(We've probably done this before, but) Share your high schooler's schedule/routine?

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm talking about what they do daily, how you integrate and make time for co-op, outside classes, extracurriculars, etc.

 

We're just starting our second week of the year, and I'm pondering what our days will be like and what the rhythm of the week will be. My son is already saying he doesn't have enough outside things to do, and he may be right, but I want to avoid over-booking him. So, I thought it might be helpful if we could chat about these things here.

 

I'll start. I wake him between 7:15 and 7:30 each day. I had hoped to be waking him by 7:00, but I can't seem to get my act together (walk with the dog, feed pets, shower and dress, etc.) by that time without getting up even earlier. He takes a shower while I make his breakfast.

 

Mondays:

- We read aloud while he eats breakfast.

- Together, we go over the assignments for the week and make a planner showing what he will do each day.

- He starts with math most days.

- He moves on to other subjects, more or less in this order: chemistry, Spanish, history, government, English, creative writing, music and art.

- He takes a break for lunch right around noon, then goes back to work.

- Beginning two weeks from today, he will have to leave for choir practice by 4:15.

- He goes directly to tap class after that, from 7:00 - 8:00.

- Most days last week, he was still doing schoolwork at 5:00. So, clearly, something has to give.

 

Tuesdays:

- We read aloud while he eats breakfast.

- He starts with math, then moves on to other subjects.

- He takes a break for lunch right around noon, then goes back to work.

- He has to ride along with me between 2:30 and 3:30 when I drop his sister at work. The plan is that he will take school reading with him in the car.

- We eat dinner at home with my husband, after which I take my son to a ballet class that runs from 7:00 - 9:00.

- I pick up my daughter from her dance school while he is in class at his, and we all drive home together, arriving at about 9:30.

 

Wednesdays:

- We read aloud while he eats breakfast.

- He starts with math, then moves on to other subjects.

- He takes a break for lunch right around noon, then goes back to work.

- He has to ride along with me between 2:30 and 3:30 when I drop his sister at work. The plan is that he will take school reading with him in the car.

- He would like to add another tap class on Wednesday evenings, which he would attend only every other week. (We've checked with the school and the teacher, all of whom are fine with this plan.) This is one of the items up for discussion.

 

Thursdays:

- We read aloud while he eats breakfast.

- He starts with math, then does chemistry reading and Spanish.

- We do the labs for the week.

- He takes a break for lunch right around noon, then goes back to work.

- He finishes the remaining subjects.

- Again, last week this day ran quite late.

- In the evenings, we are supposed to watch our history-related film for the week.

 

Fridays:

- We read aloud while he eats breakfast.

- He starts with math, then moves on to other subjects.

- This is another day that is being discussed. We are considering attending some co-op classes on Friday afternoons. Classes are scheduled to run from 12:00 - 2:00.

- He has to ride along with me to take his sister to work. We are experimenting with making this an errand day, hitting the library near her job and also doing the grocery shopping. We are in the area for three hours, meaning we have enough time to stake out a table at Panera or B&N and let him do some schoolwork if he needs to finish anything.

- We arrive back home, with groceries, by about 6:30.

 

Weekends:

- He volunteers one or two Saturdays a month at the local science museum.

- He participates in youth group at our church and also volunteers as an assistant when the younger kids have playground time.

- He wants to return to the model rocket club, which meets one Saturday a month.

- Just this past weekend, he joined the volunteer corps at a youth theatre program. He's (probably, but see below) not doing any shows with them this season, but will likely volunteer to run tech for most of their performances. This group also plans and runs special events and fund-raisers for the program. They meet once a month, and volunteers are expected to pitch in at least one other time each month.

 

The concerns: Last week, our very first week, which had a relatively light workload, he didn't get done by Friday evening and had to do some catch-up on the weekend. If today is anything to go by, we may do better this week. The mom part of my brain says I should not let him add anything until he can prove he has the time and energy to do schoolwork well and the additional activity.

 

However, I know that this is a kid who slows down and tunes out if he is even teetering on the edge of boredom. And the incentive of having places to go and things to do is a big motivator for him.

 

But in years past we've over-done the outside stuff and had a lot of trouble honoring those committments and keeping up with school.

 

And the big wild card is dance. He earned a spot on the tap competition team at his dance school, and we don't know yet what their schedule for the year will be. We've been told they will have occasional additional rehearsals on some weekends and that they do two or three competitions each year. But I don't have dates for any of those things yet.

 

The director of the youth program auditioned him after the meeting this past Saturday. She is in desperate need of males for a few of her shows this season and is willing to offer some kind of scholarship to make it possible for him to participate. They rehearse either Saturday afternoons or Sunday evenings, depending on the show. Performance dates for all four production are in November and December, and I'm fairly sure that the one in which he is most interested would conflict with a dance performance.

 

So, my challenge is to find the sweet spot between bored/not enough and happy/overwhelmed.

 

Anyone else want to share your teen's school and extras schedule and chat with me about how you balance all of it?

Edited September 10, 2012 by Jenny in Florida

[Melissa B]

My dd isn't nearly as busy as most, however, we do longer days on MWF as we are out of the house on TRS.

 

M, W, F

 

She's the first up, around 6:30

school work from 7-10

break from 10-11: snack, most days she walks about 2 miles and takes outdoor photos

schoolwork from 11-2:30

break from 2:30-4: lunch, walks another 2-3 miles, takes photos, reads, listens to music, writes poetry

schoolwork from 4 - 7: also responsible for watching her 7 yo brother on M and W during this time

After dinner she watches/listens to any educational program her sister (12) is doing in school and usually spends an hour or so on school work of her own.

 

T

 

 

sleep in until 7

leave for DE classes at 7:45

in class until 11:30 - has an hour on campus to do as she chooses

home around 1 - school work until 2:30

break 2:30 - 4

school work 4-7

after dinner: educational program and 1 hour school work

 

R

 

up at 6:30

school work 7-8:30

leave for DE classes at 8:45

in class until 12:30

home around 1 - school work until 2:30

break 2:30 - 4

school work 4 -7: also watches younger brother

after dinner: eduacational program and 1 hour school work

 

S

 

Archery in the morning

(still trying to obtain) volunteer hours at the library in the afternoon

usually at the movies in the evening

 

 

I don't really do any of her school scheduling at this point. I leave it to her what subjects to do when and whether or not she needs to spend time studying over the weekend. She has been spending 5-6 hours each weekend on school work thus far.

[idnib]

I'm not even close to high school but I like to read high school threads.

 

Two things stood out to me:

 

--Why does he need to ride along to his sister's activities of he's in high school? Could he stay home and accomplish more that way, clearing other time for activities?

 

--Can he do more in the morning? It seems like he could walk the dog or feed the pets or something more than just showering and eating breakfast, especially if you're having trouble getting it done.

[regentrude]

DD has a busy schedule this semester.

 

Monday

come to university at 8:30, work on school work until 10:45

11-12 French class

lunch

every other week 1-3 Physics lab /if not, work at home

5:30-6:30- riding lesson

 

Tuesday and Thursday:

8-9:45 work at home

10-11 Physics lecture

11-12 French class

lunch

1-2 Physics homework

2-3:15 choir

3:20-4:30 Physics help session - finish homework

 

Wednesday:

8-9am physics recitation

9-2pm work on misc school work, lunch12-1

2-3:30 tutor in Physics Learning Center for algebra based phys

 

Friday:

8-9 physics reciation

9-afternoon work at home, esp, history, math

 

Weekend: French homework; prepare for physics lab; read English

 

several evenings: horseback riding as time permits. the beginning of the semester was rough; DD needs to find balance to make the time.

[bobbeym]

We're still working on finding a good schedule that works for us. Last week I was extra busy with work and DH was sick, and DS took advantage of that by not doing much work. He spent a lot of time catching up over the weekend.

 

Here's his schedule for this week.

 

Mon/Tue/Thur/Fri

7-8 wake up, breakfast, chores

8-12 school work (bible, math, science MWF, history TR, music theory/practice)

12-2 lunch, chores, free time

2-5 school work (lit/grammar, spanish)

5-7 dinner, chores

7-10 finish school work, free time

 

Mon/Tue/Thur/Fri

7-8 wake up, breakfast, chores

8-12 school work (bible, math, science MWF, history TR, music theory/practice)

12-2 lunch, chores, free time

2-5 school work (lit/grammar, spanish)

5-6 dinner

6:30-9 church youth group

 

Sat

Varies depending on what's going on. DS usually does school work in the morning unless he's been volunteered to help do construction site clean-up for a friend. Saturday nights are family time unless he chooses to attend a different church youth group.

 

Sun

8:30-11 or 10:30-12:30 church. Lunch afteward. Free time to do whatever he wants after chores are done as long as school work is complete. Sunday evening we review the upcoming week's plans.

 

Third Thursday is our local HS group young adult game day from 1-3 and 4H meeting from 7-8. Our 4H is revamping itself and his project groups haven't started yet.

 

In October he also starts an OCW python programming class. I don't know how any of that is going to impact our schedule at this point. I'm just hoping we get to a consistent shedule by then.

[Jenny in Florida]

--Why does he need to ride along to his sister's activities of he's in high school? Could he stay home and accomplish more that way, clearing other time for activities?

.

 

Our general rule is that he's allowed to stay home alone for reasonably long stretches as long as one parent could get home quickly in an emergency. My daughter's job is 30 minutes from the house, assuming no traffic. So, that trip is outside of our comfortable zone.

 

He's a great kid in lots of ways, but neither my husband nor I are yet comfortable with him being alone under those circumstances.

 

--Can he do more in the morning? It seems like he could walk the dog or feed the pets or something more than just showering and eating breakfast, especially if you're having trouble getting it done.

 

Walking the dog is my exercise, too. And she's really my dog (my baby, honestly). That's definitely my thing to do.

 

He could feed the pets, but that wouldn't help him get more work done.

 

My issue getting ready in the mornings is that I have to work around my husband's schedule. My alarm goes off at 5:45, and I walk with my dog for at least 30 and sometimes as long as 60 minutes. By the time I get home from our walk, my husband is either in the shower or getting in the shower, and I have to wait for him to finish to take my turn.

 

I strongly prefer to be showered and dressed before getting my son out of bed, since I don't function well until that happens.

[idnib]

.My issue getting ready in the mornings is that I have to work around my husband's schedule. My alarm goes off at 5:45, and I walk with my dog for at least 30 and sometimes as long as 60 minutes. By the time I get home from our walk, my husband is either in the shower or getting in the shower, and I have to wait for him to finish to take my turn.

 

Can you get your husband to agree to wake up 15-20 minutes earlier and shower while you're walking the dog? It sounds like he would have a nice long window to shower during that time. Then you could hop in right away and get on with your day.

[Jenny in Florida]

Can you get your husband to agree to wake up 15-20 minutes earlier and shower while you're walking the dog? It sounds like he would have a nice long window to shower during that time. Then you could hop in right away and get on with your day.

 

He is, to put it mildly, not a morning person. The only reason he gets up as early as he does (6:30) is so that he can get on the road early enough to avoid the worst of the traffic on the way to work. Asking him to wake earlier is not an option.

[idnib]

He is, to put it mildly, not a morning person. The only reason he gets up as early as he does (6:30) is so that he can get on the road early enough to avoid the worst of the traffic on the way to work. Asking him to wake earlier is not an option.

 

Talking about schedules and workload for high school is beyond my knowledge level at this time, and it sounds like the few scheduling things I found won't work. It's too bad things can't be more flexible.

 

Good luck! :)

[regentrude]

.

Our general rule is that he's allowed to stay home alone for reasonably long stretches as long as one parent could get home quickly in an emergency. My daughter's job is 30 minutes from the house, assuming no traffic. So, that trip is outside of our comfortable zone.

 

He's a great kid in lots of ways, but neither my husband nor I are yet comfortable with him being alone under those circumstances.

 

Would you mind sharing what emergencies are you specifically concerned about? Unless I had a child with a life threatening chronic illness, I am not sure what you expect to happen to a 14 y/o - an hour in the car is more likely to lead to injury than an hour doing homework at a desk.

Obviously I do not know your living situation, whether your neighborhood is extremely dangerous - but I do see the potential to save time here, and to eliminate interruptions from his schedule. Unless, of course, he enjoys this as a welcome change of scenery, which is entirely possible.

 

 

My issue getting ready in the mornings is that I have to work around my husband's schedule. My alarm goes off at 5:45, and I walk with my dog for at least 30 and sometimes as long as 60 minutes. By the time I get home from our walk, my husband is either in the shower or getting in the shower, and I have to wait for him to finish to take my turn.

I strongly prefer to be showered and dressed before getting my son out of bed, since I don't function well until that happens.

 

I really do not think your mornings are a problem - you still get started early, and with his busy schedule involving evening activities, I would be reluctant to have him start school work significantly earlier.

 

To me, it looks like he simply is doing a lot of stuff. I don't see any drastic potential to streamline his schedule - other than possibly eliminating the ride alongs. (May I ask why his sister does not drive?)

 

If he thrives on this work load, great. I personally prefer my young high schoolers to be done with school around 3pm, 4pm at the latest, so that they do have enough unstructured time. It worked well for DD in 9th and 10th grade; she had time for choir and almost daily horseback riding. This year she is a junior and is taking two very time consuming four hour courses at the university; I am not happy that she has to do homework over the weekend and on some nights. One of our main goals with scheduling is eliminating evening work, which is why she attends the help sessions - she could easily do the work at home, but it woudl get pushed back until late evening, This way, there is a specific time and place and she gets it done. Preserving consecutive chunks of unscheduled time is a priority for us.

Edited September 10, 2012 by regentrude

[Jenny in Florida]

Would you mind sharing what emergencies are you specifically concerned about? Unless I had a child with a life threatening chronic illness, I am not sure what you expect to happen to a 14 y/o - an hour in the car is more likely to lead to injury than an hour doing homework at a desk.

Obviously I do not know your living situation, whether your neighborhood is extremely dangerous - but I do see the potential to save time here, and to eliminate interruptions from his schedule. Unless, of course, he enjoys this as a welcome change of scenery, which is entirely possible.

 

He does enjoy getting out of the house, even if it's only in the car.

 

I'm trying not to make him sound like a danger to the community, here. He's just one of those kids who needs to push boundaries. And, every now and then, he'll do something that surprises us in an unpleasant way.

 

Also, we do live smack in the midst of downtown. It's not a big, scary urban area, exactly, but stuff does happen here that you might not see in the 'burbs. In the last couple of months, a dog was hit and killed in front of the house by a speeding car (a situation my son simply could not resist getting involved in if he were here by himself and saw it happen). The week after that, a young couple were at the bus stop on the side of the house arguing, loudly, and I was one step away from calling police.

 

He just doesn't have great judgement yet about what is and isn't appropriate in these kinds of situations.

 

(I should mention that the dog incident happened when my husband was home. He went out to assist but didn't want me to get involved because he knew how much it would break my heart. It's hard enough for me just knowing it happened. And my son was extremely upset, too.)

 

I really do not think your mornings are a problem - you still get started early, and with his busy schedule involving evening activities, I would be reluctant to have him start school work significantly earlier.

 

That's my thinking, too. He's often already really tired by the time he finishes a dance class. I can't imagine how wiped out he'd be if we pushed school earlier.

 

To me, it looks like he simply is doing a lot of stuff. I don't see any drastic potential to streamline his schedule - other than possibly eliminating the ride alongs. (May I ask why his sister does not drive?)

 

She doesn't drive mostly because she isn't enthusiastic about learning. (Her theory is that she's going to live in NYC, anyway, and won't ever need a car.) She was away at school when she was first old enough to learn and planned on doing it "later." A couple of years have passed now, though, and she's gotten more nervous. We've done a few lessons, but she really hates it.

 

And, yes, he really is just doing a lot of stuff. He is a kid who really needs to keep busy and gets unpleasant and unhappy when he can't. He is also planning to finish his high school requirements in three years, meaning he's carrying a heavier academic load than would otherwise be normal.

 

If he thrives on this work load, great. I personally prefer my young high schoolers to be done with school around 3pm, 4pm at the latest, so that they do have enough unstructured time.

 

The funny thing is that this is the most rigorous academic load I've ever assigned for him, and we're had the smoothest and most pleasant start to our school year, ever. We had several conversations over the summer about what this year would be like, with me reminding him that the three-year plan was his and that he still needs to meet high standards in all of his classes. Despite those warnings, he looked forward to starting school this year, which is unusual to say the least.

 

It's too early to say anything for sure, of course, but he does seem to be doing quite well with all of this. The challenge is just to make sure he still has time and energy to do other things, too.

[AK_Mom4]

One thing I found useful in the past was to log the actual amount of school time spent. Track how much actual heads-down work time he is getting with your current schedule and at what times. That would help him to schedule the most time-intensive subjects into the largest blocks of time and to understand how much catch-up time he can expect on the weekends if he doesn't get it done during the week.

 

I had to do this with DD18's schedule last year (her senior year). She kept adding activities and lessons and classes and sports and more work hours until it seemed like it was overwhelming. Once we mapped out where her best blocks of study time were during the week, that helped her prioritize her work so that she didn't waste those hours on something else (laundry, cleaning her room, chores, hanging with friends).

 

BTW - I think the morning routine sounds fine, too. It sounds more like a matter of figuring out how best to use the time you have.

[SailorMom]

(to the OP) Hmm - I don't think weekend homework (in your son's case, catch-up work) is a bad thing in high school. Pretty normal here. The issue would be it being homework, and not what you would expect to be done under your direct teaching/supervision.

I have very specific assignments that are to be done with me, or with me in the school room, and I also have work specifically for him to do as homework (either over a weekend, or after school). Also - I have limited the time he has to work on each subject/assignment during the day - usually about an hour or so- and whatever did not get finished is homework. That way - I know we will always get through what I need to cover with him. I'm still around if he has questions later, but we've done all of the direct instruction/classroom type work.

So far this year, I would say we have about four hours of direct instruction, an additional three to four hours of work on his own on each class, and then whatever time he needs in the evening or on the weekends to study.

As for the time your DS spends in the car and at DD's practices - that's prime time to study. He needs to take books, paper and pens, etc., and plan to use that time wisely.

My son is only 14 as well, and we're going through the high school growing pains :) It's an adjustment, but I hope that in about a month we'll have a streamlined system that will carry us most f the way through the next four years.

[angela in ohio]

My 16 yo:

 

M-F

up and ready for breakfast by 6:45

studying and flute practice

leave with dad at 7:45

study hall - she does her DO Physics and other work on a computer in the Media Center (in between a bit of tutoring other students or helping the librarian)

I pick her up about 10, then she goes:

 

M, school work 10-3:30 at home or library (during this time, we meet for her classes with me,) then flute and orchestra in the evening, home in time for bed

T, Chemistry lecture at CC, lunch, Chem Lab, then dad brings her home, school work after dinner until bed

W, home for online Latin, then up to lab at univesity for group meeting and work, then study from dinner until bed

Th, Chemistry lecture at CC, lunch, study until Robotics in the evening (unless we have 4H,) home in time for bed

F, most Fridays, she volunteers until 3:30 or so

 

She spends the weekends either at Robotics events, out of town with us, or studying.

 

So she spends 13 hours in classes or lessons, 30-35 hours M-F on study/school work, and about 15 hours in extracurriculars plus whatever she does on the weekend. Somewhere in the study time at home, she does a few chores (she used to do much of our housework - laundry, dishes, etc. - but I have lightened her load for these 2-3 years as her academic load has become intense.) She doesn't have a lot of free time, but her time is full of exactly what she likes, so it's sort of all free time. :D When she was younger, she had huge chunks of time to her own projects, which is how she narrowed her focus by high school

[Joani]

My 9th grader has extracurriculars every evening, but his school load is a bit lighter and he never has to leave the house before 3:15, so his schedule is a lot more manageable.

 

Monday - Friday

6:00 - wake up, shower, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, maybe a little work on German

7:00 - breakfast with me, I hand back anything I've corrected, go over it, discuss what he's going to do that day

8:00 - starts schoolwork, doing his online classes first, snacks while he works. This semester he's taking geometry, chemistry, English, medieval history, German and psychology.

1:00/1:30 - usually finished his work, lunch

 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

3:30-4:30 - cross-country practice

5:00-7:30 - swim coaching and practice

Thursday

- does his chemistry labs in the afternoon, with DD12 as his lab assistant

5:00-7:30 - swim coaching and practice

Friday

4:30-6:00 - swim practice

Saturday

8:00-10:30 - swim practice

- cross-country and/or swim meets

Sunday

- spends an hour or two on assigned reading for the week

 

For the amount of courses your son is taking, the timing doesn't seem unreasonable. The only thing I can think to get through the schoolwork a little quicker would be to do the subjects in larger chunks, to save some time on transitions and to get more "into" or focused on the subject. I know it takes my son a few minutes to wrap his brain around a new subject when he starts, so doing that 8 times a day would drive him crazy.

[BibleBeltCatholicMom]

We focus on Fiddle practice, Languages, Writing and Vocabulary in the mornings. In the afternoon she does classical violin and either Socratic or Religion (confirmation prep) and the things she does in blocks: History, Science, Grammar, Logic.

 

Monday

Up at 6.30, get ready, chores, et c. (in real life we usually over sleep on Mondays and end up eating while we do school).

7 -- prayer, breakfast and reading

8-12 -- school

lunch

1-3 -- Online Socratic class or Confirmation prep alternating weeks and block schedule.

4 -- Writing class (i teach)

Algebra when Dad gets home.

 

tough day!

 

Tuesday

6 -- up and chores, et c.

7 -- Mass, home, breakfast

8-12 -- School

12 lunch

1-4 School

 

Algebra when Dad gets home.

 

Wednesday

6 -- up, chores

7-8 -- adoration

9-12 -- School

lunch

1-4 -- school

Algebra when Dad gets home.

 

Thursday

6 -- up and chores, et c.

7 -- Mass, home, breakfast

8-12 -- School

12-2 - latin and lunch

break

2.30 or 3-4 -- school

Algebra when Dad gets home.

 

Friday

6 -- up, chores

7-8 -- Adoration

8.30 -- home and reviewing schedule for unfinished subjects, study

 

11 -- violin lesson

off the rest of the day unless pressing deadlines require otherwise.

 

Saturday

Study Languages

Math

Unfinished school work, if needed

 

Extra-curricular

Extra-curricular activities vary and get scheduled in where they go. She usually alternates b/t riding lessons and swim team but is taking a break to do theatre (for two more weeks). Violin isn't considered extra.

 

Classical Gk, Latin 3, German 2

I teach Writing a la Lively Art of Writing

Vocabulary from Classical Roots and SAT notebook

Socratic with Angelicum

Confirmation and Catechism

Literature a mix of me and Angelicum

Algebra

 

Blocks

US and World History

Biology

Logic 2

Grammar

[mjbucks1]

My ds, 15, is taking AP Chemistry (with PA homeschoolers), AP Computer Science (PA homeschoolers), Latin III (Lukeion), History (TOG Year 2 with me), Literature (TOG year 2 with me), Saxon Advanced Math (at home with me), and Debate (out side class which meets every other Tuesday from 1:15-4:40.

My ds is up by 6:45, and starts school work no later than 7:30. He takes a half hour to 45 minute break for lunch around noon. He has computer science class on Mondays for about an hour, and Latin class on Wednesdays for about an hour. He works until about 4 every day. We leave shortly after 4 for swim practice, which goes from 4:45 until 7:30. We have dinner when the kids get home from swim. They might have 1/2 hour of free time, then it is off to bed. Ds also does a significant amount of school work on the weekend as well (about 5-6 hours on Saturday and 2-3 hours on Sunday). We will have 1-2 weekends/month (sometimes more) spent at swim meets, so the schedule might get a little hairy.

Ds is very busy, but it is his choice to swim :D! He is also the one who wanted to take Latin III and the AP classes this year, which require a good deal of work. But he is enjoying the classes so far!!

Scheduling is a bear in high school. I find that good time management is the key, especially utilizing the minutes spent in the car. Both of my older kids ALWAYS take school work with them. On our commue to Speech/Debate tomorrow they will both take reading to work on. Good luck as you try to find a schedule that works for you!

Blessings,

Michelle

[kroe1]

At least in this part of Florida, it's been my experience that one cannot combine the world of theater and a competition dance team. The competition teams need the entire weekend about 8 times per year. As you know, that is a huge conflict for theater rats.

 

We have been lucky enough to find a studio which has a company team providing the higher level of dance instruction, yet only requires 1 weekend for a competition. It is sort of a nice balance between recreation and competition. And during main stage shows, the studio will give privates during the day so DD doesn't get behind or let her team down. Do you have that option where you live?

 

DD12, for 9th grade, works on school from about 9 to 2, then we hit the road for all the extra-curriculars. We're usually home by about 9p every night. During shows, the schedule is a little more crazy, but you've been there and done that.

 

I hope it works out for your DS. I love the boy tappers. We have a few really great ones at our studio, too.

 

:)

[luvnlattes]

My 9th grader's schedule:

 

Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday

Up about 7:30

School from 8:30 to 12:15 ish

Lunch

School from 1:00 to 3:00 or 4:00 depending on how the day went

Piano practice sometime in the afternoon or evening

 

Monday nights he has quizzing.

Tuesdays he has piano lessons after school hours.

Wednesdays we have co-op where he takes Latin, Math, and Art. He also does some schoolwork for me that day. Wed. evening he has Awana.

 

As you can see my son does not have a lot of extracurriculars but that is what works best for him. He would not enjoy a schedule that was overly packed.

 

I agree with you about having him show he can handle the work load and do it well before you add anything else. You mention adding it could be an incentive to getting his work done, but I think high school is a time to do your lessons well without added incentives.

Edited September 11, 2012 by luvnlattes

[Jenny in Florida]

At least in this part of Florida, it's been my experience that one cannot combine the world of theater and a competition dance team. The competition teams need the entire weekend about 8 times per year. As you know, that is a huge conflict for theater rats.

 

This team does only two or three competitions per year, apparently. They also have a couple of additional community performances, but those are just a couple of hours on one day.

 

Nonetheless, we went into this year with the agreement that he would take some time off from theatre in order to focus on dance. It's just that it's now becoming clear the dance team won't keep him busy enough for his taste. So, we're trying to figure out how to add a couple of things to his life without compromising on that committmement.

 

I'm supposed to have a chat with the dance school owner/director tonight to discuss the schedule for the year. He actually got an offer to do a show with the youth theatre program, with rehearsals only one day each weekend. Assuming there is no conflict with the performance dates, it might actually work for him.

[HistoryBuff]

My son is 14, in 9th grade and has several issues requiring me to slow down and do a lot of modifications. He has Asperger's *high functioning autism* so I do adapt the lessons and times if necessary.

 

I am trying to keep him on a schedule but I also have an unemployed spouse home a lot so we often deal with interruptions.

 

M-F

6:45 am I get my son up and he has breakfast. I try to keep things mellow and play quiet music and not start the day with discussions with the spouse--they often lead into arguments these days. :(

 

7:30 am start the school day ideally but my son will dawdle if I let him so if it's 7:45 that is also typical.

 

We have a schedule of math (practical), Earth Science, English, History (World), Spanish (third year but I guess you'd call it Spanish One for High School), Film Appreciation and History (Elective) and Gym (3 times a week). I also try to get some Social Skills and special ed. work in.

 

We go from that 7:30-noon or so. I hardly give him a break but if I feel he needs it, I cut the lessons from 40 minutes to 30. In the afternoons, after lunch he reads a bit or I let him play a video game for awhile, then it's reading again (he has to read an hour a day), and typing or free play on the computer.

 

I'm trying to slowly incorporate more writing into his workday and have him using his audiorecorder to study and review vocabulary and spelling and math facts.

 

We belong to a gym and go 3-4 times a week as a family. On weekends we usually go to the gym at least once so I don't have that pressure to do gym on top of everything else.

 

Fridays I try to do catch up if we have to or we use the weekend for that but again the main thing now is getting him back into the groove and slowly increase his work.

 

In October we start a Social Skills group again which runs at night once bi-weekly for 5 or 6 sessions. He gets to socialize with his peer while parents attend workshops.

 

I don't do the same subjects the same times every day. I vary it. We also sometimes go to the gym in the day and do work later into the afternoon or night.

 

That's the good thing about home schooling. We can vary our schedule so no one gets bored.

[rockala]

as about a year and half ago I started working part time. I am home 2 full days and two afternoons. I used to be very involved in every moment, but no more. Sadly, many times my free afternoons and days off are occupied with some appointment or errands etc. Out of neccesity we changed.

 

I would encourage you to have ds take a babysitting class to be able to stay home for longer periods so that he can complete some of his work on his own. We do not really do any outside classes anymore (did many when they were younger), but have evening activities such as swim team, IEA (compettive horse team) and venture crew (co-ed division of boy scouts), volunteering friend get togethers etc. They have a lot on their plate for high school and keep in touch with others via skype or text.

 

The kids are fully responsible at this age for creating their own shcedule in word or excel and sticking to it. Some of their online classes are scheduled for them with a syllabus and some are not. It took some time to teach them how to schedule but it lets me go over their schedule, done in their order and just check, review and ensure all is being done correctly. This takes very little time and has been beneficial. We had to start slowly to ween him off from my scheduling every moment :001_smile:.

 

Ds 15 now sets his own alarm as I am gone very early. He gets up and plans his day according to his schedule of online classes. Weekly a rough schedule is created with daily work sorted in word in order to complete assignments by their various due dates. As classes are done, the document can be updated or adjusted.

 

Dd almost 17 gets early as well with her own alarm up and feeds horses alone and then attends to her schoolwork. This scared me very much at first, but all is well.

 

I knew in my spirit I was supposed to take the job and it has been tremendous growth for me and the children. I feel much more conident that they can handle themselves when college days arrive.

 

K

[Jenny in Florida]

I would encourage you to have ds take a babysitting class to be able to stay home for longer periods so that he can complete some of his work on his own.

 

Okay, let's just say that having him stay home while I drive his sister to work is not an option, shall we? Honestly, that one hour in the car a couple of times a week is not the primary concern, especially since he takes assigned reading with him.

 

The kids are fully responsible at this age for creating their own shcedule in word or excel and sticking to it. Some of their online classes are scheduled for them with a syllabus and some are not.

 

He's not taking any online classes, but I plan the whole year in advance and print the assignments for each week. For the last couple of years, we've worked together every Monday morning to parcel out the weekly assignments into daily chunks. This year, he has asked to transition to doing this on his own.

 

I guess it's not that I see any real "problem" with the way things are going now. He's a busy guy, and he's happiest and most productive when that's the case. I was just wondering if other folks might share how they are balancing schedules for their own teens.

[Jenny in Florida]

You mention adding it could be an incentive to getting his work done, but I think high school is a time to do your lessons well without added incentives.

 

Which is awesome if you have a student for whom that is meaningful. My son is extremely bright (never tested, but we believe he's in the profoundly gifted range) and easily bored. He doesn't place much value on school for school's sake, and there are always 100 other things he would rather do and thinks are more important.

 

So, while I do wish he were more academically motivated, I've had to make peace with the fact that school just isn't his priority.

[rockala]

well you are right- you cannot force things at this age and I know of others whose kids are not into school. It is hard to know how much to push without making them totally check out- which we do not want. It sounds like you are quite comfortable with things and that is good. :001_smile:

 

That is why we hs right, so we can do things are own way;). I do have a friend whose son sounds much like yours at 14. At 15 1/2 he did a 180 and deeply applied himself to school. He got a job and worked hard at school and a job and scored in the top 2% on the SAT. He went off to college on a full scholarship. We could not have seen it coming from when he was 14 though, no way.

 

Other bright kids want more of a simple life and dont want to join the rat race, or others are more social and find their passions in other areas. It takes all kinds to make the world go round.

 

I would not want it any other way.

 

K

[luvnlattes]

Which is awesome if you have a student for whom that is meaningful. My son is extremely bright (never tested, but we believe he's in the profoundly gifted range) and easily bored. He doesn't place much value on school for school's sake, and there are always 100 other things he would rather do and thinks are more important.

 

So, while I do wish he were more academically motivated, I've had to make peace with the fact that school just isn't his priority.

 

I don't know how meaningful it is for my son, it's just the expectation he's been given :tongue_smilie: .

 

I didn't mean for it to sound like I was criticizing your intent to do that, it was meant more as saying it was ok and not to feel bad if you didn't sign him up for the other class. Your OP mentioned that your mom part of your brain said you want him to prove to you that he can handle the work load. I was agreeing with that part of the statement and added the additional comment to explain why I agree with it. Sorry if I came across poorly.

[Jenny in Florida]

Other bright kids want more of a simple life and dont want to join the rat race, or others are more social and find their passions in other areas. It takes all kinds to make the world go round.

 

I would not want it any other way.

 

Yep. My daughter (his big sister) is also extremely bright. She went off to a residential early college program at 12 and graduated with her B.A. at 16. All of her friends from college went right into grad school, but she isn't interested. Her passion is theatre, and she's working hard to make that happen for herself.

 

Honestly, for really academically capable kids, it's often healthier for them to go into careers in things that don't come easily and naturally for them so that they don't get bored later in life. No matter how many times she steps on stage, performing is still difficult and demanding for my daughter. Every show is different. Every character requires new research and lots of hard work to make her come alive and be real on stage.

 

School is easy for my kids. So, my challenge is always to find a balanace between providing academic challenge and allowing them time and space to pursue other passions.