Your Daily Schedule?

[Penguin]

I would love to see your daily schedule for logic stage. Our mornings go pretty much without a hitch, and I am happy with our morning schedule. I expect it to stay the same next year. I feel less satisfied about the afternoons, and I keep fiddling with the afternoon schedule.

 

Here is what I have. I have a 6th grade boy at home.

 

Mornings are the same M-F.

 

Morning Work (memory work, updating our planners, etc.). It is a bit of a catch-all time that provides a slow roll into the day. 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Math begins at 8 AM.

Literature

WWS 4x/week

Grammar

Vocab or Spelling

Danish

 

LUNCH (11:30-12:30)

 

12:30-2:30

Science Block (science plus logic puzzles... & DS wants to begin programming)

History/Geography Block (history & geography...& religion also has to fit in here)

We both like having science and history every day, but the amount of time spent on each shifts around.

 

THE hardest thing for me is figuring out the details in these two blocks. Work on a project? Outline the spine? Make a diagram? Get out Mapping the World with Art? Read a living book? Program? Ack, the choices seem endless. I can't decide if I want to plan it all out, or if I want to leave all of those choices up to DS. Probably a mixture of approaches would seem the most satisfactory.

 

 

2:30 to 3:00 Art or Music 2x/week

 

 

Thursday afternoons are left open for a science experiment, an art project, a field trip or a film.

 

 

In the evenings, DS works on Greek and practices piano.

He plays a sport (practice is 3x/week) and participates in scouts. Both activities also count toward foreign language immersion experience:)

 

 

Would love to see your child's schedule!

[Lily_Grace]

8:00 - begin reading the unit's chapter book assignment (usually a chapter a day). Discuss the story and literary elements.

Then in order:

-grammar worksheet that corresponds with the chapter book.

-history. The chapter book usually sets the stage. Break out the Jackdaw and use the primary resources to get a better picture of what happened.

 

LUNCH/personal study from 11-1pm

 

-Math (AOPS Intro to Algebra)

-Science (currently working on Ellen McHenry's The Elements & Mr. Q's Advanced Chem, alternating days)

-WWS

 

Take a break, then piano practice.

 

 

Italian is done through immersion, and art, cooking, etc. are at co-op.

[Luckymama]

We school from 9-12 and 1-she's done (anytime from 2ish until 4, depending on the day).

 

A typical morning:

--watch a Globe Trekker episode, do some mapping for Geography

--read and discuss history (on World War II now); sometimes textbook, sometimes library resources

--vocabulary

--math until lunch (Art of Problem Solving algebra currently)

 

A typical afternoon:

--literature reading and discussion

--science (rocks & minerals, building and testing balsa wood cantilevered booms, tree botany and ID, electricity, stars and deep space objects----------one topic per day as prep for state Science Olympiad competition in March)

 

Evenings are taken up with ballet, Lego League practice, and Girl Scouts.

 

[AimeeM]

We're starting something a little new (for us) this semester. We'll see how it goes before deciding to continue with it this fall.

 

Morning:

Direct Instruction

I present all of the upcoming lessons in short form - what we will be covering in math, grammar, writing, science, and history - I go over it, instruct in it, and do a few practice problems in each on the white board (science and history I write key words on the board and have her copy them into her notebook). I also go over anything glaring that she had a hard time with the day previous. This takes about 1.5 hours.

 

Late Morning/Early Afternoon:

Independent Study/Work

Autumn completes her assignments in math, grammar, writing, literature, science, and history. This will allow me time to work with her brother on his kindergarten program this upcoming fall. This usually takes about 3 hours (more if she has something hands on due for science).

 

Afternoon:

Question and answer

This block is for her to come to me with anything she found difficult or that she didn't understand. For her content subjects (history and science) she presents a summary of what she read/did in these subjects as if she is "teaching" them to me in short form.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I have a 5th grader this year and next I will have 5th and 6th. Our daily schedule varies. Some days they want to start independent work right away. Mondays/Tues I try to do some group work first, then independent. History and Science and Spanish are all afternoon activities.

 

So mornings:

Bible

Geography

Mindbenders

Grammar/Writing

Spelling

Math

 

Afternoons:

science

history/read alouds

spanish

independent reading(last)

 

We will start alternating science and history days instead of every day short time periods and go to longer times every other day due to a class one day in the morning. I don't expect things to change much next year. The basics first, then extras.

[Susie in CA]

Here is our rough schedule; but like you I never feel completely satisfied with the afternoon schedule. I don't know what it is. It may be that we all just get a bit worn out.

 

Morning

 

First thing we do Monday: Health, Tuesday: Logic, Wednesday: Critical Thinking in US History, Thursday: Logic, Friday: Mindbenders

 

This looks more confusing than it is and has worked well for us this year.

 

Literature about 1 hour -- this year Lord of the Rings

Math about 1 hour

English about 1 hour -- includes spelling, grammar, writing

 

Lunch 1 hour

 

Afternoon

 

German -- about 30 min

Spanish -- about 30 min

 

History/Science/Art/Music about 1 1/2 hours. We do History and Science twice a week, Art and Music the 5th day.

 

We do fairly well getting to all of this with the exception of Spanish. Somehow we have not been able to fit it in. I don't stress about it. We do a lot. Our evenings are taken up with soccer, fitness training, Lego League, and Documentaries on Tuesdays.

[MyLittleWonders]

I have a sixth grader this year and next a 5th and 7th grader. Our fat oohs are always hit and miss because I'm usually done by that point. But we are also horrible late owls and I'm slowly trying to change that. (The boys are getting old enough to see the benefit of earlier to bed and earlier to rise, so that helps.) Here's our rough schedule. M-Th are the same and F is different.

 

M-Th:

 

Read aloud 1: religion, fairy/folk tales, poetry and memory work

Math and independent work

Read aloud 2: current novel and history/science/nature selections

-break-

Latin

Grammar

Spelling

Writing

-break-

Electives (history and geography)

 

F:

Read aloud 1: catechism (individual), Shakespeare

Math and independent work

Read aloud 2: current novel

-break-

Free write Friday

Artist study

Science

-break-

Art and nature study

 

Not that it typically happens as planned, but that is what we strive to do.

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

9-10 Math

10-10:20 Break

10:20-11 WWS

11-12 - Language arts (grammar, or vocab, or spelling) then Latin

12-1 Lunch/Break

1-2 Science

2-3 Independent activities (geography or typing on the computer, science, history, or lit reading assignments)

3-4 History/Literature

 

That is a highly stylized version of our schedule! The truth is nothing (except math) takes that exact amount of time, and I'm not attached to that particular order for anything but math & writing, so after writing, the day becomes more fluid - I'll fit something in to the amount of time we have before lunch, or I'll let Miss P choose what she wants to do next. We don't work for more than 5 hours a day, but she does a lot of indepedent reading, which sometimes covers history/lit, either before or after "school"

[momto2Cs]

Our schedule is a bit different. I work mornings outside the home, and we school on Sundays rather than Fridays. Having said that...

 

Sunday (we start around 1:30 and finish up around 4 or 5):

 

Lunchtime Geography - we watch something like an episode of Wild China/Wild Africa, or Anthony Bordain's No Reservations, etc. while we eat lunch, and then I read a chapter from Halliburton's Complete Book of Marvels. Generally, we look up whatever place Halliburton wrote about on the globe, and then Google Earth.

 

History - I read a chapter (or two!) of K12's Human Odyssey, then a few chapters from a related historical fiction book. I'm toying with the idea of adding in some work from Map Trek. We also add picture(s) to our Books of Centuries, along with a brief note explaining the picture/mentioning specific dates and details.

 

Art - we read about art, or an artist, and complete a project. Here's a link to what we did yesterday. While we do this, we listen to music from the composer we're studying.

 

Other - Ds and I are reading through D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths together to study for the NME. I red from the Kaya story books (American Girl) to dd. Together, we read from something to do with nature... right now it is The Tarantula in My Purse & 172 Other Wild Pets. We'll also read any books I have lined up from the monthly lists in A Picture Perfect Childhood.

 

Literature - I read aloud from good books at bedtime

 

Monday-Thursday (we start around 2 or 3 and end around 5 or 6)

 

Misc. - I start by reading aloud any books I have lined up from the monthly lists in A Picture Perfect Childhood.

 

Language Arts - I read a poem aloud, then Ds11 does spelling and Word Roots daily while Dd9 works on phonics/reading skills daily. After that, we have a focus for each day: Monday = Grammar; Tuesday = work on our writing project focus of the month; Wednesday = poetry copywork/dictation; Thursday = phonics game/activity for dd and freewriting for ds.

 

Math - 2 to 3 lessons each day from Life of Fred (mostly review work right now. When it gets more challenging, we'll move down to 1-2 lessons/day)

 

Science - We do Elemental Science 2-3 times a week, and read a lot of topical books on sciences. Sometimes the kids will do projects/experiments from other sources as well.

 

History - Ds is learning abut Ancient Greece through various books, and dd is learning American history through the American Girls books, so we spend some time on those during the week.

 

Literature - During the week, I'll read aloud from our historical fiction pick, as well as whatever other book(s) we're enjoying. Some of this reading is in the afternoon, some at bedtime.

[ccolopy]

DS does his schoolwork in two chunks - independent work in the morning and working with me in the afternoon. We're trying to finish up a little earlier (we have to leave the house at 2:30 some days), but right now his daily schedule looks like:

 

Morning, starting around 8:00:

Homework/study for his online Arabic class (daily)

Math (daily)

Writing With Skill (4x/week)

Science (2x/week)

Assigned history reading (daily)

Reading science/literature until lunch

 

Afternoon, approximately 12:30-2:00:

Literature

History discussion and/or writing

French

 

He has his online Arabic class two evenings per week and a science lab with friends on Friday afternoons.

[Penguin]

Wow, I have really enjoyed and learned from your responses. Thank you SO much for your generosity.

 

Here is how today's actual (as compared to scheduled) afternoon went:

 

Prufrock Logic Puzzle

DS worked independently on science

Piano Practice

DS read from K12 Human Odyssey - then we discussed the reading

We both worked on a drawing for an art-project-that-ties-to-history that we will work on later this week.

 

 

 

 

Susie in CA: Documentary Tuesdays!! I want to do this :) Seriously, I was just thinking about this over the weekend. Netflix has just come to Denmark (although the selection is paltry compared to Netflix in the US), and I want us to watch more documentaries.

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

My 5th grader is almost completely independent, so I don't have time slots per se.

 

But he wakes at 7

Shower

Breakfast

A few chores

Math around 8:00

Bible and Prayer at 9:00

Then he just keeps going with his checklist and is allowed to take 2 15 minute breaks whenever he wants.

We all have lunch together at 12:00

Meeting with me around 1:00 for Spelling and to check and

Correct math...

Then he continues on till about 2:00

 

Then around 5:00 he does his evening chores.

6:15 is dinner

Then family time

8:00-8:15 bedtime.

 

On certain days we also have errands, Greek, friends coming over etc. but that mostly falls in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

[Professormom]

I attached a week plan as a jpg. I give the kids each a week plan with their binder of stuff each week. Every day, they need to work through their list. If they get to the end of the list, they are done. Of course, I do instruction for whatever they need it in, be it math lesson, spelling, grammar, etc. I fit those into my schedule as I can.

 

This has been terrific. They get independence and accountability. I have some accountability as well because whatever isn't done at the end of the day is something I need to contribute to. It helps us keep moving. They can work within their energy levels at any given time, provided they get the work done EACH DAY. No carryover without explicit permission from moi:-)

[Joshin]

I have a 6th and 2nd-ish grader. Our schedule since coming back from break:

The following are done daily:

9:30-11:00 - assigned lit reading, writing, grammar, vocab

11:00-noon- Math

noon-12:30ish- lunch

12:30-1:15ish: History

1:15-2:00ish- Science

 

Only one of these are done, they rotate through different days:

2:00-done- French, art, logic for 6th grader

Programming, art, logic/math/word puzzles

[fourcatmom]

We used to do a full schedule from 8-3 with a 1 hour break but lately I have been playing around with a new schedule. I am finding that we are wanting to get more involved with our homeschool group and if we do participate it's in the afternoons. We started getting comfortable and sleeping later and then not all the work was getting done. I figured we would try to hit it hard in the morning and give ourselves time to schedule activities. We tried this today and both girls really enjoyed it. Today was our long at home day. Hopefully we will have a balance between school, friends and activities and extra curricula

 

Monday 8-12 (1 hour of each Math, LA, Science (Zoology) and History 12-1 Lunch 1-3 Homeschool Group Activities 2x month and Geography other 2x

 

Tuesday 8-12 (1 hour of each Math, LA, Science (Anatomy) and History 12-1 Lunch 1-3 Extra Curricula Activities (Riding lessons)

 

Wed 10-12 PE w/Homeschool Group 12-1 Lunch 1-5 (1 hour of each Math, LA, Science (Internet) and History

 

Thurs Classes with a local program, focus on writing and art / Extra Curricula Activities (working at stables)

 

Fri 8-12 (1 hour each Math, LA, Science (Chemistry) and History) 12-1 Lunch 1-3/4 Homeschool Group Activities (PE) or Field Trips

 

Sat Extra Curricula Activities (working at stables and soccer)

[Jenn121]

My 6th grader is very independent.

 

We go to home school rollerskating for PE on Tuesdays and have park day on Friday afternoon. So only some subjects get done everyday.

 

Evenings are busy at our house. Scouts on M, Chorus on TTH, Hand Bell Choir Awana/Youth Group on Wed. Piano on Thurs. and 4H project meetings sprinkled in.

 

We start school at 9 am, Break for lunch at around 11:30 and then back to it by 1. Monday & Wed. we leave the house by 5, Tuesday DD is out from 11:30-6, Thurs we are gone from 2-6 and Friday we leave at about 12:30 to go to the Library and then the park.

 

MUS Zeta-Daily

WWS- M, W-F

Wordly Wise M, W-F

Latin for Children Primer A - DAILY

Apologia General Science M, W-F

Bible Reading and Awana Scripture Memorization -DAILY

History of the U.S. with Hewitt homeschooling Tests- M, W-F

Veritas Press Lord of the Rings Lit Guide- M, W-F

Various Fiction and Nonfiction books to correspond with History of US -M, W-F

Piano Practice- DAILY

 

Jenn

[Mandy in TN]

I have a 4/5 grader who turned 10yo in the fall. We are still ramping up after Christmas. We have not started Alg2 again yet, but my oldest is living at home and started doing some Japanese exploration with the little guy this week.

 

We have no set schedule and I don't want to see any of my offspring before dh leaves for work at 8:30. This isn't a problem. I am often pushing them out of bed at 10:30. This week we are doing:

 

Artist and composer study

Poetry

Time4Writing

Time4Learning grade 5 LA and LA ext

Time4Learning grade 5 math tests for review

Time4learning grade 5 science only if he wants for fun

Science Daybook with Sciencesaurus grade 5

DailyMath grade 5 for review

WinterPromise Children around the World

Modern Curriculum Press Word Study E

MathUSee Geometry

Harvey's Elementary Grammar

Kumon math

Japanese for fun with brother

Mandolin

Violin

 

I have no order. I just want it done, but it tends to go like this:

 

Suck up boy, "Can you snuggle with me for just a few minutes?

Manipulative boy, "Can I just do one page this is a very long lesson?"

OR

"Can I just read one chapter this is a long one?"

Whiney manipulative boy, "I have worked really hard, so can I have a break to (fill in the blank).

Angry boy, "I am not going to do this. It is stupid."

Lazy boy, "Can I just do this orally my hand is tired?"

 

total time spent on school not including music or Japanese: never more than 4 hours

LOL 10yo boys

Mandy

[AngelaNYC]

We're doing things a bit differently. Ds (11, 6th grade) has issues with visual processing and this is what we do:

 

Monday: Gym, Math (Saxon 7/6), Reading

Tuesday: Library, Grammar (Hake 6), Reading

Wednesday: Gym, Math, Reading

Thursday: Dyslexia Workbook, History (SOTW 1), Reading

Friday: Gym, Math, Reading

Saturday: Theater class, Show choir, Science (Apologia General). Reading

Sunday: CCD (religion), Art (Artistic Pursuits JH Bk 1), Reading

 

When he finishes the Dyslexia Wkbk, we'll alternate weeks with Wordly Wise 6 and Read & Understand Poetry 6+. The daily reading is for about 10-15 minutes independently with books he chooses from the library. Creative writing is done a few times a month, either typed or hand-written (poem, journal entry, blog post, book report, script, tutorial, letter, etc). We got the field trips down to once or twice a month. We take our time focusing on one main subject each day (2 on Thursdays). He does better this way - he gets more done and has more understanding and retention. And it's less stress for him. We shoot for less than 2 hrs/day and we school year-round.

[MerryAtHope]

Here's a "typical day" in our house.

 

For history, I've pretty much got that laid out with Sonlight, but for science I have let my kids have a choice of what to cover (what books to read from choices I pre-select, to what experiments they do, writing or drawing in a journal, etc...) since they were 5th/7th grades, and that has worked well. Have fun! Merry :-)

[Sara Mac]

I attached a week plan as a jpg. I give the kids each a week plan with their binder of stuff each week. Every day, they need to work through their list. If they get to the end of the list, they are done. Of course, I do instruction for whatever they need it in, be it math lesson, spelling, grammar, etc. I fit those into my schedule as I can.

 

This has been terrific. They get independence and accountability. I have some accountability as well because whatever isn't done at the end of the day is something I need to contribute to. It helps us keep moving. They can work within their energy levels at any given time, provided they get the work done EACH DAY. No carryover without explicit permission from moi:-)

 

I love the layout of that assignment sheet, Heather. What do you use to produce it?

[Cosmos]

Here's a "typical day" in our house.

 

For history, I've pretty much got that laid out with Sonlight, but for science I have let my kids have a choice of what to cover (what books to read from choices I pre-select, to what experiments they do, writing or drawing in a journal, etc...) since they were 5th/7th grades, and that has worked well. Have fun! Merry :-)

 

 

I enjoyed reading this. Your family sounds like such a great team!

[Mukmuk]

These ideas are terrific. I've been so caught up with my own hobby (knitting :tongue_smilie: ) that I've let go of the homeschooling and organization ball. So here I am at the computer, finally tapping away at a printed schedule for next week, and hopefully a schedule per week forevermore. As I set it up, I'm thinking that my goal should be to help him generate his own schedule eventually to manage himself. Definitely not now at his level of maturity although he's a hard worker, but it's a worthy goal for the longer term.

 

I've decided we will have 2 or 3 big blocks for the day. Ds loves taking a long time to do any work, and so long as he's engaged, I let him be. The schedule is a reflection of what's been happening anyway, but hopefully with more direction. So on a daily basis (5x a week), he will do this:

 

We start around 9am:

Math block

10.30am - snack, break

Extra math block (if he wants)

12-2pm: Lunch, break, violin practice

Writing/language/music block

3pm Snack, break

Science block

 

We're out the door at around 3 or 4 for a variety of activity classes everyday (we usually bring the snack along to eat in the car), so we've been cutting out science. I plan to work it in more conscientiously in the coming term.

 

I havent required any reading as he generally reads a lot, but I do see a slackening in the past month, so I'll be looking for more books to generate interest. I also plan to discuss every 4th book or so. Documentaries - this happens on weekends. I'm thinking of doing science on a 3-4 week project basis complete with notebooking. This term is definitely off on a slow start but I feel the momentum building. Oh yeah! :hurray:

[PachiSusan]

Is it horrible that we don't have a schedule?

[Penguin]

PachiSusan, I don't think it is even a tiny bit horrible that you operate without a schedule!

 

This is only out first year of HS, so we are still figuring out what works best for us. I like Rose's description - I would also call our schedule "highly stylized."

 

DS likes the idea of a checklist, so we are now trying to incorporate a daily checklist. However, it is still difficult for me to discern what constitutes a reasonable amount of time to complete (fill in the blank). So some things will remain time based - for example, we do most of our grammar orally.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Is it horrible that we don't have a schedule?

 

No! Not at all!! Schedules can and do interfere with flexibility and flow. In fact, much as I like the idea of giving dd a checklist, I find that as soon as I write down a weekly list/schedule and hand it to her, it completely stifles our flow. Things just take how long they take, you know? So some days we do twice as much as I planned, and some days we skip a subject entirely, and if it was all written down (for her) I probably wouldn't feel free to make those choices on the fly, based on the material, the mood, or whatever else comes up in the course of a day.

 

I need a schedule, in a lot of detail, in order to feel free to relax and be flexible - because I can see the big picture that way, and know when we're getting off track. But that's just me, I work better with a detailed plan, flexibly deployed. You figure out how *you* work best, and don't feel like you have to adopt anyone else's plans or techniques or anything!!!!

[lauracolumbus]

Susan, for years we didn't have a schedule. I'm just starting to consistenly implement one. In years past, I'd start one then get too busy to consistently implement it. However, we managed to get schoolwork done and my kids have advanced fairly well. I let my dd13 sleep in til at least 10, but then make her day go longer. In years past, I'd often not enforce the work later in the day. Now I do. If she wants to sleep in, she pays the price of doing work until 9 pm if necessary. She's out 3x/week for volleyball, so she knows she won't go if it doesn't get done. Plus, we're active w/several groups, which cuts into our 'school' time.

Here's a typical week:

10-start off w/an educational dvd--right now we're touring Greece through one of the TC dvds

10:30- Alg. 1, w/Khan videos

11:30 Latin II w.Lukeion

1-Apologia Gen. Science, Story of Science

2-FMG/KFH/Mapping World w/Art

2:30 CEII

3 Writing

Reading in the evenings and anything she didn't get done during the day.

Wednesdays she has swim and art and Fridays we do history hands on projects w/our co-op or go to gym. At some point we'll pick up grammar again as she finished AG. Right now we work through it with her writing.

Laura

[Penguin]

I like having a schedule, and DS is glad to have one. Probably because without one, he would be afraid that I would have him work on math all day long:)

 

We tried the daily checklist this week. DS liked it. I am not so sure. I think that I do a better job balancing out his day without it. I lean towards the mindset that things take as long as they need to take.

 

For example, he is doing a good (but slow) job with WWS. It happened this week that the 45 minutes was spent on a summarizing day, and no actual writing occured! That was OK - learning happened. There was reading and discussion. He wasn't staring to space for 45 minutes. And I am NOT going to give WWS more than 45 minutes per day. But I want him to write SOMETHING every day.

 

I wanted to plug in a history narration or an outline for the afternoon - these are relatively easy for him. But the checklist was already in the child's hand and that didn't seem fair. Hmm, perhaps I am making the case for a weekly checklist. That would give him (us) the ability to work within his energy levels.

 

I am open to suggestions. Meanwhile, I love reading what everyone is else doing! So many great ideas and thoughts!

[JennyCook]

We just completed our first week of homeschool! Our schedule is getting tweaked as we go but this has been the generally idea....

I have 5 kids ages 10,9,7,4,3

Everyone is dressed and ready for family scripture study by 7:30. (This was no big change, we've been doing this for years so we are just continuing this for homeschool). Then we have been starting with math. I get the big kids going with their Saxon books (they have been taking the tests throughout the book so I can see where I should start them in their level). While they are doing that I've been working one on one with my almost 7 yr old. We do her grammar, math and writing with the occasional interruption from the toddlers or questions from the big kids.

 

When the big kids are done with math, we work through spelling books and grammar. (The grammar is requiring more one on one then I expected. We Use the rod and staff books. Apparently, they don't teach grammar at public school?!?! Sheesh!). If there is time still left before lunch we do a Latin lesson together with the whole family. (Minus dad whose at work). Then we have lunch together with a nice break. We crank up the music and get some wiggles and energy out. It will be nice when we can go outside. It's sooooo cold now!

 

After lunch the two oldest read to the two youngest and get them down for naps while I read with the 7 year old. Then I read aloud to the older kids who aren't napping. We are reading a great book about an Egyptian girl. My girls love it! Then we get out the story of the world (ancients) and read and do narrations, color maps and pictures, timeline etc. I've been wanting to alternate history MWF and science T,Th but I haven't found a science book I like yet. So this week we just did more history and learned about their animal of choice. (Dolphins, chameleon, and dinosaurs)

 

I'm thinking I might switch things up a bit though because I think my four yr old boy would love to hear and learn more about history. He is wanting to be involved in school with us but the other kids are requiring more attention. History in the morning might solve that. Then I could do math while the littles are sleeping.

 

We have a checklist of things to get done each day but no set schedule. All the kids that can read practice piano for 30-60 minutes a day depending on their age. I teach them sparaticly throughout the week. My 10 yr old goes to choir 3X a week and violin 2X per week at the school. She is duel enrolled. These are in the morning. We have been getting done with school around 3. After school they do dance. Between my three oldest daughters, I'm driving to the dance studio after school M-Th. Fridays are a nice break with nothing. It's the friend day. They invite friends over and play play play. Saturday mornings we do chores and more friend time in the afternoon. Sundays are relaxing family days. So far it's going good.....but, I'm only a week in and my kiddos are still excited about it. :)

[PachiSusan]

PachiSusan, I don't think it is even a tiny bit horrible that you operate without a schedule!

 

This is only out first year of HS, so we are still figuring out what works best for us. I like Rose's description - I would also call our schedule "highly stylized."

 

DS likes the idea of a checklist, so we are now trying to incorporate a daily checklist. However, it is still difficult for me to discern what constitutes a reasonable amount of time to complete (fill in the blank). So some things will remain time based - for example, we do most of our grammar orally.

 

I do make a list of what I want to accomplish in the day but I allow M to choose which topic she wants to do when. We have 3 periods of time we school in. I guess that's sort of a schedule, eh?

[PachiSusan]

Things just take how long they take, you know? So some days we do twice as much as I planned, and some days we skip a subject entirely, and if it was all written down (for her) I probably wouldn't feel free to make those choices on the fly, based on the material, the mood, or whatever else comes up in the course of a day.

 

This is me. I'm a go with the flow type of woman and my husband is a lists man. Makes for some interesting planning times for trips and things to accomplish. LOL

[PachiSusan]

Susan, for years we didn't have a schedule. I'm just starting to consistenly implement one. In years past, I'd start one then get too busy to consistently implement it. However, we managed to get schoolwork done and my kids have advanced fairly well. I let my dd13 sleep in til at least 10, but then make her day go longer. In years past, I'd often not enforce the work later in the day. Now I do. If she wants to sleep in, she pays the price of doing work until 9 pm if necessary. She's out 3x/week for volleyball, so she knows she won't go if it doesn't get done. Plus, we're active w/several groups, which cuts into our 'school' time.

 

 

Laura, I can see how that may be us in the future. We start school around 10 or 11 and finish sometimes close to 5 or 6 if it's a hard day. I'm noticing that it's not working as well as it used to as the school days get longer. I think more than a schedule, getting up earlier will help our situation. I hate getting up early. You early ladies are awesome!!!

[nandmsmom]

We don't have a schedule per se. I have a plan book that lists everything that has to be done on a given day. The kids choose what they want to do and set to work. If they need me to teach something, they come to me for it. I check through what they've done throughout the morning and go over any issues. They take a break midway through the morning. When all their individual work is done, they take a break, or if it's later, we eat lunch. After that, we do the together things like science, history, art, geography and latin. Then they do any assigned reading and piano practice. We don't go nearly as long as most of you seem to. I think I would go crazy if we worked all day. One of the best things about homeschooling for me, is the fact that we can get so much done in just a few hours.