Halcyon Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) I have been thinking that I'd like to try doing fewer subjects each day--more of each subject, but fewer each day. Has anyone done this? We've gone from doing Elemental Science 5 days down to 2 (using her 2-day schedule) and I LOVE it. We can really "settle into" science for an hour, instead of doing it in 15 minute spurts. It works for us, and I'm thinking I'd like to do this with other subjects as well. Somehow it seems our day is too "chopped up". 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there...not as enjoyable as I want it to be. So here's what I'm thinking (math and 45 minutes of reading would still be every day)-still a rough draft but you get the idea.... Monday: Math (1 hour) Writing (25 minutes) Science (1-2 hours) Memory Work (20 minutes) Reading (45 minutes in afternoon or evening) Tuesday: Math (1 hour) Latin (45 minutes) Artist Study (30 minutes) Reading (45 minutes) Shorter day due to HS Sports Wednesday Math (1 hour) History (1 hour) Spelling (20 minutes) Science (1 1/2 hours) Memory Work (20 minutes) Reading (45 minutes) Thursday Math (1 hour) Grammar (45 minutes) Latin (45 minutes) History (45 minutes) Writing (25 minutes) Reading (45 minutes) Friday: Math (1 hour) Grammar (30 minutes) Mapwork (30 minutes) Memory Work (20 minutes) Ongoing projects (lapbooks, mainly)-this is "fun" stuff, mostly in the afternoon. We'd do these on other days too, time permitting. Reading (45 minutes) Latin is recommended to be done every day, but I find that their retention is the same if we do it 2-3 times a week. Thoughts? Edited January 6, 2011 by Halcyon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 That's what I moved to starting in logic stage and I've increased from 30 minute lessons in fifth to hour long lessons this year.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 We have gone to doing the following schedule (see below). We do two different math programs at once. Right now we are working on Lessons for Extending Fractions by Marilyn Burns and the Integers part of MM 5B. For LA, we cover writing (various programs), grammar (MCT Voyage), vocabulary (Dynamic Literacy and a Daily Word program...we finished CEII), Spelling (SP H) We used to try to do both math and LA in the mornings and do either science or history 2x/week, in the afternoons. This way is working waaay better and as there is math and LA incorporated into our history and science, I'm not too concerned about having LA and math only 3x/week. Monday am read aloud, french, art pm Girl Guides Tuesday am read aloud, french, LA pm math Wed am read aloud, french, LA pm math Thursday am read aloud, french, LA pm science Friday am read aloud, french, math pm history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Thanks, ladies. I think up til now I have been doing most subjects, most days, which resulted in a day that was chopped up into 15-20 minute intervals. Neither of us have been liking that lately. We'll see how this new approach works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmeraldGirl Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Your schedule looks great. With the littles, it takes about 2 hours total per day to cover Language Arts and Math at their individual levels. At this point, we hit Science, History, Geography/Cultures at least once a week for 2+ hours each. This covers reading aloud and projects. We do these together. We also have Bible time with scripture memory as many mornings & evenings as possible. Relax and enjoy while they are little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetbeebie Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I've also ended up doing it that way. They still have to do Math and reading everyday, usually an hour each. From there we rotate a subject or two and really dig deep. My girls enjoy it that way and seem to retain so much more verses lightly touching on every subject,everyday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Your new plan looks realistic. We do Math, Reading, Writing & Music daily. We do science, art & history weekly. I can't imagine squeezing everything in each day. I'm not that talented. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Mom Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I like your schedule very much! My ds is only 7, but I've found that memory work is best done daily here. YMMV. :) Hmmm.... This is inspiring me to re-think how I go about scheduling our days. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbielong Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 For years, I found that fewer transitions resulted in fewer distractions, especially when I was homeschooling three children. Now that I am down to one child at home, transitions actually reduce distractions. You just have to find what works for you:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Your plan looks great! I have sort of moved towards this sort of schedule this week. I knew that after the holidays things needed to change, our day was just not flowing as well as I wanted it to. So we now will do history and science less often, but in bigger blocks of time. Really, we will do each subject more in terms of time. We were doing history 2x a week for about 30-40 minutes and now we will do it once a week but for 2-3 hours. I want to go more in depth, do more projects, etc. I feel like we always had to stop and clean up to get on to something else. I will see how it goes. We are also doing a bit larger chunks on 4 days and trying to have one day very low on schoolwork. We all just need it right now. Give it a try, that is the beauty of homeschooling, right? :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Your new schedule is very similar to our schedule, except that we do Latin every day if possible. I really like it, and it has made the days much more enjoyable. You really have to find the groove that works for *you* and go with it, and this looks like a great way to do it. :) I should edit to add that reading the Latin Centered Curriculum helped me to see this more clearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Thanks everyone-I might have to read LCC-I've been meaning to, but just hadn't gotten around to it. Also, re Latin-we MAY end up doing this daily. We'll just see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poke Salad Annie Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Thanks everyone-I might have to read LCC-I've been meaning to, but just hadn't gotten around to it. Also, re Latin-we MAY end up doing this daily. We'll just see how it goes. The LCC is a good read, and really helped me focus on what I needed to get done each day. For daily Latin exposure, (which is what I'm aiming for), depending upon the time available, I: *start a new lesson *review a previous lesson that was difficult *write 10 sentences on the dry-erase board to translate *ask questions on the fly---"What is the direct object plural form of sailors?" *sing a chant in the car So it's just bits and pieces here and there. In the book Getting Started With Latin, the author writes that even a few minutes daily is better than longer, less-often lessons. Not saying that it's wrong to skip a day (and certainly not implying that at all), but just giving you some ideas for some daily time with Latin. Even going over Roman numerals, looking for Latin in everyday things (look at some of those old books on Google books for the book front pages---plenty of Latin there!) Angela in Ohio has something on her blog about how to teach Latin without buying a program. It's filled with wonderful ideas. Hope this helps. You've reminded me to get my copy of LCC and read it again. I still can do with some more focus for the new year. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Thanks! Yes, we do a lot of "Latin on the fly" here ;) so I think we're good, even on those days when we don't sit down and do a formal lesson. I wonder if LCC is available for the Kindle...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I've done this since the beginning, because I knew DS couldn't handle every subject every day and neither could I. I make a 36-week plan at the beginning of the school year and tweak it as we go. Each week I set up the lesson plans accordingly. The only things I insist we do daily are math and writing. The past few weeks I have broken down history and science into more daily patterns, just to break up the monotony, but usually I do them two or three days weekly each. This week's plans look like this: MONDAY Math Writing Grammar Science History Art TUESDAY Math Writing Spelling Science History Logic WEDNESDAY Math Writing Grammar Science History Music/Piano THURSDAY Math Writing Spelling Science History French Swimming lesson FRIDAY Math Grammar (fun with Mad Libs) Latin Outing... somewhere Obviously I could have spread things out a bit more, but Friday has lots of social stuff going on. If he doesn't want to go to the aquarium, which is my first choice, my mom's group AND our homeschool group are having get-togethers. Next week's plans will look entirely different and yet remarkably similar :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enough Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Bumping this up because it came up on a forum search and it's SUCH a good question. (Thank you for asking it, Halcyon! :)) We have been homeschooling relatively lightly the past few months (3 Rs, every day, and not a whole lot else) while I get on my feet (started HSing somewhat on the spur-of-the-moment). As I think ahead to fall, though, and homeschooling 'for real' ;) I'm realizing that I don't want to a) add on a billion more subjects or b) tackle every one of our chosen subjects every single day. Reading this thread was a real sigh of relief for me. :) Curious if there are other ideas/suggestions/BTDT from people who schedule like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Hey Enough :) Since I originally posted this thread, here's what we've done to make our lives easier. 1. On Monday to Thursday, we cover skills coursework: Latin, Math, Grammar, Writing, Reading and Spelling (twice a week for Spelling). 2. On Friday, we spend 5 hours doing our content coursework: History and Science, and throw in Composer Studies and Art once in a while. I don't know how this will work next year as we're going to start Nancy Larson Science 1 with younger, with older listening in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Excellent post!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamachanse Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I do something similar. I just set up our basic plan for the summer. I wish I could cover WWE is one sitting since each part only takes a few minutes, but I see the need to do one part each day, four days per week. I have found that I can do several lessons of FLL2 at one time. I'm not sure if that will be true for levels 3 and 4 though. This is what our sumer plans look like four our 2nd grader right now, with lighter days when we have activities: Monday: SM AAS WWE FLL (a few lessons) Science Art (project) Tuesday: SM AAS WWE Grammar (3 lessons) History (supplementary book and scientist notebooking) Wednesday: SM AAS WWE FLL (a few lessons) Handwriting WS Thursday: SM AAS WWE Grammar (3 lessons) Music (HFA) Friday: History (project) Handwriting WS Miquon (free choice-30 minutes) Geography Weekend: Art (appreciation-HFA) History (include notebooking page) Science Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracefulhome Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Bumping this up because it came up on a forum search and it's SUCH a good question. (Thank you for asking it, Halcyon! :)) We have been homeschooling relatively lightly the past few months (3 Rs, every day, and not a whole lot else) while I get on my feet (started HSing somewhat on the spur-of-the-moment). As I think ahead to fall, though, and homeschooling 'for real' ;) I'm realizing that I don't want to a) add on a billion more subjects or b) tackle every one of our chosen subjects every single day. Reading this thread was a real sigh of relief for me. :) Curious if there are other ideas/suggestions/BTDT from people who schedule like this? Well, I'm not new to homeschooling, but have been feeling burnt out, so we have been homeschooling lightly the past few months as well. (Just the 3 Rs with some history/ literature read alouds at bedtime.) Halcyon wrote: Since I originally posted this thread, here's what we've done to make our lives easier. 1. On Monday to Thursday, we cover skills coursework: Latin, Math, Grammar, Writing, Reading and Spelling (twice a week for Spelling). 2. On Friday, we spend 5 hours doing our content coursework: History and Science, and throw in Composer Studies and Art once in a while. This scheduling idea is awesome! I have been mulling over schedule ideas for next year and am so thankful for this thread! Any more thought would be appreciated by me as well! Perhaps I'll pull LCC off my shelf and ACTUALLY read it. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I often do a science day or an art day. All of science, except for a little vocab review, in two or three days a month. Art the same way. But I often go on jags. If kiddo is clicking on grammar, we might do it every day until the momentum is lost. Then, just some review until the next wave hits. Gosh I love homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 Well, I'm not new to homeschooling, but have been feeling burnt out, so we have been homeschooling lightly the past few months as well. (Just the 3 Rs with some history/ literature read alouds at bedtime.) Halcyon wrote: Since I originally posted this thread, here's what we've done to make our lives easier. 1. On Monday to Thursday, we cover skills coursework: Latin, Math, Grammar, Writing, Reading and Spelling (twice a week for Spelling). 2. On Friday, we spend 5 hours doing our content coursework: History and Science, and throw in Composer Studies and Art once in a while. This scheduling idea is awesome! I have been mulling over schedule ideas for next year and am so thankful for this thread! Any more thought would be appreciated by me as well! Perhaps I'll pull LCC off my shelf and ACTUALLY read it. :tongue_smilie: It's really worked out so well. On Mon-Thurs, I don't think "OMG IT'S ALREADY 1 PM AND WE HAVENT GOTTEN TO OUR FUN STUFF!!!!" And on Friday we all just think "YAY! The whole day to sink our teeth into the content and enjoy!" And yes, kalanamak, I agree :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gracefulhome Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I feel so much better about next year! I've been trying to combine the CM idea of short lessons and lots of subjects per day, and it has not worked for my kiddos. The day seemed so chopped up. A friend and I sat down together and planned out our school years last fall. She is a lot more of a CM homeschooler than I am, but I thought I'd try it. It made me (and my kids) so frustrated. I think longer periods of concentration will help our brains feel less scattered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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