If you schedule your subjects each day...

[VBCaroline]

do you try to keep subjects at about the same time each day, or do you mix things up a little? I'm thinking of starting every day off with math, but because of some online classes, we'll have to do a little bit of switching with other subjects. Should I try to keep the general order, or would a change from day to day be a good thing? Schedule is for almost-12yo ds.

Edited July 24, 2011 by VBCaroline

[silliness7]

I keep mine the same because I have too many schedules to juggle. But my older kids who are responsible have a little more freedom with their independent work. My schedule stays the same.

[boscopup]

We typically start with math, and do history/science in the afternoon. Between those two, we mix it up a bit. I only have one really schooling though. If I had a bunch of kids schooling, I'd probably need more of a set schedule!

[oraetstudia]

I schedule what things have to be done in a day, but I don't schedule the order or the amount of time necessary. Generally, I encourage the kids to all start with math, but they don't have to. And after they finish math, they are even more free to work in any order.

Edited July 24, 2011 by oraetstudia
typo

[MerryAtHope]

I schedule what they have to do with me. Independent work, they can choose the order as long as they get it all done. We do workboxes so there's an order set up because we keep the same thing in the same drawer each day, but I don't mind if they want to change up the order (they just know I'm only available at certain times because I might be working with their sibling, etc...).

[Mom in High Heels]

I schedule each subject, but not the order they need to be done. Sometimes Indy feels like writing in the mornings and sometimes he'd rather do the writing in the afternoon (and sometimes *I* don't feel like reading first thing in the morning). I used to try to schedule all the computer work one right after the other (Lively Latin, TT, German), but he was getting tired of so much computer work at once. We now mix them throughout the day along with the writing work and it helps break things up. It doesn't really matter to me what order they're done in, as long as they get done.

[8filltheheart]

I have daily lessons written out for every subject for each child, however I don't schedule our days. I work with my youngest kids in the morning while the older kids work on reading or other independent assignments. Then the older kids rotate through whenever they are ready or I am available. I do make them stop mid-assignment and meet with me if I am available and they aren't quite ready to come, unless I have laundry, cleaning, etc that I can do to fill in those minutes.

 

Mostly our strategy is the "peg" schedule. There are certain things that are done the same time every day but other things are more fluid. For example, 1st load of laundry goes in when I wake up. I put dinner in the crockpot when I finish with the youngest school-ager, kids put laundry away during lunch break, etc.

[tuckerhousehold]

My son was getting bored with the same daily schedule, so I labeled different colored popsicle sticks (or you could use something that means something to him... skateboard shapes, guitars, etc) for all the various schedules and let him choose the order. I have 2 different containers... 1 with 'Completed' on it and 1 with 'To do' on it. So it's not only let him have a little control over his day, but it also let's him see exactly what he's done and what he has left to do.

 

Hope it helps :)

 

Julie

[Mommy22alyns]

I get into a routine and do things in the same order every day. I don't schedule amounts of time though. I have certain things that I want done later (like anything on the computer and science), so I just slot other things in where they fit. I'm leaning towards:

 

Bible

LA

History

Math (CLE)

Science

Art/Music

 

Then I would "dismiss" Sylvia, probably to do her SL readers.

 

Rebecca would continue with:

 

Latin

TT Math

Typing

 

And then she'd read the SL readers. They're using the same schedule this year, so I have to stagger those somehow.

 

 

And I'm thinking on Thursdays, we might not do CLE math in its normal slot, but we'd take it to the arts center and Rebecca would do hers while Sylvia was in choir, and Sylvia would do hers while Rebecca was in choir. (They'll have back to back choir classes.)

 

But I think I'm going to have to just DO IT for a few days to see how it all works out in practice.

[KrissiK]

I am pretty schedule oriented and my kids are even more so. If they don't know that Spelling comes after Bible and Reading comes after spelling they will spend all morning asking me what comes next. They do this for absoultely everything in their lives and it drives me insane. THey need to know what comes next. So, we run a very structured homeschool.

[BetterthanIdeserve]

My son was getting bored with the same daily schedule, so I labeled different colored popsicle sticks (or you could use something that means something to him... skateboard shapes, guitars, etc) for all the various schedules and let him choose the order. I have 2 different containers... 1 with 'Completed' on it and 1 with 'To do' on it. So it's not only let him have a little control over his day, but it also let's him see exactly what he's done and what he has left to do.

 

Hope it helps :)

 

Julie

 

What a great idea! I was just thinking about giving my first grader a bit more control over choosing part of her schedule (although certain things will be done during littles quiet/nap time for my sanity -like math and art), but not sure how I wanted to do it. I think she'd like this!

[calledtobehome]

My son was getting bored with the same daily schedule, so I labeled different colored popsicle sticks (or you could use something that means something to him... skateboard shapes, guitars, etc) for all the various schedules and let him choose the order. I have 2 different containers... 1 with 'Completed' on it and 1 with 'To do' on it. So it's not only let him have a little control over his day, but it also let's him see exactly what he's done and what he has left to do.

 

Hope it helps :)

 

Julie

 

This may work for my boys!! Do you have a picture?

[MeganW]

I've barely been at this for a month, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

 

We start off with the essentials and do them in the same order each day. Religion, circle time (calendar, memory work, etc.), Phonics, Handwriting, & Math.

 

After that, I have a list of subjects that I rotate through. Ideally, I would get through all the rest every day, but that has only happened once. So I usually just pick up at the place on the list where I left off the day before. So the other subjects get hit maybe 3 times a week rather than 5. (If I did all the "other" in the same order every day starting at the top of the list, I would always get to some, and never get to the ones at the end of the list.)

 

 

I don't have the list in front of me, but this is somewhat accurate.

- History

- Science

- Piano

- Starfall

- Sonlight

- Lollipop Logic

 

So if on Monday I did the essentials, then History, Science, Piano, and Starfall,

then on Tuesday, I would do the essentials then Sonlight, Lollipop Logic, History, and Science,

then on Wed I would do the essentials then start Piano, Starfall, etc.

 

I usually just keep going through the list each day to the point that the troops start losing interest.

[tuckerhousehold]

... but basically it's just different colored popsicle sticks with all the subjects written in permanent black marker individually on each one (Spelling written on the orange one, Science written on the green one, Math on the blue one, etc, etc).

 

We do have some 'order' in our day though :) ...we ALWAYS start with Bible (and then put it's red popsicle stick in the 'Completed' container when we're finished). And since we don't cover some subjects every day (like music and science), there's usually at least 1 popsicle stick in the completed container right away... it's great motivation!

 

I'll try to take and post a pic later... it's a simple idea, but never would've thought of it myself either! I saw something similar in a magazine and changed it a little... but can't take full credit :)

 

Julie

[sbgrace]

I start with the academic "must" stuff (math, writing, spelling, etc.) first. I work with each child individually on those. I do math first nearly always because it's the most, well, unpleasant and difficult for one of mine. I like to do it when he's "fresh" and I like to get it out of the way honestly. The order of the rest of those subjects vary.

 

The history, science, art, literature, bible etc. come later--usually in the afternoon. Those are more enjoyable, take more time, and we do them together. If I don't get to them it's ok.

 

I really like the popsicle stick idea!

[Mrs Twain]

I do a schedule with time blocks. I find that it helps to get the work done if there is a limit on how long there is to do it, and it also helps the kids to know that there is a scheduled break coming up.

 

I have my morning schedule the same every day, mostly because I want to make sure we get our core subjects done. The afternoons are different, in that I need to take one child to preschool Tues, Wed, and Thurs. But the weekly schedule is the same every week (i.e. Monday's schedule is the same every Monday, Tuesday's scedule is the same every Tuesday, etc.). We (me included) get a lot more done when we stick to a schedule like this, so it works great for us.

[VBCaroline]

Thanks for your responses. I'm just curious to know what works for other families. At the minimum, we need to start with math(seems this is necessary for others of you, too), and we would need some "pegs" as 8FillTheHeart mentioned. I do like the idea of scheduled blocks for this child, but I'm having difficulty budgeting our time. Maybe we just need to get started with some kind of schedule and adjust as necessary.

Thanks again.

[Joyofsixreboot]

We've tried mixing it up and keeping the order the same each day. They voted for routine so now we always do them in the same order.

[Enough]

I do a schedule with time blocks. I find that it helps to get the work done if there is a limit on how long there is to do it, and it also helps the kids to know that there is a scheduled break coming up.

 

I have my morning schedule the same every day, mostly because I want to make sure we get our core subjects done.

 

:iagree: My littlest one is in nursery school in the morning and I want to take full advantage of this time to give DS my undivided attention.

 

In the afternoon, we do content subjects un-scheduled but I have a general aim for what I want us to accomplish.

[rocketgirl]

You do have to make things work for you, everyone's schedules are going to be different depending on what else they have going on. My oldest will be playing middle school volleyball every day from 3:00 on so I need (and want) to be done by 2 (but only thru october). Also I don't want to start too early, but I think we'll have to start at 8 to get it all in (altho we didn't start til 9 last year!) I want a full hour off for lunch & park time, and I want to do Science and History every day. But I also need 1 on 1 time for math with 3 kids at different levels, they are not that independent yet, plus 1 on 1 for some vocabulary, grammar & Latin - and I don't want to do school in the evenings. So scheduling is very tricky and I did plan it all out. I am very pleased with our plan on what we should do & how we will do it, now its just a matter of making it happen. I formerly taught Kindergarten in ps and felt that it was comforting for the kids to have a routine and have comfort in knowing what to expect - i always did the same subject at the same time and that's what we'll do this year although i would love to be less structured but that's what I'll leave summer for, for now...

[8filltheheart]

Thanks for your responses. I'm just curious to know what works for other families. At the minimum, we need to start with math(seems this is necessary for others of you, too), and we would need some "pegs" as 8FillTheHeart mentioned. I do like the idea of scheduled blocks for this child, but I'm having difficulty budgeting our time. Maybe we just need to get started with some kind of schedule and adjust as necessary.

Thanks again.

 

Here is a blog with a description of the "peg" philosophy. This conversation took place on a yahoo loop I was part of way back in the late 90s/early 00s. It was what I was sort of doing but it gelled my ideas of how I wanted our days to flow. Timed schedules are completely unrealistic in a household like ours. Babies don't need their diapers changed at a certain time. Sometimes they need more mommy than other times. Kids get sick. We sleep late or we get up early. We can't find the book that we know we put away. Life. ;) But "pegs" aren't clock based. There is no stress in doing X at time Y. That fits my personality.

 

http://melissawiley.typepad.com/bonnyglen/2006/05/one_quick_quest.html

[desertmum]

My son was getting bored with the same daily schedule, so I labeled different colored popsicle sticks (or you could use something that means something to him... skateboard shapes, guitars, etc) for all the various schedules and let him choose the order. I have 2 different containers... 1 with 'Completed' on it and 1 with 'To do' on it. So it's not only let him have a little control over his day, but it also let's him see exactly what he's done and what he has left to do.

 

Hope it helps :)

 

Julie

 

Brilliant!

 

Here is a blog with a description of the "peg" philosophy. This conversation took place on a yahoo loop I was part of way back in the late 90s/early 00s. It was what I was sort of doing but it gelled my ideas of how I wanted our days to flow. Timed schedules are completely unrealistic in a household like ours. Babies don't need their diapers changed at a certain time. Sometimes they need more mommy than other times. Kids get sick. We sleep late or we get up early. We can't find the book that we know we put away. Life. ;) But "pegs" aren't clock based. There is no stress in doing X at time Y. That fits my personality.

 

http://melissawiley.typepad.com/bonnyglen/2006/05/one_quick_quest.html

 

Link didn't work for me...

[Jenny in Florida]

I schedule what things have to be done in a day, but I don't schedule the order or the amount of time necessary. Generally, I encourage the kids to all start with math, but they don't have to. And after they finish math, they are even more free to work in any order.

 

This is us, too.

 

I plan by the week. My son then looks at his assignments for the week and decides how much of each thing he wants to do each day. I encourage him to type up his plan, which he does most of the time. Sometimes, he'll go through a phase when he likes to write it out on a whiteboard, instead. Some weeks, he's just busy and doesn't write it out at all. But most of the time, he types out his plan and e-mails it to me so I have a copy and can help him keep track.

 

We encourage him to begin with math, since that tends to require the most concentrated brain power, and then to do the next toughest subject and so on down the line. We also encourage him to "front load" his week, meaning it's best if he does a little more work or the toughest assignments on Mondays and Tuesdays, since he tends to have more energy then than he does on Fridays. Sometimes, he's so efficient at front loading that he'll have just math left for Friday mornings.

[8filltheheart]

 

 

Link didn't work for me...

 

Hmmm, I went to another computer and it worked. Is it working for others?

[Sorbie]

Hmmm, I went to another computer and it worked. Is it working for others?

 

The link worked for me. :)

[hsmom]

I keep it the same. First off because our math ties into the beginning day stuff like calendar work and such. The other reason it becomes our routine which makes our days go by smoother. Everything gets done when it needs to get done no wonder if I missed something or feeling all over the place.

[Mommee & Baba]

I'm not sure how we're going to do it this year. Last year we did workboxes and those were NOT working for us as my kids are not fully independant workers yet.

 

I was debating on doing our combined subjects first then split up into the individual subjects/levels but I'm about 5 min from beginning our 3rd day of school this year and I'm still not sure what I'm gonna start with! :lol: ... must poor another cup of coffee to help me figure it out!:tongue_smilie:

[Paintedlady]

I schedule the things I want us to together first, b/c those subjects are the most likely to be dropped if we wait until the end of day to do them. We then do independent work like math, reading, & spelling.

 

The order of the subjects isn't exactly the same every day, but usually Mon, Wed, & Fri are the same or similar and Tues & Thurs are the same or similar. That way there's a pattern to our week and it doesn't leave us feeling like we're flying by the seat of our pants. It also give us enough flexibility if we want to do something special or different one day. I don't like rigidity in my schedule.

[NanceXToo]

We mix things up. Often I'll give my daughter a choice: "Do you want to do this or that next?" Sometimes I'll just assign the things I want out of the way. Our starting time varies, too, depending on what else is going on that day.

 

We work best with a schedule of "things we need to get done this week" broken down into a daily schedule and just crossing out as we go. No specific time periods. And if something doesn't get one day it gets added onto the next with an ultimate goal of just finishing everything by the end of the week. So far it has worked out fine for us, and on the rare occasions where something doesn't get done by the end of the week, I'll have to decide whether I want to do it over the weekend, add it onto the following week's schedule, or just skip it or modify it, but that doesn't come up too often.

[Oceana]

My ADHD OCD kid needs to feel in control. We use a visual organizer and he can do the subjects in any order he chooses