Wabi Sabi Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This is our first year homeschooling and our oldest child is a first grader (he went to school for two years of preschool in addition to kindergarten.) I'm having a hard time trying to fit everything in that needs to be done. By the time we focus on the 3 Rs each day we rarely have time for much else. Part of the issue is that we don't get started with our day until later in the day. I work nights full-time and when I get home at 8:30 am I'm tired, need some time to settle in, check email, eat, etc. Often we're sitting down to lunch before we start any "real" work for the day. The kids spend their mornings looking at books, drawing, building with Legos, etc. They're doing things that I feel have value, so I'm not too worried about it. We typically start each day with math and spend anywhere in between 30-60 minutes on it. He'll do a couple pages of math and usually follow up with some sort of math game. At that point we eat lunch and regroup, then I have to drag him away from his Legos to continue. Language arts takes up a huge chunk of time: he practices reading to me, we do grammar, writing, spelling and phonics. We'll usually work on a fun logic page or maybe do some word puzzles. Then I read to the kids. There are a few little breaks in between things where we go to the bathroom, get a snack or drink, tend to my younger child, I need to attend to some business, etc. Next thing I know the entire afternoon has gone by. We rarely get science done and history- well, forget about it. I'm not too worried- he's only a first grader and I'm okay with spending most of our time on really making sure he has a solid foundation in the three Rs. We've put a lot of thought into making our home an enriching environment with lots of access to puzzles, art supplies, Legos, Snap Circuits, tons of educational games, no TV during the day, etc. so even when we're not "doing school" he's still doing worthwhile things, IMO. He's also involved in homeschool nature classes, we volunteer at a food bank, he takes a pottery class, choir, and several other activities that we rotate throughout the year (sounds like a lot, but we've got it scheduled so that things aren't every week, some classes are only 6 week sessions and we rotate between them, etc.) At some point though, the three Rs and enrichment classes aren't going to be enough. We're eventually going to have to be better at working in science, foreign language, history, etc. And, now that my younger child is turning 4 y/o, I feel the need to start spending a bit of time working on some basic things with her each day as well. Don't get me wrong- I'm very happy with what we're doing and I know that ds is learning more than he would in our local PS- but it always seems like we should be doing even more. How do you manage to juggle it all and still feel like you have all of the educational bases covered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I think that by the time you need to "fit it all in", you will have a better definition of what "it all is" and also have more experience and the kids will be older with a longer attention span. You'll be fine. btw- nobody does it all, especially those of us who work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorganClassicalPrep Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have loads of experience.. but here is the revelation I had just last night. You can't fit it all in. Especially not when you frequent boards like this. I read about people doing wonderful music/art appreciation studies, or people who read 28 hours a day, or very fun sounding family-math programs and it all sounds so.... perfect. But... in reality, it can't all be done. Especially when you have outside commitments. I'm a student myself, so time is at a constant premium for me. I really WANTED to do art and music appreciation, but, well, I just don't have time. I sacrificed that for geography, which is more important to us. In depth science is sacrificed to a more shallow science study in favor of foreign languages. What I've been doing is making priorities and sticking to them, no matter how exciting other things sound! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looping! :D We just started and very cautiously, I say it is a hit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Looping! :D We just started and very cautiously, I say it is a hit! Can you explain looping a bit? The things that we're doing now are all things that I think need to be done daily. The subjects we aren't getting around to doing are things that really only need to be done a couple times a week, but the daily stuff seems to consume all of our time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have loads of experience.. but here is the revelation I had just last night. You can't fit it all in. Especially not when you frequent boards like this. I read about people doing wonderful music/art appreciation studies, or people who read 28 hours a day, or very fun sounding family-math programs and it all sounds so.... perfect. But... in reality, it can't all be done. Especially when you have outside commitments. I'm a student myself, so time is at a constant premium for me. I really WANTED to do art and music appreciation, but, well, I just don't have time. I sacrificed that for geography, which is more important to us. In depth science is sacrificed to a more shallow science study in favor of foreign languages. What I've been doing is making priorities and sticking to them, no matter how exciting other things sound! :001_smile: :iagree: Perfectly put :001_smile:. Cassy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) Part of the issue is that we don't get started with our day until later in the day. I work nights full-time and when I get home at 8:30 am I'm tired, need some time to settle in, check email, eat, etc. Often we're sitting down to lunch before we start any "real" work for the day. How do you manage to juggle it all and still feel like you have all of the educational bases covered? :grouphug: You're kind of answering your own question here. Sometimes I read these "how do you do it all" threads and get fearful about how things are going to go in future years, even though everything is working well for us now. Then I realize that part of the reason things are working well for us now is because I don't do it all. I homeschool. That's it. I don't work outside of the home and the work I do inside the home is primarily homeschooling, since that's how we spend the majority of our days. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it would be to work and homeschool, so kudos to you and everyone else who does. I agree that looping would be a great thing for you to try. Although I don't loop, I do pay careful attention to how much time each subject gets and make sure to dedicate the most time to what I deem to be most important. Edited January 4, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alte Veste Academy Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I don't have loads of experience.. but here is the revelation I had just last night. You can't fit it all in. Especially not when you frequent boards like this. I read about people doing wonderful music/art appreciation studies, or people who read 28 hours a day, or very fun sounding family-math programs and it all sounds so.... perfect. But... in reality, it can't all be done. Especially when you have outside commitments. I'm a student myself, so time is at a constant premium for me. I really WANTED to do art and music appreciation, but, well, I just don't have time. I sacrificed that for geography, which is more important to us. In depth science is sacrificed to a more shallow science study in favor of foreign languages. What I've been doing is making priorities and sticking to them, no matter how exciting other things sound! :001_smile: Right. You can't fit it all in. I personally couldn't imagine "doing it all" where homeschooling is concerned and having major outside commitments such as going to school or working. But the idea that you can't "do it all" if all you've really got on your plate is homeschooling is not necessarily correct either and I do sense that vibe on this board often. Yes, hanging out on the boards makes it harder to get anything done. At all. :tongue_smilie: I'm personally on hiatus while the kids enjoy having Daddy home. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 At this point, you definitely don't need to feel like you should be doing more, it sounds like you're doing plenty, it sounds great! Maybe when you really need to add more science, history, etc, you can do more of a block scheduling thing, or maybe the kids will be old enough that they can do some stuff independently in the mornings, or maybe you'll just have to sacrifice some things because like others have said, you really can't fit it "ALL" in (nor should you have to, you know that quote about how education is the lighting of a fire, not the filling of a pail?) :) Really, I think it all has a way of working out in the end, and that an interested, curious mind in a nurturing environment really does learn tons, in lots of ways other than books and worksheets, even if we sometimes can't help worrying that it's never "enough." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.