Can you share your daily/weekly schedule?

[lisabees]

How do you fit all of your subjects in one day or one week? Can you share so I have a better idea? How long are your days? How many days a week and how much time per day do you do science or history or grammar or logic etc?

 

I promised myself that I would be more structured this year. I am feeling overwhelmed and we start tomorrow. My blank calendar is lying in front of me!!

[redsquirrel]

Well, it depends a little bit on what you are using. For example, We are using a composition program that is designed to be used 4 days a week. That makes it easy.

 

It also depends on how old your child is. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Same thing for educational style. Does your child like to go off on a rabbit trail, spending weeks devoting hours to a science question? Or does your child like to move through a variety of subjects every day?

 

But, roughly I would say we do:

Math 5X per week

Piano: 6X

Grammar: 3X

Vocabulary: 3X

Composition: 4X

Latin: 3X

History 3-4X

Science 2-3X

Literature: 4X

 

Some people aim for time, for example 5-8 hours of math per week. I am not good at paying attention to that. I do think we spend at least an hour on math every day, but not more than 90 mins. Prob the same for science and composition. Subjects like grammar and Latin are more like 30-45 mins. For something like literature, then it is at least an hour reading on his own and 30 mins discussing what he read.

[lewelma]

Here is my son's schedule -- he is in 7th grade. I consider a "class" to be 5- 6 hours and aim for 6 classes (1/2 class is about 2-3 hours). His curriculum is listed in my siggy (he is advanced in some subjects).

The big 3: from 8:30 to 1 Mon to Thursday (he does these independently in a separate room):

 

Math (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1.5 hours

 

English (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1.5 hours. WWS and Grammar

 

Science (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1 hour (catch up the extra hours when we do the big project at the end of the year)

 

The extra 30 minutes is for transitions/small break. He often eats lunch while working.

 

The extras, done at night and on weekends:

 

Music (1 credit). 3 hours of tutoring on weekends/Mon afternoon, 45 minutes practice 4x per week during M&M time (Music and Mandarin from 5 to 6pm)

 

Mandarin (1/2 credit): tutor comes for 1 hour on Tuesday night, and once Saturday morning, + 15 mintues homework done at night on 4 days per week during M&M

 

History (1/2 credit): dh reads and discusses history at night for 30-45 minutes, 5 times per week. This is all done orally. They love time with dad. No writing assignments or making time lines or drawing maps. They get out the globe and a book and talk.

 

Literature from 8 to 9 or 9:30 at night before bed. It is extra to the 6 hours for English class.

 

Logic (1/2) credit): Saturday morning for an hour, and throughout week we discuss what we see. dh does Philosophy for an hour on some weekends

 

Technicraft (1/4 credit): 3 hours on Fridays (9 to noon) for 1/2 a year. done at local school. (this is old fashioned shop/home ec)

 

Study skills (1/4 credit): typing, note taking, time management, etc. Kind of all the time.

 

PE: I don't count this for a class, but he does martial arts, and swimming. We also get together with homeschool friends on Wed afternoon at a park, and for swimming, and he has "Woods Club" with the neighbourhood kids on Sunday afternoon (they are currently making a fort).

 

Documentaries in History and Science: in afternoons. My kids love these, but I don't require them or count them towards the hours. They are allowed 1 documentary per day.

 

So just to clarify a few things:

 

Free time is from 1 to 5pm most week days, 1/2 day Sat, and all day Sunday

 

His Saturday schedule is:

10-11 Logic with me

11-12 Mandarin tutor comes

2-4 Music Lessons

 

Outings (Tuesday and Sunday are stay at home days for him, And I drive only M,W,H):

Monday: 2:30-3:30 music lessons

Tuesday: mandarin tutor comes to our house at 5:30-6:30

Wednesday: Homeschool group at 1:30-3, martial arts from 6-7:30 (he walks)

Thursday: Homeschool swimming at 1:30-3

Friday: Technicraft 9-12 (no driving for me as he catches the train), martial arts from 6-7:30 (he walks)

Saturday: Mandarin at our house 11-12, Music 2-4 (he walks)

Sunday: woods club from 2-4 behind our house

 

So my ds does between 30 and 36 hours per week, but is done with his hard stuff by 1pm every day. I just make the less-important classes to our family be more laid back and done on a more flexible schedule. I also make sure that he has time in the morning with NO interruptions to get his independent work done.

 

HTH,

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited September 3, 2012 by lewelma

[Luckymama]

We're trying something new this year. I'm giving dd a weekly assignment list (adapted from donnayoung.org) with everything I want her to accomplish for the week----both maths, all science, history, geography, grammar, vocab, writing, literature, and specials (ballet, First Lego League practice, separate robotics, flute lessons, Girl Scouts).

 

Math and science assignments are flexible. She may do more, she may do less if she hits a snag or explores one area in depth.

 

Dd chooses what and when to study. Math, science, and vocabulary must be done every day. She can choose to do the other subjects in blocks. She is not doing this work off in her room, but is still in the kitchen with me. We discuss her work almost constantly.

 

This week looks like this for four days:

 

Algebra specific problems and exercises from the current chapter (five sections, two are quite short)

 

Counting and Probability all problems and exercises from the first chapter (which is basically one of the chapters at the end of AoPS PreAlgebra book)

 

Chemistry chapter 1, lessons 1-3

 

Science Olympiad Forestry: continue collecting and pressing more leaf samples based on last year's state tree list. General: read rules manual (once it comes in the mail) and research interesting events.

 

History Read and discuss chapter 2 The Human Odyssey

 

Geography Week 2 from Trail Guide to World Geography: Answer daily questions, do mapping activities, read about the oceans online at CIA-The World Factbook and write a well-constructed paragraph for each.

 

Vocabulary continue reviewing flashcards for lists 1-17 (where we left off last year----Word Within the Word)

 

Grammar Review nouns and pronouns in The Magic Lens, pages 9-22. Do lists 1 and 2 (exercises) orally.

 

Writing See geography above. Edit as necessary.

 

Specials ballet T,Th,Sa with times; FLL Friday with time

 

School begins around 8:30. We take an hour break for lunch, about 12:30ish, then continue until sometime about 3pm. Literature reading when scheduled (nothing this week) is done outside of this time. I also do not count her ballet, FLL, or flute lessons/practice as school time as those are extracurriculars.

[Spetzi]

Daily:

 

Spanish--45 minutes

Bible & History--1 hour + outside reading

LA--45-60 minutes

Math--45 minutes

 

Science--readings 2x week (30 minutes), lab 1x week 1 hour

 

We add in things like logic, extra vocab work, research papers, life skills, health as needed for a month or so. I feel we can cover more ground that way.

 

HTH,

[Chelli]

I know my kids aren't the right age to be on this board yet, but I wrote some planning posts that might be helpful to you.

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Year

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Week

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Day

 

If there's nothing there you can use, then no harm, no foul! :001_smile:

[Cosmos]

History (1/2 credit): dh reads and discusses history at night for 30-45 minutes, 5 times per week. This is all done orally. They love time with dad. No writing assignments or making time lines or drawing maps. They get out the globe and a book and talk.

 

 

I love this idea! Now I'm mulling over the idea of swapping history with music practice. Currently ds does music practice in the evenings while I cook dinner. It's the hardest thing of the day, because he's tired and hungry and music takes a lot of effort. Also, he wants to hang with dh, who has just gotten home from work. If we swapped, he could have his music done before lunch when his concentration is best (and as a bonus he'd get some practice in *before* his lesson on lesson day). Meanwhile, he could study history with dh for some father/son time, and dh just happens to have a special interest in medieval history, which we're studying this year!

 

Just when I thought I had things set, too. We're starting tomorrow. Perfect time for new ideas, right? :lol:

 

ETA: Dh thinks it's a great idea!

[lewelma]

ETA: Dh thinks it's a great idea!

 

My husband loves having time with the boys. He does the reading after dinner when I am cleaning up. Honestly, by the end of the day I would rather be by myself and do dishes (I listen to TTC audio while working).

 

I do the research to create the resource list. I usually have him do 1 topic per month, like knights and castles, or the vikings, or king arthur etc. Then I find 1 or 2 historical novels to read for each topic, and go to the library and find some nonfiction on the topic. With all the resources in front of him, dh chooses what he is in the mood for - a discussion with nonfiction and a map, or just snuggling up with a novel. His choice. He has no schedule. I just try to move him along the next month to the next topic, although he often overruns if they are in the middle of a novel. Whatever. DH and kids LOVE this time. There is no pressure on any of them. The results are that my kids love history, have built a good knowledge bank of world history over the ages, and have great memories of time with dad. I am sure they do not know that many dates, and probably are only reasonably good with all the different important people. But boy do they have the big picture. We have used this approach for 7 years.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited September 3, 2012 by lewelma

[Delirium]

Monday-Thursday:

8:30-9:30 Warm up and Math

9:30-11:30 Writing, Spelling, Grammar exercises

11:30-12:00 Finishing any work or educational game time

 

Monday, Wednesday:

1:00-1:30 PE

1:30-2:30 Science

2:30-3:00 Latin

3:00-4:00 Listening to our read together book, can do any quiet activity

 

Tuesday, Thursday:

1:00-1:30 Geography

1:30-2:30 Social Studies and History

2:30-3:00 Latin

3:00-4:00 Listening to our read together book, can do any quiet activity

 

Friday:

8:30-9:00 Spelling test and math journal

9:00-10:00 Arts and Culture

11:00- 1:45 she takes two extra curricular courses with a charter school and the rest of the afternoon she's to finish anything she has left in the week.

[thowell]

My husband loves having time with the boys. He does the reading after dinner when I am cleaning up. Honestly, by the end of the day I would rather be by myself and do dishes (I listen to TTC audio while working).

 

I do the research to create the resource list. I usually have him do 1 topic per month, like knights and castles, or the vikings, or king arthur etc. Then I find 1 or 2 historical novels to read for each topic, and go to the library and find some nonfiction on the topic. With all the resources in front of him, dh chooses what he is in the mood for - a discussion with nonfiction and a map, or just snuggling up with a novel. His choice. He has no schedule. I just try to move him along the next month to the next topic, although he often overruns if they are in the middle of a novel. Whatever. DH and kids LOVE this time. There is no pressure on any of them. The results are that my kids love history, have built a good knowledge bank of world history over the ages, and have great memories of time with dad. I am sure they do not know that many dates, and probably are only reasonably good with all the different important people. But boy do they have the big picture. We have used this approach for 7 years.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

I love this! As usual Ruth, you inspire me!

 

Do you do your topics in a certain order? No writing?! Just basically just reading and discussing? This sounds wonderful. I am getting to the point where I am realizing homeschool is becoming more like school at home as the kiddos get older. I guess the pressure starts to get to you and I am taking a long hard look at what we are doing.

Edited September 4, 2012 by thowell

[hmvaughan4]

I know my kids aren't the right age to be on this board yet, but I wrote some planning posts that might be helpful to you.

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Year

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Week

 

How I Plan Our Homeschool Day

 

If there's nothing there you can use, then no harm, no foul! :001_smile:

 

Thanks! Your blog is very useful and inspiring! :001_smile:

[lewelma]

Do you do your topics in a certain order?

We use the 4 year WTM rotation. Here is our monthly topic list for early modern this year:

 

The Great Explorers

Science: Brahe, Galilei, Descartes, Kepler, etc

Native Americans

Pre – Revolution and Revolutions in America and France

Exploration West and Frontier Living

Inventions/Medicine

Asia

South America

Australia and New Zealand

 

I can post our other topics for other years if you want, or even our resource list. But we should probably start a new thread for that.:001_smile:

 

No writing?!

My sons write one researched, edited, and finalized report per week. When they do IEW, about every third one is history (others are either fiction or science). While using WWS, the reports are whatever SWB has chosen. They are quite happy with this approach. I do sit down with them to do a time line once a quarter. And orally quiz my oldest on the important people listed in the WTM. I have made the kids memorize about 1 major date per month, so 48 major dates for the whole of history for each 4 year cycle. I plan to do a few more dates for the 3rd cycle in High school. Once my kids get to the logic stage, they start outlining their science textbooks, so lots of outlining practice there.

 

Just basically just reading and discussing?

Yes, plus documentaries from the library. It is really fun. Our homeschool is science focused, so this is our easy, fun subject.

 

I am getting to the point where I am realizing homeschool is becoming more like school at home as the kiddos get older. I guess the pressure starts to get to you and I am taking a long hard look at what we are doing.

I know what you mean.

 

Ruth in NZ

Edited September 4, 2012 by lewelma

[Embassy]

I recently posted my schedule here. My 5th grader will be schooling from 9:30-6:00 with about an hour reading just before bed.

[Hoot]

DS does the following but the times are just estimates. He works until he finishes a subject before moving on. We are also doing longer blocks for subjects like history, science and writing so they are only on the schedule twice each.

 

Math - 5x/wk, 60 min. each

Science - 2x/wk, 60 - 90 min. each

History - 2x/wk, 60 - 120 min. each

Current Events - 5x/week, 10 min. each (except once a week when it takes about 30 min.)

Grammar - 5x/wk, 15 - 30 min. each

Literature - 5x/wk, 20 - 60 min. each

Writing - 2x/wk, 60 min. each (When we add WWS back in it will be 4x/wk)

Latin - 3x/wk, 10 min. each

Logic - 1x/wk, 20 min.

Drama - 1x/wk, 60 min.

Photography - 1x/wk, 60 min.

Phys. Ed. - Varies based on season.

[....]

My 5th grader and 4th grader's schedule (they work together on most subjects):

 

MONDAY: Math, Science, History

 

TUESDAY: English+Writing, Science, History, Foreign Languages

 

WEDNESDAY: Math, Science, History, Art

 

THURSDAY: English+Writing, Science, History

 

FRIDAY: Math, McGuffey Readers

 

SATURDAY: English+Writing, Religion

 

 

I'm teaching 4 kids this year and after trying every schedule out there, this has been the only one that works. Also, my kids spend a really long time on science and history.

[thowell]

We use the 4 year WTM rotation. Here is our monthly topic list for early modern this year:

 

The Great Explorers

Science: Brahe, Galilei, Descartes, Kepler, etc

Native Americans

Pre – Revolution and Revolutions in America and France

Exploration West and Frontier Living

Inventions/Medicine

Asia

South America

Australia and New Zealand

 

I can post our other topics for other years if you want, or even our resource list. But we should probably start a new thread for that.:001_smile:

 

My sons write one researched, edited, and finalized report per week. When they do IEW, about every third one is history (others are either fiction or science). While using WWS, the reports are whatever SWB has chosen. They are quite happy with this approach. I do sit down with them to do a time line once a quarter. And orally quiz my oldest on the important people listed in the WTM. I have made the kids memorize about 1 major date per month, so 48 major dates for the whole of history for each 4 year cycle. I plan to do a few more dates for the 3rd cycle in High school. Once my kids get to the logic stage, they start outlining their science textbooks, so lots of outlining practice there.

 

Yes, plus documentaries from the library. It is really fun. Our homeschool is science focused, so this is our easy, fun subject.

 

I know what you mean.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

feel free to start a new thread! I love seeing what you are doing. I am not sure why we seem to focus on history when both my kiddos are more science oriented. I guess I see the emphasis everyone else puts on it and it seems to spill over. This year we are doing MFW ECC and while it is nothing like I thought it would be, I am determined to stick with it. Dd11 is 7th grade this year and I would love to be able to add in a simple way for her to start getting some SIMPLE exposure to world history without adding too much on her. In Science she is doing Biology this year and has chosen the Abeka text book. I was shocked since she normally hates text books but seems to like this one. Anyway, I am going to start a new thread with a more relaxed style. Please feel free to chime in!:lol:

[lisabees]

Thank you all. It's nice to see such a variety in your days. I knew that everyone's schedule would be different; it is actually liberating for me.

 

It's easy to fall into the trap of doing school at home. I know that will happen during the high school years with AP classes and studying for the SAT and ACT, so I'd like to make middle school more relaxed and interest-led in certain areas. I must remember what brought him home in the first place. If I don't, we could spend 4 hours/day on English alone!

 

Thanks for sharing your schedules with me!

[thowell]

Thank you all. It's nice to see such a variety in your days. I knew that everyone's schedule would be different; it is actually liberating for me.

 

It's easy to fall into the trap of doing school at home. I know that will happen during the high school years with AP classes and studying for the SAT and ACT, so I'd like to make middle school more relaxed and interest-led in certain areas. I must remember what brought him home in the first place. If I don't, we could spend 4 hours/day on English alone!

 

Thanks for sharing your schedules with me!

 

Sorry for highjacking! I just started another thread about taking a more relaxed approach. Feel free to join in with your thoughts. I feel the same way you stated above.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Setting up a functional schedule, that lets us do the most intense work when energy is highest, yet keeps the day feeling relaxed and unrushed, has been my main focus so far this year! We've tried a few different iterations, and here is where we are at now:

 

M-Th

Math 9-10

Break (15)

Writing 10:15-11

History/Science 11-12 (we rotate weeks between history & science)

Lunch/Break 12-1

Latin 1-1:30

Grammar/Vocab 1:30-2

Break/PE/Snack 2-3 (I have to pick up dd6 at school at 2:20, so we take a break for an hour or so. DD9 either walks with me to pick her up or she might stay in and read or work on a project of her own)

Literature 3-4

They may watch 1 history or science doco in the afternoon. Usually science.

 

Right now, she is in a play, so she has rehearsals most nights 6-8.

 

Fridays (I work all day) are devoted to independent study, and she is using LOF Fractions, the Creative Writer, and will be using WP's Equine Science as soon as all the pieces arrive. These last two are things she wanted to study, and so we decided to find her matierals she could use independently while I'm working.

 

This is working out really well. My only regret is that I'd like to do both history and science every day, but there isn't any way to fit it in. History is very relaxed - reading, discussion, looking at maps or globes, putting a date on the timeline, and then more reading. No formal writing assignments. We fit artist/composer study - again very informal - and a day of Geography into History week.

 

Science is all over the place, using BFSU as a spine and living books, no texts or worksheets. We are science focused, and talk and read science all the time, not just during class time in science week. Even just formally studying every other week, though, we do a couple of BFSU lessons, a day on Entomology, and then a day spent reading and/or busily researching a science fair project, which so far sounds like it will be focused on comparing water quality and microorganisms/macroinvertbrates in an urban and rural stream.

Edited September 4, 2012 by rroberts707

[Moniksca]

I have our 6th grade weekly schedule on my blog as well. I have a checklist so that he knows what books to get for the day to complete. I have approximate times on there but some days are shorter or longer - about 4-5 hours. My ds dawdles a lot.

[munashe]

12 year old that make her a 7th grader I think.

 

We focus on 3 main subjects: Maths, English and Science and do these in the mornings between 9-12 Monday to Thursday. Friday is activities but she does Maths first. The other subjects; we just fill them in the afternoon and we are normally done by 2pm and latest 3pm. Weekly it is

 

Maths 5x 1 hour

English 4x I hour

Science 4x 1 hours

 

Then we have roughly 5 hours weekly for History, Geography, Art and other bits.

 

She also has spanish online tutor for 2 x 1 hour sessions. Reading is about 30mins a night.

 

We don't follow the timetable religiously, in our home group there are outings sometimes midweek and we just go for it. In October there is an art and craft group that she will be doing every Thursday so that effectively leaves us with 3 days for academic curriculum

 

What we never miss is Maths, we always have to find time to fit it in but can't say the same for the rest.

[Melissa B]

dd 7th grade, Fall Term:

 

7-8:30 English: M, W, R, F (out of the house on T)

8:30-10 Science: M, W, F (out of the house on T, R)

 

1 hour snack break

 

11:00-12:30 Math: M, W, F at home, T, R at library

12:30-2:30 History: M, T, W, R, F

 

1.5 hour lunch break

 

4:00-5:30 Spanish: M, T, W, R, F,

5:30-7:00 Electives: M, T, W, R, F (Music Theory, Music History, Creative Writing, Art)

[shanvan]

Here is my son's schedule -- he is in 7th grade. I consider a "class" to be 5- 6 hours and aim for 6 classes (1/2 class is about 2-3 hours). His curriculum is listed in my siggy (he is advanced in some subjects).

The big 3: from 8:30 to 1 Mon to Thursday (he does these independently in a separate room):

 

Math (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1.5 hours

 

English (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1.5 hours. WWS and Grammar

 

Science (1 credit): Mon - Thurs 1 hour (catch up the extra hours when we do the big project at the end of the year)

 

The extra 30 minutes is for transitions/small break. He often eats lunch while working.

 

The extras, done at night and on weekends:

 

Music (1 credit). 3 hours of tutoring on weekends/Mon afternoon, 45 minutes practice 4x per week during M&M time (Music and Mandarin from 5 to 6pm)

 

Mandarin (1/2 credit): tutor comes for 1 hour on Tuesday night, and once Saturday morning, + 15 mintues homework done at night on 4 days per week during M&M

 

History (1/2 credit): dh reads and discusses history at night for 30-45 minutes, 5 times per week. This is all done orally. They love time with dad. No writing assignments or making time lines or drawing maps. They get out the globe and a book and talk.

 

Literature from 8 to 9 or 9:30 at night before bed. It is extra to the 6 hours for English class.

 

Logic (1/2) credit): Saturday morning for an hour, and throughout week we discuss what we see. dh does Philosophy for an hour on some weekends

 

Technicraft (1/4 credit): 3 hours on Fridays (9 to noon) for 1/2 a year. done at local school. (this is old fashioned shop/home ec)

 

Study skills (1/4 credit): typing, note taking, time management, etc. Kind of all the time.

 

PE: I don't count this for a class, but he does martial arts, and swimming. We also get together with homeschool friends on Wed afternoon at a park, and for swimming, and he has "Woods Club" with the neighbourhood kids on Sunday afternoon (they are currently making a fort).

 

Documentaries in History and Science: in afternoons. My kids love these, but I don't require them or count them towards the hours. They are allowed 1 documentary per day.

 

So just to clarify a few things:

 

Free time is from 1 to 5pm most week days, 1/2 day Sat, and all day Sunday

 

His Saturday schedule is:

10-11 Logic with me

11-12 Mandarin tutor comes

2-4 Music Lessons

 

Outings (Tuesday and Sunday are stay at home days for him, And I drive only M,W,H):

Monday: 2:30-3:30 music lessons

Tuesday: mandarin tutor comes to our house at 5:30-6:30

Wednesday: Homeschool group at 1:30-3, martial arts from 6-7:30 (he walks)

Thursday: Homeschool swimming at 1:30-3

Friday: Technicraft 9-12 (no driving for me as he catches the train), martial arts from 6-7:30 (he walks)

Saturday: Mandarin at our house 11-12, Music 2-4 (he walks)

Sunday: woods club from 2-4 behind our house

 

So my ds does between 30 and 36 hours per week, but is done with his hard stuff by 1pm every day. I just make the less-important classes to our family be more laid back and done on a more flexible schedule. I also make sure that he has time in the morning with NO interruptions to get his independent work done.

 

HTH,

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Ruth, I enjoyed reading your schedule and the way you make the subject matter suit your family.

[punchbuggyblue]

I was just blogging about this the other day, we like to start early, 8;30 and finish early 2pm...with silent reading for an hour 2-3.

 

Subjects per day varies with our outings schedule.

 

We're trying something different this year, and working rigorously in 4 week blocks with a week off, unless there's work left unfinished.

 

Lisa

Edited September 5, 2012 by punchbuggyblue

[mythreesonz]

My son prefers more of a block schedule so

Monday 3 lessons of Language Arts, and 2 videos of Art History(Khan Academy) and 1 math lesson a Gets spelling words and does a pretest and 1 hour of reading . Takes about 4 hours

Tuesday 1 chapter of Social Studies book, a hour of reading, 1 math lesson. Takes about 4 hours

Wednesday 3-5 hours of Science(We use something that can't be broken into chapters or lessons really) 1 math lesson, 1 hour of reading. about a 5-7 hour day

Thursday 1 math lesson, 1 health lesson, 1 technology lesson, 1 hour of reading, 1 latin lesson about 3 hours total

Friday is field trip, catch up and writing assignments. We also explore extra interests that day. If something caught his eye in social studes we may dig deeper this day.

Edited September 5, 2012 by mythreesonz

[Closeacademy]

We now have a regular schedule now that co-op has started.

 

7th grade:

Mon--algebra homework day 5, spelling list intro, read science & history lessons for the week, start composition assignment, go over language arts work and/or reading. Reading comprehension as well.

 

Tues--co-op day, algebra class, homework day 1, art class

 

Wed--algebra homework day 2, any art homework, go over history lesson, work on composition & spelling & language arts and/or reading.

 

Thurs--algebra homework day 3, go over science lesson and do any labwork, finish composition, spelling & language arts work. Do any reading.

 

Fri--algebra homework day 4, "playgroup" day

 

5th grade:

Mon--grammar & zoology homework/study for quizzes, math, history lesson/lapbook/notebooking, introduce spelling list, and reading comprehension.

 

Tues--co-op day, grammar class, art, zoology, math review & spelling work in study hall.

 

Wed--grammar & zoology homework, math, history & spelling work.

 

Thurs--grammar & zoology homework, math, history & spelling work.

 

I had wanted to do logic and vocabulary from classical roots with my older dd but algebra has been a lot of work and those two books are kind of dull. We may do vocabulary work later on this year when I find something a bit more fun.:001_smile:

[Soror]

My husband loves having time with the boys. He does the reading after dinner when I am cleaning up. Honestly, by the end of the day I would rather be by myself and do dishes (I listen to TTC audio while working).

 

I do the research to create the resource list. I usually have him do 1 topic per month, like knights and castles, or the vikings, or king arthur etc. Then I find 1 or 2 historical novels to read for each topic, and go to the library and find some nonfiction on the topic. With all the resources in front of him, dh chooses what he is in the mood for - a discussion with nonfiction and a map, or just snuggling up with a novel. His choice. He has no schedule. I just try to move him along the next month to the next topic, although he often overruns if they are in the middle of a novel. Whatever. DH and kids LOVE this time. There is no pressure on any of them. The results are that my kids love history, have built a good knowledge bank of world history over the ages, and have great memories of time with dad. I am sure they do not know that many dates, and probably are only reasonably good with all the different important people. But boy do they have the big picture. We have used this approach for 7 years.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

Thanks so much for sharing this. I know I for one would be :bigear: for more info and details as I think it would fit our family and goals well. Right now my oldest is only officially 2nd but I could see using a similar approach in a year or two. My dh has a much greater knowledge of history than I do and I could see that as a great way for him to impart that to them, while freeing me to study other things more in-depth.

[momto2Cs]

This is our weekly loose schedule.

 

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday:

The basics first...

 

• Science or history documentary during lunch and before the following
  
• Math - 1 lesson in Teaching Textbooks
  
• Language Arts; spelling, word roots and Latin each day. Then, Sundays = grammar, Mondays = free writing, W = focus of the month writing (this month is poetry), and Thursdays = writing project work
  
• Afternoon basket (literature, social studies/important events, nature reading, science reading, living math books, artists, composers, etc., all on rotation): about an hour
  

Then...

 

• Hands-on science, which is microscope work right now. Usually 2-3 times a week.
  
• History; reading through various vintage books following the kids' interests. 3-4 days a week. We keep a Book of Centuries to go with this. We also enter dates of important events from our Afternoon basket reading, and The Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook readings.
  
• Art, music, crafts... most days.
  

Tuesdays we just do "the basics".

 

 

Most days it averages between 3-4 hours. Tuesday is about 1.5-2 hours. This does not include the time that ds spends reading, which is probably another hour a day, or the time he spends teaching himself computer animation, filming, etc.

Edited September 9, 2012 by momto2Cs