Eleni Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I need advice. Im working out our schedule and changing things around. For the past year or two we have been very relaxed in our schooling. The kids have been learning, but now they are asking for more structured work. I have a 9yo, 7yo and a 5yo. My 9yo needs to get caught up...my 7yo is working at an advanced level...and my 5yo just wants to learn to read. I wrote out a schedule that I know will work well for us...it involves school for 3 hours in the morning, and then after lunch an hour to work on projects. I keep getting stuck at how to fit in the socializing we all need..errands, chores, etc. My husband is typically gone 60-80 hours a week with work , and on Wednesdays I drive two hours to another city to spend the day with my mom who is in the hospital and has Leukemia. Because we take Weds. off I have Sat. as a school day. The kids help with chores and things around the house...but I am still feeling overwhelmed. I suppose one of my big issues is that all the homeschool playdates, field trips, etc with our friends go on in the morning...and then when we get back no one is in the frame of mind to conquer school work...especially me..who is just thinking about having to make dinner, and about how much that went undone. On Weds. the kids DO have 2 hours with their friends because they take a HS gym class. The boys will also be doing Scouts twice a month as well. We live on a small farm and only have 3 neighbors...without any kids...so there arent playmates near us. Suggestions??? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in MA Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 It sounds to me like you have to decide what your priority is. From your post, I hear a conflict between wanting to get your academic work done, but a lot of social activities impinging on your school time. I know that we keep our morning hours free for school work almost without exception: no field trips, no play dates, no coops, etc. That time is productive time and I rarely give it up! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I don't think that socialization has to be everyday. And I don't think that socialization has to always be a playdate or neighborhood play. Doing errands does count as getting out in society. So does visiting a family member. We have 2 sports appts in our schedule every week. We also have at least a couple hours of errands every week. We also have church on Sun morning (which includes interaction with other children) and Bible study on Wed. nights (where our socialization is with the elderly). In my mind, that is plenty of socialization for our family. But we do value the field trips and playdates too. I try to schedule one of those a month. Sometimes we have as many as twice a month - and I feel a bit overbooked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Our first year homeschooling (2nd grade) I definitely did more outside the house than at the kitchen table. Last year I tried to pull in the reins some and just say no. I did not have to go to every exciting event that was planned. This year my daughter is being homeschooled and she needs to play catch up in several areas so we have really pulled in the reins. We are doing swimming Wednesday mornings as our only planned activity. After that we will fill in with 1 field trip (either I plan or through a group). Add to that trips to the library (several times a week) and long weekends (we will be at Great Wolf Lodge on Monday, swim school as I call it) and our dance card is full! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) And I found a nice homeschool group that does a lot. They like to schedule things for 1:00. BUT We like to sleep in, get a slow start on the day and I have found that it's hard for us to get out before 2:00 or so and still get everything done. So, all of our regularly scheduled activities(violin, gymnastics, dance) start at 2:30 or later. These, we go to no matter what the school day was like. So, the girls are getting regular interaction with kids their own age (and music, PE, etc..) The fun/social stuff that the homeschool group does is on a lower priority list than the academic stuff......unless it is directly tied to academics. If we're having a rough week getting school done, we stay home from the park day to make progress. If they are going on a field trip with great academic potential, we'll sign up and go no matter what the week is looking like. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, but I have learned that *I* have to balance the purely fun, social stuff with making sure the academics are getting done. We are missing playgroup today because this has been an especially slow day, but we are going to their skating trip on Monday and it is a priority. We will go no matter what the school day looks like. If the Friday playdate was the only fun opportunity, I would make it a bigger priority. But the group does Lego Club, skating day, art class, free PE twice a month, various field trips, etc.. So, I can pick and choose based on what works for our schedule. This is one reason I prefer this group over a "sign up a month in advance" type group. Edited September 11, 2009 by snickelfritz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I would agree with the posters that told you to limit your time out of the house in the mornings. The dc don't need to get out and do something EVERY day. You have to decide what your priorities are. If they are academic, then you may have to cut back on some activities. My dc are very busy with activities, but we never leave the house before 2:30. Mornings and at least an hour after lunch are schoolwork - no exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Suggestions??? Prioritize. If you have too many priorities, rotate them ;) Sounds like the ole you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you need to be "not doing school" for X amount of time, the your Reality is you are only going to have X minutes available for school assignments that the students are on task and engaged. I would maximize my use of that time. It's helpful to remember that we all "do what we want to do." If we didn't want to do it, we wouldn't. I wrote out a schedule that I know will work well for us...it involves school for 3 hours in the morning, and then after lunch an hour to work on projects. Four hours. How many days a week? How many weeks per year? Focus on the basics. Math - facts, all of them. Then Saxon Math 54. Saxon is a good solid comprehensive program. And the books are short, about 120 lessons per book/year. A typical school year is 180 days. So if you have fewer school days per year, you students can easily do a book every 12 months. If they need to catch up, and they do 180 math days for two years in a row, they can do 3 math books in 2 school years. Reading They read their History/Science/Literature/Usborne/Kingfisher, etc., reading lists. They get their "subjects" in the reading time. 3 half hours a day, or three :20 minute sessions daily, whatever you prioritize, whatever is their tolerance. Writing Copywork Oral Narration Dictation Written Narration Do daily or at least 3 times per week, at whatever level the student is at, or one of each per week. Vocabulary Wordly Wise is a good solid program and you can stay with it for years. I prefer the older original series. It's handy to have the answer key. Cumulative review. Every week review an "old list" so that by May the student hasn't forgotten all his words from first semester. ;) Grammar You can do JAG in 5th grade. Stretch it out, make it last all year. It will take literally a few minutes daily to do about 2 sentences. JAG is cumulative so the student won't forget anything come June. Take a year or two off and do AG in 8th grade. Before 5th grade, just point to a sentence once a week. Ask the students Who is it about What are they doing? How are they doing it When are they doing it...? Where...? What kind of....? Which one? How many...? Whose is it? That gets them used to words having "jobs" in sentences. Latin 4th Prima Latina 5th Latina Christiana 1 6th Latina Christiana 2 (will double as grammar review) 7th/8th Henle FY Four Hours....hmm Math - Facts only, 3 sessions daily. Allocate an hour. It may take less at first, depending on how many facts flashcards are in your Session stack. If your student knows their math facts, and is reading and has been writing. Saxon will take under an hour. Math 54 aboutt a half hour, Math 65 under 40 minutes Reading3 sessions, start with 20 min each. That's 1 hour. You can build up to 30 min each, one for history/science/other. ( about 2.0 or 2.5 hours so far ) Vocabulary 30 minutes. 10 min review and 20 for current week's work. ( about 2.5 or 3.0 hours so far ) Writing - about what you read today about a half hour or 15 minutes ( about 3.0 or 3.5 hours so far ) Latin First 3 semesters is largely vocabulary. about a half hour, tops, including oral recitation, flashcards, . You can do the first two years orally, without writing. (we did.) about a half hour. ( about 3.5 or 4.0 hours so far ) You might even have some spare time in there. It helps to set a timer, dedicate xx minutes to whatever subject/task they are working on, and stop when the timer beeps. Mark your post with a post-it flag, and drop everything and start up tomorrow where you left off today. :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luanne Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I don't think that socialization has to be everyday. And I don't think that socialization has to always be a playdate or neighborhood play. Doing errands does count as getting out in society. So does visiting a family member. We have 2 sports appts in our schedule every week. We also have at least a couple hours of errands every week. We also have church on Sun morning (which includes interaction with other children) and Bible study on Wed. nights (where our socialization is with the elderly). In my mind, that is plenty of socialization for our family. But we do value the field trips and playdates too. I try to schedule one of those a month. Sometimes we have as many as twice a month - and I feel a bit overbooked! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I need advice. Im working out our schedule and changing things around. For the past year or two we have been very relaxed in our schooling. The kids have been learning, but now they are asking for more structured work. I have a 9yo, 7yo and a 5yo. My 9yo needs to get caught up...my 7yo is working at an advanced level...and my 5yo just wants to learn to read. I wrote out a schedule that I know will work well for us...it involves school for 3 hours in the morning, and then after lunch an hour to work on projects. I keep getting stuck at how to fit in the socializing we all need..errands, chores, etc. My husband is typically gone 60-80 hours a week with work , and on Wednesdays I drive two hours to another city to spend the day with my mom who is in the hospital and has Leukemia. Because we take Weds. off I have Sat. as a school day. The kids help with chores and things around the house...but I am still feeling overwhelmed. I suppose one of my big issues is that all the homeschool playdates, field trips, etc with our friends go on in the morning...and then when we get back no one is in the frame of mind to conquer school work...especially me..who is just thinking about having to make dinner, and about how much that went undone. On Weds. the kids DO have 2 hours with their friends because they take a HS gym class. The boys will also be doing Scouts twice a month as well. We live on a small farm and only have 3 neighbors...without any kids...so there arent playmates near us. Suggestions??? Thank you! Firstly, i am so sorry about your mom! What a sweetheart you are to go be with her during her illness. I know that feeling of getting home from a fun activity and not wanting to get back to school work & worrying about what to make for dinner. I'd simplify as much as possible. Make a dinner schedule that is super easy. Like Monday is alway pasta, Tuesday is always chicken, Wednesday is always soup & snadwiches, etc... If you can afford it & don't mind, get paper products to help with dinner clean-up. I hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I suggest stream lining the academic work. I don't know what materials you have chosen to use, but often, one subject can cover multiple skills. Per WTM suggestions, neither history nor science is done all 5 days of the week. In both the grammar and logic stages, history is done 2 or 3 times, and science is 2 times per week. We do history M,W,F and science on Tu,Th. Reading additional history and science titles outside a main core text can be considered literature. Independent reading can be done in the evening, maybe after dinner or before bed. Lang. Arts programs can sometimes overlap skills. Even WTM suggests leaving out some skills in one book if they are covered in another book. All methods of homeschooling are represented on this board, so I cannot assume you are doing a certain thing, not even WTM. But if you're doubling up on subjects, you might can find more time in your day if you streamline. As for housework, I think a basic daily/weekly schedule is great. If you assign certain chores to be done on a certain day, you might not feel the pressure of thinking of them all the time wondering how you're going to get to them. Schedule more housework on the days you'll be home all day and less housework on the days you will be out. I look at social opportunities to be as important as academic subjects because they do not come easily or frequently for us. My dd11 is involved in 2 academic classes, private music lessons, orchestra, and drama. We only have 2 weekdays when we have nothing outside planned. But she is such a social person and really needs people. When she has gone a while without seeing people, she feels so lonely she cries. If she is depressed and lonely, she cannot focus on academics. I hate schedules. I really do. But I try to use them because they really do keep us on track throughout the days and the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 We've also learned to limit our days that we're out in the morning. We're out on Tuesday mornings so we do extra work on Monday/Wednesday to make up for that and only do Science on Tuesdays. But as far as "how do you get it all done?" I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleni Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 Ok..I guess I will have to plan things better. We are all social people, and I have the problem of becoming reclusive the less Im around other adults...which is not good for me. I suppose I could always host playdates at my house every so often, and make get togethers happen in the afternoon. My problem is...right now at least...Im not disciplined enough myself to do school later in the day. We need to get into a system and make it a priority..especially with my 9yo. Im ok with being relaxed when they are younger than that...it has worked really well. My 9yo really isnt THAT far behind..but needs some tweaking. I think if I just roll with a schedule for awhile, and speak up about doing outings in the afternoon..that should help get us all disciplined. Schedules never...um...killed anyone...HAVE they?? :001_huh: J/K ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 When mine were little, we only schooled 4 days a week. We took one day for doing fun stuff; play dates, running errands, field trips. If you are schooling on Saturday, you can probably take a day a week for that type of thing. Or, at least only focus on the basics with the eldest on that day. That will get you through the next couple of years. Eventually, socializing during school time had to go at my house. Btw, I never got everything done. Still don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I need advice. Im working out our schedule and changing things around. For the past year or two we have been very relaxed in our schooling. The kids have been learning, but now they are asking for more structured work. I have a 9yo, 7yo and a 5yo. My 9yo needs to get caught up...my 7yo is working at an advanced level...and my 5yo just wants to learn to read. I wrote out a schedule that I know will work well for us...it involves school for 3 hours in the morning, and then after lunch an hour to work on projects. I keep getting stuck at how to fit in the socializing we all need..errands, chores, etc. My husband is typically gone 60-80 hours a week with work , and on Wednesdays I drive two hours to another city to spend the day with my mom who is in the hospital and has Leukemia. Because we take Weds. off I have Sat. as a school day. The kids help with chores and things around the house...but I am still feeling overwhelmed. I suppose one of my big issues is that all the homeschool playdates, field trips, etc with our friends go on in the morning...and then when we get back no one is in the frame of mind to conquer school work...especially me..who is just thinking about having to make dinner, and about how much that went undone. On Weds. the kids DO have 2 hours with their friends because they take a HS gym class. The boys will also be doing Scouts twice a month as well. We live on a small farm and only have 3 neighbors...without any kids...so there arent playmates near us. Suggestions??? Thank you! I completely get where you are coming from! We have this same problem too! In our case, it is magnified by the fact that both kiddos still sleep in the afternoon so we can't get out then. Mornings are our only socialization time. I'm really struggling with how much to be out and how much to be home doing school. Good luck! I hope it gets easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unsinkable Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I completely get where you are coming from! We have this same problem too! In our case, it is magnified by the fact that both kiddos still sleep in the afternoon so we can't get out then. Mornings are our only socialization time. I'm really struggling with how much to be out and how much to be home doing school. Good luck! I hope it gets easier! It's nice with littles -- many people w/K-1st aged kids can get done with "school" in an hour to an hour & a half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 My problem is...right now at least...Im not disciplined enough myself to do school later in the day. We need to get into a system and make it a priority..especially with my 9yo. Im ok with being relaxed when they are younger than that...it has worked really well. My 9yo really isnt THAT far behind..but needs some tweaking. I think if I just roll with a schedule for awhile, and speak up about doing outings in the afternoon..that should help get us all disciplined. Schedules never...um...killed anyone...HAVE they?? :001_huh: J/K ;) I am not disciplined to do work in the afternoons, myself, and my kids used to go to school so to them, by 3pm, they feel they shouldn't be doing schoolwork anymore anyway. They rarely go past 3pm. I learned not to go out in the morning more than once a week, twice sometimes- but I needed at least 3 solid days at home in the mornings. Otherwise I couldnt get the academics done. However, if I could do it over (and start from the beginning)...I would school year round more...and I would make sure the kids learned that it was ok to do school anytime- mornings, afternoons, evenings, weekends etc Perhaps you could all have a rest after morning activities, and then hit the schoolwork in the late afternoon or evening, before dad gets home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moniksca Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) My dc are younger (7 and 20mth) but I school 4 days a week for friday off as well for fun thing - play dates/trips. If We've had a morning out then I'll school friday afternoon once while my little guy is napping, I have to school in the mornings since I head off to school myself in the afternoon. As for chores I also designate friday as chore day where all the laundry, floors, bathrooms and such get done, that way my weekends are free. All our scheduled activities are done in the evenings, scouts and martial arts. I've also joined a coop for fri afternoons it will only run for 8 wks. Edited September 13, 2009 by Moniksca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 My problem is...right now at least...Im not disciplined enough myself to do school later in the day. If you're not, you're not. FWIW, I have the opposite problem. We cannot work in the mornings. It's just too early and we cannot concentrate. We don't start school until about 1:00pm and we usually finish by 3:00pm. I have all the academics they need, but the kids just work through them quickly. Afternoon activities are really difficult. We either have to go against our natural flow and work in the mornings, work in the evenings after dinner, or skip school for the day. I'd say we average out between the three. But we have no deadlines for when materials should be completed. I do not have a school schedule like a public school. It's what I consider to be one of the advantages of homeschooling. :) Schedules don't kill, but they wear me out sometimes! So we don't use them too often. We only do it when life seems to spiral out of control. Right now we're in a good period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) One year when my dc were quite young, we started school at the breakfast table sometime between 6 and 7 o'clock. The goal was to have most of the the work done by mid-morning, and then we'd have the day to do what we wanted to do. I read science and history and Bible out loud during mealtimes--breakfast and lunch--they'd eat and do dishes and I'd read. We took a day off now and then to do a ton of hands-on science rather than doing it during the normal school day (I collected all we needed and had Science Day), although I often tried to get science done in the summer each year so that we did not have as many classes to cover during the school year--and anyway, it was a lot more fun studying rocks and plants when they were not covered with snow. Sometimes we block-scheduled some classes out for "vacation" or time-off from regular school--we'd do several hours of a logic book over a few days, for example, and then be done with that for the year. Sometimes those summer science classes were made up of snuggling together on the couch for a marathon science read-straight-through-the-book activity, and then we'd do the experiments on those hands-on days as a way to review what we had learned. We did the snuggle on the couch routine with our history books, sometimes, too. Then we'd just get books from the library the rest of the year--biographies and such--that dealt with that era, and that was the best way to learn history, anyway! (How many hours would it take to read straight through Story of the World? I was amazed at the speed we could go through materials if we read, took a quick bread and jelly break, read, took a run to the mail box, read, stopped for a cookies and milk break--or played a quick game in the yard.... you get the idea. Then you can schedule a few days to do the activities you want to do in an all day fun marathon.) BTW, someone here might benefit from knowing that I did not have any fancy science books for early elementary. We had a copy of Childcraft (every library has them) and we'd read through those books and do their experiments and then check books out of the library that dealt with the subject we had studied for the rest of year. It was inexpensive and we learned a ton. Be creative. Enjoy! Jean Edited September 12, 2009 by Jean in Wisc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Sometimes we block-scheduled some classes out for "vacation" or time-off from regular school--we'd do several hours of a logic book over a few days, for example, and then be done with that for the year. Sometimes those summer science classes were made up of snuggling together on the couch for a marathon science read-straight-through-the-book activity, and then we'd do the experiments on those hands-on days as a way to review what we had learned. We did the snuggle on the couch routine with our history books, sometimes, too. Then we'd just get books from the library the rest of the year--biographies and such--that dealt with that era, and that was the best way to learn history, anyway! (How many hours would it take to read straight through Story of the World? Hmm....you've got *me* thinking and plotting!! Thanks for continuing to contribute here, Jean! OP, you have a LOT on your plate, with 3 young kids, visiting your ill mother who is far away, and not having dh home much. I would consider priorities, too. When my oldest was around 8 or 9, I realized I couldn't go out much in the mornings anymore, if I wanted to do the academics with him that I felt were important - I have tried afternoon school (when we didn't have a vehicle available to go out) and we all hated it - too tired, unfocused, etc.. So I settled into a morning-at-home routine (and afternoons at home because of no vehicle) - which I balk at sometimes, but it is made OK by friends visiting us occasionally in the afternoons. I have also tried very hard to keep most of our academics to 4 days, and having the 5th day for going OUT to the library/pool/errands. We also, as a family, try to invite friends over for meals on the weekends sometimes. Is it possible to put some errands or socializing in on the day you visit your mother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srainbow Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I would have to agree with those that say do school in the mornings esp. as kids get older. We have such a hard time doing anything if we have left for the morning. We do a park day once a month in the afternoon. We do a skate morning once a month. and that kills our scholastic day pretty much. We do a scrap afternoon with moms once a month where the kids play, 1-2 nights of sports, one night of Awana. Then we schedule times to play maybe at 3:oo once or twice a month? anyway. I really like to have social times. I feel i need it very much as well as my kids, but we just have to do schooling in the morning and aften after lunch until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Good luck on getting your rhythm. I still have to reassess and make adjustments a little too often for my comfort. Mom of 2 beautiful girls, 4th and 7th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briansmama Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I would schedule schooling 4 days per week (M/T/Th/F) and use the time on Saturday to clean the house. A lot can be accomplished in 4 days and you could use the time in the car on Wed to go over memory work (skip counting for the 5yo, poetry for the older kids). I agree with pp about keeping a chunk of time set aside on those 4 school days. I also think that getting out in society counts as socialization. We rarely do field trips- too exhausting and I have a napping toddler still so it just doesn't fit in our day. It's great- my older ds has plenty of free time to learn and play with things that really interest him. Right now he's very into skateboarding and building, so make sure we have plenty of good building construction type sets/materials on hand. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Once my kids reached about 2nd grade I started guarding our mornings. We rarely, if ever, do anything in the mornings that isn't school related. We don't do playdates or other activities in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Just responding to the title: The honest truth is that you may not get it all done. Trim where you can, focus on the most important things first. Don't spread yourself too thin and don't expect everything to be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnandtinagilbert Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 The little things make all the difference. 1. a meal menu goes a long way..I do the simple: same lunch and breakfast each week, dinners are categorized: Sun- red sauce, Mon.- chicken, Tues. - fish/pork, Wed. -soup/sand/salad, Thurs. beef, Fri. - pizza, Sat. Roast Having the menu on the fridge helps me to remember to take things out of the freezer and saves me a ton of time when needing grocery lists and not deciding what to make. Having the same lunches allows me to shop for pantry items once per month, saving a ton of time at the grocery store. 2. Having a school schedule just helps me b/c checklists keep me focused and don't allow me to simply forget. 3. With the sound of your life, since you're seeing your Mom on Wed, I would blow that off as a school day, except for some quiet reading time. 4. At the young ages you have, I would have a four day school week and choose another day, say Fri., as a "fun day" and only allow outdoor activities on that day. That leaves you with school on M, T, Th, and Sat. Plenty of time to work through school and still enjoy a very social life (W,F,Su) 5. As for the house cleaning...either before or after the children are awake. Put on your favorite music and tear it up! I also read at lunch and breakfast. Some other time savers: CD versions of curriculum (literature, history) tape record yourself reading aloud (history, science) when you cook, make a double batch and freeze disposable dishes (we use them at b-fast and lunch and it saves about 25/day in cleaning) Block teaching...go over all the teaching with the oldest, then expect some independent time (you're in the room still, though), then sit down with the younger one for lessons. YOU CAN DO IT! We did and we're nothing special over here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I don't. It's not physically possible. I prioritize and get done what I can. I just got home from 4 hours of errands because it's just not feasible to do them during the week and also do school, especially considering I often work in the evenings. :svengo: Anyway, what has helped a lot this year was to realize that it is ok if my kids aren't in a bunch of activities. SWB spoke at our local homeschooling conference this past June and whatever she said (can't remember exactly, lol) helped me realize that my kids will have memories of us doing stuff together as a family. Those memories are more precious than the ones involving lots and lots of extracurricular things. Co-ops and such are fun and we do still do some field trips and play dates, but I've cut waaaay back this year (dumped formal music and dance lessons) and it is a very good thing for my sanity. :) My kids are learning how to be more helpful and I've been working on establishing routines for clean-up at various points in the day. They know that after a morning of skills-based lessons (math, reading, spelling, etc.) that we'll get to the more fun subjects and projects (history, science, art, etc.). That helps motivate them to clean stuff up. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleni Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 Wow! I have picked up some wonderful ideas, and lots to think about! I really appreciate all this input! Weds...are actually my "kid free" day DH does take that day off and takes them to their gym class...and then he has to alternate an hour of making work calls and an hour of playing with them. I could always have him do the art projects I dont like doing. I dont like to leave him with having to do school with the kids because I feel they just need Dad time to play with him without extra stuff. kwim? I do sometimes do errands on Weds. but generally Im so worn out on those days it is pretty fruitless. Just over a week ago I got to the hospital she is in to find her in the ICU..septic,..with pneumonia, and her BP was 46/19...it was horrifying. The Dr. told my siblings and me that she could very well die. :001_huh: She didnt...and is now back in the bone marrow ward, and getting back on track. Such a rollercoaster!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.