scheduling your day with younger students

[Kate in Arabia]

So I'm feeling pretty comfortable with my plans for my oldest, rising 9th grader. But I feel like I'll need to invest so much time with him, will it result in the youngers getting short shrift? Do you find highschooling overwhelming your time for youngers? We had a pretty good routine these last few years, my oldest was increasingly independent, but I'm feeling that next year I'll need to be more involved as he moves into a new "era", kwim?

 

How to do schedule your day? Do you stagger -- having your hs-er start earlier? Are they still working pretty independently? I've been discussing with ds how he would like to approach his scheduling. He knows there will be an increase in what is expected, I had thought to try giving him his own calendar to keep track of assignments and help him move more independently? Or is 9th grade a year I should focus more on getting him solidly into highschool mode?

[EKS]

I have two kids and when the older one started high school, I devoted the afternoon to teaching him (as well as all weekend with prep and grading, but that's another story!). So he would do all of his independent work in the mornings from about 8-12 and then we'd work together from about 12:30-3ish. Then I taught the younger one in the morning.

[Tohru]

:bigear:

[Colleen in SEVA]

:bigear:

[PeterPan]

I have two kids and when the older one started high school, I devoted the afternoon to teaching him (as well as all weekend with prep and grading, but that's another story!). So he would do all of his independent work in the mornings from about 8-12 and then we'd work together from about 12:30-3ish. Then I taught the younger one in the morning.

 

Well I'll give your thread a little bump and say what EKS describing is about what it would take with us. I've got the 10 year gap going, so I'm in two different worlds, both with their on needs. Ds needs interaction and play and some beginning preschool, Earobics, that sort of thing to meet his speech therapy needs, and dd likes interaction, sigh. The trick for us is keeping them far enough apart that the noise of the one doesn't bother the other, sigh.

[BlsdMama]

Well, my goals for my older children are for them to be almost entirely self-driven as I prepare them for college and/or life in general. :) So, yes, it looks very different than middle school where my goal is to prep them academically to take on high school. :)

 

There are still things that need to be done... My oldest needs interaction for math much of the time, writing instruction/feedback, and lit discussions. But, the nice thing about lit discussion is that that can take place anywhere, during supper or supper prep., etc. Writing instruction takes place during naptime which is when I work with my older kids. Math, well, we fit it in where it fits during the day. :)

 

How old are your children?

 

I spend the most time in the morning with my middles (10 & 8) and spend time with my little/mids (4, 5, & 7) also. Then, during the first part of the little's naptime I do phonics with the 4, 5, and 7yos. The second part of naptime is for writing with the 16yo & 13yo. The third part of naptime is for catch-up and/or sanity. :P ;)

 

IMO, high school is easier to do/juggle than middle school. They really come into their own during the high school years. Middle school was much more intensive because it was so much foundational prep. work, kwim?

[Kate in Arabia]

Thanks for the comments. My kids are 14, 10 and 7. We were pretty comfortable in our schooling, all mostly at the same time at the same table, and kind of going back and forth as needed, and others could help others, etc. etc.

 

I think I have this stress over highschool because 1) it's new and 2) I keep thinking I must be more strict about adhering to time and quality/amount of work. But in reality maybe our homeschool will look largely the same, just with a bit more intensity on the part of the highschooler?

[PeterPan]

Well when I evaluated transcripts and had a question about time spent (because we were looking for units, not credits), we just asked the homeschooling parent a general question. It's not like we made them turn in logs or something, lol. So yes, you're just going to keep going as you were, being diligent on your work and letting the transcript reflect credits (material covered) or units (time spent). And the time thing is just generally. He basically worked an hour a day, 5 days a week for a year, one unit. He worked 2-3 days a week for a year, 1/2 unit. And so on. Nothing more picky than that. At least that's how it was when I worked in an office evaluating transcripts. You're going to be fine! :)

[Excelsior! Academy]

Hmmm. I find that my high school dd works a lot on her own and only needs to meet with me to check in for accountability. It may just be the curricula we've chosen. She works on her schoolwork mostly alone, we do a read aloud in the afternoon during naps, a meeting at some point during the day, and she does Bible with my Junior High schooler with daddy after all are in bed. So total hands on (school related) time from us is around one to one and one half hours per day. The other children have similar schedules. We try to work to get them to be as independant as possible.

 

I find that it has been easier for us to schedule the younger children since dd has been on a high school track and is increasingly independent.

[MicheleinMN]

When I had an independent high school student, it was fairly easy to keep up with everyone. For the last two years, I have had a high school student who chooses to do less than the bare minimum unless I sit on top of him and drag him through his studies. Needless to say, it has been a tough couple of years for me. I still don't have a great plan for spending time with each child as I would like to do. I try to get all the group/need mom stuff for the younger children done in the morning, leaving my afternoon to work with my high school age son. He is so impossibly grumpy most mornings that to try and work with him first just results in a horrible day for all of us. If I work with him in the afternoon, he is more willing to work consistently for a few hours. Yes, I have allowed him too much freedom, but for now my goal is to keep him doing his work and not giving up and quitting completely.

 

Sorry for the vent. I would really LOVE to get to do school with my younger 3 children and not have the constant battle with my 15 year old (almost 16).