Not enough time in the day

[Nestof3]

If you want to take it slowly through the year, I believe you have over scheduled writing. The DVD lessons are fairly long, but there are practice lessons afterwards that do not require the DVD. (Andrew Pudewa can be really long winded.). I think you could do an outline one day and then the writing the next day. You could do 2 lessons a week for 4 days. This would free up an hour a week. You would probably have time in those 4 hours for editing as well. You could do IEW as written for the first half of the year, then apply it to your studies the second half of the year.

 

Thanks! Being new to this, I'm not sure what to expect.

 

I also think you could do Latin for children in 4 days. The schedule for LFC suggests combining day 1 and day 5 for a 4 week schedule. This would give you another 30 minutes. You could listen to the chant cd in the car for extra practice between lessons.

 

That's another great idea -- or two! :)

 

You could listen to SOTW on audio book for a little help as well. You could choose a certain number of chapters to cover well and then just simply listen to the rest. This takes off some pressure with history. It is just a lot of information to cover in-depth. I know yours are a little older than mine, and you are probably feeling that pressure to ramp everything up a notch. But, it is something to consider.

 

Ben listens to regular stories well, even composer stories and such, but sometimes he gets lost listening to SOTW by audio because he has attention issues. SOTW gets complicated sometimes for him as well. I usually have to stop every few paragraphs and make sure he is still on board. Nathan, however, has listened to the audio books several times. :tongue_smilie:

 

I am also in the process of putting playlists on the iPod, iPad and sansa to take advantage of the drive time (cc memory work, Latin, addition songs, SOTW, classics for kids podcasts). This is going to be difficult because driving time is when she usually wants to have the deep discussions about life. :lol:

 

 

Yes, I have been getting listening things ready for the van as well -- mainly for our composer study so far. I will work on doing this for Latin as well. Oh, and poetry can be listened to in the van as well.

 

You might be able to pare lunch down to 30 minutes as well.

 

I usually make their lunch first, and they often listen to an audio book or watch a school video while they eat. This is when I make mine. I am more of a grazer or I eat differently than they do (fewer carbs). Sometimes they also just eat their lunch while they do school. I've never been a person to have meals ready at the same time each day, so I'm not sure how on schedule we will stay, but creating one was a great way to see if what I have planned is feasible.

 

Thanks so much!

[Nestof3]

I have no advice; I just wanted to stop by and admire the loveliness of your color-coded schedule :D

 

Thank you! I have no idea if we can keep to a timed schedule, but doing so helps me cross things off and to see if what I have planned is feasible.

 

I do laminate a schedule which allows me to use a wet erase pen to mark things off so we can see what we have left to do that day.

[Nestof3]

It might be something to consider to do science on Mon/Tues and history on Thurs/Fri (co-op was on Wed....right?) One of the nice things about the block scheduling like that is it eliminates the transition time of putting one away and getting out the other so you spend more "time on task". BUT- the personalities in my family seem to be suited to spend a lot of time at once instead of several little times. It's not be for everyone. You may be able to utilize the car time to listen to audio books' date=' quiz spelling/vocab words, mental math, discuss the latest history chapter, etc. It doesn't really help eliminate something on the schedule, but it might help you feel more productive and less like you're wasting that time.

 

HTH![/quote']

 

Last year, we read a little science and history daily, and that worked well. I am sure we didn't go over 30 minutes for each. I think my kids enjoy a little bit of each every day instead of large chunks. On lab days, though, I will probably have to skip history.

 

Plus, doing only one text this year instead of two should help with that.

[Nestof3]

I always pictured having one like that. But, it just doesn't fit for us right now. All we do is piano, read something, and listen to books. Listen to a science audio recording of Mr. Q during a meal, (breakfast or lunch).

 

So it would be impossible to make a nice schedule. :( So I'm envious of yours.

 

I never scheduled when the boys were younger either. Having 5th and 6th graders, adding in Latin, more formal writing, co-op, etc. has necessitated some change. Things were easier with Aaron (even though I had babies at the time) because he did so much independently and because there was only one to educate.

[Nestof3]

Thanks! Yes, I do think after a few weeks, I will be tweaking things.

 

The boys do the following over the summer:

 

Saxon (I test them out of many of the first lessons because there is so much review)

 

Daily Grams (they are finishing up last year's book, and then they will start on next year's)

 

Spelling (right now they are finishing the last chapter of Megawords from last year).

 

Yes, a meal plan is essential. I just threw out potatoes we never got around to eating (they sprout so quickly!), for example. I also need to just stay simple and stop trying to make it more complex than it needs to be.

 

I've always liked the idea of something like this:

 

Sun: roast or whole chicken

Mon: Mexican

Tues: salad with baked potatoes or soup

Wed: grilled chicken or burgers

Thurs: Italian

Fri: order out

Sat: breakfast food

 

Something like that anyway. Maybe have a two-week rotation as you mentioned.

 

Sigh, I love your schedule. I also like some of the regular chores you listed - it can be overwhelming to try to do EVERYTHING yourself.

 

Perhaps you could treat the 2 weeks or month as a trial period and then sit down and see what is working. This may be more of a mental trick, relieving you of pressure that if this schedule makes you crazy you are committed to it for the entire year.

 

Can you start doing some lessons now? Maybe math? Then you are a few lessons "ahead" if you need to cut back a day once in a while? Maybe math isn't a good choice - art/music or poetry, something that doesn't need so much regular repetition.

 

I make a menu for 2 weeks at a time. Then I do a big shopping trip and on the "middle" weekend I pick up fruit, milk, etc. from closer grocery stores. This method would work even better if I incorporated one or two of the ideas I've read on this post. If I had a "suggestion" list of meals we like, it would take some of the chore out of writing the menu and accompanying grocery list.

 

Good luck!

[KellieMI]

I also love your schedule. I am going to do History on Monday and Tuesday and Science on Thursday and Friday, so that we can also get to some fun projects. I hope you find your groove!

[Twelham]

I totally could've written your post!! enjoy the co-op- I think it may be more important for you than them. You need the emotional support, fellowship and comraderie (well, I do anyway, lol!)

[johnandtinagilbert]

One thing I've been considering about my scheduling is the idea that we can have it all, just not all at once. So, I may stagger some of our language arts programs, lighten up on some things in the fall when we are busier and then add in more in the winter.

 

I also have too much, and I know we don't have to do it all, but I want to. I think I will regret it if we try to do everything I have planned, so I think what I posted above may help that.

 

It is so helpful reading everyone else's suggestions.

 

Also, I used to cook for a living, but generally I don't enjoy cooking around here. I think the lack of time, money (I worked in *nice* restaurants where we had wonderful, sometimes expensive ingredients), but most especially all the picky, quirky eaters makes it way less fun. Particularly as they are rarely appreciative of extra work put into cooking. I'll definitely be firing up the crock pot more this year.

 

:bigear: to all the other wise women here.

:iagree: I have found over time that if I "focus" on one thing at a time, we can really dig in and grasp things pretty quickly. Then I can put a little more effort into something else. We always stagger our beginning and I've learned that once middle school starts, having one summer school class really helps our school days.

 

You'll find your groove! You've been doing this for so long already :D