Loop scheduling

[swellmomma]

Due to my crazy work schedule and commute time we have fallen into a loop schedule of sorts. The problem is even though we are learning lots, and I am happy we are making some what decent progress in some areas I am still feeling short of time by the end of the week. Basically we have about 4 hours daily to teach and have lunch-which really works out to about 3 hours. On paper it seems like ample time BUT it rarely works out that way. With me teaching 3 different levels(though focusing on the older 3 more than the pre-k one), and all 3 having various LD(and that means I have to work 1-on-1 with them or they can't focus and stay on task) it feels like we are moving at a snails pace and by the end of the week only finishing approx 2 days worth of lesson plans (and these are not heavily planned days either.) Compared to our nightmare year last year we are making great strides but I worry about it none-the-less. THose that use a loop schedule have you worried near the start of the year like this but saw a completion by the end of the year anyway? Did you have to give up non-core subjects to keep up the pace? Right now I am focusing on math, LA, science and history and still feel behind. We do math and LA daily but alternate the other 2. This week we added in a bit of nature study, history of the horse and a legal study they asked to do BUT that meant adding school time after work to fit them in. I have not even been able to start our foreign language, art, poetry, music or memory work yet due to the slow pace of the main subject areas.

 

IT is very frustrating right now to feel good about making the progress we have but still feel like we have so far to go kwim. Is this normal for those using a loop type schedule?

[Mom2absh]

:bigear: I can't help - although I think we do a loop schedule by default - but I'm bumping this up for you!

 

J

[AudreyTN]

Honestly, that's why I quit using the Loop Schedule.

[swellmomma]

Honestly, that's why I quit using the Loop Schedule.

 

So what did you switch to? If I had an extra 2 hours a day, I can see perhaps this loop would work better for us but I don't. After work 2 nights a week they have extra currics, plus TKD on Sunday nights. THe rest of the nights I want to leave open not add more school work in if I can help it. Last week I did do school on 2 of the nights, due to medical appts for ds7 we have been missing 2 full days of school every other week, plus I had to due 1 earlier day at work and 1 full day because the ps had those times off(and I work in afterschool care). SO That does not help with having enough hours in the week to finish what we need to. On average I think we have about 15-18 hours of school time weekly. For a 5th grader and 6th grader it doesn't feel like enough time, so I have to find a way to maximize that time and I do not think this loop scheduling is doing that for us.

[rafiki]

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[swellmomma]

My first thought was, what do they do while you are at work?

 

They actually come with me. SO that is their physical activity, social times and what not. I do all the programming for the afterscool program so I try to have a decent art project daily(which is much different than how I taught it at home before), we bake once a week, and I try to have something science or history related tied into our theme for the week for all the kids to work on or discuss.

 

We do use alot of audio books as we spend a minimum of an hour per day commuting on the highway so we get through those often. And I have been getting good dvd's fromt eh library(like the inventors, artists or composers series to watch on Friday nights-our family night) so that helps but does not go into the depth I would like to have done if I had more time.

 

I like the idea of doing the extras on Fridays, at least 1 friday a month I am at work a full day so we lose that school day but that is still better than never getting to those subjects at all. My only worry then is doing everything else M-TH, at least temporarily until ds's cast is totally gone as right now we miss 2 full school days when we travel to the city to have new xrays and a new cast every other week.

 

I really like the idea of evaluating the kids and focusing on 1-2 areas for a few months to buckle down on those ones and then reevaluating. That could work, but then again it seems that I will only ever get to the core subjects and the rest gets left in the dust kwim. But perhaps once we get started it will work out differently.

[AudreyTN]

If you're making progress, I wouldn't worry about trying to do more. It sounds like your schedule is working for you.

 

Is there anything that your children can do on their own? That would help. Even if it's just reading something.

[catholicmommy]

I did a loop schedule for awhile 2 years ago, and I found the same thing was happening... although we got lots of work done every day and the kids were learning and happy, we were nonetheless slowly falling more and more behind the pace we needed to keep up if we wanted to finish in a reasonable time.

 

I think a loop works wonderfully if you are not concerned too much about an 'end date' to the year... for example if you want to school year round.

 

If, however, you want to have a nice break in the summer (some people don't care if they do), then you would be wise to sit down with a calendar and plan out:

1) how many lessons you have left in each subject,

2) how many days you have left until you would like to be done

3) which days you want to take off

 

This will help you to get an understanding of how many lessons/week you need to get done in order to reach your end date. If, after going through this exercise, you find that it is impossible to get it all done each day, then you need to either

 

-change your end of year date (push it back or switch to year round) , or

-change your goals in your curriculum.

 

This is a major reason why I switched from loop scheduling to the file folder system, because, like you, I wasn't getting through the material I wanted in the time I wanted... and filing enabled me to stay on track by giving me concrete chunks of work that I knew needed to be done by friday or we wouldn't be done at the end of the year.

 

hth :)

 

btw, I found the planning ebook on Simply Charlotte Mason to be invaluable in doing the above steps to figure out the flow of the year.

[siloam]

I do a loop of sorts, but like Michele I set aside areas of focus which I make sure get done daily, and areas that are Ok to only get to a couple times a week. Not that I wouldn't prefer they got done daily, but I am only one person.

 

I also don't even try with art, music, Latin (or other foreign language) until they can do it on their own. Last year I just bought the FIRST level of Artistic Pursuits and handed it to my oldest, and told her to have fun. She does one project a week. It probably sounds bad to do a program geared to K-3rd graders for a 6th/7th grader, but she is dysgraphic, and I could tell by the samples the stuff her age was beyond her and would only frustrate her.

 

History and science I have pared down to a minimum. Given you have a drive I would do something audio in the car and call it good.

 

Heather

[lakotajm]

I think this is a problem mostly when you are using a boxed or textbook style curriculum-one that has a set schedule. If you can take a deep breath and realize that the usual Scope and Sequence is just this manufactured notion of what a child "ought to know" by the end of each year, and that no one really HAS TO fit that notion just to be a well-rounded and well-educated individual, you can ease up and not freak out.

 

I had the same problem last year because I used a heavily scheduled curric for the first time. I thought it would help me, but it just made me desperate and constantly seeing how far "behind" we were.

 

Lakota

 

although we got lots of work done every day and the kids were learning and happy, we were nonetheless slowly falling more and more behind the pace we needed to keep up if we wanted to finish in a reasonable time.

 

I think a loop works wonderfully if you are not concerned too much about an 'end date' to the year... for example if you want to school year round.

 

1) how many lessons you have left in each subject,

 

 

how many lessons/week you need to get done in order to reach your end date. If, after going through this exercise, you find that it is impossible to get it all done each day, then you need to either

 

-change your end of year date (push it back or switch to year round) , or

-change your goals in your curriculum.

 

[dripdripsplat]

If you're making progress, I wouldn't worry about trying to do more.

 

:iagree: What more can you ask for? When you look at it, it may not seem like you're progressing, but take a step back... Are your kids progressing? At all?

If they are, then you've found what works for this season of your life. Maybe there will be a time when you can fit more in, or can take the time to do more hands-on work, or they can do more individual work... But that's just not the case right now, so why stress yourself out about it?

 

Enjoy the time that you have with them, because in the end, they aren't going to necessarily remember that one Tuesday when we did all our subjects, and science experiments, and read-alouds, and latin, etc. But they are going to remember Mom taking the time out to help them when they needed it.

 

:grouphug: It's going to work out!