Trying to help my 15 yo plot out his week

[Faithr]

Monday

9:00 a.m. Mass

10:15-11:15 Biology homework

11:15 to 12:30 History

Lunch

1:00 to 3:00 History/lit class

7:00 - 9 p.m. Latin homework

Bedtime - assigned lit reading 1hr

 

Tuesday

10 - 11:30 Latin class

Lunch

12:25 - 2:25 Biology class

7:00 - 8:30 Math homework

Bedtime - assigned lit rdg. 1 hr.

 

Wednesday

9:00 Mass

10:15 Math homework

Lunch

History homework 1 hr

Latin homework 1 hr

7:30-9 p.m. CLC (teen church group)

Bedtime-assigned Lit rdg

 

Thursday

9:00 Mass

Finish up math homework

Lunch

1:15 - 2:15 math tutor

7:00 - 9:00 Biology homework

Bedtime - assigned lit rdg.

 

Friday (1/2 day)

8:30 Bio SAT study group

10:00 - 12 noon Bio class

Lunch

1:00 Tennis

 

Now some Tuesday and Thursday evenings he might have 4H stuff to do. So we'll have to plan accordingly so that on those days he'll cram evening stuff into the daytime hours.

 

How does this compare to your 10th grader's schedule? This is actually painfully busy and structured for us! We are lazy! I find 10th and 11th grades soooo heavy.

 

Most of his subjects are outside classes, except history and lit which I am teaching to him and another teen-ager.

[choirfarm]

I can't tell because there are a lot of breaks in your schedule and you have some outside classes. Here is what my 15yo does, but it isn't always the same order every day:

 

His alarm goes off at 7 and he is ready for school by at least 8, though many times earlier.

 

He typically starts by going on the AP Statistics site and looking at what he needs to do, responding to posts etc. Then he does the assignment in his room. This takes him an hour to two hours depending on the day.

 

He watches his Chalkdust video and does his problem set for College algebra...typically around an hour.

 

He works on his Apologia Physics for 30 minutes or so a day..maybe more I'm not sure. He completes a chapter every two weeks doing all the on your own, study guide, practice problems, plus his dad makes him make a study sheet for the test each week.

 

TOG- He gets started on his history reading.

 

By this time it is lunch. We often watch a teaching company lecture: Churchill, Hitler's Empire or listen to CS Lewis or sometimes watch a history channel or other educational video..watched American Experience: 1918 Flu. Very interesting!!

 

He posts things on Statistics website.

 

He finishes up his TOG reading.

 

He does his English work: literature reading from TOG, AG or SAT prep, Vocabulit, as well as writing assignments

 

He reads for his Church History course which is a CS Lewis class. He is reading every work by him. He finished MEre Christianity this week.

 

He practices piano for at least half an hour.

 

He works on SOS Spanish and sometimes Driver's Ed.

 

That's it. By that time it is 4 or 5

 

Yes, it is pretty heavy but he doesn't have hours and hours of homework like his friends in ps!!! So I think he comes out ahead. He works hard but has his evenings free!

 

Christine

[Teachin'Mine]

Am I reading correctly that he's doing math only on Tues, Wed and Thurs? I think we'd find it hard to do math only three days a week and do it well. I think I'm seeing the same thing for Latin - only three days a week. IMO, this can be done for classes like science and history much easier than languages and math which need daily attention.

 

I know you say it feels really busy, but honestly it looks very light for high school to me. Thursday and Friday are essentially both half days, and time wise so is Tuesday. Is he able to complete his courses with this schedule? If he is, then completely ignore my post! I just know my dd wouldn't be able to get her work done with the amount of time shown in your schedule.

[Teachin'Mine]

BTW I think it's beautiful that you schedule time for daily Mass!!! :)

[Faithr]

Hi all. It feels light to me too, and yet very busy at the same time! I think it is because so much of his stuff is farmed out. He goes to a Biology class 2x a week, a Latin class 1x a week and a math tutor 1x a week. The history and lit we haven't even started yet; we'll fold that in next week.

 

The thing about math and Latin. In high school do you do math and foreign language every day? I think he tends towards more block scheduling because he has these deadlines of getting homework done before he has to go to a class/tutor. So since things are working out like that, I thought I'd do the history/Lit stuff the same way. I deliberately wanted some extra time (like on Thursdays) because he may very well be doing 4H stuff then and he could fill up the day differently. Also he often does do stuff that doesn't get done during the week during the weekend. I don't know if this is a good thing though!

 

I wanted Friday to be a half day. Our homeschool group has a teen tennis class on Fridays at 1:00. We don't get home until 3 or so (we hang out while the younger ones play at 2) and by that time we just aren't going to get any academic stuff done. I'm usually wiped out by the end of the week and don't have the moral fortitude to force anything.

 

I'm basing things on credit hours though. According to HSLDA core history/English are typically 150 hours. Math and Science with Lab are typically 180 hours. He's a little light when it comes to History and Lit.

 

Because of his dad's work schedule, we tend to stay up late and get up late. He's been getting up at 8:15 to shower, dress and go to Mass with his older brother (it wasn't even my idea!). Then they get home famished, eat breakfast. The books don't open until 10:15 a.m.

 

Anyway, thanks for your feedback.

[Teachin'Mine]

The beauty of home schooling is that you can make the schedule to fit the student and your family life. It looks like you're doing that, and it's working. So if that's the case, then don't worry about what they're doing in the high schools and do what works for you. :) I think a light day on Fridays is great! We aim for that too, but with many of her tests falling on Friday, it doesn't usually work out that way. :tongue_smilie:

[regentrude]

I don't think not doing math daily is really a problem. We have always done math 3 days a week and the kids are doing just fine - if the material is thoroughly understood, daily drill is not necessary.

 

This said, your schedule looks like a nightmare to me because it is so fragmented by the many different outside things. Is there any chance you could bundle up something, reschedule the tutor - so he gets more continuous time at home?

I find that for DD, going somewhere and coming back causes a lot of time loss because she has to refocus - we typically don't get as much done.

Another thing that would not work for our family is the late starting time. We prefer to start at 8am and get most work done by lunchtime. My kids happen to be a lot more productive in the morning compared to the early afternoon. Not sure whether this is feasible for you .

 

Your hours are light on history/english, and I notice you are not doing a modern language - are you planning to add one? Also, aside from the one hour of tennis I do not see any electives.

How many credits are you planning for him for this year, five?

[Faithr]

How I wish we were one of those early rising families! Alas, this is not so! Life would certainly be tidier, if we were!

 

Electives: He will probably be doing 4H stuff this year. Also, his Teen group is really a Scripture study group. And, thank you for reminding me about electives, he's been teaching himself game design and he is currently helping his father build a computer. So he might be able to work up enough hours for a .5 credit computer class.

 

He's going to follow his older sister's pattern and take a modern language at the community college in either 11th or 12th grade.

 

He is home all day on Mondays and Wednesdays (until the evening). He only goes out for an hour on Thursdays (unless he's got 4H in the evening).

 

Sigh. Oh well. I always feel that 10th and 11th grades are hard because they are so intensive. We are type B people. It's hard! (can you hear the whine in my voice!LOL!).