jgoodal08 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I know you all have your hands full figuring out your own schedules but I'd appreciate some guidance as to how do I determine how many days a week for each subject and approximately how long each should take? I'm going to use: Apologia Astronomy Math In Focus Rod & Staff Spelling Rod & Staff English Writing With Ease Reading "American Adventure" for history Complete Guide of Maps & Geography (workbook) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 This is for a rising third grader, right? Here's how I'd do it. English: 4x/week Spelling: 5x/week like this (assuming you went with the 3 book) Day 1: section A Day 2: section B Day 3: practice test Day 4: section C, study/practice missed words (SpellingCity.com is good for this day) Day 5: final test Composition (WWE): 4x/week Reading good books: daily, 30 minute blocks Math: daily History: Monday, Wednesday and Friday Science: Tuesday and Thursday Geography: once a week, on whichever day there are only 2 language arts lessons instead of 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakersDozen Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Spelling: 5X/week English: 4X/week Writing: 4X/week History/Science: 4X/week Math: 5X/week Geography: 2-3X/week I use M/T/Th/F as our regular school days and W as our "elective" or fun school day. History and Science get done every day and in longer blocks (1.5 hours or more) so we don't feel rushed from subject to subject. I've found my dc retain information better when we are consistent rather than doing something only 2 days/week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeofakind Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I agree pretty much with the others suggested. My only other suggestion is to start off slowly and do maybe 2 subjects and then add in another one, rather than all at once. :001_smile: Have a great year!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljswriter Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Starting off slow and building is a great suggestion. I'll piggyback a couple other thoughts onto that. As a general rule with my rising 3rd grader, I find it works better to do short, frequent lessons than to try and cram more into less frequent sessions. This is especially important with subjects my DD has trouble with. So the first thing I do when scheduling is to consider my DD's needs at the time. Right now, reading and math are the big pushes, so I offer these every day. Beyond that, I look at the curriculum I want to use and how fast I want to get through it. That tells me how often to offer each, which gets put into place around her "daily musts". For instance, let's say I had a history book I want to use over an 11-month school year. The book has 22 chapters. That means we would need to complete 2 chapters per month (1 every 2 weeks) to finish on time. If the chapters are simple, we might only need one session per week for this. If they are more involved, I might have to bump it to 2-3 times per week. If that time investment doesn't mesh with the schedule, I can either omit lessons or spread the book out over a longer time stretch. Either way, it's a pretty easy approach for figuring out how and when to offer things. And it's a good way to gauge when I'm going overboard on curriculum, since I'm one of those who gets all excited about buying things and ultimately wind up with too much. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yolanda Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Dd is currently going into 5th but this is the way I've done it for a few years now, and you can find more details on Simply Charlotte Mason. It's a series on planning your CM education in about 6 steps. The basics of what they say is with each book you intend to cover, figure out how many chapters there are to cover. Then with your schedule of 4 or 5 days a week, you fit it into the 36 weeks-or however many-taking into consideration your time off for holidays, going out of town, etc. When I first did it, I used a big poster board I had available (wouldn't go out and buy one, tho). I put it all down in pencil or you could use little pieces of paper that represent each subject and move them around the days of the week, kind of like if you were determining furniture in a room, but on paper. It sounds intensive if 'big picture' is not your style but I had fun and did like to see as much as i could. What I learned from the past and kept in mind this go round was that what sometimes takes 'as little as 15-20 a day' (from what some curriculum packages will say) for us took about 40-50 min. So, instead of scheduling 3 subjects that only take 15 min, I need to keep in mind for us on subject is the bulk of an hour instead, then a few min. for a break. FWIW: I wouldn't schedule out the whole year either. You can still break down the books into 36 weeks but just really schedule the 1st 3 months and see how it goes. I've found I make lots of changes! With that in mind, look over the CM ideas and see what resonates with you, tweak what you need to, and go from there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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