So today we visited the local middle school to discuss enrollment....

[Chrysalis Academy]

I got the book yesterday.  It looks great.  We did the first chapter today and I think it's perfect. 

 

Thank you!

We just started this today too!   We're doing it orally, though, and beefing up the reading part by reading poems and short stories in their entirety that illustrate the principles.  We have plenty of writing going on elsewhere.

[Pen]

I think I've been having a good day, but you all have got me worried--or some of you with heart problems, gas leaks and so on.   Ds is off bike riding with a friend...hope he is fine.   Dog went on a personal adventure today, but returned soaking wet, but fine.  So far as I know.   Maybe knock on wood time.

 

As to the schedule,

 

We do schoolwork by time per day and it is "do the next thing", so when it is done, it is done.  Thus also my checklist says only things like 1 hr math (supposed to be by timer, and timer runs only while math is done), but does not specify what that will be on any given day.  the same checklist goes for a whole week and then gets adjusted.   We are on extended summer school program right now still and decided to do more/longer school time in winter when outdoors is not beckoning.  The checklist starts with brush teeth in the morning and ends with brush teeth before bed, and has many things including chores on it, with schoolwork being just a part of it.

 

ETA: we have around 45 items on the checklist, and not all get done every day.   I evaluate the lists after awhile and consider of things not getting done, what to do about that, and also what things can get dropped from the list as being perhaps not important, or on the other hand as not being needed to be checked, or not any longer needing that.   Some things also get checked more than once per day.  Some things are only supposed to be done once per week (like cooking one meal is once per week and cleaning out pet dishes is once per week).   Cooking though has become almost a, what are they called, when a child gets into one thing and is doing all learning via that one thing for a while?  I forgot the term.   Unit study?  Anyway, he has been studying cooking and asked if he could have school credit for it and I said yes, for everything except math.  (He gets extra checks in other words for cooking and studying about cooking and nutrition, and he collects checks for computer game time.)

 

I have managed to get some things that you have as school like typing practice to be fun enough that they are just done as fun, not school.

 

 But your ds 11 school load is (or at least looks to be) way higher than my ds 11 school load in general.

 

ETA: BTW, wasn't OM supposed to get ds doing things on his own and your relationship improving leaving you to enjoy being mom and not having the be the heavy teacher/principal?

 

 

[Halcyon]

Yes, Pen (re your comment about OM). But he still needs to do the work, and not space out, and he isn't. Actually, I take that back. Yesterday he got all his work done by 12:30. Miracle! You know, regardless of the curriculum we use, he still has to DO it. That requires focus, kwim? That part doesn't go away.

[Pen]

Yes, Pen (re your comment about OM). But he still needs to do the work, and not space out, and he isn't. Actually, I take that back. Yesterday he got all his work done by 12:30. Miracle! You know, regardless of the curriculum we use, he still has to DO it. That requires focus, kwim? That part doesn't go away.

 

You never spaced out in school at 11 or even later?  If not, you are the exception that proves the rule!

 

8:30 - 2:30 (?--can not see that at this moment) with only a 1/2 hour lunch break?  And all of it looks to be hard core academics, not the artsy craftsy stuff, or PE.   That is a lot, IMO.

 

Why not just let him follow his OM substituting his own math for theirs and adding in his Latin, and space out if he wants to as long as he is not bothering younger brother and you?   If he isn't feeling like doing schoolwork tell him he can do chores instead -- not a threat, just matter of fact.   My ds prefers chores and active stuff and does that interspersed with sit down school work--he can space while also exercising the dog or washing the dishes, IMO.  

[Halcyon]

Today and yesterday were much better. HEre's two big changes: one) my older gets a typed out list of exact assignments for each day and two) when boys get up, they cannot play cards or do any of the "fun" things they used to do before school starts at 9. They have to begin schoolwork, which usually means begin reading their assigned books. This has really helped--they normally get up around 730 and they would begin playing with legos or cards and it was difficult to get them to switch gears at 9 and start school. So now, they are not allowed to do anything but read their school book when they get up, which means, really, that school has started at 730 or 8 instead of 9. We are finishing around 1 which is SO much better for us. 

 

 

[quark]

Today and yesterday were much better. HEre's two big changes: one) my older gets a typed out list of exact assignments for each day and two) when boys get up, they cannot play cards or do any of the "fun" things they used to do before school starts at 9. They have to begin schoolwork, which usually means begin reading their assigned books. This has really helped--they normally get up around 730 and they would begin playing with legos or cards and it was difficult to get them to switch gears at 9 and start school. So now, they are not allowed to do anything but read their school book when they get up, which means, really, that school has started at 730 or 8 instead of 9. We are finishing around 1 which is SO much better for us. 

 

Good for you! Bolded is a must here as well. I observed different situations early in our homeschool journey. e.g. what happens when DS watches an educational show before starting work vs. what happens if he reads a story book before starting work vs. what happens when he just starts work early and watches show/ reads book afterwards. It was better in the earlier ages to ease into the lesson time after a show or reading but now, it's definitely better when he starts work first thing.

 

[Pen]

PS  Maybe also have a way to give a big reward for  the "miracle" of being done  by 12:30?

[Pen]

Today and yesterday were much better. HEre's two big changes: one) my older gets a typed out list of exact assignments for each day and two) when boys get up, they cannot play cards or do any of the "fun" things they used to do before school starts at 9. They have to begin schoolwork, which usually means begin reading their assigned books. This has really helped--they normally get up around 730 and they would begin playing with legos or cards and it was difficult to get them to switch gears at 9 and start school. So now, they are not allowed to do anything but read their school book when they get up, which means, really, that school has started at 730 or 8 instead of 9. We are finishing around 1 which is SO much better for us. 

 Great!!!  If more things you try seem to help I hope you'll post about them!

[Halcyon]

The checklist has definitely helped. He likes knowing how much he has to do each day and I a, using it to teach him time management-- if latin or math is bogging him down, I try and tell him "hey, maybe take a break and work on something else" and while he resists, he does a feel a sense of accomplishment when he knocks off 3 easier subjects and realizes he "only" has latin to finish, even if it is hard, kwim?

[Farrar]

Good for you! Bolded is a must here as well. I observed different situations early in our homeschool journey. e.g. what happens when DS watches an educational show before starting work vs. what happens if he reads a story book before starting work vs. what happens when he just starts work early and watches show/ reads book afterwards. It was better in the earlier ages to ease into the lesson time after a show or reading but now, it's definitely better when he starts work first thing.

 

 

We have found that here too.  We haven't started yet this year, but that's going to be our rule as well.  It will require that I get up with the kids though.  Oooooh...  not looking forward to that.

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

wow.  the other day, i was trying to top off my fluids in my car myself  and filled my coolant tank with transmission fluids.  Thank God I realized it before I turned on the car!  then I had to take a video, send it to my BIL, get it confirmed that I did indeed do something that stupid, drain it with a pan, flush it out with the hose, clean the driveway, go back to autozone, get more coolant...THIS time I made the auto tech come out to the car and ENSURE that I was about to put it in the right place..

 

and all my hubby said was "I can't believe you almost did that to the car." :glare:

 

 

[Pen]

The checklist has definitely helped. He likes knowing how much he has to do each day and I a, using it to teach him time management-- if latin or math is bogging him down, I try and tell him "hey, maybe take a break and work on something else" and while he resists, he does a feel a sense of accomplishment when he knocks off 3 easier subjects and realizes he "only" has latin to finish, even if it is hard, kwim?

 

Yes!

 

Here the biggest thing the checklist did is take me out of the nagging role.   Oh joy!

 

Now we are getting a bit into the idea of some flexibility being needed -- such as that if really too tired to do something safely, it is best to leave it till a safe time even if the checklist says do it.   And also not to jump out of bed  in middle of night to go put something on checklist that was forgotten, thus disturbing rest of family...!

[quark]

Post 128 reported.

[BetterthanIdeserve]

Yowzers! After reading this thread, I decided to check the ranking of my local elementary school. It ranked the lowest of the 34 in my city and was in the 20% for the state. I wasn't expecting that...guess I won't be having 2nd thoughts!

[PachiSusan]

Yowzers! After reading this thread, I decided to check the ranking of my local elementary school. It ranked the lowest of the 34 in my city and was in the 20% for the state. I wasn't expecting that...guess I won't be having 2nd thoughts!

 Try living in Clark County Nevada.  :crying:

[Sahamamama]

Why in the world do they have a 26 minute lunch????

 

When I was in school, the students who wanted to take both a language (French or Spanish) AND music (band or orchestra) had to squeeze in their lunch between those classes. The school had four lunch periods: 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. Band, French, and Spanish met for 5th and 6th, Orchestra, French, and Spanish met for 7th and 8th. We had a TWENTY minute lunch in between 6th and 7th that was called "Special Lunch." By the time we put our instruments away, ran to our lockers to get our French materials, and got to the cafeteria, nearly all the tables were always taken, the line was out the door, and we had to stuff food into our mouths in about 10 mintues.

 

For years afterward, you could tell who had Special Lunch. We all ate fast. :tongue_smilie:

 

By senior year, they moved the French V and Spanish V classes directly in the time slots for Band and Orchestra. This meant we had to choose: Music or Language. It was bizarre, how the school seemed to actively conspire to frustrate the students who worked the hardest and wanted to achieve the most. :thumbdown:

[quark]

 It was bizarre, how the school seemed to actively conspire to frustrate the students who worked the hardest and wanted to achieve the most. :thumbdown:

 

I agree! That's unfair!

 

Where I went to school (not in the US), we had a system where students took turns either cleaning the classroom, cleaning our toilets or having a break during lunch. So if you are on classroom cleaning duty, you and fellow classmates (about 5-6 students) will be sweeping, dusting, arranging tables in neat rows (we used long strings to align tables carefully) and trying to do it within the first 15 minutes of a 25 minute lunch break before the prefect on duty came to check on your class. Then you had 10 minutes to rush to the cafeteria (we had a huge school building and compound) stuff yourself with food before the bell rang for lessons.

 

2-3 students will be cleaning the toilets then, quick washing of hands and returning detergents etc to your classroom locker then rushing downstairs to eat before bell rang. The rest of the class will have a nice 25-minute lunch. Then duties were rotated so that every student did her part in keeping her classroom or class-assigned toilet clean. The prefect who comes to check on the class/ toilets will send the results to a central record keeper.

 

Every week, the cleanest class and cleanest toilet will receive an honorary mention during the school assembly. It was a very interesting arrangement. So those of us who were super conscientious about being clean often had only 5 minutes to eat or sometimes went without lunch! Not unfair really as we knew what we were missing...but pride was strong and we really wanted that honorary mention during assembly! :) Fun times!

 

ETA: gotta run so not able to fix the many grammar errors.

[maize]

In my high school, science labs were held during lunch. Which meant we just didn't have a lunch break on those days. I used to get in trouble for sneaking bites of my sandwich during class.

[Hunter]

am anxiously awaiting a phone call from dh. He started having chest pain last week. An EKG showed his heart was skipping every 4th beat. They told him to go to the emergency room....Sometimes we just need to step back and reassess how we have our priorities. In the scheme of life, it is really irrelevant bc it is only about things. Relationships are far more important.

 

I am tired of being the one who CARES THE MOST about education in this family. Sometimes I feel like I am dragging him along behind me and it is so. very. tiring.

 

I remember the dragging. Dragging doesn't work long term. Nothing that gets stuffed into a head is worth anything if the student doesn't have work ethic and character.

 

I remember being in the ER, quite sick, and having only my 17 year old to take care of me. That was a big wake-up call for me. It changed my focus with his younger brother, but was too late to change what I did with him. Thankfully the 17 year old was the one I had dragged the least, and let go his own way.

 

My older wasn't a scholar. Just because a family homeschools doesn't mean ALL children should be scholars. And even the scholars need more of a focus on family, character, religion, and work ethic, than they do academics.

 

The days in the ER put it all into perspective.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I also think it is totally normal to be the one who cares most, but I think it can backfire to reveal too much caring, to let my kids see my ugly underneath (aka the stuff that keeps me awake at night, LOL). If I get too vocal and strident, and if I show them the full extent of how much I care (all wrapped up in the fear that comes with wrongly believing that I am fully in charge of their educational outcomes), I think it can be overwhelming to them. I think it robs them of power, negatively affecting their own personal motivation/achievement dynamic. My constant display of (perhaps too much? probably fear-based?) caring allows them to check out and/or write me off as crazy, along with my goals for their education. If they know I won't let them fail without a lecture or intervention (on little daily piddly things or even medium-size tasks, not necessarily for "all the marbles"), they have less personal motivation to excel and succeed on their own, without my pushing, and are more likely to take on the role of passive or, worse, resistant student.

 

These are MY thoughts about MY kids and MY crazy. I don't want to debate them. I have done a great deal of pondering on this subject during my zen showdowns (and at night, of course, LOL).

[katilac]

We had a TWENTY minute lunch in between 6th and 7th that was called "Special Lunch."

I can't concentrate on the good tips in this thread b/c I am too busy giggling at Special Lunch.

 

"Sahamamama is really struggling with the standard sandwich and apple; we think she might benefit from Special Lunch . . . "