I am ready to pull my hair out!

[happyWImom]

So far, this is all that we have done today:

I read them a long book (Tree of Life) at breakfast, which we discussed.

They did simple morning chores (beds, teeth, clothes, emptied dishwasher)

Dd practiced piano & read 6 short chapters (really short-6 sounds like a lot, but not in this book) from The Whipping Boy

 

That's all she's done. She's working on the questions that go along with it, from BF Teach. Char. Through Lit. She still has to watch MUS lesson & do 2 practice pages, WWE, OM LA & spelling. Before lunch. It's 11:46!!

 

Ds has watched his MUS lesson, and has done 4 prac. problems, and WWE. He is working on the rest of his problems.

 

What is wrong, here!!!! Since it is Earth Day, I promised them we would take a picnic lunch to the pond and spend a few hours. This ALWAYS seems to happen when we need to go somewhere. Then I get stressed out, because I am envisioning the rest of our week ( we only have Tues & Wed as regular school days-not enough time!) and I snap at them, which makes everything worse, and ruins our day.

 

I haven't snapped yet, which is why I am venting, here. :D

 

I am having them get their important, basics done, but I feel like that's all we are accomplishing lately. Where's the science, where's the history???? The only solution I can see that would work is to get up earlier. But, my dd especially is a complete bear if she doesn't get her sleep. She has anxiety & OCD issues, and sleep is really important. She was up early today (7am) but we didn't eat until 8:30. That is usually around the time we have breakfast, and then they have a late morning snack and we tend to push lunch back until 1 or 1:30.

 

I hate to put a time limit on things, because I really want them to do their best.

[cjthedog64]

The same thing happens here.

[PeterPan]

If you have a list of things you want them to get done before they get to go somewhere, you have to give them the list. Then they know the plan and wake up and get it done.

 

I didn't know it was Earth Day. No wonder I find myself working on my neglected potted plants! :D

 

Btw, when did they wake up this morning and start? Some kids have a very slow start to their morning. The list you give looks like 3-4 hours work. If they start at 9:30 and work to 11:30 to get ready for the picnic, I'd expect the list to be half that length. But that's just how we work in our house.

[happyWImom]

If you have a list of things you want them to get done before they get to go somewhere, you have to give them the list. Then they know the plan and wake up and get it done.

 

I didn't know it was Earth Day. No wonder I find myself working on my neglected potted plants! :D

 

Btw, when did they wake up this morning and start? Some kids have a very slow start to their morning. The list you give looks like 3-4 hours work. If they start at 9:30 and work to 11:30 to get ready for the picnic, I'd expect the list to be half that length. But that's just how we work in our house.

 

 

I know the stuff looks like a lot, but the MUS is about 10-15 min to watch, both find the pages easy (dd usually gets hers done in about 10min) WWE was copywork, so not even 5 minutes-see what I mean?

 

I do give them a list, every day, with the important stuff listed first, and they cross them off as they go along. My dd seems to only get the important stuff done. :sad: I know that I could have him do school all day long, but I want him to have time to play outside, read, etc.....

 

I guess I'm just curious and wondering how everyone else gets all of their stuff done. Some of you ladies have lots of stuff listed in your siggy, and I just can't imagine it all! I know my siggy looks like a lot, but these aren't things we are doing daily, some not even weekly. :blush:

 

How is it possible to do it all, have a life, free time, keep your house clean, make meals......... I have been hsing since they were in pre-school, and I still don't have an answer.

[Miss Tick]

As an adult I think the WWE copywork should just take 5 minutes, but for my kids it always takes much longer.

 

It helps me to explicitly decide up front what work has to be done before *special thing* and then share that and then add occasional reminders and maybe a cut-off time.

 

As for what we do, we start the day at 9. If they are done with breakfast before that they can play. We do math, 10 minutes of piano, 2 of (WWE, FLL and spelling) and then break for 30 - 60 minutes. After lunch we do Spanish and either science or history. Sometimes we reconvene later for art, music or American History. Maybe an hour total in the afternoon.

 

On days I'm pulling out my hair I do try to spread it around and not do it in clumps. :-)

[Anne in CA]

Honestly all three of my kids would drag their heels if they knew we were going somewhere later. It is their MO. There is something to that dynamic that I do not understand, but that is a general pattern I have tracked over 14 years of home schooling.

[PeterPan]

I know the stuff looks like a lot, but the MUS is about 10-15 min to watch, both find the pages easy (dd usually gets hers done in about 10min) WWE was copywork, so not even 5 minutes-see what I mean?

 

I do give them a list, every day, with the important stuff listed first, and they cross them off as they go along. My dd seems to only get the important stuff done. :sad: I know that I could have him do school all day long, but I want him to have time to play outside, read, etc.....

 

I guess I'm just curious and wondering how everyone else gets all of their stuff done. Some of you ladies have lots of stuff listed in your siggy, and I just can't imagine it all! I know my siggy looks like a lot, but these aren't things we are doing daily, some not even weekly. :blush:

 

How is it possible to do it all, have a life, free time, keep your house clean, make meals......... I have been hsing since they were in pre-school, and I still don't have an answer.

 

Well I think we've already talked about this. Our peace came as we got very *realistic*. When I make a plan for the year, I actually assign times to every single activity. [sorry, I don't mean time as in clock time of day. I mean realistic time estimates, how long it will take to get done INCLUDING the break/down/rest time afterward.] When my dd was that age, she had down times BETWEEN every subject as well. So when I say 4 hours, that's because it was 2 hours of work and 2 hours of breaks between. :lol:

 

No, people don't do it ALL. They may not do everything in their sig. They may leave some areas neglected that are priorities for you. (housecleaning?) You may do more extra-currics or something than they do.

 

Do you use a timer? Some kids need a lot of energy and structure to keep up with. It can be tiring. You turn your back, motion stops. So you're right there saying next, next. You set the timer, they work. Then reset the timer and they break. Then reset the timer and they work. And you feed them skittles when they return and sit down to their work quietly when the timer goes off. (I don't know, I just thought of that, but it sure would have been awesome, lol.)

 

So no, nobody does it all. My main advice is to be very realistic. To me the amount you described was actually pretty typical for what it was like at our house at that age. My dd now does, in general, a lot less formal school than some people. A fair chunk of what she does is on her own time. Where she used to spend x # hours, with me monitoring breaks and bringing her back, now she does all that for herself. It just takes time to develop. It's a stage to go through, and yes it's hard. Just be realistic, that's all I can say.

[happyWImom]

We had a much better day, today. (Since we have nowhere to go!!)

 

I decided that for my ds, even though it is a pain, I will sit with him & have him explain his math probs. to me as he does them. He actually enjoys "teaching", and this way, he will be done much more quickly.

 

And for dd, since she takes longer to read, I will have it be something she does towards the end of the day or her work, that way we get everything else done in a more timely way.

 

It is all about expectations, I guess. I think I'm doing well, and then I look at whatever curriculum we are using and think "Oh, no-we are only on lesson X & schools almost over for the year!!" When will I learn?