thought it was not reasonable and offered advice because they had done the same thing for young children and came to regret it. See her initial post:

 

 

some would aruge that first grade needs to be done in a matter of 2-3 hours. i can't seem to figure out how to do that. i'd really like you guys to give me your feedback about whether this seems like a REASONABLE day for a prek and 1st grader .... rather than listing a bunch of specific questions, i would just prefer to here your thoughts and learn from your experiences. thanks, in advance, for your assistance.

 

 

If her post was in one of those "SHOW your 1st grade schedule" threads, any feedback except encouragement would be judging and out of line. This thread specifically asked for judgement. I'm sorry it was not what she wanted to hear.

 

BTW, welcome to the boards!

Edited August 7, 2009 by Jumping In Puddles

[Testimony]

I hope that you did not think that I meant to revamp your approach to homeschooling. I want you to know that I notice that you said that your were doing some CM with Classical. I thought that maybe you should just stick to one approach only in order to get to know it and understand it. I thought that would relieve some stress by making that suggestion.

 

I truly wanted to support your decision and show you how you could tweak it a little. Just for you to know, I post a lot on this forum and I usually emphasize that you should focus on how your child learns. It is a theme that I have.

 

I do apologize if my post caused any offense or distress. I truly wanted you to know that how you homeschool is your choice. I wanted to support your choice, not judge you.

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Guest Barb B]

I didn't read all the posts hear, just had time to skim them. I think your day is fine. You know your kids, the reason we homeschool is so we can individualize our school to our kids. As I read your post, it didn't seem overwhelming to me at all. I say give your schedule some time to see if it fits (at least a month). You know your kids and what you feel is best just might be what they need. Sometimes my 6 year old can suprise me and do more then I would have done with my older ds (now 16) when he was that age. With my older son - no that schedule would not have worked. With my youngest - yes. So go with your instinct. And it just might turn out great. If not - that is ok - this is my 10th year homeschooling. I have found that if I need to revamp my schedule 1 month or so into my year (which I do on some level every year) it is alright - kids are resilient (spelling?) and can handle a schedule change if need be.

 

Barb

[Guest Barb B]

Oh can my 6 year old dwaddle! I llike your time for eating. If I don't put a time limit on meals he will be at it all day! I think kids thrive on schedules - it lets them know what is going on now and also what is next - without that perspective mine seemed lost. I might try a list of subjects in the order we do them - put this is plastic and have ds (6 years) check off each as he does them. Last year I wanted him to read more (he could read on his own but gave me a hard time when I asked him to read to me). I had him pick out at the teacher store something we could put stickers on. He choose a bit rainbow bullitin board poster. Each time he read for a certain time or a certain number of pages he got to put a sticker on. Simple but he loved it and was soon asking me if he could read to me.

 

Barb

[LND1218]

I actually think your day sounds awesome!!! I think you are having a lot of fun. My kids would love so many of those things. I think 1st grade is a great time to tackle some of these fun things you are doing.

 

I could have written this a few years ago! (complete with the younger sibs.)

 

Your ds sounds exactly like my dd! She is older now, but holy cow - we'd spend forever doing things! We can't break during the day at all or I lose her. More than 10 minutes off task and it's forever getting her back. With a motivated child, I could have cut hours off our day but with her we could do all day everyday and never get done. We spend the same amount of time now and get more done because we have worked on this issues of dawdling.

 

Her sis and bro totally different - totally driven get it done kind of kids. It's her personality. She likes long blocks of time to do things. So we do more of a block schedule. DD also drags in math and could do English and Latin all day!! I give her the time to do that. We do larger blocks less days - I hope that make sense. Instead of 15 minutes a day, we'd do a hour (or two!) once or twice a week. That is what she likes - she doesn't transition quickly.

 

I think you are trying to do the right things. If he really is like my dd, he needs you keeping a tight schedule. Personally, I hate it! I am not schedule person and would prefer to just do what we want to, but she needs it. She can spend an hour unloading the dishwasher. :001_huh: Let's not talk about how long she'd shower. The timer is a just tool to teach. I also talk about time blocks with her.

 

The timer thing was a huge help to her - she really needed to see how much time she was spending on things. I ask her how long should this take? How long did it take? I do things with her to show her the pace and time it should take. Then we set a reasonable time plus extra time and set the timer. Then she sees oh if I had only spent 15 minutes on that instead of an hour, I would 45 minutes. And times 5 tasks - that's a lot of time wasted!

 

If she was left to do her own thing, it would bedtime before she got halfway through school. She is dawdler by nature - seriously her 4 year old brother gets more done faster.

 

I think most of your activities sound like fun and not school. I think you have really discovered making life all about learning.

 

I wonder if your frustration maybe like mine - if you would just do it we could do so much more with our day. I hate days when I am pulling on her all day to get things done. But when she starts piano she doesn't want to do stop - no way she could practice for 15 minutes and stop. She's is just getting going at the 15 mintue mark. She wants to keep going. She wants an hour, but an hour a day?

 

I don't know if am making sense to you, but your post resonated with me a lot. It sounds so much like my dd at 6.

 

I think you keep working on the time thing but give yourself space to stop if the day is getting too long. That's what we had to do.

 

And I started putting my extra stuff in a bucket for her to do when she wanted to, and she actually found a bit more motivation to get the basics done. And we are doing more of the extras this way.

Edited August 8, 2009 by Steph