swimmermom3 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) It seems as though every 4-6 months I need to get on here and check in about scheduling. My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics Language arts (excluding literature) Literature History Science Foreign language Fine arts Do you do most subjects most days of the week? Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? Do your kids have homework? At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? My youngest is a master at passive resistance and it is giving me a rash. :tongue_smilie: Edited February 20, 2011 by swimmermom3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I wish I had a silver bullet for you, but alas I do not. This age is by far the most difficult for me to keep on task. I require that math be done everyday, piano is also played everyday. The rest I try to give projects or assignments to be completed by a due date( No longer than one week). I've made progress here. I receive a paper on its due date--a first for DD. I dislike saying we will not do X if your work is not done, but it works. Yuk! I've found that I must be as involved with DD~13's school work as I am with my DD in 2nd grade. The discussion of history and science makes for better learning, so to that end I squeeze in a discussion section each week for both history and science. In fact I read one history book to DD and we discuss. She reads another history book on her own and I can hear the reading of this book enter into our general discussions about history. Science is my biggest failing and will gladly outsource this in the future. This year I've used the free version of Homeschool Tracker. This is helpful to both the girls and I since we both can see what is expected each week. Rather than going at a single subject for a given amount of time I am trying to get DD~13 to engage in school work for 5-6 hrs a day. However, the best I can manage is 2-3 hours before noon and an hour or two after lunch. After lunch the day digresses pitifully. Yes, I have homework when our day of school is less than 3 hours. That is when I employ the if you want X ( something immediate like a movie) then do your homework for one hour. For some reason I am still left to put the books away everyday. I do not hold this against the girls since our house is always in chaos. Our house is unfinished and has no storage..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VBCaroline Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) I can tell you what my 7th grade dd does, but let me add that I don't anticipate the same effort from my ds next year when he is in 7th. He needs quite a bit more "encouragement" to get his work done. Dd turned 13 in November, so she is on the older side for 7th. I consider her to be an advanced student. She completes a math lesson from Jacobs Elementary Algebra almost everyday. It takes her about an hour and a half. She is enrolled in Laurel Tree Tutorials Intro to Comp. Total hours per week ranges from 3-5. Spanish 1 online through OSU takes about an hour a day, everyday. She is working through LLftLotR using the one year lesson plans. She does not do essays, but she does take the tests, and I require her to do a good job with the test essays. I estimate this takes half an hour to an hour, depending on the assignment. Everyday. She reads the lessons and completes only the worksheets and tests for Rod & Staff 7. Maybe 15 minutes? 4 days/week. She reads a chapter from one of the Oxford Ancient World books and writes a paragraph(from the prompts in the teacher books you sold me:)), writes one-sentence summaries for important men and women, and fills in her timeline. She works on this for about 30 minutes every day. It takes her about a week to do 3 chapters. She reads a section of Prentice Hall Life Science and completes the student workbook pages daily. We do many of the labs, and she studies for and takes the tests from the teacher disc. Most days this probably only takes 20 or 30 minutes. We spend about 30 minutes/week working through Fallacy Detective. She has a two hour art lesson every Thursday, and she spends time throughout the week working on her projects. She practices her violin for 30-45 minutes daily. I find that if we don't do every subject daily, I am more likely to let it slide for too long. Study days are significantly longer. I don't know what happened between last year and this year, but she studies diligently for all tests now. She gets up by 5 to start her algebra, and she takes breaks when she wants them throughout the day. I print out a schedule from HST on Sunday night, and she works from that. We are weak on discussion (I know-really, really bad for logic stage), but she is fiercely independent and prefers to work through the material by herself. She can't stand it when she feels like her time is being wasted. Most of her assignments are due the same day. If I assign a longer history essay, I give her 2 or 3 days and mark it on her schedule. She budgets her time herself for her online writing assignments. She usually finishes up her daily work by 3. DS, who is young for his grade, would never be able to do all this, even with encouragement. I'm trying to decide if we should do "advanced 6th grade" next year, or if I should lower my expectations for his 7th grade. ETA: DD, 7th, does get out and put away her books and notebooks. DD #1 and DS are good at taking them out but not so good at putting them away. That is, of course, unless they are trying to avoid a discussion about their work with the teacher. Then the books seem to go back on the shelf pretty quickly. Edited February 20, 2011 by VBCaroline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I wish I had a silver bullet for you, but alas I do not. This age is by far the most difficult for me to keep on task. I require that math be done everyday, piano is also played everyday. The rest I try to give projects or assignments to be completed by a due date( No longer than one week). I've made progress here. I receive a paper on its due date--a first for DD. I dislike saying we will not do X if your work is not done, but it works. Yuk! I've found that I must be as involved with DD~13's school work as I am with my DD in 2nd grade. The discussion of history and science makes for better learning, so to that end I squeeze in a discussion section each week for both history and science. In fact I read one history book to DD and we discuss. She reads another history book on her own and I can hear the reading of this book enter into our general discussions about history. Science is my biggest failing and will gladly outsource this in the future. This year I've used the free version of Homeschool Tracker. This is helpful to both the girls and I since we both can see what is expected each week. Rather than going at a single subject for a given amount of time I am trying to get DD~13 to engage in school work for 5-6 hrs a day. However, the best I can manage is 2-3 hours before noon and an hour or two after lunch. After lunch the day digresses pitifully. Yes, I have homework when our day of school is less than 3 hours. That is when I employ the if you want X ( something immediate like a movie) then do your homework for one hour. For some reason I am still left to put the books away everyday. I do not hold this against the girls since our house is always in chaos. Our house is unfinished and has no storage..... Oh heavens, this sounds so much like our house this year! I have been having such a tough time this year. I know a big part of it is that I totally overscheduled extracurriculars in our fall and it bled into winter - last week was the first week of relative sanity but there's so much catch-up! I'm having the hardest time with writing, for the due date reason. We're trying a new thing now, and I'm trying to get them to write a paper every two weeks, but it's been tough going, although some progress is being made now that our schedule is calming down. I'm seriously thinking of getting a writing tutor for next year, or even as early as this spring. (Or if someone has a faaaabulous suggestion for an online writing course that offers a generous amount of useful, constructive feedback and will get them to write papers with a strong thesis and supporting details, I'm all :bigear:). Math and music practice get done almost every day, at least. Science, Spanish and German get done because they have external deadlines (which is I guess what I'm wanting for writing). I'm trying now to spend more time each day with my older two going over the LA that we're behind on (LLit, Magic Lens, WWtW, Killgallon's Middle School Grammar). History hasn't been getting done much at all, because we used to mostly do it before bedtime, and the crazy schedule meant everyone fell into bed and there was no time. Our regular school time is supposed to be music practice from 8:30-9, then academics from 9-12:30 (although all of them start nagging to have lunch early every day even though I tell them no :glare::glare:). Now that we have two afternoons off from outside activity, we've started to go to the library in the afternoon those days. This works great - if we stay home in the afternoon, they get nothing done. Being at the library is like magic with the increase in productivity (we've managed it about 3 times now). I have also been trying all year to get them to do "homework" on the evenings when they do have activities, and get them out of the mindset that they're done after lunch, but it's been verrrry patchy. I also try to get them to finish up work on Sundays, with limited success. My other problem has been keeping everything flowing when working with three kids - two are doing mostly the same things, but then we keep being held up by one of them not being quite done with the assignment, and it gets pushed off. The youngest often starts goofing off if I'm with the older two for too long, and the older two sometimes start talking instead of working when I'm not in there (yes, I've separated the olders/younger - distractions and arguing are much worse when they're together). I was really good about using HST+ last year and the first few months of this year, but somewhere in the overwhelm I got behind and have yet to catch up. It was helpful to all of us when we used this. I've just been typing daily lists now - really need to get back on the horse with the HST! I'm not sure my ramblings are very helpful to anyone, but I've been feeling so overwhelmed this year - I'd love to hear anyone's advice on this too, and it's somewhat reassuring to hear that others are putting their kids books away at the end of the day too. Or they get left out till the next day. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 It seems as though every 4-6 months I need to get on here and check in about scheduling. My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics Language arts (excluding literature) Literature History Science Foreign language Fine arts Do you do most subjects most days of the week? Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? Do your kids have homework? At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? My youngest is a master at passive resistance and it is giving me a rash. :tongue_smilie: My 6th grader (who is doing mostly 7th, 8th, and 9th grade level work) is doing the following: MUS alg/geo French 2--(she does this and Latin w/her 9th grade brother) Latin 1 spelling,grammar, writing, lit 30 mins of science history religion She does everything every day and it takes her about 7 hrs. I will say that she is much happier now that she isn't skating as much. It is really hard when they are going, going, going to manage everything and simply be kids as well. B/c they are......kids. (think about having a full-time job and a part-time job on top of it........that is pretty close to the equivalent.) I would sit w/him and ask him about the strengths and weaknesses in his days. If his response is insightfully honest, I would work from there. If it is complete detachment and nonchalant, then that is a harder issue. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My 8th grader is required to put in five hours of school work each day for her core subjects: math, physics, english, history and French. It is up to her how much time she wants to spend on each subject on each given day. It will average out over the weeks; if a subject gets neglected, I remind her to do more work in this. My DD has only set assignment and a schedule in physics because she follows an outside class. In math, she works through the textbook and will be done when she is done. For English and history, she follows a rigorous set of reading assignments and chooses her own writing assignments. We have no schedule. Typically, she works on three subjects a day. She prefers having longer periods to work on one thing and would not like to switch subjects too often. I leave it completely up to her- when she gets tired of one thing, she switches. Electives are extra; she works on those when she wants. We count the hours and I award the credit when she has put in the sufficient time. (For instance, for her computer credit she has been learning web design and worked for 20 hours. Those will keep, and we will see when she works on the other components of her computer studies.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Here is what we do. It is probably not ideal but it works for us. Remember - I work (part time) outside the home. My hours vary each semester. At present, I work two days a week. Days I work (2) - DS does WWW, 4practice, Rosetta Stone Spanish, Science reading & research, All American History reading & research. This more than fills the 2.5 hours I am at work. When I get home we discuss and complete what he has learned and work on anything he finds difficult. Days I am home (3) - We discuss Poetry, work on WWW, 4prac and Magic Lens, correct science worksheets and discuss the current topic, conduct any science labs we may have, and work on algebra. We usually watch a one hour documentary over one of our current topics. It usually is related to history but I have been finding some great science videos this semester. We watch these during lunch. Then again there are days when I am home that we get lost in one subject and spend hours doing nothing but that subject. It is usually science but we get lost in book and poetry discussions, too. DS is beginning to show an interest in neuroscience and we spent hours the other day looking at my brain model and discussing the anatomy and physiology of the brain. That lead to hours of online research into the functions of the pituitary gland and the amygdala (and we aren't in that chapter of biology). I let him run with it and get it out of his system so that he could focus on our next lesson. We spend about 4.5-5 hours doing formal work each day. However, and that is a big however, DS is the king of research and will spend hours each day reading material on topics he finds interesting. He will read, read and read some more. I find books hidden under the covers, the couches, behind the toilet, under chairs...you name the spot, there has been a book hidden there. When he isn't reading, he is looking things up online(his current writing topic is the Schlieffen Plan the Germans devised prior to WW1). If I take his research into account for the length of our school day it would extend into 8-10 hours. DS also practices his drums every day. He typically has a Boy Scout Merit badge or 4H project in progress and will work on those throughout the week as well. I hope this makes sense. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dina in Oklahoma Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. :lol::lol::lol: No advice but thanks for the laugh! :lol::lol: Dina :bigear::bigear::bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Okay, first I hear someone on here tell me I can't use duct tape (not even the colored kind) and now you're telling me I can't use the cattle prod either! Good grief, next your going to tell me I can't use the shock collar! :lol: Dd13 gets all of her work done without a word from me but dd11 is a totally different matter...I'm all :bigear: on this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 It seems as though every 4-6 months I need to get on here and check in about scheduling. My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics - Saxon Algebra 1 - takes about an hour total. Language arts (excluding literature) - Also about an hour, and I do have assignments for writing that have due dates of one to two weeks out, but I have to make sure she is actually working on it in the meantime. Literature - If you include actual reading, this takes her about 1 1/2 hours every day. History - About 45 minutes every day, except Thursdays when she has a writing assignment. Science - Usually about 45 minutes a day. Foreign language - Also about 45 minutes a day. Fine arts - This is done on Fridays when we have Art History, drawing lessons, and Composer Study. Everything else above is done Monday through Thursday except for catch-up if she is behind in something. We also have Bible, poetry, memory work, and read aloud first thing in the morning before we start anything else. Do you do most subjects most days of the week? See above Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? I knows how much I expect her to get done in a day and she works until it is completed. How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? We go straight from one thing to the next. We only stop for lunch for about 1/2 an hour a day. Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? My kids have pretty much gotten in the habit of "doing the next thing," so not really a struggle. Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? They each have a big bin with their things in it. They get it out and put it away. What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? At our house you don't go anywhere until you're done - dance, friends, etc. Do your kids have homework? No. At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? See Language Arts. My youngest is a master at passive resistance and it is giving me a rash. :tongue_smilie: My answers are in red above. They are for my 8th grade dd who works on level in some areas and ahead in others. I have had to be consistent with consequences for her to make working hard a habit. She goes to dance three days a week and she missed a couple of times before she realized I meant what I said - "You don't finish, you don't go." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 I wish I had a silver bullet for you, but alas I do not. This age is by far the most difficult for me to keep on task. I require that math be done everyday, piano is also played everyday. The rest I try to give projects or assignments to be completed by a due date( No longer than one week). I've made progress here. I receive a paper on its due date--a first for DD. I dislike saying we will not do X if your work is not done, but it works. Yuk! I've found that I must be as involved with DD~13's school work as I am with my DD in 2nd grade. The discussion of history and science makes for better learning, so to that end I squeeze in a discussion section each week for both history and science. In fact I read one history book to DD and we discuss. She reads another history book on her own and I can hear the reading of this book enter into our general discussions about history. Science is my biggest failing and will gladly outsource this in the future. This year I've used the free version of Homeschool Tracker. This is helpful to both the girls and I since we both can see what is expected each week. Rather than going at a single subject for a given amount of time I am trying to get DD~13 to engage in school work for 5-6 hrs a day. However, the best I can manage is 2-3 hours before noon and an hour or two after lunch. After lunch the day digresses pitifully. Yes, I have homework when our day of school is less than 3 hours. That is when I employ the if you want X ( something immediate like a movie) then do your homework for one hour. For some reason I am still left to put the books away everyday. I do not hold this against the girls since our house is always in chaos. Our house is unfinished and has no storage..... I appreciate you honesty in sharing that all is not perfect, especially since I know that you have high standards for the work you require. For what I expect us to cover, we need to be in school for probably 6 hours a day as well. It could probably be less if he didn't wander off and pet the cat or take 20 minutes to get his bowl of crackers. I honestly was looking at time clocks on ebay. If they weren't so darned expensive, I would get one and make him punch out every time he goes to the bathroom or knocks on his sister's door to see how her schoolwork is going. It will take me a long time to forget the day that I set the timer for 90 minutes to get his math done. He was so pleased that he accomplished it in the set time frame. There was just one problem. He was stopping the timer every time he got up to get a snack or whatever. To my way of thinking, it took him 2 hours and 45 minutes to finish his work. We fought about it for another 15 minutes and I had wine with dinner that night.:tongue_smilie:He used to get so much work done...before middle school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I appreciate you honesty in sharing that all is not perfect, especially since I know that you have high standards for the work you require. For what I expect us to cover, we need to be in school for probably 6 hours a day as well. It could probably be less if he didn't wander off and pet the cat or take 20 minutes to get his bowl of crackers. I honestly was looking at time clocks on ebay. If they weren't so darned expensive, I would get one and make him punch out every time he goes to the bathroom or knocks on his sister's door to see how her schoolwork is going. It will take me a long time to forget the day that I set the timer for 90 minutes to get his math done. He was so pleased that he accomplished it in the set time frame. There was just one problem. He was stopping the timer every time he got up to get a snack or whatever. To my way of thinking, it took him 2 hours and 45 minutes to finish his work. We fought about it for another 15 minutes and I had wine with dinner that night.:tongue_smilie:He used to get so much work done...before middle school. You mean I'm not alone in this? :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 He used to get so much work done...before middle school. I think this is what's driving me so bananas. They were so much more efficient even last year - I feel like they should be getting more done this year, and it seems like they're getting less done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 It seems as though every 4-6 months I need to get on here and check in about scheduling. My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics45min-1 hour/day. We do 4-5 times per week Language arts (excluding literature)30-45 minutes per day. This is the killer of my schedule. Literature right now we're taking a break and doing some poetry. We do that 3x/week about 30 minutes/session. We're doing our own lit program this year and when we're doing novels we read daily and discuss, usally 45 minutes/day History We're exploring down a rabbit hole right now, but try to do history 2-3x/week for about 45-1 hour/session. Science twice per week, usually 45 minutes - 1 hour at a time Foreign language - Latin we do one hour/day 4x/week Fine arts not covering well this year. Do you do most subjects most days of the week? Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? Do your kids have homework? At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? My youngest is a master at passive resistance and it is giving me a rash. :tongue_smilie: 20 minutes to get a bowl of crackers. Yup, here too. We're having "issues" with our schedule. I use quotes because I'd like to say something else. As I type this I'm taking a break from reworking our schedule and workload again. I find ds has outgrown some items, needs more focused attention in some areas, and need more direction from me in others. Transition time is hard here. We have the dog, dh who has been home too much, the I'm hungries, the I forgot lunch, the bunny trails.... I'm going to start assigning some homework next week. I've been against it, but he's finally gaining some independence and I'd like to see him take more initiative. He has a planner and I give him a printed weekly schedule. He is supposed to write what we do each day in the planner, but I still have to check that he does this. He is responsible for his own books, but right now that just means putting them in the desk drawer or on the bin on the floor. We complete most of our schoolwork in the classroom. One of the things I'm working on is giving him more assignments that require more than one sitting to complete, mostly in writing. We've had a few misses this year in that area. Because he was a delayed reader this has really been the first year he's been able to complete some of his reading assignments independently. Some days I feel like we are so behind and that all I'm doing is adjusting the sails on a sinking ship. Then I think of much other skills have improved this year and I realize we just need to release a little ballast and we'll be okay. Hence, the piles of paper currently on my desk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 :He used to get so much work done...before middle school. Hi Lisa, I was stopping by tonight and saw this thread. LOVE the story about the timer! You'll both get a good laugh out that one over the years. And I wanted to say that yes the middle school years are rough. That enthusiasm of the elementary years disappears and is replaced by apathy and wiley means of escaping work. I didn't leave my middle schoolers to do much work on their own. I sat by them for math, maybe reading a book or surfing the internet, but I was there. I didn't give lots of problem sets each day, but kept it slow and steady. Foreign languages also were done together. I read aloud quite a bit, too. Projects might be assigned a few days out, or they'd be one day projects -- fill in a map of this area of the world that we're reading about or research this person and write a brief report about him (or her). History was part of read alouds. Science was often a project, but generally not a text or curriculum. Writing would cover literature, science and history so all those subjects just blended together. Don't know if that helps. The nitty gritty details are fading from memory! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Lisa, I am so glad to see you post this. Sometimes I read your posts and, well, they sound so fun and exciting. I almost think I am alone with a son who consistently procrastinates. Mind you, this is the thinker in my house!! He is smart, has tons of ideas, but he completely lacks focus. DS 11 is in 6th grade. Math: Math Mammoth about 30 min; plus other review/drill 10-15 min. 4 days a week English: 1 Spelling page a day 3 days a week; Writing (I must get better with this). We do write summaries/report for history, science or literature ala WTM. We are not consistent enough. He drives me batty with this. German: I try for 30 min 3 days a week plus I speak German after school hours (again I must be more consistent) Spanish: 30 min 2 or 3 times a week Everything else I switched to doing only once a week with a more concentrated effort. History: once a week; but we spend a couple of hours at least; We read SOTW, Our Island Story, Story of Us, and a California book. The reading is not too much for us. In fact this has worked out great for us. We then pick one writing assignment, do a map, and find a project to do. Literature: once a week; a couple of hours. He is currently reading The Hobbit. We read, discuss, draw, do..... Science: once a week; at least a couple of hours. We are using "How Nature Works" to read and do experiments. We find one writing assignment. Other then that we may do additional experiments, projcets, work on collections, kits, find related movies etc. He is at a co-op on Tuesdays which we love. They do a 2 hour math class which has been excellent. They also do a two hour literature class currently covering the Hobbit. On Thursdays we go to Piano and Art. That's it. I must do more writing. That is my biggest issue with this child. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angjune Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 The most time is usually spent on algebra - 1.5 hours. She spends at least 5 hours a day on schoolwork but this doesn't include her reading for Lit. Even though it is getting toward the end of the year I think I'm going to change up our scheduling since it always seems like certain subjects are rushed. We may end up keeping math every day but rotating the other subjects so that she spends more time on them but only three times a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) Pushing a boulder uphill.... That is what I remember feeling when my ds was this age. I had pulled him from ps at the beginning of 7th grade. We spent a lot of time trying to get him to be more than an unenthusiastic lump. I had attributed it to the transition to homeschooling. Now, I'm pretty sure it was a combination of his age and personality. I focused on two (or three things) at this age. One was trying to find something he was interested in. The second was reading and discussing as many subjects as possible with him. The third was trying to make sure he was active and invovled in his life. We did SL during those 7th & 8th grade years so there was a great deal of reading. I tried to read with him everyday and discuss the reading. We never did find a fit in science during these years. He was already a good writer so I didn't worry about that. My main struggle was just getting him involved in his education. btw - I almost always felt like I was rolling him uphill. and the relationship we built with all of that discussion has been the best part of homeschooling. Edited February 21, 2011 by Karen in CO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 About an hour each on Math, History, Literature, Composition, and Science. Only about 15 minutes on Grammar, Geography, and Spanish. These last three are not particularly rigorous. He does Math, Lit, and Science every day (5 days). All other subjects are done either 3 or 4 days per week depending on what his weekly assignments have been and what's needed. He typically works from 9-12, and again from 1-3, so about 5 hours per day. He frequently does some "homework" over the weekend, particularly in Science because he's doing a class through TPS (Potter's School) and needs to keep up with their schedule. Occasionally he may skip an easier subject like grammar when we have a particularly demanding week, and then make it up over the weekend (I keep track). I really still need to prod him to work efficiently and organize his time and materials. I typically have him do his work in a location where I can watch him. I'm still pretty active in organizing his time and materials. We outsource Fine Arts to YMCA classes. He takes guitar lessons and a video production class there for an 1 1/2 hours each per week. He practices guitar frequently on his own time. P.E. is swimming and aikido. It seems as though every 4-6 months I need to get on here and check in about scheduling. My level of frustration with my youngest is mounting and since cattle prods on children are a bad plan, I need more advice, please. How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics Language arts (excluding literature) Literature History Science Foreign language Fine arts Do you do most subjects most days of the week? Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? Do your kids have homework? At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? My youngest is a master at passive resistance and it is giving me a rash. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 My daughter was in PS through 7th, and I only homeschooled her for 8th. I had modest expectations of what we would get done. This included Algebra 1, PHSE science 3 days/week, CLE LA 5 days/week, vocabulary roots, History of US with some readers from Sonlight. I consider the year somewhat of a failure, and she considers it a success. Our problem was the same as yours - everything took her SO LONG and I felt like I was playing "bad cop" all day long. I tried to get her to use a timer for her subjects (try to finish history in 1 hour). I tried dropping her off at the public library where she could work with less distraction (I think just the change of scenery helped). I rescheduled her math so she had 3 days to finish a lesson. I dropped science halfway through the year to give her more time with math. We significantly cut back on lit too. She was basically in her room all day, every day, and getting depressed that she was never off the hook with schoolwork. She felt like she was doomed to be behind, so wasn't particularly motivated to try to catch up. I told her a billion times that she had free time, but she was using it in short increments all through the day instead of working hard & saving it up for a big chunk at the end. In the end, she didn't finish history or science. She barely finished the math. I felt like I'd failed her. She says it was a success. She'd never been in charge of her education before and she said she learned a ton about pushing herself, taking schoolwork seriously, etc. She also thinks she learned more science & history than she would have learned in PS. She went back to PS for high school (this was the plan all along) and she is done with her math in 30 minutes. :001_huh: She has drumline after school and she has to get her work done or else she has to quit. She is in advanced classes and is surprised that some of her classmates are so passive. I think some kids just need more structure than they can easily get with a busy mom. I don't know what I could have done differently. I do think a different Algebra program may have been better. I went with Chalk Dust because I wanted her to learn from a teacher, but between the lectures and SO MANY PROBLEMS I think it was overwhelming (she did every 4th problem and was free to do more or less depending on her own comfort, but I think she mostly did more). Her math teacher this year only assigns select problems which gives her a clearer goal. I considered a time clock as well. SOMETHING to get her to realize that her breaks add up. Consider though, that in the workplace it's estimated that people spend 2 hours of an 8 hour shift on non-work stuff (surfing the internet, talking w/ coworkers) That's data from the pre-Facebook era, so it's probably more now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 She was basically in her room all day, every day, and getting depressed that she was never off the hook with schoolwork. She felt like she was doomed to be behind, so wasn't particularly motivated to try to catch up. I told her a billion times that she had free time, but she was using it in short increments all through the day instead of working hard & saving it up for a big chunk at the end. If I had a dime for every time I said that to my boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Do you do most subjects most days of the week? Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? Do your kids have homework? At this age, do they have assignments that are due more than a few days out that they have to keep track of and deliver on schedule? My son is 12 (13 next month!) and doing a mostly online classes with a mix of middle and high school level subjects. Math (high school Liberal Arts Math) - He does this online with Florida Virtual School, spending roughly 45 minutes to an hour five days a week. Language arts / Literature (8th grade, honors) - Another FLVS class, although I've added a few extra literature books. He spends 45-60 minutes each day here, too. History - (8th grade, honors) - More FLVS, but probably only about 30 minutes a day, I suspect. Science (high school, honors) - FLVS, an average of 45 minutes per day, I think. Some days, he has experiments or larger projects assigned that might take longer, but he doesn't necessarily do a lesson all five days. Foreign language - Sigh. We started the year with both Spanish (The Learnables) and Greek (Elementary Greek), but they just weren't getting done. So, I eventually decided to quit fighting and let them drop for this year. Fine arts - Music History / Appreciation - He usually does this only one day a week (or sometimes every other week), when he has time to take a break from his core subjects. When he works on it, he spends probably an hour or two at a time. - Art History / Appreciation - Similar to music, usually an hour or two at a time, once a week or so. - Choir / Vocal Performance - He sings with a rigorous teaching choir, 2.5 hours each week, plus an average of one additional three-hour rehearsal one weekend a month. About 30 minutes of that regular weekly rehearsal is devoted to music theory and vocal technique. They perform about once a month and usually have two hours of warm up and rehearsal just before they sing. He also takes a 45-minute private voice lesson each week. So, a typical day would have him actually getting to work at about 10:00 (or 10:30), beginning with the computer-based subjects. He usually does math first, then moves on to science. He might then take a break for lunch, maybe doing some assigned reading or watching a DVD for art or music while he eats. After that, he comes back to the computer and works on history and language arts. He has choir reheasal on Monday afternoons and his voice lesson and a dance class on Tuesdays. So, the core subjects are usually it for those days. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, he might take another break after the four core classes, then do some work on either art or music. I'm not terribly involved in the transitions, other than to nudge him back to the computer whenever he wanders away. Because he's mostly online for his classes, there aren't a lot of materials of which to keep track. However, he is responsible for getting out and putting away whatever he uses. He does have some longer-range projects for his online classes, and he does pretty well keeping up with those. Again, it requires a little nudging now and then. He has "homework" only if he falls behind in a class. When that happens, he might do a lesson after dinner on a night he is home or on a Saturday morning before he leaves for theatre classes and rehearsals. (He's booked from 10:00 - 6:00 most Saturdays.) Recently, I dropped the ball checking to make sure his work was done every day. We had both been sick on and off for almost two weeks, and I let things slip. When I discovered he had been lying to me about finishing his schoolwork, he was grounded until he catches up. This means, he watches no discretionary TV unless we invite him, he doesn't play outside, and he doesn't go anywhere except for regularly-scheduled classes, rehearsals and ticketed events. (We have season tickets for some local theatre that involves enough of a monetary investment that we have decided to go ahead.) It has taken him almost three weeks to get close, but he anticipates being caught up and un-grounded by about Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangearrow Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) I have a 12yo 7th grader: How much time to you spend on the following subjects with your 7th and 8th grader who works on an average to above-average academic level: Mathematics She spends about 1 hr a day on math Language arts (excluding literature) Anywhere from 20-45 minutes, depending on the assignment Literature approx an hour every day - either reading, or doing the assignments related to the reading, or discussing what was read History 3/5 times a week. We're using AAH and SOTW and do history with the 5th grader all together. I give the 7th grader more reading/research assignments to do each week. So, we "do" history 3 times a week, but the other two days are spent researching and writing up a report, or reading a book and handing in a report about it. These reports are usually left in rough-draft/research format - I just want to know what she's learned. Science usually 45 minutes a day. Foreign language n/a We're still Latin flunkies and haven't settled on anything else yet. One of these days... Fine arts This happens when it happens. Usually once a week, sometimes more. Just depends on the week. We will often do an art project over the weekend if it wasn't done during the week. We also do a daily writing/reading workshop that lasts between 60-90 minutes each day. Do you have particular things that have to get done in a given time frame or do you just work for a specific time and move on? I give her an hour to do science, and an hour for math, an hour for lit. Anything not done in that timeframe is done later that evening. We definitely move on. We didn't always do this and were quite frequently bogged down. Any "extra" time in that hour, she's free to read, write, daydream, whatever. How many times in the course of a day do you transition from subject to subject? When the hour is up, we move on. Not sure how often it happens. She usually does certain subjects before lunch, and the "easy" ones after. Do your children transition well or is it it a struggle? It used to be a struggle, but I found that, as long as **I** stay firm on the routine, they fell into place. Now it's just... easy. Also - my kids get up earlier than I do. They all get their own breakfast, do the dishes/morning chores, and get started on their school work with no help from me. The girls have a schedule for some subjects, others they just move to the next lesson. they read it on their own. If they just flat-out do not understand it, they wait for me and move to another subject. If they understand it, they do the assignment. We go over it (understood or not) once I'm up and had my morning caffeine. I will often crawl out of bed @ 9 am and my 5th grader is pretty much finished with any/all of the school work she does on her own. Do they get out and put away their own materials or do you do that for them? They know where all their stuff is and can get it all at any time. Some days, if we're short on time, I'll gather the materials just because I can do it in half the time they seem to manage. ;) What are the consequences if they don't get their work done? They have to miss out on fun time in the evenings after Daddy's home. We all work hard to get all our work done before he's home in the evenings, because once dh is home, we try to make that our FUN time. They play video games (with daddy), go to the gym, go swimming, build stuff in the garage, etc, etc, etc. Missing out on fun-evening-time is a big deal around here, so it keeps them motivated. ;) Do your kids have homework? Yes. If something isn't done, it's done that evening. If a weekly assignment (such as a writing assignment) isn't completed by its due date, they work on it over the weekend. sometimes I will assign something to be due on Monday morning. This is usually worked on over the weekend. We don't do mid-day snacks, etc. The kids each have a huge water bottle they keep near them. They make their own lunch at 11 and have a free hour/hour and a half. If I let them get snacks and/or drinks all day they would never get a single thing accomplished. Edited February 21, 2011 by orangearrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Ds 7th grade - Lial's Basic College Mathematics - 40 min. per day - math is easy for him. Abeka Grammar I - 30 minutes Spelling - 15 minutes Latin - 20 minutes he's quick with it. Mindbenders, Critical Thinking Skills - 20 minutes Apologia General Science - 40 minutes unless there is an experiment in which case it goes longer History - 30 minutes done in a group with 5th & 8th grade brothers. I lead the session. Read a louds by me - 20 minutes per day. Maybe 30 if the chapter is long and I haven't broken it down. Literature - 30 minutes 9:00 - 12:00 with a short break plus snacks and bathroom, 1-2 for the rest though we don't have to do history or Latin every day yet so sometimes it's a shorter day. 8th grader is very similar but it takes him more time to do math, but he zings through English and writing assignments. So, it kind of balances out. Also, twice per year we kind of put Latin, Spelling, and Logic/Critical Thinking on hold so we have extra time for a research project. If someone really dawdles, there is the rare occasion in which I make them save the assignment until dh has a break in his meetings and then the offender must do it with him. Dh tortures them by spending 30 minutes telling them all of the things he can think of that they could do with this particular bit of knowledge or skill before getting started, followed by thinking of cool "extra" work they should do on top of that. This causes great angst and so it's not tooooo often that they choose to make me that crazy! Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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