Are we the only ones "schooling" all day long in little bits?

[pgr]

We officially started just yesterday, but really we've been doing some schoolwork since the spring, and a bit here and there daily since the start of Aug.

 

I keep reading all the daily schedules with organized times in the AM, work done by 2PM, etc.

 

I'm finding that impossible. DD was finishing up grammar before dinner, and correcting sloppy handwriting practice she had whipped through earlier so she could read with me and her brother.

 

We moved two months ago, and I've got a just turned 3 month old and a just turned 3 yr old to deal with as well. The 3 yr old is a very active little boy, who's also quite bright- only he wants to do exactly the work his big sister is doing, and on the same page (a photocopy of the page will not appease him...). DD has only experienced half day Montessori K, and is having a hard time being disciplined enough (totally not surprising!) to work when I'm trying to distract DS with other things that appear more interesting to her. Then the baby wakes up. :tongue_smilie:

 

I should add that I don't expect DD to be too intrinsically motivated at this age, nor either DS to understand (well, maybe the baby ;) ) that we need to get school done... We are currently focusing only on grammar, handwriting, writing, and math - she reads a ton on her own.

 

I'm hoping that this is still part of the adjustment period - I was working long hours full time before the babe was born, and we moved when he was 3 weeks old - that's a lot of changes!

 

I'm going to try something along the lines of a workbox system. It just seems that we're doomed to be struggling to get school in all day long! I wonder how people manage it with multiple kiddos and littles - and the extracurriculars!

[Faithr]

We are not rigidly scheduled at all and as my kids get older any academic stuff gets done very much on their own schedule. I like to get the two subjects I consider basic (math and Latin) done in the morning but after that, it unfolds in its own way.

 

Just do what works for you!

[blondeviolin]

We're just doing K, but we do it in spurts too. We do math in the AM and then lunch, break, iPad apps, whatever. Spelling when I get to it in the afternoons. Then FIAR MWF evenings and a Saturday lesson.

 

I'm not sure how it wil work if we add more in in 1st grade, but it's all still an adjustment. I'm sure by 1st she'll be a bit more used to formal lessons. Or maybe we'll just keep it light for first. I really haven't decided.

 

I'm not much help in the scheduling area, but at least I can sympathize.

[Wyndie]

We are not rigidly scheduled at all and as my kids get older any academic stuff gets done very much on their own schedule. I like to get the two subjects I consider basic (math and Latin) done in the morning but after that, it unfolds in its own way.

 

Just do what works for you!

 

We are the same way. I have the daily work listed/laid out but we don't have a schedule. Things get done when they get done. I aim to have at least 1/2 their work done before lunch. :)

[tammyw]

We don't have a schedule. We "school" throughout the day with lots of breaks and whatever. We also do certain things in the evening and on the weekend.

[PrincessDuck]

I have not started yet and this will be my first year, but I do think that we will be a lot like you guys are describing. Do you set weekly goals? I thought that by doing that I could keep things on track somewhat. Part of why I decided to do homeschool is the flexibility.

[chepyl]

We don't have a schedule, but we do everything at one sitting unless we need a lunch break. If we get it all done, the rest of the day is playtime. He likes that. Every now and then we have to finish up before bed. But I try to get it all done earlier.

[Hsmomto4]

The only reason I schedule like I do is because I KNOW I will loose my children if we stop to take a break. I try to get all the MUST DO's in before lunch because sometimes even just that little break will cause me to loose my 12 year old's focus. They will find a book, art project or some bug or animal that will take them far, far away from anything "school book" related. ;)

 

When I had little ones we did most of the work when they napped and if there was something that had to be done when they were awake then I did it while they were sitting on a blanket playing with special "blanket time" toys. It wasn't something that they just did because they wanted to though, I had to teach and train them to be quiet, not mess with their sisters and play at my feet.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Lots of breaks in between lessons. At her age play is, in my opinion, just as important as learning math. I just make sure my dd has lots of creative playthings. We do math facts at dinner and read alouds when ever there is time, that can be during bath time or bed time. Schedules are great but not for everyone.

[nichole]

You're definitely not the only one! We just moved last week, so right now I'm happy if we get half the things on my daily to-do list finished. Even when things are normal, though, we don't follow a strict schedule. I have a list of subjects to cover for each day of the week, and my goal is to get everything on the list done sometime between breakfast and dinner. Or breakfast and bedtime, if necessary.

[ChrissySC]

There are times that we are doing lessons after dinner. In response, no, you are not the only one. :) We are the fidgety sort here, and do not like to sit very long!

[MelAR05]

We don't have a schedule. We "school" throughout the day with lots of breaks and whatever. We also do certain things in the evening and on the weekend.

 

Same here.

 

We are learning all day. I do require math, handwriting, WWE, FLL and spelling to be done before rest time. But we are often doing music, read-alouds, science, history and crafts in the evening. I would prefer that it all be done by 1 or 2 pm but it just doesn't work best for us right now. I do feel like we are schooling all day but since we don't watch tv anymore it is actually fun to do these things in the evening. I have even done science experiments while eating supper. :)

 

Not at all saying this is the case for you, but for me, once I gave up my expectation of wanting it done by noon it became easier and less stressful. Of course, we have decided to not do anything else this semester so we don't have to rush out in the evening for anything free up my time to just teach as it comes.

[lorisuewho]

I wrote out our schedule and it starts at 8 am and finished at 8 pm. I have large breaks throughout the day because of rest time, play time, meals, running to and from preschool, etc. I would guess I have scheduled 2 to 3 hours of activities scheduled over that 12 hours.

[pgr]

Thank you for all the replies! That makes me feel better...I feel Ike I'm still at that stage where I need a lot of reassurance. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

 

 

I wrote out our schedule and it starts at 8 am and finished at 8 pm. I have large breaks throughout the day because of rest time, play time, meals, running to and from preschool, etc. I would guess I have scheduled 2 to 3 hours of activities scheduled over that 12 hours.

 

Lori - :seeya: nice to see there's a fellow wrapper, all day homeschooler, Keystone-stater ;)

[Cassy]

We also have long, fairly relaxed days. The boys have loads of physical energy that needs to be run or bounced off at regular intervals. I've also found on the odd occasion when I've been very focussed, and bossy, and we've finished early, that they're then at a loose end and start getting into mischief. Keeping them occupied all day, with lots of little breaks when they can have fun and let off steam works best for us.

 

Cassy

[LittleIzumi]

We have breaks all throughout the day. My younger girl likes to do her MFW K all at once, but my older has her daddy's ADD and needs constant change. We started our official HS for the year this week, and will keep tweaking through the next week. We have our morning meeting at 7:30am (song/scripture story), then go for a short walk or bike ride. This wakes us all up and we start math and then logic/science (depending on the day). By then it's playtime/snacktime. Then I read aloud to them, we have MFW K for The Drama, then The Sponge reads aloud to us. Then they can play until lunchtime. After lunch is writing or grammar, phonics or spelling, and fine arts (art or dancing time). While I make dinner they watch something in one of our foreign languages. In the evening, I read some of our long read-aloud to them. I keep tweaking the schedule daily this week, and it will keep changing a bit of next week, as we start our first unit study, but the basic structure will stay the same. I may just slide things around until they fit the best.

[lorisuewho]

Lori - :seeya: nice to see there's a fellow wrapper, all day homeschooler, Keystone-stater ;)

 

:seeya: Where are you at in PA? We are south central.

[ksr5377]

We have a schedule, but it's definitely spread out. Phonics and Math are done first thing after breakfast/chore time. Then we break. History is before lunch, then we break for lunch. During the babies afternoon nap we usually do language arts, as it's a great time to cuddle on the couch and read together.

[Critterfixer]

There are times that we are doing lessons after dinner.

 

My boys call it "night-school".

I've got a list of things that we need to get done during the day. Right now a work situation has made it imperative for me to paint the house. Because painting becomes almost impossible at 90 and above, I paint from sunrise until about 10 or 11, then we have a quick lunch and do school until about 7 in the evening, on an off as we need breaks. Then it's back up the ladder until the mosquitoes run me in.

Repeat.

 

We also school Sunday through Thursday, so an odd schedule isn't anything new for us.

[hollyandab]

Same here.

 

 

I do feel like we are schooling all day but since we don't watch tv anymore it is actually fun to do these things in the evening. I have even done science experiments while eating supper. :)

 

 

.

 

I've seen others say they've given up tv....I just can't imagine it! I'm sure we would do more games and "together" things if we got rid of the tv, but I just don't think I could give up all of my NCIS and CSI shows!! :D

Wish I could be more like y'all!!

[Already Gone]

We have a pretty consistent routine (all of us really thrive on it), but we do different things in chunks throughout the day. In theory it looks something like this:

 

 

 

• Read and maybe discuss a poem at breakfast.
  
• After breakfast, my husband works on reading and German/geography/catechism (these don't happen every day and they only need to happen in the morning because of my husband's schedule).
  
• Sometime around 9:30 I do math and handwriting.
  
• After quiet time (around 1:30) I do an Ambleside reading and have my son narrate. In a perfect world, the toddler would still be napping. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world.
  
• I do a Bible story, Bible passage, or saint's life during snack time (maybe 3:00) several days out of the week.
  
• In theory, we do crafts/handwork/science/nature study "sometime" in the afternoon. I would not at this point say that these habits are quite established. . .
  
• In the evenings we do some listening to music and my husband reads from a chapter book before bed (the kids also get shorter readings individually in their own beds, but those are request-driven and I don't know that I can really call the 5000th reading of a selection from 101 Military Bombers part of our homeschooling curriculum).
  

 

There's a logic here--we try to do the hard stuff in the morning and then move in the direction of greater entertainment and more hands-on over the course of the day. In my head, the breaks we're taking now would be fleshed out later with independent reading and projects as the kids get older. So I'm thinking that over time the day would look less "chunky" if that makes sense. But I like to think that we would also not be drawing hard and fast lines between learning and living times; I really think of this approach as integrating learning with our lives rather than having a list of things that take us all day long to get through (may look like the same from the outside but it makes all the difference in how I feel about it :001_smile:).

[MelAR05]

I've seen others say they've given up tv....I just can't imagine it! I'm sure we would do more games and "together" things if we got rid of the tv, but I just don't think I could give up all of my NCIS and CSI shows!! :D

Wish I could be more like y'all!!

 

We just gave it up this summer and it is honestly one of the best things we have ever done. Before that, I DVRed several shows a week and my girls watched tv most mornings and all night in the evening.

 

I LOVE TV and always have. I never have been one to blame everything on television or think there is much wrong with it until we stopped watching. My girls are more calm, they listen and do what I say, and complain much less. I don't know if I can attribute that to lack of tv time but home life is much more pleasant and I don't think I can go back to the way it was before.

 

Right now we watch 2 hrs one night a week. They get to watch a movie and my husband and I watch Burn Notice. :) I told my oldest that Netflix had just started back up today after being on hold and she told me that she didn't want it to start back up. She doesn't want us watching tv anymore because it takes away from family time.

[FairProspects]

This is exactly how I would describe us. We school all day long because of all our breaks. It is after 2pm on Friday and we just finished. We started at 9am and we still have a bit to do over the weekend since we took some field trips this week.

[curlygirlzx2]

We just started school on Monday and have been schooling the same way. DD likes to take lot of breaks but I'd rather get everyhing done before lunch. I think we're still adjusting and trying to find our groove again after 3 months off.

[kolamum]

We tend to be a little more scheduled because I thrive in that kind of environment, but we still have days where we can be a little long winded in our school times.

 

However, having a check-list for the kids helps because they can't WAIT to check stuff off. It also encourages them to do their "busy work" on their own that they know how. Ie.. handwriting, spelling lessons, typing, etc.

[abacus2]

We have a schedule, but it is :banghead: trying to follow it with a 2 year old. I can't imagine trying it with a baby too. Last year was definitely bits and pieces throughout the day for us.

[merry gardens]

We officially started just yesterday, but really we've been doing some schoolwork since the spring, and a bit here and there daily since the start of Aug.

 

I keep reading all the daily schedules with organized times in the AM, work done by 2PM, etc.

 

I'm finding that impossible. DD was finishing up grammar before dinner, and correcting sloppy handwriting practice she had whipped through earlier so she could read with me and her brother.

 

We moved two months ago, and I've got a just turned 3 month old and a just turned 3 yr old to deal with as well. The 3 yr old is a very active little boy, who's also quite bright- only he wants to do exactly the work his big sister is doing, and on the same page (a photocopy of the page will not appease him...). DD has only experienced half day Montessori K, and is having a hard time being disciplined enough (totally not surprising!) to work when I'm trying to distract DS with other things that appear more interesting to her. Then the baby wakes up. :tongue_smilie:

 

I should add that I don't expect DD to be too intrinsically motivated at this age, nor either DS to understand (well, maybe the baby ;) ) that we need to get school done... We are currently focusing only on grammar, handwriting, writing, and math - she reads a ton on her own.

 

I'm hoping that this is still part of the adjustment period - I was working long hours full time before the babe was born, and we moved when he was 3 weeks old - that's a lot of changes!

 

I'm going to try something along the lines of a workbox system. It just seems that we're doomed to be struggling to get school in all day long! I wonder how people manage it with multiple kiddos and littles - and the extracurriculars!

There's homeschooling--then there's homeschooling with a baby and a toddler!

 

I have a large family, including a toddler. We follow a schedule, but instead of doing "marathon school" then collapsing at midday in total exhaustion, now I schedule school all day long with breaks. There's some time for scheduled play while I take care of the baby, fix meals, etc. When schooling more than one child, they take turns playing with the youngest while I teach the other(s).

[island-mama]

I've got a very active 21 month old, and he REALLY makes school difficult for my K and 2nd graders. We started school two weeks ago. So far we try to do the 3 R's in the morning before his nap, and everything else while he sleeps. Our read-alouds will often wait until he is in bed for the night. We have weekly goals, but our days change from day to day based on errands, the toddler and everything else! I have always had a pretty rigid schedule, but this year it just won't work. The kids don't seem to mind!

[pgr]

Thank you for all the reassurance! Yesterday was a much, much better day. Both older kids had a better attitude overall, and DD got literally twice as much work done in half the time :D. All in all it felt much more doable.

 

:seeya: Where are you at in PA? We are south central.

 

I'm NW of Pittsburgh. (darn!)

[lorisuewho]

Thank you for all the reassurance! Yesterday was a much, much better day. Both older kids had a better attitude overall, and DD got literally twice as much work done in half the time :D. All in all it felt much more doable.

 

 

 

I'm NW of Pittsburgh. (darn!)

 

I went to college in Grove City :)

[pgr]

I went to college in Grove City :)

 

We just just moved here from Syracuse - I had to look at a map :lol: - but that's not too far from us :)

[Penelope]

IME, a schedule like most people think of them has not been possible as long as:

 

1. there are little children around that need to be fed, diapered, pottied, and played with. :)

 

2. the child/ren doing school need mom to be sitting there supervising the entire time, mom doing most of the reading to them, child still having to read most things aloud to mom.

 

This year my older child is in 4th grade, and we are working on keeping to times on certain subjects where he is doing independent work, and trying to develop more of a schedule so that we don't spend too long on some things to the detriment of others. It is a process. Not to say that he did nothing on his own last year; he did, but this year the things I am giving him to do are slightly more involved, and my younger children need more of my time as well.

[threeturn]

Last year we did K with a 3yo and infant. We did our morning basket (faith, memory, and fun Spanish) right after breakfast while baby was in high chair, the 3Rs during morning nap, and unit studies during PM nap. Whatever we got done during nap time got done. Whatever did not was moved to the next day.

 

This year with the toddler is much harder. He is down to one nap and in the middle of everything else when he is not asleep. We are trying to fit it all in during naps, but it's not easy.

[higginszoo]

At that age, and with littler ones needing attention, we definitely schooled in bits through the day. It was the only way to get things done, and the attention span wasn't always there for longer, anyway.

 

Now that they're bigger and more independent, there's an impetus to get things done so that they can get on with the rest of their day.

[Sahamamama]

I keep reading all the daily schedules with organized times in the AM, work done by 2PM, etc.

 

I have never understood those. Do you? :001_huh:

 

Not our reality. When I gave up trying to make "school" look like "school," everything worked better. :grouphug:

[Donna]

We school in bits throughout the day between dd's violin practicing. Sometimes when other stuff gets in the way we school in the evening while waiting for her brothers at various sports practices.

 

There is no way I could ever go a "schedule" with times for things. As much as I might like being a little more scheduled, our lives are just not working like that right now. Dd often likes to delve into a subject so how much time we spend on things generally depends on interest level rather than getting ___ amount finished.

[MissKNG]

We school a little in the morning, then a little in the afternoon and work on stuff after my small girl goes to bed.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

we have to take small (sometimes longer) breaks in between our studies each day....works better for my son that way......

[Education Explorers]

I keep reading all the daily schedules with organized times in the AM, work done by 2PM, etc.

 

 

We are a "newbie" HS family too. This has been in the back of my mind driving me crazy since we started... How are all these HS support groups done with school, dressed and have finished lunch in time to meet at the park at 1:00??? Deep down, I figured that I was just doing it wrong. I scheduled half the "normal" amount of work on Friday so that we could go to an archery class at 1:00. I think I had a misconception that we should finish our work early since we weren't in school. I felt a genuine pressure that we should be done by lunchtime. I think it is taking us longer because I am requiring a lot more of the kids than they were ever required to do in their private school. This thread makes me feel much better. I guess I need to lighten up!

[desertmum]

I've seen others say they've given up tv....I just can't imagine it! I'm sure we would do more games and "together" things if we got rid of the tv, but I just don't think I could give up all of my NCIS and CSI shows!! :D

Wish I could be more like y'all!!

 

I allow ds to watch telly but... well, ds can watch CBeebies in the morning (not the whole lot, just an hour). CBeebies' "poetry pie" and the "Roly Mo" shows are educational and also we live in the Gulf so telly in English reinforces the language skills. Ds likes Discovery Science a lot so he can have that too. I don't mind Lazy Town and the Imagination Movers because it get ds up and dancing and he needs to let off steam (we live in a flat). I personally cannot live without my favourite soap and Dr. Who (which we watch together with ds). All in all ds gets max 2 hours of telly spread out during the day but again, not everyday IYKWIM.

 

I am barely starting but I am doing it in bits. At his age (5yo) I think it may be better to do short lessons instead of going for a whole hour of sitting down work.

[Greenmama2]

Bits throughout the day here too. The non-napping two year old makes anything else impossible.

[pgr]

So very nice to hear this from all of you! Flexibility is definitely one of the reasons HS'ing is so appealing.

 

:grouphug:

[Penelope]

We are a "newbie" HS family too. This has been in the back of my mind driving me crazy since we started... How are all these HS support groups done with school, dressed and have finished lunch in time to meet at the park at 1:00???

 

There probably are some families that are just very efficient, or who use worktext type of curriculum that can get done quickly. But, there are lots of families who take those days off, or just don't do schoolwork as often. There seem to be different philosophies on that.

[Education Explorers]

There probably are some families that are just very efficient, or who use worktext type of curriculum that can get done quickly. But, there are lots of families who take those days off, or just don't do schoolwork as often. There seem to be different philosophies on that.

 

"Efficient," I am not. I haven't gotten the hand of adjusting the workflow of the kids yet. Some lessons are way too short and others are too long. I am still trying to juggle with skipping ahead when they already know something so as to not waste their time with "busy work," especially on math. I hope I will get into the swing of things soon.

 

The plan for this week is to spend a week + on Ancient Egypt. I just got about 20 books from the library. We have fiction & non-fiction. We will go on to the Carlos Museum at Emory Univ. Hopefully we can relax and enjoy learning rather than checking off lessons to "get through the book" in 180 days.