Torn. Please tell me how to keep multiple children organized.

[Copswife]

After a long two years of mostly flying by the seat of our pants, this year has got to be more organized and structured.

 

My ds 13 is going into 9th - I'll call him Space Ghost. He disappears when its school time. Any phone call or distraction and poof he disappears. If he has a goal to work towards, he gets his stuff done. ie you can go swing dancing Sunday night if you get ABC done in school. So, I can get him motivated. He gets bored easily, though.

 

I have two dd's 8 and 6. Nature girl (8) is a strong reader and likes doing school. Princess (just turned 6) is learning to read and enjoys doing her work. Maybe a curriculum that included them both... but what?

 

Then I have Cupie doll, age 22 months. (adopting)

 

We have two foster children right now and they are being transitioned out of our home in two weeks. :crying:

 

Last, but not least, is Commando (17 1/2) and he's practically going full time at the local college. :coolgleamA: I'm going to have some things for him to do, but he works on his own completely. Very organized, self motivated, etc.

 

So, here is where I'm torn. Do I give Space Ghost (ugh, why did I pick that name?!) a boxed curriculum like A.C.E. or SOS? Or do I give him a few subjects in SOS and then Lial's pre-alg and SOTW or try to follow TWTM for history?

 

I guess it's ONLY three kiddos I have to keep organized with the school work, but when they are all doing different stuff is where I get disorganized.

 

I need a system. A plan. I'm not a natural born 'teacher' type. The planning/scheduling stuff doesn't come naturally to me. I've done relaxed and now I need to get things more together. My dh likes to see results and work getting done. Even though the kids test wonderfully, he'd also like to see some more structure.

 

I know you ladies can give me some tips and advice to get me more structured with our school, yet something I can handle that isn't 3 completely different sets of curriculum that takes all of my time to keep organized and graded and taught.

 

Helllllp! :ohmy:

 

Tracie

 

 

[CalicoKat]

Ugh! I struggle with this too. My kids are master at the "distract and duck."

 

The biggest problem here was getting everybody through the breakfast, dressed, brushed, and bedroom picked up phase in a timely and altogether. Miracle Music Points is making a huge difference. If they don't get it done, they don't get the points towards their chosen reward.

http://www.childrensmiraclemusic.com/ And we all move on.

 

This week for lesson time we're doing it in 1 hour increments with a 15 minute break & snack in between (we use a timer). So we do math (30 min) & handwriting (30 min) the first hour. The 2nd hour is grammar (30 min) & phonics (30 min), etc. I combine 2 subjects in a hour. One that is teacher taught and one that can be done independently. That way I CAN teach and the others have a plan to stay busy.

 

If they finish their independent work before the 30 min is done then it's their free time (if they have nothing to correct).

 

IF they don't get their math done during the 30 min lesson time. Then they can finish it up after "school time" as their home work. NO screen time or free time until their homework is done. (they can waste their time, not mine) I plan to put slackers in the "Mommy's Study Hall" aka the big Bathroom that has room for a small table. :) no stool required :D. he he

 

Today was day 1. It still makes sense and it worked. We'll see how I feel about it by the end of the week. I think they were terrified of sitting in the bathroom alone with the fan (white noise) going.

 

Good luck. It's rough teaching these young ones at so many different ages and with so many different ideas of how their day should go--despite our plans.

 

Ultimately it's about staying calm. I failed today. I yelled. I hate that. Controlled chaos.

 

Now where did I put that coffee cup. Must. Have. Another. Drink.

[Mom0012]

I have a word document that I made for each of my kids that lists out everything that they do in the way of schoolwork as well as some basic chores they need to do each day. I have it grouped by "independent work" and "work they need to do with Mommy".

 

Each morning, I go through the list and "X" out the things they don't need to do that day. This is nice for all of us because it keeps me on track and aware of what they have accomplished and they know that once they finish one thing, they can move right onto the next (at least until all their independent work is done). They are not allowed to play unless all of their independent work is done and I am unavailable to work with them.

 

They both really like the lists. I think it gives them more of a sense of control because they can pick the order that they work on things and they know exactly what they need to do each day.

 

HTH,

Lisa

[Quiver0f10]

I am struggling with this right now, but I highly recommend a schedule and a check list. The check off the items as they finish and then the day is done. Of course you have to actually look at the list and make sure it's checked. Can you tell where I am lacking? :D

[Pink Fairy]

We're all about the list too. Once they are independent readers, they get their own copy to check off things when I check off my copy. Until they are done with the list, they are MINE. Breaks must be preapproved, and generally we use a timer--i.e., you may have a 15 minute break, go set the timer.

 

This has resulted in school usually being done by 1:30pm. We start around 10:00am, and lunch is included in that time.

 

Good luck with Space Ghost! I actually like that name for a disappearing kid. I had a boss like that once--never to be found when we needed him. We called him "Vapor."

[ChrisN in NY]

I had my whole year planned out in advance, by child, by subject, by day.

 

I'd long used a "one lesson per day (or whatever was appropriate) then do the next thing" kind of philosophy. My kids tested average or above, so that was fine.

 

There were two things last spring that led to this change: my 2nd ds complaining that he never got a break, and some posts on the WTM boards from folks who'd been planning more specifically.

 

I guess I should add that it was ds's own fault that he didn't get a break. He did get one, in a sense, when he goofed off all fall instead of doing what he told me he was getting done. The best way I could prevent that was to have a better plan in place.

 

I figured how many days we'd really have available, their volunteering at MOPS two mornings a month, the lost afternoons to music lessons, fall soccer games, and how many days I needed per subject. I made a calendar on the computer (Excel spreadhseet); it was a lot of copy and paste.

 

The ds who was complaining about no breaks is taking his senior year at cc now; whew!

 

I figured 11th grade dd needed to do 3 subjects every day no matter what: English, Chemistry, and Geometry; her others varied. Younger dc, grades 7, 5, and 3, had no subjects that HAD to be done daily.

 

I made up forms on my computer, which I've been doing for years. I haven't found a plan book that fits my style. The other plus is that I photocopy (or print) each dc's forms on different colored paper.

 

Finally, I sat down with each subject and wrote everything in pencil.

 

We are getting MORE done this year than ever before. I KNOW where everyone stands with their subjects. We've had BREAKS! (Well, if you're caught up to the plan, you get a break; if you're not, you don't). The dc are beginning to see what they're almost done with, which is MOTIVATING them to keep working!!

 

One thing that probably made this transition easier is that we have LONG had a schedule, because we've had a lot to do and because I lose track easily -- of time, of stuff, of..... I should say it's our routine: when it's about time for something to be finished, we try to wrap it up. Sometimes we're done early, sometimes we go over -- no biggie. I'm not like "DING! 10:00 clock. Put your math away now!"

 

Does this help?

[Deb in NZ]

He's my biggest challenge in HS/ing. I've always used weekly checklists for all my dc & they have worked better for some dc than for others. This year I have individualized how I expect each dc to work.

 

My almost-16yod asked to be able to have more control over what she studied when & we've used this term as a trial to see if she'd get through enough material w/o me giving her a weekly sheet. I printed out daily charts on half-sheets that list her subjects & she writes in daily what she accomplishes. I transfer that info every day or so onto a "weekly" sheet to keep track of her work & so she can better see if she's neglecting any subject. These "weekly" sheet aren't M-F, but instead simply record 5 days of work, as we rarely get in a M-F week in term 1 due to regattas & scout camps. I told her I expect 40 days of work completed before term 2. If she's behind, she'll need to use the 2 week term break to catch -up. She does have a term goal sheet for each subject to give her baselines to aim for.

 

My 14yos is a challenge in everyway! If he can avoid schoolwork, he will. He does as little as possible in both quality & quanity. This week I'm trying something new & it may be the answer with a bit of adjusting. I told him I expect Math, Latin, & Spelling done daily (this takes him about 1 hour). Then he needs to put in 3 more hours of work for me & he can choose what subjects to work on & how many. Monday he math, Latin, spelling, & 3 hours of literature. Tuesday was math, Latin, spelling, & 3 hours of geography. Today math, Latin, spelling, & French. Tomorrow he's left with 3 hours of science, which he hates. I figure he'll catch on in a few weeks to decide to spread out some subjects over a few days, especially the ones he dreads.

 

My 10yos works very well from a list & has since he was 3yo. He has a laminated check sheet of subjects to be completed & a weekly assignment sheet to refer to for the assigned work. His daily checklist is: math copywork, math page, phonics, spelling, geography, grammar, science, typing, Japanese, Katakana, copywork, violin, reading / literature, & tidy desk. The most challenging for his is "tidy desk." I work with him on grammar & science, but the rest he completes mostly independently. Next term I'll be adding in Latin to replace phonics. Life would be so much more relaxing is ds#1 worked as well.

 

JMHO,