Sarah CB Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I am working through our schedule and this is what I'm coming up with: 8:00 - spelling 8:30 - French 9:00 - Latin 9:30 - Family memory, Bible, geography, etc. 10:15 - math 11:15 - lunch 12:15 - writing 1:00 - grammar 1:30 - science or history 2:30 - finished This doesn't leave time for Lightbearer's homework (we'll be doing this with another family and having two class periods from 3:30 onwards each week but there will be a little bit of homework as well), reading, or piano practice. I'm assuming she'd probably spend another hour or more each day doing homework, reading, and piano. Also - this is only 4 days per week. On Thursdays we have to leave the house right after lunch and won't be back until the evening. We'll be doing some "carschool" during that time but I can't reliably schedule in a subject there - although I guess a lot of her reading could be done during those hours. On one hand, it feels like this is too much. It's a very solid day. 8 - 2:30 is rather long. On the other hand, it's only 4 days a week and the homework is pretty minimal. I don't have logic scheduled in because I think I've decided to do AG and that means we only have 10 weeks of grammar (right?) and then we should be able to slot Logic into that time. How many hours do your 7th graders spend working? Is this too long? I thought I was doing really well at streamlining and cutting down on things but when I got it all on paper it seemed long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie in VA Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Well I'm looking at a 7 hr day for my 7th and 8th graders this year. I asked about the length on the high school board and quite a few said that is what they did also. Some of the differences in lengths of day is because of the curriculum chosen (some just take longer then others for the same subject) and the use (or not) of outside classes or co-ops. We tend to go from 8:00am to 4:00pm but that includes breaks & lunch. Homework time is only for the work not complete during the day. subject wise, for my 7th grade ds I have (at this point) math writing/grammar spelling vocab history, lit bible science latin informal logic scout merit badge work piano art (drawing) w/mom 1 day/wk & one day/wk to a chess club I'm considering switching to an art class just to give him an outside class. Outside activity is Boy Scouts 1 night/wk plus events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Do you do both grammar and writing every day? How about alternating weekly; writing 3x/grammar 2x, then switch writing 2x/grammar 3x? Are you doing French and Latin 5 days a week? Can you do them 4 days per week - lightening up your schedule on busier days. Can you do math 4 days per week? If you can pull away one subject each day, you'll lighten up your schedule considerably. Monday do everything except grammar, Tuesdsay everything except writing, Wednesday everything except French, Thursday everything except Latin, Friday everything except math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 I think the length of a school day depends on the child and can also depend on how they are using free time. This doesn't seem too bad for a four day school week. My dd was 7th grade last year. She worked well with fewer subjects during the week and more scheduled "free time." (Hey, it's an oxymoron, but the psychological advantages are great!) If you were wanting to cut back, you might consider that she's probably covering grammar already in Latin and/or French. Does she need to do spelling? (My dd did, because she slacked off in 6th grade and I was not satisfied with her effort.) Perhaps some of her writing can be tied in with history/science, applying whatever concepts she's working on. If you are talking, talking, talking about what she's reading, formal logic might not be necessary at this point either. It's HARD to fit everything in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Our day is about that, 8:00-2:30, with an hour and half to get lunch and babies to sleep in the middle. Together we talked about what kind of day she wanted, and both of us really wanted to get the harder stuff done in the morning. Having writing and grammar after lunch would make her more determined to start earlier, History/Science and piano would be fine I also think you could rotate grammar and spelling, do one this week and one the next or something. We also have a 4 day week. Most days we do the 3 R's, and the geography/memory/ect in the morning. In the after noon we do History and recorder/guitar practice. On the other day, we do art, art and music appreciation, and a long period of science. You could schedule that 5th morning for homework, logic, and catching up whatever else (history or science projects maybe). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Academy of Jedi Arts Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Kids in public school have similar schedules- and they don't get an hour for lunch (or get all those great subjects you have there). They also have a lot more homework than your dd, probably. We have a similar schedule here as well for dd7. I don't map out my schedule by hours though. Sometimes we start later in the morning. Sometimes we go even later than 2:30, sometimes we are done by 1:00- depending on what we have planned for that day. What I do is this- if I know we are going to have an intense day for one subject, I try make a couple of the other subjects a little lighter. An hour of writing is pretty intense, but if I balance it out with a documentary along with light reading for history, the day doesn't seem that bad. Grammar is always a gimmee for dd. She knows she can pick that subject if she needs something easy. Sometimes, dd will do all but one subject, and save that subject for the evening. Kind of like night school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Is this for your 12 yo dd? Seems ok to me for that age. I'd try it and see how it works. If she's not finishing work or seems swamped then you could tweak it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanaTron Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 I am working through our schedule and this is what I'm coming up with: 8:00 - spelling 8:30 - French 9:00 - Latin 9:30 - Family memory, Bible, geography, etc. 10:15 - math 11:15 - lunch 12:15 - writing 1:00 - grammar 1:30 - science or history 2:30 - finished On one hand, it feels like this is too much. It's a very solid day. 8 - 2:30 is rather long. On the other hand, it's only 4 days a week and the homework is pretty minimal. I don't have logic scheduled in because I think I've decided to do AG and that means we only have 10 weeks of grammar (right?) and then we should be able to slot Logic into that time. First of all, for some students it would be too long of a day. For others, it won't. You know your dc best. Second, I see you have younger dc, too. Will your 7th grader really be finished at 2:30 each day? Or will interations with the youngers, either by your 7th grader or yourself, make some lessons take longer some days? I know in my household, sometimes things take less time than I expect, but quite often, things take longer, because my dc actually want to interact with me, and discuss things, and go off on tangents. Surprise, surprise. :D If you want to shorten the day, I would alternate Latin and French, every other day. I would put spelling in the slot where grammar is, once you finish the 10 weeks of AG. I would keep logic to twice per week, in its own 15-20 minute time slot, perhaps on the days your dc doesn't have the class. I have opted to go to "loop" scheduling this year for my 7th grader. He and I both really hate long school days. Here is what his loop will look like: Math Latin/French (alternating each time we go throught the list) Science/Literature study (alternating by unit, i.e. we begin the lit study when we finish the science unit) History Grammar Writing Spelling Logic/Art (alternating each time we go through the list) We will work through this loop for three hours, then stop, picking up the next day where we left off. We will school year-round, taking time off where we need it. Each day, we will do memory work as a family, and he will have one hour of assigned reading, plus instrument practice. These are not part of the loop, they happen every day. So in, with these added in, he will have about 5 hours of work on school days. But reading and instrument practice are not "work" to him, as he enjoys both. I am hoping the memory work will be fun and something we all enjoy. We are trying this with our summer school schedule and so far, we love it! I am much more relaxed, which means they are, too, and I have more time and energy for my dh, household management, and my friends. Happy mama=happy home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Thanks for everyone's input. Dd spells competetively so that half hour will evenually turn into much longer (after school hours). Thankfully, she owns this herself so she won't look at it as extra work but that half hour each day is her minimum until things start to heat up. I feel like I have to have grammar and writing each day basically because that's where we fell short last year. We're only part way through Homer B and we were supposed to be starting Diogenes in the fall. Also, we ended up letting grammar go last year - I would like to get us back on track in these areas now. There are so many things that I'd like to add to this schedule. It's really taking all of my willpower to leave it be. I think I've accounted for the little ones. I wrote out my schedule for them yesterday and I'm pretty sure everyone is integrated. There will always be unplanned for interruptions, but I'm hoping to minimize them as much as possible. I made preschool baggies for my littlest one and I have quiet work areas for him set up on our school room. The boys will actually have the same school day, but they have more breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie in VA Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 How are you fitting Homer B into a 45 min time slot? We'll be doing Homer also. My dd started A last year but it fell off the schedule due to an outside writing class. This year I'm considering Older Beginners for her and my ds. I've scheduled about 1 1/2hrs, 4 days/wk for the CW analysis, CW writing, and the grammar (we'll use Harvys)... although I don't expect the actual grammar work to be much. Are you taking 2 wks for each lesson or am I really setting aside more time than should be needed for Homer? tia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.