How did the Swanns do a school schedule from 8:30 to 11:30 with ten kids?

[M in Canada]

OKay please tell me how you can fit in all the subjects in 3 hours with ten kids?

 

How did the Swanns do it?

 

I am not even asking about diapers and potty training and housecleaning. I want to know how she did all that school. I can see almost 100% independent work starting grade 4 or so. Then I would have bi-weekly (or so ) meetings with each independent student. But then there are still kids in grades k,1,2,3 and then the toddler and the baby?

[M in Canada]

Could it be that having pre-organized curriculum is the key?

[Mosaicmind]

If you look at Calvert's website, which is what they used, it gives a timetable of how many hours per grade is expected. I believe that if her dc didn't finish up with school for the day then during their "non-school" hours this work was expected to be done, but someone correct me if I am wrong.

[readwithem]

If you look at Calvert's website, which is what they used, it gives a timetable of how many hours per grade is expected. I believe that if her dc didn't finish up with school for the day then during their "non-school" hours this work was expected to be done, but someone correct me if I am wrong.

You're right, the book written by the daughter "No Regrets" I think was the title but it's been at least 10 years since I read it - anyway she mentions they did school year round as well as on Saturdays - no wonder she finished when she was 12 or 14.

[rafiki]

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[Pongo]

I really love this idea. I just can't imagine putting 3 children at the same table , never mind in the same room. :confused:

My oldest would drive us all batty because she hums and sings through everything. I used to ask her to stop but, she is an advanced student with excellent grades and if she wanted to hum , then hum. She is usually in the schoolroom and she stays focused.

My next 2 I think would do okay at the table. But if I did ANYTHING fun with my Ker my son would stop and want to join. He gets distracted easily and it would be hard for him to concentrate with any dialog I had with my Ker because he is an auditory learner and need quiet during school time.

My Ker is a visual learner and she thinks it's her job in life to explain everything , even pictures in ETC. I can't imagine how I would do this without saying "shhhhhh" every minute :) to all 3 of them.

I would love to see a "Day in the life of the Swanns" on video:D

[hsmamainva]

The thing that struck me was that there was no talking allowed at the school table. I suppose that was in order to keep the children from distracting each other, but it struck me as really odd!! My kids are always talking and sharing, especially during history and science times (I try to keep the chatter down during math & English!)

 

I remember also that each child had a box with their school in it - books, paper, supplies, etc. - and it was brought to the schooltable on time (she fined them if they were even a minute late), and they had to pack up their box and take it back to the their rooms when they were finished.

 

It's just...too Stepford Wives for me, but ... if I had 10 kids, I'd have to try *something* to keep my sanity! :D

[PeterPan]

I'll admit I'm pregnant and potentially irritable (potentially nothing, easily irritable), but you're also making the assumption that their expectations of "school" were comparable to yours and that they had good results. I know their kids graduated early, got accepted to college, blah blah, but lots of people get accepted to college. I just remember picking up the book by their dd and being distinctly impressed by the poor quality of the writing. There is no substitute for proper teaching, and that takes time. If you're trying to accomplish more subjects than the basics, of COURSE it's going to take longer. Sure we could all stand to be more organized, but don't assume she got in that 3 hours the results and coverage you expect in your own homeschool. It was a different time, a time with different expectations.

[Donna A.]

I really love this idea. I just can't imagine putting 3 children at the same table , never mind in the same room. :confused:

 

One thing you have to remember is that they did it this way from the very *beginning*. They were all used to it. It was their routine, and it worked for them. I've no doubt it would be harder to switch into this at a later time... there would definitely be some training time involved for everyone, including mom! ;)

 

While it may have looked sort of "Stepford Wife-ish" during the 3 hours of academic time, they then had the rest of the day to pursue arts & crafts, games, handicrafts, housecleaning, personal interests, etc. To me, this would be a great advantage to have the "chore" of academics out of the way so that everyone, mom included, is FREE for the rest of the day. I read somewhere that "Successful CEOs Don't Multi-Task". Well, the Swann's didn't multi-task during those 3 hours, and THAT is why they were able to advance so quickly. Charlotte Mason actually did something similar with her ideas of having short, focused lessons and being done by noon so that afternoons are free.

 

Also remember that at the time they began homeschooling, they didn't have nearly as many curriculum options as we do today. Using Calvert and being so strict during "school hours" probably gave them great peace of mind that the gov't wouldn't come knocking at their door and give them a hard time.

[Donna A.]

I'll admit I'm pregnant and potentially irritable (potentially nothing, easily irritable), but you're also making the assumption that their expectations of "school" were comparable to yours and that they had good results. I know their kids graduated early, got accepted to college, blah blah, but lots of people get accepted to college. I just remember picking up the book by their dd and being distinctly impressed by the poor quality of the writing. There is no substitute for proper teaching, and that takes time. If you're trying to accomplish more subjects than the basics, of COURSE it's going to take longer. Sure we could all stand to be more organized, but don't assume she got in that 3 hours the results and coverage you expect in your own homeschool. It was a different time, a time with different expectations.

 

Exactly. And undoubtedly their long term goals and family vision were different than many here. Their oldest son became both a pastor and a public school teacher, so evidently he accomplished what he needed to. He had a way to earn money while also ministering to many people, both inside the church and out, and I think THAT was his goal... to be in Christian ministry. Most "classical" schoolers have strong academics as one of their family goals, but this wasn't the Swann family's goals. Academics was a necessary part of life, period. The Maxwell's are the same way. As my dh who drove a truck for 4 years while getting his degree would say, "Just get the stuff off the truck!"

[Lori]

I think it is great that they homeschooled that many children no matter how they did it.

[Donna A.]

Amen, Lori! :iagree:

[Quiver0f10]

 

How did the Swanns do it?

\\

 

Who are the Swanns?

[Nestof3]

I always love to learn more organizational skills and tips from other homeschoolers. I'm afraid, though, that the ladies on this board cannot answer your question:

 

OKay please tell me how you can fit in all the subjects in 3 hours with ten kids?

 

How did the Swanns do?

 

They can discuss possibilities, but that's all.

 

On the other hand, I have no desire to critique anyone else's homeschooling style, curricula choice or expectations. I say these things sometimes to my husband when I feel exhausted: "How can ______ homeschool 9 kids? I'm only homeschooling 3 and I'm pooped."

 

But, I really don't need an answer. The person I usually refer to is not homeschooling the same way I am, but I don't care because I am only the parent of my own children.

[swimnactmom]

I think expectations have a lot to do with it and different people's idea of how long a school day should be is different.

If I was able to finish the day's lesson in 3 hours, I would think something is wrong because I believe that academics are important and should be challenging.

This concept is so subjective that you really can't compare the Swann's situation to anybody else's.

In fact, if I compared both my children, my older son, when he was my younger son's age, would have been doing 8th grade math in 5th grade and would have been way ahead in everything. Would I have given him an "on-grade=level" curriculum? No way. I would have given him material that would have provided for a reasonably timed school day. Maybe the Swanns taught their kids grade level material even though they were capable of so much more.

[tinkgumby]

Who are the Swanns?

 

http://www.home-school.com/Articles/#JSwann

 

The above is a link to some articles by the mom, and if you scroll up, you'll see articles by a daughter as well. From what I gather, they're a family who did accelerated learning, with pretty much all the kids not only graduating high school as pre-teens but getting masters by the time they were 14 or so. The mom emphasizes, though, that the early graduation was not a goal but a by-product of her schooling style.

[Mosaicmind]

I would go crazy doing school when my dh is working and off when he is not. He works 6wks of days (8am-8pm) and then 6wks of nights (8pm-8am), but that's not the kicker.

 

One week he works M, T, F, Sat, & Sun. The next week he works Wed & Thurs. It keeps switching like that every week. Then he has a second job that he works when he is off from his first, not everyday, but a couple of days a week.

 

I need my Sundays off and Saturdays I usually spend getting ready for the next week plus it's mainly housecleaning day.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

She has some explanations here:

http://www.home-school.com/Articles/HomeschoolTips.html

 

I loved the box on the closet floor idea. That's what I'm implementing next year!

[rafiki]

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[readwithem]

http://www.home-school.com/Articles/AcceleratedChild.html

 

As a small child, I was really not aware of the concept of summer vacation or spring break-these were carefully guarded secrets in the Swann household. Five days a week, twelve months a year, school was in session and Mother and we were hard at work

 

In this article she says they did school year round, but not on Saturdays so I may be remembering wrong.

[TravelingChris]

I think the main thing to remember is that people are different. And if our children are biologically ours, we often get children like us. So all the non-organized parents with their adaptable genes get non-organized kids. The super organized, super compliant parents often have similar kids. Twin studies have found that many personality traits are in fact inherited.

[Faithr]

People are different and I stand in awe and admiration of folks who can accomplish so much, but frankly, doing school that way would wring all the joy out of learning for my family. We would HATE it. And so the whole system simply does not appeal to me nor is it even a viable option for us. Though I might take a few pointers here and there for tightening up things around here.

[Quiver0f10]

She states they used "structured curricula at all levels", Does anyone knows what curriculum they used? Sorry I just saw it was Calvert.

[Mosaicmind]

The reason it appeals to me is that my dc can pursue their own interests and hobbies during the afternoon assuming that their independent work is done. Based on my inklings is that my dc would be more motivated to get done with their school work if they knew their afternoons were to be spent as they wanted (within reason).

[Jenny in Florida]

If we begin with the presumption that getting "the basics out of the way" during those three hours provided the kids with the opportunity to pursue their own interests during the rest of the day, it sounds like an entirely work-able plan to me.

 

Truthfully, if you add up the amount of time my kids spend/spent genuinely on-task during their pre-high school years, I suspect you wouldn't find them working more than about three hours a day, anyway. We don't have in place the discipline of sitting still and not talking, though. So, things take longer. We also take summers mostly off, although I seem to recall the Swanns continued year-round.

 

Nonetheless, my kids are moving pretty quickly. My daughter finished high school and started college at age 12. My son, who is taking a more scenic route, will likely not head off to college until 14 or 15.

 

So, I would think that, with kids who were trained from the beginning to be no-nonsense about those three hours, combined with a packaged curriculum with defined goals, year-round schooling and probably a pretty bright batch of kids to begin with, would make this an entirely do-able thing.

 

That would then leave afternoons free for kids to read or play or focus on something that interested them.

 

Now, whether it would work or be pleasant for every family--or even every child--is an entirely different matter. Off the top of my head, I'd say my daughter probably would have done quite well, but my son would be miserable.

[Sunshine Mama]

 

Nonetheless, my kids are moving pretty quickly. My daughter finished high school and started college at age 12. My son, who is taking a more scenic route, will likely not head off to college until 14 or 15.

 

 

 

I am amazed! How does one decide when a homeschooler is finished with high school and ready to move on to college??

[nmoira]

The thing that struck me was that there was no talking allowed at the school table. I suppose that was in order to keep the children from distracting each other, but it struck me as really odd!! My kids are always talking and sharing, especially during history and science times (I try to keep the chatter down during math & English!)

I am uncomfortable with the way she talks about education as if it's a straight line path from which you cannot deviate. Perhaps interaction might have led to deviation. Here's the article I'm referring to. An excerpt:

 

 

My goal was to educate my children entirely at home while moving them along that line of progression without taking meandering forays which would not only bring nothing to the learning process but might actually serve as an impediment. To accomplish that goal, I opted for very structured curricula and a three-hour school day, five days a week, twelve months a year. We used Calvert School for grades 1 though 8, the American School for high school, Brigham Young University for undergraduate degrees, and California State at Dominguez Hills for graduate degrees.

I could be interpreting this incorrectly, but it gives me the chills because it's not how I think about education: It's the "meandering forays" that bring insight, lead to breakthroughs, and can lead to greatness.

[Jenny in Florida]

I am amazed! How does one decide when a homeschooler is finished with high school and ready to move on to college??

 

Well, I'm sure it's different for everyone.

 

In my daughter's case, it was because she had accumulated enough credits to match (or exceed) what is required in our state to graduate from high school and because she had applied and been admitted to the college program of her choice.

 

We had talked about her spending at least one more year at home, but at some point it became clear that she was just ready to head out.

[Night Elf]

I just skimmed the book No Regrets to answer some questions on this same topic on the Sonlight forum.

 

The author of the book, Alexandra Swann, says her mom was up at 5:30am and the kids were up at 6:00am. Everyone did chores and ate breakfast. School started at 8:30 but only lasted one hour then the kids were sent outside to play for 2 hours. They came in at 11:30am for lunch and one hour of inside play. School resumed about 1:00pm and lasted a couple of hours.

 

So they were doing school for 3 hours, but not 8:30 - 11:30am. The mom also did a lot of reading in the evenings to be prepared for the kids when they would ask questions about their schoolwork, and she often went to bed late. It sounds like she was a very busy woman.

 

BTW, they did not do school on weekends, Christmas day, Easter day, Thanksgiving day, and most federal holidays. They did not have off 2 weeks at christmas or spring break and they didn't take summer vacations either. So they were working almost every weekday of every year.