How do you schedule everything to get it done?

[Gamom3]

For the past couple of yrs it takes dc FOREVER to do their work.

How do you schedule everything they are to do and get it done????:confused:

I have written down their schedule, tried to do certain subjects for only so many minutes and what they don't finish they have to finish on their free time, this hasn't worked. Math and English take the dc the longest.

 

Also, I have changed curriculum in math, history, science, writing, literature, and bible for next year. I am concerned this is going to make things more difficult on us. What do you do when you have changed 98% of your curriculum???

 

Here is the schedule for next year.

 

7th grade

Math: Chalkdust Pre-Algebra

History: Trail Guide to World Geography

Science: Apologia General Science(I have used Apologia with oldest, but he was more independent)

Grammar: Rod and Staff 6th grade

Writing: IEW

Literature: Lightning Literature 7

Spelling: Spelling Workout G

Latin: Latin for Children A

Bible For All Ages Unit 1

Typing

Co-op Tuesday

Bowling Thursday

 

5th grade

Math: Teaching Textbook 6

History: Trail Guide to World Geography

Science: Sonlight 5

Grammar: Rod and Staff 5th grade

Writing: IEW

Literature: LLATL

Spelling: Spelling Workout E

Latin: Latin for Children A

Bible: Bible For All Ages

Typing

Piano

Co-op Tuesday

Bowling Thursday

[Sue G in PA]

Well if that isn't the question on everyone's mind! LOL! Seriously, I was just sitting here thinking the exact SAME thing. How in the world are my dc going to get it all done next year? Well, that, to me, was my red flag. Perhaps I have too much planned! Looking at your schedules, though, it doesn't look like that is the case. Your 7th gr. schedule looks strikingly similar to mine except we do Saxon Math and will be doing MFW ECC instead of Trail Guide. I'm guessing you "scatter" some of those subjects so dc isn't doing every subject, every day? My plan is to do SWO H 3 days a week (dd is a natural speller), R&S 6 3 days/wk, VfCR 3 days, etc. My ONLY suggestion would be that if your 7th gr. cannot keep up w/ Apol. General to do a program where you combine 7th and 5th grader, KWIM? That is something of concern for me next year as well as my dd is NOT very science oriented and I'm wondering if she'll fair well on her own mostly w/ Apol. Gen.

 

Your 5th gr. schedule looks good, too. Again, scatter some subjects and just be flexible. I'm not a veteran hswer, so take my advice with a grain of salt. BUT, I've found that just bein flexible, staying in tune with my dc and their needs and attitudes helps a lot. Remember, too, that 7th graders will have more work in prep. for high school...at least IMHO they should! Be flexible. That's my bottom-line advice for you and for me! :D

[rafiki]

.

[RoughCollie]

My DC can waste copious amounts of time not doing their work, while it sits right in front of them.

 

I make assignments based on how long, in reality, it takes my DC to do them when they are not wasting time. I watch the DC and I time them to get a realistic idea of this, instead of relying on my own estimates. Sometimes my expectations have been over the top.

 

The DC know that they will have to complete X amount of work in each subject before the school year is over. If they have to do schoolwork on Saturdays or into the summer, so be it.

 

I do not allow screen time unless all schoolwork for the day is finished, and no one may use the screen machines after 8:30 p.m. The first kid done gets first dibs on the computer. I don't have to worry about them using screens for too many hours per week any more, LOL.

 

Math and language arts are the first two subjects of the day.

 

When we used to spend one day a week at a co-op, the kids made up for it by doing schoolwork for 4 hours on Saturdays. This is because they loved co-op, but I did not think the classes they took there were academically rigorous enough to count.

 

My schedule for schoolwork for the elementary grades was 5-6 hours per day after 3rd grade. I shoehorned typing in anywhere and any time, even on weekends, as long as each child typed for 2.5 hours per week, 1/2 hour at a time.

 

The kids never have thought of history, science, literature, or Bible lessons as being "schoolwork", so I could stick them in anywhere with no problem, even on weekends.

 

For years, I did school with meals: Breakfast & Bible, Lunch & Lit. This really helped a lot because we accomplished two things at once.

 

I also pared down my expectations to a reasonable level. What I enthusiastically think the kids should learn about in a given year is just not possible unless the kids spend every waking moment doing schoolwork.

 

I don't put up with complaints any more. This is not Sesame Street. They are required by law to become educated in certain subjects, and by golly, they will be. This takes me out of the equation except as an enforcer of the law, and they can't argue with the law.

 

My kids have always studied the same materials because they are so close in age, except for math. We play games to review: I ask questions and the kids take turns answering. Each correct answer gets a point. If the chosen child cannot answer a question, the one who can gets the point. We will do this several times for each subject before a test. The winner of the game set gets a prize -- usually 5 extra points on the test, or maybe extra screen time. The kids love this game and they say it helps them remember the material.

 

I used to get bogged down by making sure the kids mastered a subject before they moved on. Now I spend X amount of time on something and move on, with reviews of past material built into my lesson plans. (Math is different because it is cumulative, but I no longer get bogged down by waiting until a kid learns his facts before moving on.)

 

One thing my kids like is having a schedule every day, so they know what is happening and when. I set the timer and we move on when it dings, with 5 minutes between "classes" so they can go to the bathroom and get a drink if they need to.

 

I try to schedule each subject at the same time every day because my kids prefer it. Part of the time alloted to each subject is for individual work, and part of the time is for me to teach the material or discuss it with them.

 

The two kids at home know how long schoolwork will take and they choose when they get up as long as it is between 7:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. and is the same time every day so it doesn't wreak havoc with my schedule.

 

That's everything I can think of to bring to bear on this subject. Probably way more than you wanted to know.

 

RC

[Sue G in PA]

I don't put up with complaints any more. This is not Sesame Street. They are required by law to become educated in certain subjects, and by golly, they will be. This takes me out of the equation except as an enforcer of the law, and they can't argue with the law.RC

 

I LOVE this! This is not Sesame Street! This is reality! My goodness, how many times have I told my dc almost the exact same thing. This is NOT mommy being mean and unreasonable...this is the LAW! I must remember to use your line, though. This is NOT Sesame Street! :D

[RoughCollie]

I never answered this, so here is how I planned our schedule for middle school (grades 6-8). I am doing the same thing for high school, except that the kids will be doing schoolwork for 990-1530 hours per year.

 

First, I figured that the public schooled students are required to be in class for 5 hours a day. They are expected to do 2 hours/day homework, or 10 hours per week. So I started with a ballpark minimum figure of 900 hrs/year and a max figure of 1260 hours. The weekly range is 25-35 hours for 36 weeks. The per day range, based on 180 days, is 5 - 7 hours.

 

I scheduled 27 hours a week thusly:

 

Language arts -- 4 hours/wk

Literature -- 3 hours/wk

Math -- 5 hours/wk

Science -- 3 hours/wk

Social Science -- 4 hours/wk

PE/Health -- 3 hours/wk

Art & Music -- 2 hours/wk (art one semester, music the other)

Foreign Language -- 3 hours/wk

 

This gave me 8 hours to play with without feeling guilty about overloading my children, while making sure the basics were taught. That's where I tweaked when the kids actually took longer to complete work than I had counted on, as opposed to them being recalcitrant. When we did science labs or watched educational videos, it was done during these extra hours. I tacked those hours onto the end of every school day. The kids did not know they were "extra" hours because all they cared about was exactly when the school day would be over if they did the work as required. Those hours went onto their copy of their daily schedules as "required study time".

 

Lesson planning was a pain in the neck because invariably the lessons in some subjects would not be completed during the time frame I had set aside, even with the extra 8 hours. So I started doing something new. I divided each book or course into 180 lessons (90 for one semester subjects). Then I checked off the lessons as they were completed. For example, if we made it to May 31 having completed only through lesson #150, that meant classes in that subject would continue until everything was learned.

 

Conversely, if I had scheduled too much time (rarely), then the kids had to start on the next lesson when they had completed the one for the day. If they finished a course early, then that subject was finished for the year (except for math).

 

This helped a lot with sick days, snow days, lazy days, and lazy kids. Truly, the time spent setting this up was worth it. I formatted these schedules using a table, with column 1 being the lesson in X subject, and the kids' names in each of columns 2-5. (I taught my kids every subject together, except for math.) I'd check off each lesson as each child completed it. The 3-hole punched schedules went into my daily teaching binder.

 

RC

 

What do you do when you have changed 98% of your curriculum???

[Wendy in ME]

For starters, we are following a LCC based schedule in which we do the cores (Latin, Math, Writing Tales) in the morning, eat lunch and read aloud for 1hr then spend 2hrs in the afternoon doing a different subject everyday for 4 days. Friday is for finishing up loose ends after lunch. We all feel more relaxed and everything is getting done. The boys also each have a weekly check list. Everything on the list has to get done even if that means that the work in the evening or weekend if they have been lazy. The list is very much doable with in the 5hrs of school time. They only have "homework" if they don't work hard during the day.