Folding classical ed. lessons into everyday life year round

[Colleen in NS]

Who does this, and how? What does a week/month/year look like at your house?

 

This is not the typical "how do you schedule year-round school" question. I've done that for years (6 weeks on, 2 off; or any variation that equals 36-40 or so weeks of school every year).

 

This is more "I want to meld math, grammar, writing, spelling, logic, history, science, art skills, and music skills into our life as a whole, and I need to still use our regular things like R&S, WWE, TL, etc.. I still need R&S to tell me what to do for math and grammar each day; I need TL to tell me how to teach logic, I need the SWB writing plan each week, I like to have a history and science plan (I have a plan) to go through when it's time to "do history/science," and I want to keep doing art lessons without letting them go by the wayside. And I want to do life skills and crafts and other fun family projects regularly, plus let my kids have free playtime each day. And to have my husband more involved - probably more in the life skills/family projects part, like lawn mowing, repairs, snow shoveling, garage cleaning, and any other things he can dream up - as well as kids just hanging out with Dad."

 

For a long time now, I have been the parent on duty from 9:30 a.m. til bedtime - dh works afternoons/evenings, but did business prep in the a.m.. So we just did school in the mornings, then lunch/quiet time, then finish school in the afternoons. I am always tired by suppertime, and have a few more hours of duty to go til bedtime. Most of the supervision/educating fell to me. So my constant quest this past year has been to make our schooling more efficient, and I've tried hundreds of variations of daily routines and yearly routines ("what if I have more weeks as school weeks - I can spread out the load - but then I feel super burnt out by having fewer break weeks").

 

Anyway, dh and I have been talking, and he may make himself more available in the mornings (do his business prep during quiet time - not sure how this will go - he is a guitar teacher, so quiet time could be noisy, lol - although he did have to adapt his practice while we did school in the a.m., so it's possible). What I think I'd like to do is save academics for me to do in the afternoons (he has no interest in learning to teach those) for three hours, and have mornings for familyish things: breakfast, exercise, showers, lawn mowing, snow shoveling, piano practice, cooking our main meal for midday (so, kids learning to cook finally), baking, grocery shopping, household projects, etc..

 

About those three hours for academics - I think I could do this, if I did it five afternoons a week, and I'd have to alternate (2 to 1) weeks for history/science for art/craft skills. You might think I could do art/craft in the mornings, but it's one of those things that one of my kids wouldn't enthuse about, so I have to make it happen as part of a regular schedule.

 

I'm not sure how this morning idea will go....should we structure it, should dh and I make a "morning plan" each week of things that need to be done and then announce it to the kids each week, should dh and I divide up the days with each of us alternating who is on duty that morning, etc..

 

But what I'm wondering more is who else out there sticks to an academic plan instead of winging it, AND works it out as a "family year round routine" instead of a "scheduled school year" with separate breaks? I mean, we'd schedule breaks for vacations (PEI last week, Maine this coming week), Christmas, and maybe people coming to visit, and maybe for me to transition from one year to the next, but I have driven myself nuts in the past with figuring out where these should go and making sure I have 36 on and 16 off.....Does anyone deliberately educate classically, meld it with the rest of life, and not go crazy from not having so many weeks "off?" I mean, when you have an outside-the-home job, you work 50 weeks and have two off! It shouldn't be so hard for me to wrap my head around this. More accurately, I shouldn't be so afraid to try it - I just don't want to get myself so tied up in just academics and maintaining meals/laundry/cleaning/budget/groceries that I long for those weeks "off" every six weeks.

 

So, if you live your life anything like what I'm trying to describe, can you detail how? Don't just say, "Yeah, sure, we homeschool year-round, taking breaks when we need to, and it all works out." I want to know HOW you do it. Esp. if you've done it for years. :D

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think we do something like what you're asking. I schedule the year out on Microsoft Outlook (or you could do it ahead just a little if you wanted to). I do not schedule any breaks but will schedule out M - F each class until there are no more lessons in the book. Since each book is designed for an academic year it works out.

 

Both my kids are fairly independent at their academics. They will each print out their weekly schedule and will cross off each day as the assignments are finished. If they need me for help I am available. Certain classes always include me and the child will tell me "Mom, I'm ready for the class discussion when you are" or something to that effect. My kids are 8 and 13 so their ages basically match yours.

 

Every now and then we will take a day or so off. The first time we do that our schedule gets "off" as far as the day. But from then on we just do the next day on the schedule. So frequently the question at our house is "What day is it?" And someone will ask, "Do you mean on the calendar or on the school schedule?":D

 

Doing the school schedule has become just part of our routine. The kids have often chosen to even do school on Thanksgiving morning (or some other holiday) because we weren't going to see family for dinner until later and they didn't want to "waste" the time.:lol: They also see that "saving" days for going on special trips etc. is worthwhile so they are part of the planning.

 

We enjoy doing family work all together - often making it a "party" as we crack jokes, play little games on each other or listen to music.

[kalanamak]

Well, I only have one, and am just in 3rd grade, but this is how we work it: Kiddo gets up with Papa, who is not academic, but a carpenter, sailor, skier, and general adventurer. He sniffs out good deals, gets the cars lubed, makes friends with strangers on the beach. I rely on a practical education from him. My son does what he does: weed, kayak, paint, haul trash, vacuum, etc.

 

I go to work while they are asleep and am home a little after three. I am then "on". We do the books you see in my sig, but that is the minority of my evening. Instead, I am "on" the same way my Dad was when he got home (my mother was more the strong silent type who worked like a Percheron gardening, cooking, ironing, knitting, baking, and she taught us about beauty, rather than academics). He was a conversational encyclopedia, and while he didn't follow us around and talk, the moment we brought up something--boom, he was on teacher mode (he was a teacher, too). He knew the names of the trees, the Chinese dynasties, the causes and outcomes of the War of the Roses, how a trireme is rowed, why life is carbon and not lithium-based etc. etc. etc. But he didn't pour it over our head. He chatted. He corrected errors of logic. He told wonderful stories. We was a geologist, and knew every rock, and would point out X on the landscape and tell us how it was formed, he'd gone to primary school in the '10s, and could add large numbers in his head.

 

Through my childhood I preferred his company to anyone else on earth, and ran up to him the moment he got home. I carried bricks for him, watched him paint shutters, weeded with him, and every little thing that crossed our paths was fair game for conversation. Why dogs pee on trees, why beetles have wing cases, why people would want to believe in a hell, why Sanskrit was used by the priestly caste, how a metal ship could float, on and on and on.

 

He was a lifelong learner, and after he died, I found a file card collect of well over 2000 books he read and made notes on before the age of 30. I found an old paperback on algorithms for identifying trees, and he had made extensive notes in it. I recall him reading in the living room, in his Irish sweater, and how he'd pause and look up and focus in the distance, oblivious to everything, and just THINK.

 

Tonight, coming home for a search for liquid starch for Atelier art (Target, folks, Target), I discussed the components of semen with my son (in response to a question of his), and, knowing nothing on milt, I brainstormed with my son about what the difference between mammalian seminal fluid and milt might be. (My father was too Victorian for THAT subject, but it was certainly in his tradition.) In science, it is said that luck favors the prepared mind, but I say it is so in teaching. If my father bothered to do what he did with us, how can I not do so with a child who is so much more wholly dependent on what my mind and ethics can do for his.

 

Is this what you meant?

[Rosie_0801]

Wow Kalanamak. Your dad was cool. I've always thought dads were supposed to know everything and if your dad didn't know everything, he must have come darn close!

 

Rosie

[Jean in Newcastle]

Wow Kalanamak. Your dad was cool. I've always thought dads were supposed to know everything and if your dad didn't know everything, he must have come darn close!

 

Rosie

 

:iagree: I remember reading a book by Elizabeth Goudge that had a man (he was an uncle, I think) who was very much like your dad. He homeschooled the kids in this way (though they didn't call it homeschooling). That was how I wanted to teach my kids. It hasn't worked out that way though.

[Brenda in FL]

:lurk5:

 

I'm interested to hear what people have to say on this as well. I just spent the evening trying to work out getting all the academics and lunch done for 3 kids within 5 hours per day!! But I want to be able to cook, enjoy the outdoors, read aloud more often, etc. during the hours we aren't schooling!

 

I always say that we homeschool year-round but that's not always true. Sometime in July - I decided to quit until next week when we start our new school year. (Does trying to settle into a new home give me a good enough excuse?)

 

But I will go forward this year in the same manner - I will schedule no stop date and I won't be scheduling any specific weeks off - we'll just take time when we need it and of course take time off for the holidays.

 

I'd really like to get in the habit of always doing something virtually every weekday of the year. It seems every time I take a week or two off, I end up being unproductive anyways.

 

I do have a friend that has a very large family. They school year-round by doing academics 3 days a week with no off weeks. I've always felt scared to try that - but maybe I should think about it . . .

[Colleen in NS]

I loved reading the responses so far! Thanks. And I will reply to them sometime in the next day or so. But I want to grab this one while I'm thinking about it:

 

I will schedule no stop date and I won't be scheduling any specific weeks off

 

How do you do this and not dread possibly wanting to quit in 6 or 8 weeks?? Do you just spread out the work somehow?

 

I'd really like to get in the habit of always doing something virtually every weekday of the year. It seems every time I take a week or two off, I end up being unproductive anyways.

 

This happens here, too. But then again, sometimes I feel like I *want* to have an unproductive week. But maybe that's because I'm trying to put too much into our "on" weeks? Must keep thinking about this.

 

I do have a friend that has a very large family. They school year-round by doing academics 3 days a week with no off weeks. I've always felt scared to try that - but maybe I should think about it . . .

 

I've thought about doing something like this, too: 3 days of math/grammar/writing/spelling/logic/Latin, a day of history/science, and a day of art/craft/lifeskills. But those R&S math and grammar books and the Henle Latin book are so stuffed with lessons that it's hard for me to figure out how to do it, without lengthening those 3 "academics" days. And then there's the guilt because it's sort of common wisdom that "math needs to be done every day!" (We do math four days, not sure if it's a great idea to put it to three? But maybe if it's spread out M/W/F or something?) I've had so many different ideas, but I don't want to keep experimenting and have regrets later. That's why it would be good for me to hear from others who have done things like this...

 

bump! :D

[Brenda in FL]

I will schedule no stop date and I won't be scheduling any specific weeks off

 

How do you do this and not dread possibly wanting to quit in 6 or 8 weeks?? Do you just spread out the work somehow?

 

I know that the reality is that those breaks will happen regardless if I plan them. For instance: My mom will be coming at the end of September for a visit - So I know we will have that break (and it motivates me to get some good school weeks in beforehand! And when it seems like its just too chaotic with things I have let slide around the house - then I'll call a day or two off then - So the breaks happen - I just don't schedule them, rather I let them happen when they need to.

 

ETA - I still plan at the beginning of the year to complete a subject within 36 weeks - Where those 36 weeks fall during the year I don't dictate ahead of time. Then throughout the year - I'll check to see that I am still on track to complete the subject by early summer hopefully - And then adjust accordingly (i.e. if I find we are slightly behind in a class that I schedule 3 times a week - we'll do it 5 times a week till caught up. Problem is - as the kids get older - those 3 day a week subjects are far and few between!)

Edited August 20, 2010 by Brenda in FL

[GoVanGogh]

Well, I only have one, and am just in 3rd grade

I'm in the same place - only one child, and a young one at that - so take this with a grain of salt. ;)

 

Someone posted on the K-8 curriculum side last night about planning events around curriculum or curriculum around events. We do both. I utilize our breaks by visiting art museums or history museums. We read related books in advance, so DS is prepped and excited about the topic. I believe in the younger years it is very important to lay a solid foundation and "light the fire" so children are excited to learn.

I also believe that young children learn best by doing and seeing, so we go on a number of field trips. We plan vacations around educational opportunities.

We, the parents, make learning simply a part of our lives and DS picks up on that. Along those lines, DH and I read a great deal - and we read in front of our child, we read to our child, our child reads to us, we talk about what we are reading. When our neighbor boy was recently trying to talk my husband into buying a Blu-Ray and a big-screen TV, our son told the neighbor boy, "We read in the evenings, we don't watch television." The neighbor boy replied, "Why would you do that?" DS said, "Because books are great!"

I really think one of the best ways to fold classical learning into your lives is to answer your child's questions. If you don't know, help them look it up. If you can't look it up right away, make a point to remember when you get home. This is a 'soapbox issue' of mine - I so hate to hear parents tell their children, "I don't know" and leave it at that. I believe in encouraging children to ask questions - and making a point to help them find the answer.

 

We decided when our son was younger to forgo current movies and to support local art/theater instead. We go to a number of children's plays each year. (And always read the book first!) I think it is important for children to watch live theater, as it helps them with focus and observation skills.

 

Along those lines, we have always asked our son, What was your favorite animal at the zoo today? What was your favorite character in the play? What was your favorite painting at the art gallery?

We talk, talk, talk about what we see and do.

 

We actually straddle the line between classical education and unschooling. ;) But along those lines - we have a number of fun, educational games. Right now, we have a "forever" game of Professor Noggin going -- DS mixed the Human Body game cards with the Solar System cards, so we end up bouncing back and forth between the sciences -- and it is taking forever to finish! We just play a dozen or so cards a night, as we end up stopping to talk about things as we play.

 

DH and I both grew up in families that had a "Sunday Night - Movie Night," where we watched Mutual of Omaha or Disney and ate pizza. We decided to do that with our son. Sometimes we watch an old Herbie movie. Sometimes we watch a science or history video. Again, it is just making family time and learning go hand-in-hand.

 

Have you read the book "And the Skylark Sings with Me" by Albert? He talks about homeschooling being a "community-based" form of education -- taking advantage of what your local community has to offer.

I read that book when we first started homeschooling and it really made an impact on my education ideals and goals.

[Colleen in NS]

Doing the school schedule has become just part of our routine. The kids have often chosen to even do school on Thanksgiving morning (or some other holiday) because we weren't going to see family for dinner until later and they didn't want to "waste" the time.:lol: They also see that "saving" days for going on special trips etc. is worthwhile so they are part of the planning.

 

We enjoy doing family work all together - often making it a "party" as we crack jokes, play little games on each other or listen to music.

 

School is part of our routine, too, but somehow it has gotten to be a burden to me in the last little while. It's not something I want to give up on, or "take off a few months" from - it's important to me that my kids learn academic skills and so we need to keep going with at least those. I don't know; I think it's something I just have to keep talking with dh about, and try to work out a new "family routine" that includes him in more of our kids' lives. Learning happens here as my kids read, but learning skills does not always happen unless I'm driving the engine. And I'm just a little tired right now. :D

 

Well, I only have one, and am just in 3rd grade, but this is how we work it: Kiddo gets up with Papa, who is not academic, but a carpenter, sailor, skier, and general adventurer. He sniffs out good deals, gets the cars lubed, makes friends with strangers on the beach. I rely on a practical education from him. My son does what he does: weed, kayak, paint, haul trash, vacuum, etc.

 

This is something like what I'd like to see happen here.

 

I go to work while they are asleep and am home a little after three. I am then "on". We do the books you see in my sig, but that is the minority of my evening. Instead, I am "on" the same way my Dad was when he got home

 

Tonight, coming home for a search for liquid starch for Atelier art (Target, folks, Target), I discussed the components of semen with my son (in response to a question of his), and, knowing nothing on milt, I brainstormed with my son about what the difference between mammalian seminal fluid and milt might be. (My father was too Victorian for THAT subject, but it was certainly in his tradition.) In science, it is said that luck favors the prepared mind, but I say it is so in teaching. If my father bothered to do what he did with us, how can I not do so with a child who is so much more wholly dependent on what my mind and ethics can do for his.

 

Is this what you meant?

 

Sort of, esp. the first part. And there is no problem here as far as kids following us around, talking about their latest interests, latest findings from books, latest questions. It's more the skills side of things - I engineer that, and if I don't do anything about it, skills won't be learned in the timetable that I think is necessary. I guess I'm just pondering if it will work for us to have a.m. family/Daddy/practical life time, and afternoon/evening skills and read aloud time. And still be able to make arts/crafts a requirement. I figure I'd like them to do art skills until the end of grade 8, and after that, they can choose.

 

I know that the reality is that those breaks will happen regardless if I plan them. ...I just don't schedule them, rather I let them happen when they need to.

 

Then throughout the year - I'll check to see that I am still on track to complete the subject by early summer hopefully - And then adjust accordingly

 

I have thought about doing this, too. I'm just afraid that I will take liberties too often, and end up regretting it. I *have* had to do catch-up before, and I hated it.

 

If you ever do the 3-academic-days-per-week-with-no-weeks-off, I'd love to hear how it goes! I was always fascinated with the Swann family doing 5 days/week for 3 hours/day with no weeks off. Not the accelerated part - even if I did that plan, we would not be able to accelerate, because I guess we use more teacher-intensive stuff than they did, which I like - it's the whole reason I'm doing classical ed., so we can learn to use our skills on content and then talk about all that. But it would spread that out. Anyway, it would be very interesting to me to hear of others who do this.

 

I really think one of the best ways to fold classical learning into your lives is to answer your child's questions.

 

Have you read the book "And the Skylark Sings with Me" by Albert? He talks about homeschooling being a "community-based" form of education -- taking advantage of what your local community has to offer.

 

We have done and do a lot of what you talked about, too. There's no problem with talking about things we read/see/do. It's more the Mom-as-engineer-of-teaching-academic-skills. I must be really tired right now or something or maybe it's the summer heat and we don't have AC, so I'm dragging. But I guess I'm wondering how, or even if, people fold in the academic skills teaching with the rest of life, without compressing it into 36 weeks or whatever, yet getting that stuff done on a regular basis, along with the rest of life. Because dh works afternoons/evenings, I can't have a "school day" and then "family evenings" and I don't even want that anymore. I want this whole deal to be a family learning project, that includes regular training in academic skills. And I want to finish the R&S math/grammar and Henle Latin sections by the end of each year! :D

 

We do take advantage of our local community whenever we can. But I don't think of our homeschooling as being community-based; for us, it's home-based - we decide what we want our kids to learn (academic skills, then broad-kids-choose-from areas of history and science) and we do that mostly at home, then go out in the community for other things or things that supplement what we are reading about or just fun educational opportunities that have nothing to do with what we are currently reading about. I used to read Albert's columns in Home Education magazine, and I did skim his book, but I couldn't stand his writings after awhile. He came across as very flighty to me.

 

I hope I'm making some sense.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Colleen, I did want to say that this is something I struggle with too - I started out with Charlotte Mason and I so wanted the practical crafts, and hobbies to be part of our life. And they are to some degree, but I just don't seem to have the TIME to do it all. But then I remember that Charlotte Mason was writing at a time when families had cooks and parlour maids and laundresses and I have none of those. . .

[kalanamak]

Sort of, esp. the first part. And there is no problem here as far as kids following us around, talking about their latest interests, latest findings from books, latest questions. It's more the skills side of things - I engineer that, and if I don't do anything about it, skills won't be learned in the timetable that I think is necessary.

 

.

 

What is Daddy good at, and can it be made into a project: building a garden shed from the ground up, fixing up and old Sunfish and learning how to sail it, planning and training and organizing for a one week wilderness backpack trip, starting up a good sized veggie garden. I'm thinking along the lines of something that could take a couple of hours a day for a set time. If that worked well, you can do another. If you got behind in academics, then beef those up a bit before the next project.

 

Is your husband patient enough to get through the basics of any project with a pair of kids? I don't think my hubby would, so we are "wading into it". Kiddo is learning hammer and saw skills now, to be able to help on a bigger project without the basics when he is 12 or so. E.g.

 

Since this is depending on hubby, I'd throw the ball in his court and see what he comes up with. It may work, and if there is a lot of hems and haws and delays, I'd take the hint.

 

HTH, best of luck!

[Colleen in NS]

What is Daddy good at, and can it be made into a project:

 

Since this is depending on hubby, I'd throw the ball in his court and see what he comes up with. It may work, and if there is a lot of hems and haws and delays, I'd take the hint.

 

He's good at several different things, esp. music. And I did ask him the other day, "So, what types of things would you like to do with the kids if you had more time with them?" and he started listing off some ideas. So, he is willing - just not willing to take on any academic skill tasks, which is fine. I guess it's just a matter of the two of us working out something - I'm hoping that if we can, I will not feel like I am carrying so much responsibility for raising and teaching the kids. I'd just really rather do this whole classical/practical home educating thing as a family, without so much differentiating between "school" and "break".

[jenL]

Colleen,

Thank you for posting this question as it's something I have been struggling with as well. I want to get the academics done, but I yearn for the more fun things with my kids: more life skills in the home, nature walks, park dates, local homeschool clubs, etc. It's not that we don't do anything, because we definitely do things out of the home, it's that I become stressed if we veer away from our "schedule" of classical classes.

 

I have been wondering HOW I can get it all done, when it should be done (weeks on/weeks off/etc) without becoming burned out. I feel as if I hit a wall at the end of this year, and I don't want to hit it as hard as I did by the end of this upcoming year. I also want my dh to be more involved. His work schedule isn't as flexible as your dh's, but I want him to be a part of the educating of our children. As you said, it doesn't have to be all academics, but for me, it would be helpful if he viewed learning more as a lifestyle than he does. He tends to put things in boxes, so school is a box, after school is a box, evening activities are in another box...

 

I feel like I'm rambling, and I suppose I am! However, I understand where you are coming from, and I too, would love for someone to SHOW me how to do this better. Part of me believes those who have it right are the families who homeschool using curriculum but they do not let the curriculum rule them. Sometimes I feel the classical way of doing things is so curriculum oriented and dependent because the academics are quite rigid/strenuous in this methodology. I've been wondering lately if I'm causing my son to miss out as a result of my dependence on curriculum and the feelings of needing to make sure I'm doing enough, often enough (ie.the math 5 days/wk mentality). I hope I'm making sense... I fully get your post, and I guess (after all this babbling) I just want to say you are not alone in pondering these ideas. :)

[Colleen in NS]

it's that I become stressed if we veer away from our "schedule" of classical classes.

 

Exactly! It's because I do feel it's important to learn/practice academic skills on a consistent basis.

 

I have been wondering HOW I can get it all done, when it should be done (weeks on/weeks off/etc) without becoming burned out.

 

Yup. Thank you!

 

I want him to be a part of the educating of our children. ...He tends to put things in boxes, so school is a box, after school is a box, evening activities are in another box...

 

Boxes. Yes! I am trying to get us out of boxes.

 

I feel like I'm rambling, and I suppose I am! However, I understand where you are coming from, and I too, would love for someone to SHOW me how to do this better. Part of me believes those who have it right are the families who homeschool using curriculum but they do not let the curriculum rule them. Sometimes I feel the classical way of doing things is so curriculum oriented and dependent because the academics are quite rigid/strenuous in this methodology. I've been wondering lately if I'm causing my son to miss out as a result of my dependence on curriculum and the feelings of needing to make sure I'm doing enough, often enough (ie.the math 5 days/wk mentality). I hope I'm making sense... I fully get your post, and I guess (after all this babbling) I just want to say you are not alone in pondering these ideas. :)

 

Thank you so much!!! This is what I am looking for - others to say that yes, we do do all those academic skills with similar materials, and we manage to fold them in with the rest of life and here is how we do it. It shouldn't be that hard for my mind to understand - I mean, when my kids were babies/toddlers/preschoolers/Kindergarten aged, I didn't have "school weeks" and "break weeks," we just had a daily/weekly life schedule! Surely there must be a way.

 

I do think I've gotten somewhere with the whole not letting curriculum rule me - I don't feel compelled to cover all of SOTW/KF or the science spine completely anymore, and things content related. We get to whatever composer/artist biographies we can get to, and we timeline what we can get to, but I don't follow someone else's plan for that. What I do feel compelled to follow more closely are the skills: math/grammar/writing somewhat/Latin. And it's all because I. don't. know. these. skills. well. enough to feel confident in stepping away from the books. I've learned much about how to use them more efficiently; I've learned what I can skip in them, but I haven't learned yet even how to combine two lessons into one so that doing math only four days/week won't take most of a year - same with grammar and Latin. That I don't have these academic skills myself is the MOST frustrating thing to me about home educating. I enjoy learning them along with my oldest, but I always feel it's holding me back. But right now I don't have the oomph to sit at night with my math/grammar/Latin books and study ahead. I did in the past, though. I think it's because of feeling "on duty" for most hours of the day - which could possibly change now that I know dh is interested in taking on more time with the kids.

 

About the rigidness/strenuousness of using neoclassical learning methods: hopefully this will encourage you a bit. There *are* things you can do to make each "class" easier/streamlined/less time - for ex. I do R&S grammar orally with my kids, except for diagraming. And because I use WWE/SWB's writing methods, I don't spend as much time on R&S writing lessons. I also let my kids do as much of their math orally as possible, as long as they are not fooling around. They like this because it's quicker and they don't have to write as much. And they do learn the math/grammar concepts this way, so it works for us. I've learned all sorts of tricks over the years to simplify things - we do use WTM-style methods, and many of its resource suggestions (which are all brilliant, IMO), but our actual week looks nothing like the schedules in the book. You know that suggestion in logic stage math to save Fridays for practical life math? Uh, no. We do math 4 days per week, and I forget about practical life math on Fridays. But, practical life math comes up all the time. Anyway, I'm diverging.

 

You definitely do get what I am trying to figure out. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe I'm hot (although it's cooler today). Maybe I'm discouraged about my perception of my academic lack. Maybe, if dh takes on more time with them, I could be refreshed enough to study ahead again, and then our actual academic part of the day might not be so stressful for me, and then the kids would enjoy it more and not notice if we don't have separate "school" and "break" weeks anymore?

[Penelope]

There's no problem with talking about things we read/see/do. It's more the Mom-as-engineer-of-teaching-academic-skills.

 

I can't answer your question, but I can relate to this. My DH can't easily be more involved with academics at this time, and he really isn't interested in what curriculum I use or in what approach I take to grammar or writing or much of anything else. It is wonderful that he has such unbounded trust in me. But man, I get tired sometimes of being the one to make sure it all gets done.