What am I doing wrong?!?

[hsbaby]

Our school days seem to last so long! We are still at it right now and here is what we have accomplished 4 hours in:

Math

FLL

Read aloud

Silent reading

Science

 

So, no spelling, history, Latin, Bible, writing, or art yet. Of course, we don't do all of these subjects everyday, but I feel like we should have a little more done after 4 hours than we have. Both kids are working at a third grade level (oldest has special needs). How long does your day take and how many subjects do you fit in? I feel like I'm doing something wrong....I would like to complete FLL, writing, math, read alouds, reading, spelling, and either history or science AND Latin or art on alternate days. Am I expecting too much or are they just really slow? We never have time for extras like critical thinking books, games, etc. What do you do in a day and how long does it take you?

Edited April 12, 2012 by hsbaby

[hsbaby]

Anyone:bigear:

[Virg]

I would like ideas too! School takes us forever. Although I think it tends to come from four kids, three of whom have special needs and none can work independently.

[shan.non]

I only have one kid in school and my two year old is not a big distraction. We are doing 1st/2nd grade work and it takes 3 hours on average but with a kid who picks up material very quickly.

 

I do daily:

Math

LA

History

Journal

AWANA verses

science

 

3 days/week

Bible

spelling

 

Computer supplements are not included, neither is reading outside the curriculum. That varies .5-3 hours, depending on her interest level and time.

 

If I had more kids to school or a kid who struggled learning it would take longer for sure.

[Mommamia]

Are you having to work one on one with each child? Does either child struggle with any of those subjects? If so, I could see the basics for 2 children taking that long.

 

Also, it really depends on how long the silent reading takes, as well as the read alouds. That could account for an hour or more of those 4 hours.

 

You could always do science just 2x a week. Maybe start your day with math and FLL. That would allow for more freedom to add in the other subjects you are hoping to add. Could you save silent reading for when you are making dinner, or need to do something by yourself?

 

Just wanted to throw out some suggestions.

[hsbaby]

I absolutely appreciate any suggestions! You're right....reading takes up a good hour. As does math for some reason. Sometimes over an hour for math:(. I just read about all these great supplements people use and I wonder where they get the time! We can't even get through our core subjects everyday! We have to do our science and history daily at this point due to assignments from our tutorial. We won't be back next year so it will be nice to just do each twice a week instead of daily.

[maizeydaizey]

How long are each of those subjects actually taking? How much workload is falling under each subject? Is it all just writing work?

 

I don't include silent reading in our actual school block. When we are done for the day we end with it - she gets her book and heads to a quiet spot to do her thing... then she can read as long as she'd like. I require (1 st grade) a minimum of 20 minutes, encourage 30 but in reality she does up to an hour or more a day ending this way because there is not an 'end time' to change activities.

[Medieval Mom]

I think it's very reasonable for those subjects to take four hours. This year, I readjusted my thoughts on how long our day will take by recording just how long we really spend on each subject. Instead of trying to get everything done by noon, I've stretched it all out. We now school, with plenty of breaks and including time for reading/playing/etc. from 8 to 4. We're all MUCH happier. :)

 

Math DEFINITELY takes a good hour or more. I think that's fine!

[KAM]

I have three currently doing school, plus a three year old. It usually takes us four hours to do everything but I've had to make some compromises/tweak some stuff:

 

We aren't doing formal grammar or spelling this year, except that the first grader does spelling on his own with a workbook 3x a week.

 

For writing, I just ask each kid to write something twice a week about something we read about. They pick. We are pretty relaxed about this. They do this on their own while I work with another child, except for the first grader who dictates to me.

 

Read-alouds- I do these first thing, for about 45 min. Anything we didn't finish I fit in later that morning, or I read at lunchtime.

 

Math-I try to have everyone working on a math lesson at the same time but we are using Rightstart which is pretty teacher intensive so that's not always possible. Any "waiting" children are doing their own lit/history/science reading from books at their own level. Then, at the end of the day we just take a few minutes to discuss these and look things up on the map. Experiments are what tends to throw us off here, but those can get pushed to Friday if necessary.

 

Latin- I cut way back on this. Each of my older two does one page of Lively Latin twice a week. They mostly do this on their own, while I read with their brother.

 

We keep the regular subjects and most of the readings to Mon-Thurs. Friday we use as a catchup day, plus we watch Spanish and try to do an art project.

[Brooketopia]

Four hours seems right to me.

 

Here's how our school day breaks down, if you're interested in comparing:

 

8:00-10:00am: Devotional, then Math (which can take only 1 hour on a good day). I do have three kids doing math though and they're all young and need a lot of one-on-one, so I actually schedule 2 hours for it now so I'm not freaking out over how long it's taking. My 8yo, who rocks at Math, has attitude issues and takes forever to do her math because she doesn't like to write, doesn't like to vocalize her answers, doesn't like it that the dog is breathing too loud, etc., so she snaps at people and has to sit in time-out for eight minutes as punishment each time.

 

10:00-10:30am: Snack and Recess--we're all hypoglycemic so we really need some fuel by this point. (Breakfast was from 7:00-7:30.)

 

10:30-12:00: History or Science--Generally only takes 30-45 minutes, but can go longer. When we finish I read out loud.

 

12:00-12:30: Lunch

 

12:30-1:30: Play outside. If we don't, my toddler won't nap. The older kids benefit from it too and I feel better when I get my RDA of UV rays. :)

 

1:30-2:00: Naptime prep

 

2:00-3:00: Penmanship, Phonics, Spelling, FLL, WWE (on a bad day this can take much longer)

 

3:00-4:00: Assigned Reading

 

4:00-5:00: Extras--Art, Music Appreciation, Nature Hike. (Toddler is up from nap.)

 

5:00-6:00: Make dinner, kids chores/baths/clean-up/whatever

 

6:00-6:30: Dinner

 

6:30-7:30: Family Time

 

7:30-8:30: Free Reading (Littles--lights out 8:00pm)

 

8:30: Bigs lights out

 

Soooo....6.5 hours of school. 7.5 hours if you count the free reading at bedtime, which I don't because I don't check up on it or grade/correct it.

 

I need to add in piano lessons/practice and Latin next year. Ugh. I guess I'll have 8/9 yo wake up a little earlier and do her hygiene in the morning so we can free up the 5:00-6:00pm hour block. That's probably when she'd be doing it anyway if she were going to PS.

 

I don't want to present a "holier than thou" attitude, but the folks I know who can get everything done in 4 hrs either have older kids or they don't do as much/do as thorough as I do. I have to spread it out throughout the day or else my toddler and 4yo are completely ignored and I just can't do that to them. Besides, we like the breaks. :)

 

You're not alone, there are a lot of people who are taking more than 4 hours to do school each day.

[Caribbean Queen]

Short school day person here!

 

When we read aloud or silently we read about Science or Bible or History. We kill two birds with one stone, see? We don't spend a lot of time on fiction during "school." I read fiction to my children before bed, and they read fiction to themselves during their free time.

 

Often I get oral narrations after readings and then move to another subject. I keep lessons simple. We don't fill in workbook pages on the reading. We don't do beautiful lap books. We don't bake a cake and decorate it like a world map. We don't mummify chickens. We keep things short and sweet.

 

I don't assign a lot of seat work. Math never lasts for an hour here.

 

I insist my children respect me as their teacher and focus on their lessons. I can get more done in 10 good miutes than in 30 distracted, crabby minutes, ya know what I mean? Well, I consistantly get good minutes out of them.

[hsbaby]

I appreciate all of the input! The four hours was only part of the school day....it ended up taking about 6.5 today. And that was cutting history short, no spelling or writing, and no Latin. I think I need to change our read aloud time to bed time, schedule silent reading for after school, and get a LOT stricter about the time wasted whining and messing around. I wouldn't mind a six hour day....so long as we got everything accomplished. Right now it's 6 hours with a lot left undone...very frustrating. Seeing others schedules is very helpful....keep em' coming:)

[PeterPan]

Given the number of kids you have (distractions, split attention) and the amount of time those basics take, that's pretty normal.

 

Some of those things don't get formal slots in our "school day." Reading that is assigned is done on *her* time, not mine. Read alouds, well I fall asleep when I read aloud. Put on a cd/audiobook during breakfast and lunch. Boom, read aloud done.

 

Science is a reward, a carrot for getting the basics done. Don't do it till they get them done. You can also push science till Friday.

 

That takes you down to math and FLL you do every day. FLL should be done in short increments (10 min.). I'm not sure the ages you're using it with? For your 8 and 11 yo, if they're struggling with grammar, I would look at Winston (uses manips) or Shurley (what we used, painless). If you're doing FLL3 or 4 and they're struggling, especially that SN dc, I would switch up. Simple but understood is better than something that blows their mind and goes over their head when it comes to grammar. I'm took advanced grammar and linguistics classes in college, but my dd, well she's the opposite, lol. She gets Shurley. 5-10 minutes a day, never more. Set a timer and stop when it goes off. Seriously.

 

Now we whittled that down to math (35-40 min) and grammar (10 min) and you're running them and doing physical things between. For us math can't be first. It's the last thing before lunch. Anything after lunch is relaxing (science, reading time, etc.). That means you have time in the morning for a couple more things, each with 20 min. sessions. You can probably get that done.

 

Finding that work dynamic was really important for us. She wakes up slowly, so I stay out of her way and let her do easy, pleasant things first. Keep working on it till you find an order that works for you. It may be some of those dc really need to be sat with to be able to work. Up until this year my dd was like that. She still really wants that. If the dc isn't ready to be independent, he isn't. Sometimes you just have to whittle it down and ask what you can realistically get done if you have 3 sessions of 15 minutes with a timer, kwim?

 

You'll work it out. Shake it up till you find what's holding you back and find a solution. Sometimes I find those solutions when I get some time to myself for a long hot shower. Sometimes you're just so tired you can't see the solution. You'll get there. :)

[PeterPan]

Given the number of kids you have (distractions, split attention) and the amount of time those basics take, that's pretty normal.

 

Some of those things don't get formal slots in our "school day." Reading that is assigned is done on *her* time, not mine. Read alouds, well I fall asleep when I read aloud. Put on a cd/audiobook during breakfast and lunch. Boom, read aloud done.

 

Science is a reward, a carrot for getting the basics done. Don't do it till they get them done. You can also push science till Friday.

 

That takes you down to math and FLL you do every day. FLL should be done in short increments (10 min.). I'm not sure the ages you're using it with? For your 8 and 11 yo, if they're struggling with grammar, I would look at Winston (uses manips) or Shurley (what we used, painless). If you're doing FLL3 or 4 and they're struggling, especially that SN dc, I would switch up. Simple but understood is better than something that blows their mind and goes over their head when it comes to grammar. I took advanced grammar and linguistics classes in college, but my dd, well she's the opposite, lol. She gets Shurley. 5-10 minutes a day, never more. Set a timer and stop when it goes off. Seriously.

 

Now we whittled that down to math (35-40 min) and grammar (10 min) and you're running them and doing physical things between. For us math can't be first. It's the last thing before lunch. Anything after lunch is relaxing (science, reading time, etc.). That means you have time in the morning for a couple more things, each with 20 min. sessions. You can probably get that done.

 

Finding that work dynamic was really important for us. She wakes up slowly, so I stay out of her way and let her do easy, pleasant things first. Keep working on it till you find an order that works for you. It may be some of those dc really need to be sat with to be able to work. Up until this year my dd was like that. She still really wants that. If the dc isn't ready to be independent, he isn't. Sometimes you just have to whittle it down and ask what you can realistically get done if you have 3 sessions of 15 minutes with a timer, kwim?

 

You'll work it out. Shake it up till you find what's holding you back and find a solution. Sometimes I find those solutions when I get some time to myself for a long hot shower. Sometimes you're just so tired you can't see the solution. You'll get there. :)

Edited April 13, 2012 by OhElizabeth

[FairProspects]

We are going to go to more of an LCC style schedule, ds has asked for it, and I think it would be a good fit for him. I also had to stop thinking of some areas as school (instrument practice, morning devotions, read alouds, reading practice) and realize that these are things we would do no matter what where we choose to educate dc.

 

8:00am Morning Devotions/Breakfast

 

8:30am Piano practice

 

9:00am Official "school" time

Ds K does reading/handwriting with me

Ds 1st break after piano practice

 

9:30-12:00pm Ds 1st Math, Latin, Spelling/Grammar (his writing composition for now)

 

12:00pm Lunch

 

12:30pm Outside Recess

 

1:00pm Ds K math

Ds 1st Electronic break on computer

 

1:30pm Rotate through literature, history, or science

 

2:00pm Quiet time (frequently listening to audiobooks)

 

After quiet time we usually have friends over, or go to Tae Kwon Do classes. After dinner, the kids read to me, and I read aloud to them at bed time. Honestly, if I try to cram much more in, I lose my sanity, and both my kids really like downtime. :)

[hsbaby]

Given the number of kids you have (distractions, split attention) and the amount of time those basics take, that's pretty normal.

 

Some of those things don't get formal slots in our "school day." Reading that is assigned is done on *her* time, not mine. Read alouds, well I fall asleep when I read aloud. Put on a cd/audiobook during breakfast and lunch. Boom, read aloud done.

 

Science is a reward, a carrot for getting the basics done. Don't do it till they get them done. You can also push science till Friday.

 

That takes you down to math and FLL you do every day. FLL should be done in short increments (10 min.). I'm not sure the ages you're using it with? For your 8 and 11 yo, if they're struggling with grammar, I would look at Winston (uses manips) or Shurley (what we used, painless). If you're doing FLL3 or 4 and they're struggling, especially that SN dc, I would switch up. Simple but understood is better than something that blows their mind and goes over their head when it comes to grammar. I took advanced grammar and linguistics classes in college, but my dd, well she's the opposite, lol. She gets Shurley. 5-10 minutes a day, never more. Set a timer and stop when it goes off. Seriously.

 

Now we whittled that down to math (35-40 min) and grammar (10 min) and you're running them and doing physical things between. For us math can't be first. It's the last thing before lunch. Anything after lunch is relaxing (science, reading time, etc.). That means you have time in the morning for a couple more things, each with 20 min. sessions. You can probably get that done.

 

Finding that work dynamic was really important for us. She wakes up slowly, so I stay out of her way and let her do easy, pleasant things first. Keep working on it till you find an order that works for you. It may be some of those dc really need to be sat with to be able to work. Up until this year my dd was like that. She still really wants that. If the dc isn't ready to be independent, he isn't. Sometimes you just have to whittle it down and ask what you can realistically get done if you have 3 sessions of 15 minutes with a timer, kwim?

 

You'll work it out. Shake it up till you find what's holding you back and find a solution. Sometimes I find those solutions when I get some time to myself for a long hot shower. Sometimes you're just so tired you can't see the solution. You'll get there. :)

 

Thank you for this....a lot to think about! My ds does fine with FLL3, but dd with special needs....not so much. I've never looked at Shurley...off to do that now.

[hsbaby]

We are going to go to more of an LCC style schedule, ds has asked for it, and I think it would be a good fit for him. I also had to stop thinking of some areas as school (instrument practice, morning devotions, read alouds, reading practice) and realize that these are things we would do no matter what where we choose to educate dc.

 

8:00am Morning Devotions/Breakfast

 

8:30am Piano practice

 

9:00am Official "school" time

Ds K does reading/handwriting with me

Ds 1st break after piano practice

 

9:30-12:00pm Ds 1st Math, Latin, Spelling/Grammar (his writing composition for now)

 

12:00pm Lunch

 

12:30pm Outside Recess

 

1:00pm Ds K math

Ds 1st Electronic break on computer

 

1:30pm Rotate through literature, history, or science

 

2:00pm Quiet time (frequently listening to audiobooks)

 

After quiet time we usually have friends over, or go to Tae Kwon Do classes. After dinner, the kids read to me, and I read aloud to them at bed time. Honestly, if I try to cram much more in, I lose my sanity, and both my kids really like downtime. :)

 

Well, now I have to go google an LCC schedule:)

[Ohmomjacquie]

We havea schedule to our day. We start?at 9 and are done by 1. We do Bible, reading math, english,spelling 5 days. I really have to be on my dd to be on task or she.would be schooling all day! She is not an independent worker which can be frustrating.

[Mommamia]

Short school day person here!

 

When we read aloud or silently we read about Science or Bible or History. We kill two birds with one stone, see? We don't spend a lot of time on fiction during "school." I read fiction to my children before bed, and they read fiction to themselves during their free time.

 

Often I get oral narrations after readings and then move to another subject. I keep lessons simple. We don't fill in workbook pages on the reading. We don't do beautiful lap books. We don't bake a cake and decorate it like a world map. We don't mummify chickens. We keep things short and sweet.

 

I don't assign a lot of seat work. Math never lasts for an hour here.

 

.

:iagree: Except, math may lead to an hour if I am working "one on one"...which my kids prefer sometimes.

[Clear Creek]

I was running into the same problem the last few weeks, so I finally gave up and went the school-at-home/one room schoolhouse model. The "freely doing whatever subject for however long" was dragging on *forever* and making everyone miserable. It works for some people, but not us. :D

 

Here is our schedule now:

8:30-9:00 Bible, alternating elective (Health, Art, Music each 1x per week)

9:00-10:00 Math and Logic

10:00-11:00 Language Arts (Grammar, Phonics/Writing, Penmanship, Spelling)

11:00-12:00 Geography (daily) and Science/History (alternating days)

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Spanish and Latin

 

 

This schedule does two things...first, it keeps me from giving too much work in any one subject. The kids are young enough that each of those subjects should fit in that time frame; if it doesn't, then I need to re-evaluate their workload (or my priorities). Second, if the child sits and stares or doodles instead of knocking out her work, the work is done as homework on her own time after school is done, before any TV or playing.

 

We sit together at the table (I don't get to wander off and check facebook :D) and I alternate doing the one-on-one teaching with each child. I made it clear to the kids that those are the maximum times for each subject...if they finish early, it is their own time and they can choose to take a break or begin working on the next subject block and possibly finish early for the day (a great incentive :001_smile:).

 

This may not work for everyone, but it has made this week sooooo much smoother.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

. . . and get a LOT stricter about the time wasted whining and messing around. I wouldn't mind a six hour day....so long as we got everything accomplished. Right now it's 6 hours with a lot left undone...very frustrating. Seeing others schedules is very helpful....keep em' coming:)

 

 

I think that is key--what is happening during school hours. Is it work or whining?

 

It's really difficult to know just by subjects and times.

 

It is possible to have a focused intense 10 min lesson. Yes.

That does not mean that someone who spends 30, 45 or even 60 min. on the same subject is having a distracted dawdling time. They may just be accomplishing more and learning more.

 

Some kids can have 30, 45 or 60 min intense, productive lessons--several times a day in various subjects.

 

Less sometimes means more and less is sometimes just that--less.

You can have an hour of staring out the window with little accomplished or an hour of learning.

 

We do lots of what some people consider extra subjects, but we spend many hours on lessons each day. Many enjoyable, productive hours.

 

We can spend an hour focused on some subjects and not have any idea that much time has passed.

 

Taking more than 4 hours doesn't necessarily mean you are doing anything right or wrong. It depends on what is happening during those 4 hours and what your goals are. :001_smile:

Edited April 13, 2012 by Hilltop Academy

[kareng]

We are going to go to more of an LCC style schedule, ds has asked for it, and I think it would be a good fit for him. I also had to stop thinking of some areas as school (instrument practice, morning devotions, read alouds, reading practice) and realize that these are things we would do no matter what where we choose to educate dc.

 

What is an LCC-style schedule?