Scheduling Help

[Lovin Learnin]

Is your daily schedule based on the amount of time you plan to spend on each subject, or on the amount of work you want to complete each day? I'm trying to determine if I want to give my dd an assignment to complete per subject each day or if I should specify a time frame for each subject and just keep working until time runs out.

 

I read WTM last week and before I've ever cracked a book I'm already leaving the whole "Charlotte Mason gentle approach" behind, which I love in theory. I think I NEED the framework that SWB beautifully lays out.

 

These types of decisions really stress me out. I'm actually quite worried that we won't find our groove right away and I'll feel behind and inadequate right from the start. :confused:

[eternalknot]

We're routine people, moreso than we are schedule people, and our day reflects that. We eat breakfast, do x-subject, break for snack, do y-subject, do z-subject, have lunch, ... and so forth. Some days we're on the ball and finish up school before lunchtime. Some days we lollygag around and are still doing school even after the ps-kids pass by the window on THEIR way home from school ;)

 

A schedule would be too rigid for us; expectations of x-work being done in y-timeframe causes too much anxiety and stress for me AND my kids! I think it's a personality thing. My good friend scoffs at my routine and finds a set schedule (with x-work to be completed in y-alloted timeframe) to work better for her family personality. Routine blends the best of "gentle" and "framework" IMO/IME.

[Parrothead]

Dd has to do her assignments within the time allotted. After 7 years of this I know it takes about 45 minutes to do math, 20 minutes to do grammar, etc. So I schedule the day accordingly.

 

If she isn't done within her allotted time it becomes "homework" to be completed on her time not mine.

[Heather in OK]

I guess ours is a little of both. I have blocks of time planned out but I don't let it dictate how our morning goes.

 

For example, I estimate that it will take us 15 minutes to do Bible Study, 30 minutes to do Latin, 45 minutes for History, etc. If Bible Study takes 10 minutes, we move on. If we need an hour for History, we'll take an hour. If we spend more time in one area and run out of time for another, say Latin, the next day we'll just double up on Latin or make more time later in the week.

 

Part of what helps us stay caught up is doing 4-day weeks. That way we have Friday that we can use to finish up a project or a missed lesson.

 

You may not find your groove right away. You'll probably evolve into what works for your family and then you may find a completely different flow a year from now. We will be starting our seventh year in a couple of weeks and it's only been the last two years that I've been happy with the flow of our days.

[buttacol]

I assign work for each day and however long it takes to complete it, is how long she works on that subject. So math could take 15 minutes or it could take and hour and a half.

 

I just type up lists for each day and put them in a set of folders for Monday through Thursday, and then she works off of those lists. Some things are independent, and some require my help and instruction. The biggest thing has been that if she works ahead, then she has more free time later in the week.

 

If I find that something doesn't take long, such as phonics. I can schedule more to be completed each day, and then we finish up that subject earlier in the year and can add in new things or move up a level.

 

Hope this helps.