Am I trying to do too much?

[MEVmom]

The "what time do you finish" thread has me stressed a little. It seems a lot are starting at 9ish and done by lunch. Not happening here. We're starting on Monday, but my schedule has us plugging away from 9-3:30 with off 7 on breaks. My kids will be in K and 1st this year.

 

8:00 breakfast & family devotions

9:00 walk with everyone

9:30-10:30 I attempt to teach my K and 1st grade students two different levels of saxon math. I'm not sure this will work out. My plan is to teach DS (1st) for 15 min then have him work independently while I teach DD (K) and help her with her work.

10:30 Bible & memory time- AWANA, catechism, character training

11:00 Handwriting & math worksheet side B (saxon) for DS, Handwriting & phonics (15 min) for DD.

11:30 kids go outside while I make lunch

12:00 eat & cleanup

12:30 grammar & spelling (15 min each) for DS. Math worksheet side B for DD.

1:00 History (M/W) or Science (T/Th)- this is mainly for DS but DD will listen in

2:00 Rest time. DS will use 30 min here to do assigned reading (literature)

3:00 DS will get up to do narration from his assigned reading or oral reading practice

3:30 formal school is over, daily chores, video time, dinner prep etc after this

 

It feels very squeezed. This is my first year to have two students. I also have a 2.5 yr old. Am I trying to do too much? The math block is a big unknown because sometimes my DS works fast and sometimes he drags it out. With my DD, I expect to have to be really involved because she's not as quick to catch on as DS. I'm pretty much involved with everything except when they are working independently on math worksheet, handwriting pages, and when DS does his assigned reading. I may have to lose the family walk at 9 if things are too rushed in the mornings.

[Sharilynn29]

I see 4.5 hours of scheduled school here. From experience, unless you do a LOT of crafts and experiments and the like, you will probably only spend half of that time on schoolwork. A kindergartener spending 15 minutes on just about anything is a long time. I'm lucky if my high schooler spends an hour on science or history. Your schedule looks good because it is not rushed. It allows for those days when the kids dilly dally.

[lorisuewho]

I would not be too concerned about how much time other families spend on school. There are so many factors unique to each family that it is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

I would read it by how do YOU feel it is going? How do the children feel? Do you feel rush or hurried? Do you feel there is enough breaks? Perhaps having your day spaced out is easier on all of you than having it hurried and clumped together.

 

Don't let other posts get you down!

[NotSoObvious]

I don't think you have too much scheduled, you just have large blocks of time scheduled for each thing.

Once YOU get your routine down and get to know the curriculum, I think you'll be surprised how fast the time will fly.

 

Please don't make either of your littles do an hour of math unless you are planning LOTS of games and projects. :)

[NotSoObvious]

I would not be too concerned about how much time other families spend on school. There are so many factors unique to each family that it is like comparing apples and oranges.

 

I would read it by how do YOU feel it is going? How do the children feel? Do you feel rush or hurried? Do you feel there is enough breaks? Perhaps having your day spaced out is easier on all of you than having it hurried and clumped together.

 

Don't let other posts get you down!

 

:iagree:

[...................]

Looks fine to me. I see that you have built in:

 

Couch learning (memory, AWANA)

Play time (before lunch)

Rest time (after lunch)

Relaxed learning time (read alouds for Science and History)

 

If you were actually doing seat work from 9:30-3:30 it would be pretty awful for all of you. But that's not what I see. Instead you have wisely spread out your schooling throughout the day.

 

We used to try to squeeze in the whole school day into 2-3 hours but that can be stressful. Every family is different. We don't rush as much now, and I do history and Science in the evenings. Whatever works!

 

Plus, I doubt math is really going to take an hour. At least I hope not.

[MEVmom]

Thanks all!

 

I also hope math won't take an hour. I just have that much budgeted for interruptions & dilly-dallying. My experience with DS last year in K was that he would usually be done in 30 min (teach time + worksheet). But sometimes he would drag it out, esp the facts sheets. My DD coming into K this year is not as quick as DS, so it may take her longer. We are doing Saxon, which I grew up with. What do you do with math if it is going on & on but they are not finished with the lesson? Do you just have them work on it again later? Also there is that side B worksheet that Saxon does, so there is already added work later in the day.

 

Also I wish I could teach them together since they are only one grade apart, but DS is more advanced while my DD is more average.

 

With Hist/Sci, I notice that WTM has a ton of time budgeted for those. She recommends something like 3 hrs a week for each subject at this level. That's not happening here. I just can't devote more than an hour to each twice a week.

[edeemarie]

It might surprise you how much history and science kids pick up through stories and just every day living. I think at your children's ages the time you have scheduled for them is perfect.

[mamamindy]

This looks a lot like what we tried to do at the beginning of this year (Jan '12). We'll begin again on Monday. My kids are similar ages as yours & I used some of the same curricula. I got very frustrated trying to fit in all the history & science. Eventually I "got real" and just gave up on doing projects in the history. Just too much. And we also just worked science into our everyday life. (We have farm animals & a garden = science at this age.)

 

This year (K'er & 1st), beginning Monday, we're going to be real relaxed with history, listening to the audio and reading library books. We'll work in some of the other activities eventually. And I am going to continue with a relaxed science. When we used Saxon, we never did the other side of the worksheet unless she really wanted to, and if she did I let her do it independently. We've since changed up our math since Saxon wasn't working for us, and I plan on just working on 30min with the 1st grader seeing what we get done. Possibly some "fun math" later in the day. And starting with only 15min with the K'er. The goal of trying to complete a lesson was just stressful for me in the past. Fifteen good minutes is bound to be better than a completed lesson 45min later and we're both crying. ;)

 

I am focusing on having fun. It should be fun at this age! Good luck to you!

[monalisa]

I think it is one of the greatest homeschool myths that everyone is finished by lunch time! I have to remind myself of this all the time, because every single homeschool book you read or seminar you go to you hear this (and online people always seem to claim it also), but yet I don't know very many people in real life who are able to do this. Just do what works for you and your kids and it will be ok.

 

edited to add: For the number of kids you have and what you are trying to accomplish, I think your schedule is great. And you're not even starting school until 9:30, because you're doing other important things for your family, so to expect yourself to be done by lunch is really quite unrealistic pressure to put on yourself. (we start about then too because I NEED to exercise everyday at 6 am, and I then can't get everyone fed and ready until 9, then dd does piano until 9:30).

Edited August 24, 2012 by monalisa

[MEVmom]

Ok thanks! Good advice about the math too. I kind of have this thing where I feel like I have to do everything that a program has to offer...but honestly, why? I definitely see myself mostly doing the reading & narration for hist & sci and not many projects. Projects are not my thing.

[2squared]

If it works for you, it's great. My Ker gets 30ish min/day which is 15 of reading, 15 of math, and 5 for handwriting. I read aloud at some other point during the day. I don't have any need to "do" formal science, history, spelling, or religion at this age. Spelling is a mute point until they are reading fluently and the other is caught just living in our family.

 

I don't bounce between kids because it drives me bonkers to do that. I sit with each one for their designated time and then move on to the next kid. My 3rd grader gets 2 hours, my Ker gets 30 min, and my 5th grader gets 2 hours.

[boscopup]

As far as the side B sheet goes in Saxon, my son's school only assigned that half the time. They had no homework on Wednesdays or Fridays at that age, so they just skipped the sheet those days. I've heard of homeschoolers not even using the side B sheet.

 

Remember that YOU are the teacher. You do not have to do every lesson or every exercise of every curriculum. Use the curriculum as a tool to help you teach. Don't let it use you.

 

I learned very quickly with my accelerated son that it really is ok to skip things sometimes. :) I'm a box checker, but our days go more smoothly if I don't have him dwelling on stuff he already fully understands.

[abba12]

Every family is different. We were one of those families who finished at lunchtime most days (not a myth, however, the families that do and do not do it tend to group themselves together somehow. I didn't know ANY families who DIDN'T finish at lunchtime until I was a highschooler! so the idea is very foreign to me :) )

 

I do have some comments to your schedule if you are unhappy with it, but if it's working for you guys, then don't fix what isn't broken for someone else's standards.

 

Bible and Memory time, a lot of homeschool families will incorporate this into devotions over breakfast. Are you doing separate devotions and bible lessons? Is there a way to combine the two?

 

Math. You have an hour listed, PLUS a 15-30 minute slot for a math worksheet on top of that. Now, if it was me, and my kids were REGULARLY taking over an hour for math, especially in K and grade 1, I would be questioning the curriculum, the difficulty level, and how much I allow them to dawdle. I see you're using Saxon, families I've known who use it often only assign half of the problems, the odds or the evens, because it seems to contain a lot of time consuming busy work. If your children understand the concept with 10 problems they don't HAVE to do 20 problems just because they're there. For me, over an hour a day of math even in high school is a LOT, for a K and 1st grader, I wouldn't do it. If it's only an hour because they won't apply and focus themselves, that might need to be dealt with, because that's a lot of time which could be redeemed for other purposes. I personally would hope for about 30 minutes of math, total, including worksheet, maybe 45 if there's time spent waiting for mum to finish with one child and begin with another. BUT, having said that, are you happy with spending an hour? Do your kids complain after the hour? Is the hour working for you? Then maybe that's just the best way to do things for your family right now, and go with it. I will ask though, is that B side worksheet necessary? If it's just more repetition of a concept they already know, is it a waste of time and effort? Are you just doing it because it's there and you 'need' to do all the maths problems available in the book? If you think the revision is necessary for them, perhaps you would be better off doing that worksheet in the evening, maybe while you're making dinner, so that they've had a break and are re-visiting the material fresh, giving a much better idea of how they're retaining concepts. Again though, a lot of families who do Saxon would only assign half of those problems as well. Saxon is very busywork heavy. My husband used Saxon his entire schooling life, but he generally only completed 1/3rd of the problems. They put extra problems in to give the teachers plenty of material. Remember, Saxon isn't a 'homeschooling curriculum' as such, a teacher in a classroom needs extra, spare, problems for review, testing, and examples.

 

A part of why you're working until 3 is that you have some large breaks in there. People who finish by lunchtime usually only have a single, 15-30 minute break during the morning. It's what works for them but it may not work for you, if you want the bigger breaks, then go ahead and work into the afternoon so you can have them.

 

There's a lot of language stuff in there for your elder child, handwriting, grammar, spelling, reading and narration. Removing time spent reading (I don't tend to include it) you have an hour and 15 minutes assigned for that too. Now that's not so unreasonable, language is a big topic at this age, but like the math, make sure everything you're doing is useful to your child, and not just a matter of doing every page in the book. If he's just filling in worksheets for the sake of it he won't have much fun with it all.

 

Also, consider efficiency. If you were to shorten your math lessons, then inevitably you'll have him finished while you're working with your daughter. So instead of having him read during his rest time, you could have him read while you're doing maths with your daughter.

 

Your science and history actually looks perfect to me. :) At this age you need to focus in on math and language, there is plenty of time for history and science when your children are older.

 

Ultimately you just have to find what works for your family. If this works, then great! If it doesn't, then don't be afraid to tweak and modify curriculum to suit you.

[lea1]

I think it looks fine also. Especially when you add in a second child, it definitely takes more time. I have two first graders. We start at 9:00am and we probably spend about 2.5 hours in the morning, take a break and have lunch and then probably another hour or hour and a half in the afternoon. Much of it depends on how cooperative one of my sons happens to be on a given day. Lately he has been complaining about writing and math and throwing fits about it so it drags things out much longer than they would have to be otherwise.

 

And, you never know, when your K'er gets a bit older, she might catch up to her brother in some areas.

[Plateau Mama]

When I used Saxon, the only time we did the B side was if my son didn't understand and needed more practice. You could also use them as refreshers in the summer. There is no way I'd have a K & 1st doing both sides.

[Alison in KY]

When I used Saxon, the only time we did the B side was if my son didn't understand and needed more practice. You could also use them as refreshers in the summer. There is no way I'd have a K & 1st doing both sides.

 

:iagree:

[ALB]

I also think your schedule looks fine, and its pretty similar to what we do here. Its nice to have that much time set aside for math even though you may not always need it. I do agree with pp that doing worksheet side A is plenty! The back of the page is almost identical with different problems, so I only assign it when we need the extra review (and dd does it the next day, never on the same day).

 

I think many who finish completely by lunch have an earlier start time, which is also fine, but of course you can do it differently! Taking a walk sounds like a great way to start the day.

[Mommyof4ks]

I don't think you have too much scheduled, you just have large blocks of time scheduled for each thing.

Once YOU get your routine down and get to know the curriculum, I think you'll be surprised how fast the time will fly.

 

Please don't make either of your littles do an hour of math unless you are planning LOTS of games and projects. :)

 

:iagree: Once you get your routine down you might find yourself done by lunch. It depends on your goals though too. My goal is mastery in things like math and writing, so if they know it, then they do a few problems or write a letter/word a few times, and we move on. History and science may take us all afternoon not because it is hard, but because my kids love those subjects. I would not worry about what others are doing and focus on what works for your kids. I wish I had taken that advice when my oldest was younger.

[Chris in VA]

Agreeing that your sched looks fine.

You have lots included that isn't "school." Rest, walks, etc give you space in your day, and make it more of a learning lifestyle, which I LOVE.

 

As for Saxon K and 1, if you don't do all the problems or the fact sheet, let me warn you--you may be just fine, but your child may not develop the speed needed to complete the work quickly. So, by shortening the time you spend now, you could be delaying the ability to get it done quickly later. I'm a "do it all" Saxon person, fwiw. It didn't take us an hour and 15, tho--it's pretty quick at that age, if they get their facts (1st grade) down. I sat with mine and just did problem by problem. K is super-easy--hardly any writing and hands-on fun.

 

I'd also encourage you to do the history projects, at least a little. They add wonderful "spice" and fun!! Really, we so enjoyed SOTW at that age. Some of our best memories happened in history.

 

I don't even really watch the clock at that age. We relaxed and just kept a fairly regular sequence, not a schedule, if you know what I mean. I had a Ker and a high schooler at the time.

[AngelaNYC]

We're done with structured academics before lunch (usually in 2-3 hrs) because we don't take breaks. We try and knock things out quickly because ds has a ton of unscheduled, creative projects, outdoor time, and socializing he'd like get to (which I fully encourage). Having the entire day scheduled by me won't work with him.

 

Your day sounds great if that's what works for you and your family. You may be homeschooling from 9-3:30, but you have built the breaks and downtime in and your actual academic time only amounts to 4 hours. Definitely not too much.

[MEVmom]

Lot of great ideas...thanks! You all are so right about not doing work just for the sake of work. I do kind of tend to do that because I feel like I have to do it all.

 

Math is actually a breeze for DS so far (based on how it went last year). There hasn't been a topic yet that he just didn't get. But he does dawdle on the facts unless I am sitting right there. What are your thoughts on teaching him to focus? Is it best for me to just sit there and redirect him or do I need to find a way for him to develop that on his own? If I send him off to do flashcards, it takes him 20 min. If I do the cards, it's 5 min. See what I mean?

[boscopup]

Math is actually a breeze for DS so far (based on how it went last year). There hasn't been a topic yet that he just didn't get. But he does dawdle on the facts unless I am sitting right there. What are your thoughts on teaching him to focus? Is it best for me to just sit there and redirect him or do I need to find a way for him to develop that on his own? If I send him off to do flashcards, it takes him 20 min. If I do the cards, it's 5 min. See what I mean?

 

In first grade, I expect kids to be "at elbow". My oldest needed me right there at every second in first grade. Then in second grade I was able to start to assign a few problems and go reboot laundry or some other simple task, then check back in with him. This year, I can send him off with a checklist, and he'll do the entire assignment and a couple other assignments on the list. Huge change in the last 2 years!

[petepie2]

I feel like I do school all day! There's no way we could be done by lunch, especially with a toddler in the house. We're usually done by 4:00, but my first grader has about a 2.5 hour break in the middle. This is what my 1st grader does:

 

8:30-10:45/11:00:

Xtra Math on computer

Handwriting

Memory Work

Piano

Bible Study

Language Arts (Spelling,Grammar,Writing, Explode the Code)

Math

 

My 3rd grader works from 8:30-12:00 and does all of the above (in a different order) plus Latin and CLE Reading. My third grader does all of her independent subjects first, while I work with my 4 yr old and then my first grader.

 

From 1:15-2:00, I read first to my toddler and then do read alouds and reading lessons with my 4 year old.

 

For my 1st grader, afternoon looks likes this:

 

1:30 Independent Reading

2:00 Reading Lessons

2:30 history reading and read-alouds

3:00 Science OR Geography & Art OR Music OR Notebooking

 

My 3rd grader is the same in the afternoons, except she has an hour of independent reading.

 

It's a full day!

[2_girls_mommy]

It looks good to me. We did school laid back like that for years when mine were little. I think scheduling an hour for science or history is ideal. You are not in a hurry. You can read and do coloring and projects and do memorywork. We could easily fill an hour with that kind of thing even when mine were 1st and preK.

 

You have rest time and outside time built in. It is not too much. I like having a written schedule for our day too, and include all of the types of things you have.

[MEVmom]

Great, thanks! I've got some good things to think about here. We are definitley going for more of a lifestyle of learning type of thing, and have been since they were little. We do read alouds after dinner every night and before bed most nights. I am amazed at how many wonderful novels we've gotten through just reading a chapter a night.

[Plateau Mama]

Agreeing that your sched looks fine.

You have lots included that isn't "school." Rest, walks, etc give you space in your day, and make it more of a learning lifestyle, which I LOVE.

 

As for Saxon K and 1, if you don't do all the problems or the fact sheet, let me warn you--you may be just fine, but your child may not develop the speed needed to complete the work quickly. So, by shortening the time you spend now, you could be delaying the ability to get it done quickly later. I'm a "do it all" Saxon person, fwiw. It didn't take us an hour and 15, tho--it's pretty quick at that age, if they get their facts (1st grade) down. I sat with mine and just did problem by problem. K is super-easy--hardly any writing and hands-on fun.

 

I'd also encourage you to do the history projects, at least a little. They add wonderful "spice" and fun!! Really, we so enjoyed SOTW at that age. Some of our best memories happened in history.

 

I don't even really watch the clock at that age. We relaxed and just kept a fairly regular sequence, not a schedule, if you know what I mean. I had a Ker and a high schooler at the time.

 

Lot of great ideas...thanks! You all are so right about not doing work just for the sake of work. I do kind of tend to do that because I feel like I have to do it all.

 

Math is actually a breeze for DS so far (based on how it went last year). There hasn't been a topic yet that he just didn't get. But he does dawdle on the facts unless I am sitting right there. What are your thoughts on teaching him to focus? Is it best for me to just sit there and redirect him or do I need to find a way for him to develop that on his own? If I send him off to do flashcards, it takes him 20 min. If I do the cards, it's 5 min. See what I mean?

 

I wouldn't expect a child to be independent before 8 or 9 at the absolute earliest. My son 9 before I could leave for 5 minutes to change laundry. Now at 10 I can do 10-15 minutes, if I'm lucky.

[mhaddon]

Uh I have two and we are lucky to finish by dinner... that's with play outside breaks, lunch, and downtimes. If order to finish by lunch it would be a no fun day of work, work, work for us.

[Deniseibase]

When I used Saxon, the only time we did the B side was if my son didn't understand and needed more practice. You could also use them as refreshers in the summer. There is no way I'd have a K & 1st doing both sides.

 

:iagree: Also, there's SOOOO much stuff in Saxon grade 1-3 that you can skip around - all that math meeting stuff, we don't do all of it every day, we skip around with the things that the kids understand and only do things daily if the kids struggle, like they both have with the calendar. But the counting practice? Couple times a week for refresher for my kids is plenty. Saxon gives you a LOT of stuff to do, but think of it as a buffet, you don't have to clean your plate :001_smile:

[Deniseibase]

Math is actually a breeze for DS so far (based on how it went last year). There hasn't been a topic yet that he just didn't get. But he does dawdle on the facts unless I am sitting right there. What are your thoughts on teaching him to focus? Is it best for me to just sit there and redirect him or do I need to find a way for him to develop that on his own? If I send him off to do flashcards, it takes him 20 min. If I do the cards, it's 5 min. See what I mean?

 

SWB has a great lecture on independent learning, I highly recommend it. It's not going to tell you how to get him to be more independent at his current age tho, he's just too young. My DD age 12 is really just last year and this year able to work on her own without getting distracted. My DS age 6 does all his subjects with me right there with him.

[Sara in AZ]

This is the first year I have embraced the fact that I'm just not going to be done by noon and that school is just going to take until 3:30 or so, and all if us are so much happier! We have plenty of downtime scheduled in, similar to your schedule, and I really need that. So do they. Looks like you have a good routine started with lots of room for flexibility.

[mamamindy]

If it works for you, it's great. My Ker gets 30ish min/day which is 15 of reading, 15 of math, and 5 for handwriting. I read aloud at some other point during the day. I don't have any need to "do" formal science, history, spelling, or religion at this age. Spelling is a mute point until they are reading fluently and the other is caught just living in our family.

 

I don't bounce between kids because it drives me bonkers to do that. I sit with each one for their designated time and then move on to the next kid. My 3rd grader gets 2 hours, my Ker gets 30 min, and my 5th grader gets 2 hours.

 

This is great advice for me! Thank you!

 

Remember that YOU are the teacher. You do not have to do every lesson or every exercise of every curriculum. Use the curriculum as a tool to help you teach. Don't let it use you.

 

More advice I really needed to hear. Thank you!

 

I'd also encourage you to do the history projects, at least a little. They add wonderful "spice" and fun!! Really, we so enjoyed SOTW at that age. Some of our best memories happened in history.

 

This has encouraged me to work back some projects into our routine. I am planning one project per subject per week. And if Chapter x's project doesn't get finished until the week we're on Chapter y, then no big deal. :tongue_smilie: