rutamattatt Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Reading the thread about how much time we spend out of the house got me thinking. How do you evaluate what is a good use of time spent out of the house? What criteria make something worth the driving/scheduling/etc? What about field trips - what makes a field trip worth your while? What have been some of the most beneficial "field trips" you've done? I struggle to find a balance of fun and still semi-rigorous (for lack of a better word). Some of that is because I am still new to this whole homeschooling thing, and some of it (I think) is because I have a child who is academically very far behind and I feel this "pressure" to get her caught up (which is a whole other ball of wax). Ye who have done this awhile - I would love your thoughts/insight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Reading the thread about how much time we spend out of the house got me thinking. How do you evaluate what is a good use of time spent out of the house? What criteria make something worth the driving/scheduling/etc? What about field trips - what makes a field trip worth your while? What have been some of the most beneficial "field trips" you've done? I struggle to find a balance of fun and still semi-rigorous (for lack of a better word). Some of that is because I am still new to this whole homeschooling thing, and some of it (I think) is because I have a child who is academically very far behind and I feel this "pressure" to get her caught up (which is a whole other ball of wax). Ye who have done this awhile - I would love your thoughts/insight... My rule of thumb: no activities with other homeschoolers before, oh, 2 or 3 in the afternoon. One monthly park day, preferably on Friday. That is all. We did a weekly field trip, every Thursday. Yes, we were out of the house, but it was a scheduled weekly event, just my dc and me, on our own time schedule and based on our interests. No pressure. Sometimes our field trips had to do with something we were studying, sometimes they were community things that I thought would be interesting; sometimes they were trips to the zoo because we had zoo memberships; sometimes they were Camp Fire badge work. But the fact that it was the same day every week, and that it was on our own time schedule, makes it different from an age-segregated co-op class, where someone else is teaching and I'm having to follow her plans, and I'm hanging around with younger dc or having to do childcare for the other parents who are teaching...yeah, that would SO not work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I don't know the answer for this, particularly since my oldest is only in 5th grade. My elementary kids go to PE at the local elementary school every third day, and my 3rd grader has piano lessons one day/week. I work both of these into our schedule so that it doesn't interrupt school time - both are just before lunch. My 5th grader has a knitting club 2x per month, and that lasts all Wed afternoon. All three of these activities I selected based on goals for my kiddos. I think they get as much out of these activities as they do our formal academics. My 5th grader dropped her public school classes this year b/c I felt they took too much time and effort away from academics and interfered with our daily schedule too much. To compensate, I now arrange monthly girl nights for her & her friends. That is a lot of work as well, but it's not time away from school work. Most days I have someone who has an activity when public school ends, so most of our school days have to be done when PS is done. I don't like the restriction, but the activities are important to us, and this time slot is the only time activities are offered in our tiny, rural town. So, I guess it's a balance. As long as the kids are making progress toward their academic goals, we will keep with these activities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I always try to combine activities when possible (drop off one for gymnastics and another for guitar at the same time, etc.) I only choose activities that cannot be replicated by me at home. We only do field trips with family members. We do not do homeschool park days during school hours. (Park days are occasionally scheduled during non-school hours.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 We do not do activities with other homeschoolers/field trips during school hours, except for a weekly playgroup meeting on Thursday afternoons, beginning at noon. Outside activities happen after school is completed. I carefully evaluate whether an activity is really educational and allow it during school hours as a rare exception. For example, DS participated in a biology lab at the university, a one time opportunity I can't replicate at home. DS has riding lessons and TKD practice in the afternoons and evenings. I have no problem letting my kids do many after school activities. Everything changes once my students take dual enrollment classes at the local university; those take precedence over school at home. DD sings in university choir which meets at 2pm - after classes, but before homework help session. She is good at managing her time, her school work often extends into evening and weekends, so I see choir in the early afternoon as a much needed break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartsjoy Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I guess it would depend on who was behind. If it was my 14 year old who was behind, I'd be looking for that sweet spot. I would want the maximum workload possible while still being efficient and avoiding burnout. Anything out of the house would need to really add to after highschool goals. I'm thinking scholarship goals, work skills, apprenticeships. Anything on the funside would be on the weekend if the other was done. I'd also like to include a 14 year old in planning tentative highschool plan and what they need to get there based on whether they wanted the option of going to college. The main thing that helps me decide how much extra is a twice a year goal planning for each kid. We need to do math 7x a week, spelling 4, writing 4, history 2, science 2 etc., to move forward. Then we schedule out a week and see what's left over. Sometimes academic gives way to "non-academic." An example would be character building from our own internal issues, or a funeral, or learning patience playing with younger kids, or cooking skills. Goals help, Especialy goals made with longer goals in mind.Hugs, Melody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I am different from everyone else. I like a lot of out of the house and so do my kids. We do a weekly co-op most of the year. I started when odd was 7 and ydd was 5. At that time they were fun, extra, hands on kind of sweet little fun classes. Now that odd is 10 and doing much higher level work, it is serious work she does at co-op. Some of it I teach so that she is getting the lessons I want her to have, but we can do it w;other kids which makes it fun for everyone (like getting ready for the ELE. It is MUCH more fun for us doing this in a group this year than doing it on weekends alone last year.) They get things at co-op that I can't or don't want to teach, so I do my part by teaching something up there that we are going to do anyway. Then we are involved in scouts one evening a week most of the year, plus all of the extra stuff that goes along with that: the occasional sleepover, camp out, activity, field trip, or homework on a big project. Then there is dance class and the occasional library class. We have a great library system that actually offers 6 wk courses like art and robotics as well as the once in awhile cultural thing like a Shakespeare or Dickens play. We go to all of those that we can. They are free and awesome. So we work at home 4 days a week most of the year with 1 day out for co op. We do field trips a couple of times a month during our 4 day weeks some months. Other months we hit the books harder. Either way, I have a general idea of how much I want done each month and at the end of a semester, and I just make sure we are making it. I am not strict with the schedule, and we work year round to accomodate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Since I'm in the process of doing this right now...... I guess it depends how you see the value and worth of something. Is the activity meant to be social? Academic? Physical? A combination? What kind of a toll is the activity taking on your family? I try to put my kids first, but ultimately if I'm stressed out, snapping at everyone, unorganized, and miserable, is sticking to the crazy activity schedule REALLY benefiting my kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I totally agree. It has to be something that is good for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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