tdeveson Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Would you share your fifth grader's school schedule with me? It seems that we almost never finish everything planned for the day. I need help figuring out if we're not working efficiently, or if we're trying to do too much. I keep a four-day school week. On Fridays we do logic, art history and music history, go to co-op and field trips. This is a typical day: grammar writing (CW) reading 20 min. (American History/leveled reader) math (TT, 1 page division supplement, 1 page fractions supplement, 15 minutes TimezAttack) piano practice 30 min. Is this enough? Spanish - Rosetta Stone 1 lesson (20 min literature - 40 min (we're reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, and doing a study guide/lapbook as we go along. The time includes independent reading time, a chapter every two days.) -or-Latin 30 min. History or Science 45 min I would appreciate any feedback, especially if you've found ways to streamline your day. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn1129 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 ~prayer and Bible study 30-45min ~math(MUS 1 or 2 pages depending on difficulty) ~spelling/reading from McGuffy ~History or Science 30-45min. ~LA(GWG) ~typing ~writing or dictation ~reading Bible and memory work 2 days a week we do maps/health(1 a semester) Fridays we add art or music appreciation Tues-violin(but its at night) She is usually done in 5 hours or so; a lot of her work is independent w/ guidance. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Math for 45 minutes using MUS 2 pages a day. No math on Fridays Reading is free reading for at least 30 minutes Grammar 20 minutes using Growing with Grammar Writing or Poetry using CW. We are doing Poetry for Beginners right now. It is taking about 20 minutes a day. When we start writing again (Homer) it will take about twice as long. Spelling 10 minutes a day using All About Spelling History 30 minutes Science 30 minutes That takes dd from 10 -2 with a short break for lunch. Some time soon I'm going to add Latin and Logic to the day. I'm estimating 30 minutes extra for each one. She will have to start at 9 or 9:30 and work to 2 or 2:30. We do have most of Friday off. Dd has a spelling test, a history project and report due on every Friday. If she gets this done earlier in the week she has extra free time. Mondays she has 2 dance lessons and Karate. She isn't done until 8p.m. Wednesdays is another dance lesson from 6-6:45 and Girl Scouts on Friday afternoons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) Can you alternate grammar and composition (grammar M/W, composition T/Th)? Or by semester (first half of the year grammar 4 days per week, second half of the year composition 4 days per week)? It looks like a lot of math. How long does that take her? My 5th grader's schedule: Math: multiple resources LA: Harcourt Language, dictation and written narrations, HWOT, Spelling Mastery (He completed All Things Fun and Fascinating -IEW- earlier this year) History: SOTW I with AG Geography: Mapping the World with Art Lit: selections from WTM reading list and other fun selections Memory Work: Mom selections Art: Draw Squad and outside classes Logic: Prufrock Press workbooks No formal science this year. Edited January 12, 2010 by Stacy in NJ more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 8:30 Read Aloud 9:00 Bible, Daily Audio Bible 9:15 Math (Rod&Staff math) 10:15 Science (Real Science 4 Kids) 10:30 Break 10:45 LA (LLATL) 11:15 Spanish (Rosetta Stone) 11:30 History (Kingfisher readings, outlines, WTM book suggestions, ect.) 12:00 Lunch 1:00 Spelling (Spelling Power) 1:15 Reading from LLATL book study book 1:30 Piano practice 2:30 Free time I will also say that dd spends most of her free time reading. Some junk food books, some times things like Shakespeare. She is pretty good about doing educational things with her free time, so I generally give it to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty Social Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 On M, T, TH, F 8:30-9 Memory work, Handwriting/Geography (alt.) 9-9:45 Grammar, Vocab, Reading, Spelling/Oral reading(alt.) instruct 9:45-10:40 Homework in above subjects 10:40-11:25 Math, Logic, French instruct 11:20-12:10 Homework in above subjects 12:10-1 Break 1-2:30 History, Science, Art/Music (alt. fri) On Wed we have Bible study and piano/voice lessons out On Mon, Thurs, and Fri we have dance and gymnastics classes in the evening When we are on track, this works very well. Currently we are behind (due to teacher ineptitude:tongue_smilie:) so we are doubling up on the 3 r's for a couple weeks and dropping everything else. Once we are back on track we will go back to the above sched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 11 - memory work, Fridays art or music history/appreciation 11:20 - Challenging Word Problems 11:30 - Piano Practice 11:45 - Grade level math worksheets (Evan-Moor) 12 - Silent reading 12:20 - Word Study worksheet 12:30 - Spellography 12:50 - Singapore 6B, one or two exercises break 1:30 - MPH science 2 - Primary Language Lessons (at the moment-this slot is for grammar etc) 2:15 - All American History/Story of US (includes geography) 2:45 - FactsFirst or some other math drill or game 2:50 - Vocabulary We do scripture reading, literature reading etc. on our own time, before bed or whatever so don't put it on the school schedule. Just finished up a bunch of writing stuff so are taking a short break from actual writing instruction but that would take up the time that the other language arts stuff currently fills but is consolidated into one block. We don't do all of the language arts stuff all at once but alternate between writing and grammar/vocabulary. Usually done by 3-3:30 and all of the times above should have an "ish" after them. Most of it is fairly short but we do it every day, year round with a couple weeks break at Christmas, a week at Easter, a week in July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Below is a typical day for my 5th grader. She does most of her work independently, with guidance for me as needed. Her days are more streamlined on days when I'm gone or not in the room because then there's no one around to chat with! :) Math 30-45 minutes Fridays only, 5th grade band at ps, 25 minutes plus travel Spelling/Vocab, using words from the books she's reading this year, usually 15 minutes History, usually about 60 minutes -30 min independent reading from a historical novel -I read out loud from whatever spine we're using for that unit -Most days she does some kind of activity--yesterday she was researching colonial foods and updated her timeline. Today she worked on her map for memorizing the states. Grammar M-W Easy Grammar Th-F She attends an IEW class and/or does follow-up work Break for 15 minutes of music practice sometime in the morning Lunch Reading 30 minutes, novels we choose together Writing 2 days a week combined with IEW 2 days a week works on a writing assignment I give her--minutes vary Science I flex science minutes, depending on the unit and what else is happening in our schedule. ie Sometimes I'll group it together on Friday afternoons. Break for 10-15 minutes music practice sometime in afternoon. She takes music lessons plus plays with the middle school band twice a week outside the school day plue dances 4 1/2 hours a week outside the school day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferB Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 The key to our success is my daughter making up her own daily schedule. I print out what she needs to do for the week (on a day by day schedule), and every morning she writes down when she will do these things, then she follows it to completion. She tells me when she'll need me like this: "Mom I'm going to need to at 2 o'clock for math." Then, I make sure I'm available when she needs me. If she falls behind, it's up to her to make it up. If she shuffles things around, that's OK, it's up to her to get it all done. Since I've let her make up her own daily schedule, it almost always gets all done. If something doesn't get done on one day, we'll make it up on another day or in the evening. We almost always meet our monthly goals, which keep us on track for the year. I hope this helps you in some way. :D Yesterday it looked like this: 9:00 - Literature (takes about 1 hour) 10:00 - Art (takes about 1 hour) 11:00 - Vocab (20 mins) Spelling (20 mins) Grammar (40 mins) Lunch 1:00 - Science (takes about 1 hour) 2:00 - Math (takes about 1 hour) 3:00 - History (takes about 1 hour) Today it looked like this: 9:00 - Literature 10:00 - Spelling, Grammar 11:00 - Math Lunch 1:00 - AWANA practice 1:30 - Orchestra practice 3:00 - History Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 (edited) Daily: Spelling/Grammar 30 mins. OM English (includes writing) 10-30 mins. Math 20-40 mins. (no math on Fridays, though) Latin 20-30 mins. Conversational French (family 2nd language) 10 mins. of conversation on a topic, plus a bit here and there throughout the day 2x week: OM Science 1 hour (+ 30 mins. 1x week for labs, projects) OM History 1 hour (+30 mins. 1x week for projects) 1x week: Art History 30 mins. Philosophy 15-30 mins. depending on how deep the discussion gets Critical Thinking 10-20 mins. depending on how complicated the puzzles are Generally, we spend about 3-4 hours per day on lessons. It might be longer if there is a science or history project involved. Literature is read whenever he wants, usually before bed. Ds almost always likes his reading, so I don't have to worry about scheduling it or keeping on top of him about it. Ds also practises his piano about 15 minutes per day, and spends another hour or so working on his computer projects. Edited January 12, 2010 by Audrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn&charles Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Here is my 5th grader's schedule: Bible History & projects Latin Lunch/Chores/Free time (which includes piano practice) Spelling Grammar Handwriting Math/Logic Snack Writing Vocabulary Reading Science We also have story time at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 We do daily workboxes and it looks something like this... Bible (Independent reading 2-3 chapters) Math (Singapore Math) R&S English (one lesson) Dictation Memory Work Reading (Drawn into the Heart of Reading) Write with the Best or Vocabulary from Classical Roots (alternate units) Geography or Bible History (alternate days) Ancient History (include reading, content writing, notebooking, projects) Science (includes reading, notebooking, essay questions, experiments) Art (watercolor painting) Takes 4-5 hours. On Fridays we do... Art History Music History Typing Logic Current Events Foreign Language Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) My son's changes daily with things added in and taken on depending on how many times a week we do them. Here is a sample...this was today's lineup: CLE Bible CLE Math CLE Reading (2 days a week, this is Science) R&S Spelling Typing Instructor for Kids (Art, Geography, and Music rotate in this slot) R&S History HOD Poetry Speedy Spanish I R&S English Read Aloud with mom Thursdays, we have co-op, so his schedule is only the basics on that day plus the two hours worth of classes at co-op (Art and US Geog Survey). TKD on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. The main schedule M, Tu, W, and F takes around 4.5 - 5 hours. Now, the last week and 2 days since we came back from break has taken literally FOREVER. I am praying FOCUS comes back soon! But he was doing well getting it all done before the break. Edited January 13, 2010 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 This is a typical day: grammar writing (CW) reading 20 min. (American History/leveled reader) math (TT, 1 page division supplement, 1 page fractions supplement, 15 minutes TimezAttack) piano practice 30 min. Is this enough? Spanish - Rosetta Stone 1 lesson (20 min literature - 40 min (we're reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, and doing a study guide/lapbook as we go along. The time includes independent reading time, a chapter every two days.) -or-Latin 30 min. History or Science 45 min This is pretty much ours. The only differences are that each child must read 50 pages (instead of minutes because I have one kid that will do ANYTHING else during the allotted reading time BUT read). We do 30 min for Spanish. Your Latin time is our Logic and Spelling (which includes loose Latin relations). And we do both History and Science each day, but they are independent (of me). Mostly, we cover everything just by doing the next lesson(s) or page(s) in whatever manner we've decided upon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thank you, guys. Seeing your schedules is helping me see that we really aren't biting off too much. We have a time leak somewhere and I need to work on streamlining this. Part of the problem is that ds will basically stop working if I'm not right there with him. For example, if I give him two pages of practice problems to do for math, he'll get up and come find me after every problem. I've asked him repeatedly to save it and show me the whole thing, but it seems like he's incapable of sitting still and doing an entire page without getting up and wondering off to find me. If I'm right there with him, then he'll start a conversation about something completely unrelated. It seems that I'm constantly having to direct him back to his work. That's pretty draining. Blah!:banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 My new line is "Tell me what the next two things are that you're going to do?". It's helped the flow big time. But my 5th grader has a way off floating off to hamster kitty land if I don't keep on her. :) On a full day we can get a lot of this done: Teaching Textbooks sometimes math fact review Cozy Grammar Phonetic Zoo spelling Intermediate Language Lesson Reading Log (I let her read easy books for this because I want her to go back and enjoy some younger books while she's still interested) Chapter Book Cursive Book Poetry Sea & Sky (we're all pretending like it's not killing us :001_smile:) this covers history, science and geography SOTW cds to go along with S&S (in the car only) Piano & violin Artistic Pursuits Waldorf art projects Baking and cooking (currently working through a soup for all seasons book) Nature Studies including gardening with a journal, Private Eye and collecting samples for nature display boxes. in the car: French plimsleur and music SOTW Classical music series Poetry Classes: Music once a week Fencing twice a week Ice skating once a week (as in homeschool day free for all) We have days where it's mostly about classes and cds in the car, and others where we buckle down and kick b*tt in the classroom, and plenty of days where I go to bed thinking "what just happened?" :confused: The thing is, we belong to a charter school and I have to turn in learning records every month. I'm always panicked thinking we've accomplished nothing. But lo and behold... we have done so much work. If it weren't for those obnoxious forms, I would think that we had a bad month EVERY month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I posted my schedule a few weeks ago on my blog. My 5th grader is Jessie (3rd column). HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Part of the problem is that ds will basically stop working if I'm not right there with him. For example, if I give him two pages of practice problems to do for math, he'll get up and come find me after every problem. I've asked him repeatedly to save it and show me the whole thing, but it seems like he's incapable of sitting still and doing an entire page without getting up and wondering off to find me. Blah!:banghead: Can you give him the answer key so he can check it himself? Then he can get the immediate feedback he's seeking. As for constantly starting off-topic conversations, I think I might suddenly start listening to podcasts on an ipod for while so I'd be less available. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 My 7th grader still does this. It's driving me nuts. I feel like he needs to come to me after he is done with a worksheet, so that I can see his mistakes and help him figure out how to fix the wrong answers. MUS has 6 worksheets per lesson though. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to have him check his own work each time. I think I might try this for a few months and see how it goes. I feel like I'm cheating though:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 My fifth grader's schedule: Monday through Thursday: Bible/Memory Work Math Spelling Writing Logic Grammar Latin Literature History - Monday through Wednesday Science - Thursday and Friday Guitar practice every day for 30 minutes with lessons on Thursdays. We do Bible/memory work, science experiments, art history, history or art projects if we have one, and composer study on Fridays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 I feel like I'm cheating though:tongue_smilie: I don't! I see it as moving her in a step towards independence. My daughter likes grading her own math worksheets and immediately seeing if she needs to do any correcting. She always asks for help if she needs it and I always look over her work sometime during the day so it's not like I'm washing my hands of it.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysparkler Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 (edited) Still a work in progress, but here is what my son's fifth grade 4-day schedule will look kinda like (Friday is Coop/Field Trip Day): 8:00 Electives with Daddy (Music, Chess, etc.) 9:00 Spelling & Journal 9:30 Algebra (second half of Jacobs) 11:00 Spanish (Rosetta Stone) 11:30 Lunch 12:00 Recess 12:30 Reading 1:00 Science (MW)/History (TTh) 1:45 Writing (inc. copywork, WWTB) 2:30 Literature 3:00 Art/Computer Enrichment (inc. Grammar, Reading Comprehension, etc.) Edited January 14, 2010 by babysparkler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 My 5th grader uses BJU DVDs. This is her schedule 4 days a week, starting at 8 and finishing around 1pm: Bible 20 min. Math 45 min. - 1 hour depending on topic Reading 45 min. English, (grammar/writing) 30 min Spelling 20 min Handwriting 10 min. Science 1 hour - (extra time since she wants to be a vet. She listens to DVD, takes notes from DVD and reading, does her workbook and writes/reviews vocab. words) History - SOTW with family 20 min. We are adding IEW intensives A next week. Not sure how long that will take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 It looks like this: Latin (through CLAA) History Odyssey (Middle Ages-Level 2) & FMMA - Memoria Press MCT Beautiful Feet-Holling C. Hollings (Geography and Science) Math - Saxon 7/6 and Life of Fred Pre-Algebra and Biology Christian Studies II (Memoria Press) Chronology I (CLAA) IEW Theme Based Writing -- at my discretion She is busy from 9am or so until 3 or 4pm and she spends alot of free time reading. 'Time wise' she is putting in the same amount of time that she spent on studies/homework/free reading that she did last year in an accademically rigorous Classical Christian private school and that she would be spending if she were there this year. HTH - Mariann:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaLee Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Can you give him the answer key so he can check it himself? Then he can get the immediate feedback he's seeking. As for constantly starting off-topic conversations, I think I might suddenly start listening to podcasts on an ipod for while so I'd be less available. ;) For Math (Saxon 6/5), ds reads the lesson by himself then he tells me the answers the the lesson practices orally, then he does5- 8 problems, we go over the answers, and then he does the next 8. I don't have him skip problems and I find it's less time consuming when we correct the answers as we go. We used to just do it when he was done, but when I was reading about different spelling programs, I liked what Sequential Spelling said about correcting as you go so the student can fix his error immediately, andI began applying that to most of our subjects and it's really working. My ds can't complete a page either without trying to talk to me about completely off topic things, but I've found if I let him listen to his Ipod this doesn't happen, or happen as often. Also, listening to the Ipod does not effect his work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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