burfhe Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 (edited) Hi, How do families schedule in all those additional books for reading? We read two chapters of SOTW weekly plus the required science reading, current readaloud maybe two or three afternoons per week, individual choice reading. I read that other people supplement their history and/or science with books from the library. I borrow tons of books from the library, but we may only open one of them to view a related picture. We certainly don't get time to read a whole other book on Herman Cortes or Rocks and Minerals. I'd really like to get a look at a typical day/ week broken into hours if possible of other families who achieve this. Pretty please? Edited October 29, 2011 by burfhe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Well, while you are waiting for other posters...LOL I read history books for our read alouds. Ddaddy also had one going, and sometimes we'd do a third. And we'd read several times a day, if the book was really good--not according to a schedule, just in a "ooo, this is so good! Let's get read some more!" kinda way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antsam Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I'd love to hear how others do this, too. I feel like by the time we're done with all of our schoolwork stuff, we're exhausted and I can't bring myself to want to read. I worry if I break to do it in the middle of the day, it will be hard to get back on track. I do check out tons from the library, but we rarely have time to do more than glance though them. :bigear: Jodie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burfhe Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 Thanks Chris. We have a fairly tight schedule, with spelling, grammar, writing, maths, latin, logic, etc. along with history and science - plus homeschool group outings. Our shared reading is at the end of the day, and the boys like to draw while listening. They're not keen to keep on going, even for interesting bits, because the end of storytime marks the end of the school day and therefore they get to do their own thing after that. They don't want to put that off any longer than necessary! Jodie, I'm the same as you: a good selection of library books sit on our 'library shelf' only to be returned a couple of weeks later! And I do keep rotating in books relating to the new science and history topics, so I'm pretty consistent in changing the scenery to suit :tongue_smilie: Now if only we could read some of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 We get to quite a few read alouds each week. At breakfast I read Bible and some science and history to them. Right after lunch we all hit the couch for some read alouds-library books and the chapter book we have going. We spend a little over 30 minutes on it. That's right after the time when I've put the baby down and right before the toddler has rest time. After I get the toddler in her room we get back on track for math, logic, and more science and history with note booking and lap booking. Once we are through with most of that we often have time for a little more reading before the toddler is up and about. Then we all do art together as a reward. Daddy also reads to the kids at night before bed so that helps get in some more reading time while giving me a bit of a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 What age children? When my oldest was roughly K-3rd grade, we alternated science and history days, but starting in 4th grade we read each daily. For Lit. read-alouds, I have always read daily before bedtime, and we enjoy it enough to read on weekends, holidays, summers etc... So we go through a lot more read-alouds. Sometimes they have a tie-in with history, science, or math (Sonlight books, biographies, living math books etc...) but a lot of times they are just for fun. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I use audiobooks when possible for fiction to go along with history and for classic kids' books (as well as some just plain fun books). We spend a fair amount of time in the car and I prefer that to listening to the local top 40 station ;). Now, I only have one child, so it may be easier to pick something that will be of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 history read alouds and picture books get read after lunch usually, we do a non history read aloud at bed time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 I worry if I break to do it in the middle of the day, it will be hard to get back on track. I do check out tons from the library, but we rarely have time to do more than glance though them. :bigear: Jodie I do do much reading aloud because I consider reading out loud more important then being on track. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Well, my oldest is only 5, but here's what we do: I start his school work with our library books, which pretty much gaurantees we get some in. He loves to be read to, so he is excited to start school each day. If he could, I think he'd have me read to him for half the day, and then spend a few more hours listening to audio books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystie Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 It is very important to me that reading be a bulk of our "work" and at the boys have plenty of free time (which does not involve screen time -- they play outside and get filthy, read, draw, and play Legos, usually). So I keep our academic work pared down as well I can to keep it in the morning hours. My goal is to be done by lunch, and that's a goal I hope to keep through at least fifth grade. Then in the afternoon we have quiet time, when my 6yo & 8yo either read from the library bin or draw or draw while listening to an audio book. My husband also has an evening read aloud going and we like to do audio books in the car. Both my husband and I are homeschool grads, and for both of us it was what we read in our free time that stuck with us. We both always got through our work (standard textbook type) by lunch and had the rest of the day to pursue interests. Granted, both my husband and I and our two readers so far are bookworms, so we don't have any motivation problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burfhe Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Hmmm, audio books may be the way to go for at least the fiction, since we're in the car a lot. May have to tweak the schedule here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Hmmm, audio books may be the way to go for at least the fiction, since we're in the car a lot.May have to tweak the schedule here and there. It's really saved my voice and let us enjoy more fiction than I would be able to read aloud. The downside is that we often have to wait until we get back in the car for the next segment as our library still has a number of books on cassette. The only cassette player we have is in my car ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5knights3maidens Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I do the extra reading at bedtime or read during history time during the day. I do not use SOTW book every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I do do much reading aloud because I consider reading out loud more important then being on track. :) It IS the track, in our house! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 It IS the track, in our house! LOL Well, I suppose you could say that about our house. But the kids have some things are the "have to list" and these never include read alouds. Read alouds at our house are just part of live, like meals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dahliarw Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Our "schedule" is usually like this (we do one chapter of SOTW/week) M: SOTW ch. x pt. 1, literature history related reading (picture book), easy reader for IR, Bible Story from Telling God's Story, dad reads to ds at bedtime T: Science reading (a chunk), non-fiction history related reading, easy reader for IR, dad reads to ds at bedtime W: SOTW ch. x pt. 2, sometimes a science related reading (picture book non-fiction or fictional depending), literature history related reading (picture book), easy reader for IR, re-read Bible story, dad reads to ds at bedtime Th: Science reading (either from the textbook or a supplemental book), easy reader for IR, dad reads to ds at bedtime F, Sa, Su: Read aloud whatever we want And supplement with random books that ds wants to read throughout the day as we have time, interest, etc. Also, if we're busy one week and don't get to all the supplemental stuff, so be it. Not a biggie. Some weeks when we're studying one aspect of history we may read other history books related to things we've already covered in SOTW that ds is interested in. I'm pretty flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Please, Please take this w/ a grain of salt...since I'm am in the planning stages (3 & 2 yr. old) and am not there yet. We will do our hist and lit read alouds 1st thing in the morning for a couple of reasons: #1 It is very important to me (in that I believe it helps with the reading/listening comprehension and their imagination and creativity) and I don't want it to get "put aside". and #2 - my boys are not at their "peak" when they wake up, they very much like to snuggle w/ mom on the coach; let's say for the 1st hour or two - so they are already used to this. (I know this may change). After this time their "brains wake up". In addition I plan to set a time limit for the 3 R's each day. Not because I don't think that they are the most important subjects but because I think that after a certain amount of time in each subject the child "shuts down". We will then continue the next day where we left off. My plan is to work side by side with each child for their 3 R's segments so hopefully we might avoid some behavior issues, if not they will have 3R "homework" during afternoon free time. Lastly I plan to do an agreed upon "free" read-aloud before bedtime. 1st time segment listed is for early grammar years increasing to second time segment as they get older. My plan is: 1. 1/2 hour to 45 min history and lit. read aloud time 1st thing (after breakfast) every morning 2. 1/2 hour to 45 min. fun history/literature stuff (plan is to do TOG). 3. 15 min. snack/physical break 4. 1 hour to 1 1/2 Language arts block (1/2 hr to 45 min dedicated teacher time for each child while the other does independent stuff including additional lit reading if necessary) 5. 1 1/2 hr Outside Play/Nature study/phys ed. 6. Lunch 7. Quiet Time (used for taking naps if they want or independent reading and personal devotions. 8. 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour math segment (1/2 hr to 45 min dedicated teacher time for each child while the other does independent stuff) 9. 15 min snack/physical activity break 10. 1 hour science/art block on alternating days This schedule takes us from 9 am to 4:30 pm but we have a 2 1/2 hour break in the middle. Hopefully the kids can get back on track after this b/c it is not free time i.e. playing w/toys, screen or game time. Rather physical activity time to get the ants out, then food, then quiet time to get minds focused back. We will start at 8:00 when the times for each segment will increase. BTW, I plan to school 4 days a week all year w/ one day as outside field trips, extras. Anyways this is my step by step PLAN to get it all in. I can not speak from experience. I developed this after researching a lot on here and knowing what I know about my kids and me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I have lately been trying to add in more reading aloud, mainly because I felt I was depriving my youngest. Palming him off while I got on with 'real' teaching the older two. And I got annoyed with returning un-read books to the library. So what I do now (with mixed success - depending on the day) is, read aloud/circle time with all the children in the morning - at the moment it's before school starts but next year I'll probably have to start DD with some work first. I read about 4 books, a book for DS15mths, a couple of picture books for DS4y/o, and a few pages/chaper of a book for DD. DD will continue reading this book in her afternoon rest time. At the moment these are just fun, child chosen books - I don't know if that will change yet. The kids love and look forward to this time, I'll often let them play with lego/playdough/drawing etc. while we're reading. We read aloud a chapter from a novel after lunch. Sometimes I'll replace this with an audio book, or school related book (science/history etc.) I read aloud a chapter to the boys at bedtime and a few pages from a (different) book for DD (she finishes the chapter). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFourSons Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 We are using a CM "living books" approach, so most of our subjects include read alouds. I use the librivox recordings whenever they are high enough quality and available for a selection. Our library also has audiobooks online I can download onto my MP3 player, which we listen to when we are in the car. I read a chapter from a read aloud after lunch everyday, this was something my elementary teachers all did and it was one of my favorite parts of the day growing up. We also read a chapter book each night before bedtime. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyjoh62080 Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Breakfast, snack, and lunch times. This works great because they're usually quiet during this time :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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